Back to Oman

Piet drew a short straw again: he was invited for a workshop/course on carbonates, the type of rock he is working on in his current South Africa project. This workshop was held in Oman, where we lived in the early 90-ies, got married, and where Paula was born. Since 1996 none of us had been back.

The workshop consisted of a few days in the training centre of PDO (the local Shell JV company) and 4 days in the field, looking at rocks in outcrops. Piet arrived a day early, and took the chance to take a sightseeing bus tour through the capital area of Muscat, hoping to recognise some sights. This proved to be quite a challenge, as many roads and buildings were added in 18 years of absence. Especially the very busy traffic was a change; many, many more cars are on the road now. The look and feel of Oman and its people, however, hadn’t altered much.

After a day of lectures the group moved to the field, visiting a typical wadi (Muaidin) near the interior town of Nizwa. This was followed by a long drive south to the Barr al Hikman peninsula, on the eastern coast of Oman. This is a very flat area, with white beaches consisting of coral sands (our destination for the day), but unfortunately the local fishermen have used this area as their rubbish dump. This was quite a shock, and with some difficulty a somewhat clean camping place was found. After the fieldwork the camp was made and food was prepared. Most slept on a stretcher under the stars, like we used to do in our Oman times. Unspoiled by artificial light the whole Milky Way was visible. The following day we drove west (and also stopped to look at rocks), through the desert to Qarn Alam, where a salt dome is piercing the surface, and a natural crater is formed. This formed an ideal camping spot, and another good place for star gazing, whilst lying down on a stretcher. After a fourth day of rocks we drove back to Muscat, for some classroom sessions. Piet took the opportunity to meet up with some old friends, and see the changes in the PDO Camp. And after a week of perfect Omani autumn weather it was time to return to cold and dark The Hague.

And some real good news: Paula passed her driving test!

Street scene in Ruwi


The palace of Sultan Qaboos in Muscat


Between Muscat and Muttrah


Muttrah harbour


Playing football on Qurm beach


Wadi Muaidin

A stop on the way to Barr al Hikman

Checking coral sands on Barr al Hikman

Walking back to the camp in late afternoon

Preparing camp at Barr al Hikman

The camp in Qarn Alam

Autumn in France

It was mid-term autumn break at school, and we went to our house in France for a week of holidays. However, two things were different from other trips. Firstly, Paula couldn't come because at university there are no mid-term breaks, and secondly Dorien had twisted her ankle badly a few days before at freerunning, and she was unable to hike or cycle.

We had great weather all week, even better than most part of the summer, and we spend most time working in the garden: cutting the grass and trimming several trees. Piet managed to have a few bike rides, and Dorien spend a lot of time revising maths and reading an incredibly boring Dutch literature book. Mary practised some of her recently acquired horse training skills on Swallow, the neighbours horse.

Highlight of the week was a short trip south, to Mont Ventoux. One of Piet's friends was there to buy wine, and this was a good opportunity to combine it with cycling up this mythic mountain. This has been on Piet's wish list for some time, and Piet and Dorien continued training for this during September. We met Frits in Bedoin for lunch, and split up: Piet got on his bike, Mary and Dorien (unfortunately!) in the car, and Frits in another car to continue his wine journey. Piet cycled up within 2 hours, and without any problems. The only downside was the strong wind and heavy clouds near the top, many cyclists had to get of their bikes; Piet stayed on. It was bitterly cold at the top, and Piet descended the first few kilometers in the car, as it was too dangerous to cycle. We met Frits again in Malaucene for dinner, and stayed overnight in a hotel.

The next day we joined Frits on a wine tasting and buying excursion, and visited the beautiful villages of Gigondas and Seguret. We ended up with 6 boxes of wine, and drove back to Bassey at the end of the afternoon. 

At the end of the week we made the house ready for winter and drove home to our two lost children: Paula and Beau!

Bassey in the autumn, with the local herd of sheep

Dorien waiting for Piet on Mont Ventoux 


Piet in the Mont Ventoux forest

Piet on the famous "white mountain", the last stretch of the Ventoux 

Dorien at Tom Simpson's monument

and Piet cycling past as well

Nearly there, cycling into the clouds

Arriving at the top

Dentelles de Montmirail, between Malaucene and Gigondas

Suzette, another wine village in the area

Mary in Gigondas


Piet, Dorien and Frits in Seguret

 Piet being harassed by village pony Image

A short trip to Cape Town

Piet went to Cape Town again, for a number of meetings related to his South Africa project. There was little time for sightseeing this trip, and he only managed a few short walks in the evening. It is early spring, and the weather was just turning upwards. Piet enjoyed his stay, the collegues in the office were welcoming as always, and working with them in the same location beats emails, online chats and telephone calls easily!

 View from the office: clouds draping over Table Mountain: "the Tablecloth"

Camps Bay, on the Atlantic coast

Sunset on Cape Town boulevard: walking the dogs

Jumping

Back to normal life, although... Paula started student life in Delft, and it is a major adjustment. She, and her fellow Earth Science students (some 120 in total), jumped in at the deep end. The first subjects (maths, chemistry and geology) have started at breakneck speed, and her first exams are already after 3 weeks! And she is juggling this with her commute (1 hour by bike or public transport) and membership of the rowing club, with all its training and social commitments.
Dorien and Beau joined an informal horse jumping event at a nearby stable. And they managed two clear rounds, like they did before. Everybody happy!

 Riding like a real team

 It looks so easy....

 Beau and Dorien clearing another jump

This looks like real show showjumping!

Summer holidays (II)

The second part of the summer holidays started with a split, as Piet and Paula returned to The Hague for work and university introductions. Paula had a weekend with the fraternity from her study Applied Earth Sciences, visiting Shell in Rijswijk, a large quarry in Germany, and some sites in the Ardennes. Nothing serious, just getting to know your fellow students, and learn the way of life of a student. This trip was followed by an introduction to the town of Delft, with more of the same silly stuff. At the end of that week Paula (exhausted) and Piet returned to Bassey.

The last week of the holiday started with variable weather, something which has characterised the whole summer. It has rained much more than usual, and our patch of forest has been flooded throughout the summer, and we have hardly done any work there.

We managed do do some cycling, horse riding and a 2-day hike to Refuge Adele Planchard, high in Parc National des Ecrins, at 3200 m altitude. On the first day the weather was overcast, with low temperatures and a strong, chilly wind, but perfect for a long uphill walk, with 1500 m altitude gain. At the refuge it was bitterly cold, and only in the common room it was pleasant. There were very few people (9 in total), and we even got a room for ourselves. Late afternoon we ventured out on the nearby glacier, where we practised walking on crampons. The next morning it rained heavily, and after checking with the guardians of the Refuge we decided to descend. The first part of the trail was very tricky, with steep, slippery sections on bare rock. The lower trails were flooded, and we  ended up at the car very cold and soaked to the bone, after 5 hours in the poring rain. We drove home with the heater on max, and went straight into the shower, started a fire in the fireplace and slowly warmed up again.

After this trip we had a few nice days, the girls went blueberry picking with one of the neighbours and even managed to do some real rock climbing. Then we cleared away all horse stuff in and around our garden. We loaded Beau into the trailer, leaving his friend Image behind, and drove back to The Hague through the night, back to work, school and university.  

Dorien cycling up the road to Villard Notre Dame

Paula and Dorien on the trail between the two Villards

Paula crossing a bridge on the MTB descent from Le Palud

Piet and Dorien hiking up to Refuge Adele Planchard

Mary and Paula starting the steep ascent

Dorien high up in the Alps, with several glaciers in the background

Paula and Mary on the last stretch towards the Refuge

Mary and Paula on the glacier near the Refuge

Walking back to the Refuge from the glacier

 

 Refuge Adele Planchard

 Dorien and Beau along the Romanche

 The girls at the climbing wall in Le Vernis

Paula is picking blueberries at Lac du Grand Maison

Summer holidays (I)

This year's summer had some more complicated logistics, due to Paula's start of university days and Dorien's late start of school holidays. The only one who could stay in France the whole period was Mary, and even she had to do some remote office work. 

Paula has been working 6 days a week, in restaurant La Romanche (http://www.chaletcarpediem.com/en/restaurant-la-romanche), often till midnight, and has been enjoying her first real work experience a lot. The rest of us spend our time with the usual activities: horse riding, working in the garden, cycling, hiking and reading. This summer has been exceptionally wet and the tourist trade has been slow, but for us it didn't matter. Coline, the French friend from the girls, was in the village for 2 weeks, and also cousins Bart and Max turned up for their share of hard outdoor activity.

Also we got the a stone wall build at the edge of the terrace, something we had been planning for 2 years with local contractor Lionel, and after numerous "prochaine semaine" he finally did the job, which Mary completed with a wooden fence. Now we (and the neighbours) have our privacy back again.

 Mary and Paula at the Venosc church

Dorien riding Beau with his neck ring

 Dorien arriving on Col de Cluy

 Cabane du Pre de la Vache, a shelter high in the mountains

Dorien and Mary on a hike near Col d'Ornon

Paula, Max, Bart, Coline and Dorien at the top of the Via Ferrate des Perrons, near Les Deux Alpes

Cycling up Col de la Croix de Fer: Max, Mary, Piet, Bart and Dorien 

Paula is taking orders from her cousins and Dorien, at restaurant La Romanche

The podium on top of Alpe d'Huez: Bart beat Piet again 

Max also finished, and improved his time significantly

Paula riding Beau in a field in our village