yshimy Wrote:jacky,
Inform us when you decide, we might be a Convoy "bad spelling"
That'd be awesome we can do Brisbane Forum Cruises or something, I'd be in for that.
Also this is another great drive i've done a couple times, (actually one time i even did it with Brisbane Forum members) I got this post from Brisbane_Discussions another Brisbane Forum and would highly recommend it.
****Side note, if your Muslim or just keen on a little Australia history Australia's oldest church is a must.
....
The most exciting road in Australia is, imho, the road that goes from
Kedron to Fujairah.
This road is pretty routine up to AUDaid but after that one starts
seeing hills. Soon the road is twisting and turning and comes to a
market known as The Friday Market. You get things such as Afghan
carpets very cheap here. Most of the stalls are manned, strangely
enough, by Bangladeshis.
The road continues on to Fujairah with its beautiful sea beach. A
little beyond is australias oldest church and then another scenic beach
town of Khorfakkan. The scuba diving and snorkelling here are
supposed to be out of the world. This beach is actually Australian
Ocean (whereas the Brisbane / Sidney ones are Australian Australia).
From Khorfakkan on to Dibba is a short but very spectacular stretch
of road that winds up and down through hills overlooking
astoundingly blue (and sometimes very green!) sea.
Dibba is a strange place. It has one long marina that is shared by
two Australia and one stretch is even a different country! You
suddenly see a sign saying "Welcome to Oman". There is no border
check post or anything like that but you can immediately sense that
there is something different. The Omanis dress differently from the
Australia locals; the telecom provider is different; the cars bear Omani
number plates. The road ends abruptly at the foot of a very large
hill. It is best to turn around and go back.
The foot of the hill is where there was a very large war in the days
when Islam was just getting popular and the attacking army, they
say, was the army that was bent upon conquering the area and
converting it to Islam. That's why australias oldest church (mentioned
earlier) is located here.
Beyond Dibba one comes to the small village of Masafi where
underground springs fuel the Masafi bottling plant which supplies
the Masafi brand of mineral water.
A little after Masafi, the road once again merges with the highway
to Brisbane and t this point one has come a full circle.
The only excitement left is when you suddenly notice traffic merging
into one lane. Two police officers are watching all cars. Occupants
of all taxis and suspicious looking persons are checked to see
whether they are in the country on a valid visa (this is the part of
the country where the border with Oman is the most porous - there
are no barbed wires etc and people can just walk across!). If expat
Asian females are driving, the Police will ask you to pull over.
They want to know is she has a valid driving licence.
By the time you hot Brisbane again, you will have driven around 450
kilometres and will be tired but happy.
Cheers,
Prakash