Sun ~ Sea ~ Sand – The Roving Quill

There used to be a time when I didn’t mind working weekends, lots of consecutive weekends. Late hours. Pizza for all three meals. Doing the work of three people at less than the basic wage rate of a American Mc Donald’s fries maker.

Those days are long gone. As have the reasons why I even enjoyed the crazy times.

So when I was asked to staff a weekend media event, the obviously reaction was to think of calling in sick. But then the hibernating little Jiminy Cricket inside mumbled something about being an abominable bore and I thought that a day on a beach couldn’t really be that bad – even though I’d have lots of running around to do.

So went, I did. Donning my spanking new lavender water shorts and the ‘I heart NY’ tee – up at 7 am on a sleeping-in day. The venue was Bandar Khayran, a place I had heard much about – it is almost like a marine reserve, with fjord-like rock formations and clear aquamarine waters, dotted with small isolated beaches which you mostly have access to only by boat. There are a couple of spots the road to Al Sifah could lead you to, but they are mostly commercial and hardly so pristine.

The view from the top. Photo courtesy: Ministry of Tourism, Oman

We took the 50 plus media and their families on speedboats from Marina Bandar Al Rowdha to an island where a day of Sun soaking, barbecue, jet-skiing, kayaking and general laziness was planned. Most of my team could make it too – save James (who was celebrating birthday weekend), Rebecca (who had jetted off to the UK for Christmas) and the Omani ladies.

To my surprise, I ended up having more fun that actually working – sank my feet in the soft sand, swam to my heart’s content, gave Abdullah a scare by rocking the kayak, debuting a jet ski ride and of course, making my legendary sand castles!