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I was about to comment that at least they could have gone from the nice thick paper towels to the Tork ones in order to enhance but retain most people’s preferred hand drying option. But then I donned a beancounter’s hat for a moment. It’s not just that they save x cents per paper towel that...

Oh I also noticed new foot door opener hook contraptions on the bottoms of the doors to the gents this week. I only just put 2 and 2 together that it might relate to the removal of the nice quilted hand towels as a nod to the seeming increase in germ phobia in society. (Gruen has done a few...

Perhaps just coincidence but all the paper towel dispensers were empty in the MEL QP when I was there on Tuesday and again must now in the BNE J lounge the paper towel dispensers were conspicuously empty. Coincidence or enhancement?

Botanic in Adelaide remains on my bucket list, even after two visits. I'm willing to wager it's the most exciting fine diner in Australia at the moment. I'm in two minds whether the latest incarnation of Gaggan in Bangkok is on my list or not. We've eaten at one of the previous locations and...

My most surprising offer of a double instead of a pre-booked twin room was in Isfahan, Iran of all places. Just a very straightforward enquiry from a receptionist who clearly clocked we were a couple. To be fair, the Abbasi Hotel is one of the campest buildings I think I’ve ever stayed in...

Wow. Thanks @AFF Editor That’s an exciting result to kick off election day 😅 Thanks to everyone who joined the trip to Oman vicariously too. I love the TR threads and learning from each other. Some 2026 plans are brewing for 1022+1 and I thanks to @RooFlyer’s Namibian TR which I think also got...

Thanks folks for the encouraging words. @kookaburra75 I'm sure a lot has changed in Oman since the '80s. And I'm sure that much will still be very familiar when you return. @Seat0B 2 Do stay longer!! Two weeks visa-free wasn't looking like enough for us once we started planning, so we applied...

Concluding thoughts and remarks Thanks for coming on this Oman journey. I decided it was a good one to write a TR for seeing as Oman remains a relatively unknown destination for Australian travellers. WY and Oman as a country also don’t have all that much written about them yet on AFF. With WY...

The Long Trip Home I won’t go into so much detail about the journey home which effectively commenced once we boarded our flight from Khasab to Muscat as the domestic and international Oman Air flights were fairly similar to the previous ones, the Muscat “Airport” Novotel was like any other...

Thanks VPS. It’s been enjoyable putting it together and encouraged me to take more photos than I usually do on holidays

Khasab Airport (mis)adventure Atana Musandam kindly gave us a 3:30 late checkout and mentioned that their complimentary shuttle van would be going to the airport at 3:40 - kind of early for the one daily domestic flight from a dusty regional airport. That all went like clockwork and we pulled up...

Atana Musandam Resort Khasab really only has two places to stay, both owned by the same company - who also seem to own a few of the tour agencies in town and the Zipline. Out of Atana Khasab (3 star) and Atana Susan dam (4 star) we picked the latter. The price difference was about $30 a night...

Musandam Peninsula: Mountain “safari”, SCUBA, Dhow cruising, Zipline, little castle, gargantuan supermarket. The Musandam Peninsula isn’t quite as popular with international visitors to Oman as sites around Muscat and Nizwa. In part because the long drive to Khasab requires a border crossing...

Flight: WY931 MCT-KHS Aircraft: B737-Max 8 Tail No: A4O-MM (5 years old) Seat: 2A Sch Dep/Actual Dep: 07:40 / 11:40 Sch Arr/Actual Arrival: 8:45 / 12:30 You’ll recall that my impressions of Oman Air on the longhaul sector from Manila to Muscat were kind of fair to middling. In contrast, his 43...

Shoutout post to Suzie, a disinterested goat and the ever present discarded plastic bottles of Oman. Sadly, despite 90% of the population having access to safe tap water, all hotels but one that we've stayed in have provided numerous little plastic bottles instead of refillable filtered glass...

Grand Hyatt, Muscat A slight change of script when we returned to Muscat for one night prior to our scheduled 7:30am flight north to Khasab. I'd originally booked a room at the Novotel Muscat Airport Hotel thinking we'd drop the car off the night before and just wander over to the terminal for...

I wonder if this is the one…it fits the description: sweet and rose water flavoured. No doubt it is made fresh in some places and straight from a carton like this in others. What a delightful treat and a good mission to go scouring the gargantuan supermarket!!

Jebel Shams: W4 Summit Walk (part way), Balcony Walk and Sama Al Khutaim Heritage Home. Jebel Shams is the “other” mountain destination that is easily reached from Nizwa. Jebel Shams is Oman’s highest peak at 3009m and below the peak is Oman’s own Grand Canyon. Unlike Jebel Akhdar, there are...

I haven’t come across pink milk. There’s an enormous supermarket across from our hotel in Khasab so I might go on a mission very shortly! One of my unique drink highlights so far has been luban (frankincense) lemonade

Nizwa and Surrounds (Nizwa Fort, Jabreen Castle, Al Hoota Cave, Bahla Fort) After leaving Alila Jebel Akhdar we made our way back down the mountain towards the inland city and former capital of Nizwa. Along the way we made a brief detour to visit an abandoned mountain village by the name of...