Leaving for Colombia
June 20, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
**This is a repost of the 19 June footprint**
Off on our trip to visit family in Colombia. First flight is to Sydney. Then to Santiago. Finally to Bogota. Roughly 27 hours. Nina realised somethingRead more
Sydney Airport layover
June 20, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
Arrival time shown. Had a nice time in the Qantas lounge waiting to board for the long leg to Santiago.
Outbound layover in Santiago
June 20, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Our layover from Sydney in Santiago before flying to Bogota. Nice lounge!
Travel & Arriving in Bogota
June 20, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
First main leg was Sydney to Santiago (12 hours). We all enjoyed the Qantas lounge and the flight was very comfortable. One person maybe had a bit too much vino but we survived. We had about 5 hoursRead more
Wednesday in Bogota
June 21, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
We are spending Wednesday and Thursday in Bogota. Miguel and Christina are hosting us in their beautiful apartment. Everyone woke up on Wednesday morning not feeling too bad and got through theRead more
Dean's Workshop and A BBQ
June 22, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Thursday morning and we all were up feeling pretty normal. Some went to the gym with Miguel and I started on Duo Lingo - better late than never!
Dean and Claudia arrived and we all went to hisRead more
Off to Villa de Leyva
June 23, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
We left Bogota about 9:30am, heading for the family's house at Villa de Leyva. Nice to have a reminder of Colombian crazy driving on rural roads. On the way we visited the Puente de Boyacá and SimónRead more
Saturday in Villa de Leyva
June 24, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
On Saturday morning (after some handball drills) we headed into the centre of town to explore, shop and have coffee. The huge cobbled Plazor Mayor (town square) is full of marquees and other crap forRead more
Return to Bogota
June 25, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
A travel day today, not much happened apart from experiencing our first Colombian traffic jam - surprised it took this long to be honest. We are back in Bogota and here until Tuesday morning, when weRead more
Exploring Bogota 1
June 26, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
After a bit of a sleep in and gym session we walked to the nearby Exito which is a massive retail store selling nearly everything! Dean and Harry met us there. The teenagers got some clothes and weRead more
Cartagena - Arrival & Exploring
June 27, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Up early and after an entertaining ride in morning Bogota peak hour traffic we boarded our flight to Cartagena. I had some spectacular views of the Colombian landscape and Cartagena from the plane.Read more
Drinks & Dinner in Cartagena
June 27, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Tuesday evening and a special dinner was planned at Cande, which is one of the best restaurants in Colombia. For pre-dinner drinks we went to Cafe Del Mar and had cocktails while the sun set.
DinnerRead more
Visiting the Fort
June 28, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
On Wednesday after breakfast we headed to the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, which is a fort built in 1536, located on the Hill of San Lázaro overlooking the city. It is about 50 metes high. InsideRead more
An Evening Ocean Cruise
June 28, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
Claudia and Dean organised a wonderful surprise - an evening boat cruise out of the marina, past the docks and out into the bay. The boat came in to the historic city gates and we may have had a drinkRead more
Return to Bogota
June 29, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Thursday morning in Cartagena and an early morning walk to the beach (in 29 degree heat) so we could put our toes (and bodies) in the Caribbean Sea. Goodbye Cartagena, you are an amazing, historic,Read more
Exploring Bogota 2
June 30, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Today we headed to Monserrate, which is a 3,152 metre high mountain overlooking Bogota (which already sits at a 2,600-odd metre elevation). You can climb 1,000 steps to get up there or take theRead more
Aussie Rules Footy in Bogota
July 1, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Today was a special day. Women's and men's Australian Rules Football matches had been organised. We headed north to the ground (a soccer pitch) on the Transmillenio. Most of the footy teams are localsRead more
Finca Camperdown in San Juan de Rioseco
July 2, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
This morning we left Bogota and headed west to Dean and Claudia's finca ("country house") located near the town of San Juan de Rioseco. They have named it Finca Camperdown in tribute to Dean andRead more
Working Bee at Finca Camperdown
July 3, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
We awoke this morning to a bit of a white out which eventually cleared. Liam sat an exam for school and then Dean got everyone motivated to have a working bee around the finca. With a bit of mowing,Read more
Return to Bogota
July 4, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Today (Tuesday) we travelled back to Bogota from Finca Camperdown, stopping briefly in the nearby town of San Juan de Rioseco where the long weekend festival had finally ended - although a few localsRead more
Arrival in Medellin
July 5, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
After another entertaining spin in Bogota traffic we made it to the airport and hopped on a plane to Medellin.
Medellin is the 2nd largest city in Colombia, set in a "bowl" with steep mountains allRead more
Exploring Medellin
July 6, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
After a hotel breakfast we caught a taxi to the start point of our bus tour of Medellin which Claudia had organised. This was absolutely the best way to see the city and major landmarks.
The firstRead more
Guatape
July 7, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
After the rock it was a short drive to the lakeside town of Guatape. When Sonya was here in 2015 this was a fairly small, quiet place. Like all the shops and restaurants at the base of the rock, itRead more
La Piedre del Penol
July 7, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Happy 19th Birthday Patrick!
We left Medellin this morning and headed towards the lakeside town of Guatape. But first we visited La Piedre del Penol, which is a huge granite rock about 200 metresRead more
National Museum and Dinner
July 8, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Saturday morning and Claudia, Sonya and I caught the bus to the National Museum of Colombia which is located in a former prison close to the downtown area. The Museum is fascinating, veryRead more

























































































































































































































