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World Trip 2017-18

June 2017 - January 2018
A 193-day adventure by Mats and Jenna Read more
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  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 38

    Cascais beach & Sintra palaces

    August 6, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We took the train along the coast to Cascais, a beautiful beach town. It's a great place to go for a dive and have some ice cream at the famous Santini gelato shop! We also had fun browsing a local bookshop.
    The next day we took the train to Sintra, a cute and colourful village in the hills. We hiked the Rampa de Pena (Pena Ascent) to the palaces, which are perched on the tops of the biggest hills:
    • Quinta da Ragaleira - beautiful palace gardens
    • Castelo dos Mouros (of the Moors) - built in the 8th and 9th centuries and held until 1147.
    • Palácio Nacional da Pena - Romanticist palace in bright yellow and red
    We hiked down through some lovely gardens with waterfalls. And we finished the day with a bike peddle-powered smoothie.
    Thanks Luis and Filipa, for the great tips!    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 40

    Home sweet home!

    August 8, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    We flew out of Lisbon to spend 6 weeks in Calgary to visit family and support Jenna's parents through her mom's surgery. Our visit was a good mix of spending some quality time with family and friends and helping out around the house.

    We laid new flooring in two bedrooms. Apparently they heard we are floor laying experts (we had struggled long and hard with our laminate in Holland). We also helped take down the mayday tree in the backyard and helped clean out the garage and basement.

    We went to Cochrane for the Calgary Police Rodeo. The events included bareback (horse) riding, bull riding, barrel (horse) racing, chute doggin' (bull wrestling), calf roping, wild cow milking and last but not least cowboy poker (last to leave their seat as a bull is running around), all to earn your cowboy buckle. And for the kids, there's mutton bustin' (sheep riding) and greased pig (catching). More pictures: http://www.calgarypolicerodeo.com/gallery.html

    We made pinhole viewing boxes to see the solar eclipse and set up a theater area with the seats all facing the 'wrong way'. In the picture you can see the sun rays. It was a really cool event to witness, you could definitely understand why people back in the day thought the world was ending.

    We also had a nice dinner to celebrate Jenna's Opa's 87th birthday. And Sherry and Kevin had us over for a great cooking class and dinner. We made a big meat and seafood paella.

    All in all a lovely visit!    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 64

    Boswell BC

    September 1, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We headed to BC for the Labour Day long weekend to spend some time with the Thygesen family at their cabin. Jenna T. is the childhood best friend of Jenna. It was an amazing weekend of good food made by Carin and co., playing board games and having the chance to get out on the lake, boating. We had a lovely picnic on the beach. And Mats learned to water ski for the first time and got up on his second try!

    The last day we helped out some local retirees digging out the dam that was used for the town's water supply. It had filled up when a big spring rainfall created a mudslide. We shoveled and hauled buckets of creek silt, then fire-hosed it down. We were glad we joined, since most of the locals were 80+'ers and still carrying heavy buckets.

    Unfortunately, there were wild fires still burning a few valleys over. We were safe but a few days the smoke was very thick over the lake. We drove past an active fire on our way to the cabin. Thank goodness there was a large lake between us. It was a pretty scary sight.    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 83

    In Transit

    September 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    We set out on the next part of our journey. Off to New Zealand! We would have two layovers, flying from Calgary, to Los Angeles and via Brisbane to Auckland, taking 30 hours and 20 min, technically arriving 2 days later. We were packed and ready to go!

    In Calgary, Jenna found charging bikes. Missing Holland, she couldn't resist hopping on and charging her e-reader ;) Flying over California, we got some nice views of the mountains.

    When we got to LA, we had to go to the desk to print off our boarding passes for the last leg, Brisbane to Auckland. When we got there, however, we were told we couldn't board that last flight. We had requested working visas for NZ last minute (to make up some of the money lost when our car was broken into). Although we would have been fine to enter as tourists without a visa, having applied for work visas, we had to wait for their decision! Luckily, they were able to get us tourist visas for Australia. We could still get on our flight to Brisbane, and at least be a step (or 11,500 km) closer to our destination.    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
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    Day 85

    Brisbane

    September 22, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We arrived in Brisbane early in the morning. On the one hand we were upset that our plan to go to NZ had been delayed. On the other hand, what a great opportunity to explore Australia! We booked a hostel downtown for two nights while we got our feet back under us, looked for CouchSurfers and places to explore and to got over our jetlag.

    Brisbane is a pretty cool city. It has some huge (fancy) skyscrapers but also nice places to relax. Our favourite area; South Bank. It's along the river and has a big public pool, a Nepalese peace pagoda, and a large (Epicurious) community garden. A big arts festival was also set up there. A free city ferry shuttles people across and along the river, which gave us a great view. And the weather was great, 35°C and sunny.

    We saw our first Ibis, which we were really excited about, until we learned that they're really common scavengers...    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 87

    Mooloolaba

    September 24, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We hopped on the train and went North to a place in Sunshine Coast called Mooloolaba (say that 10 times fast). Our host Mahu, his three kids and another CouchSurfer picked us up and we tagged along for the day. The first stop we went to was a local watering hole called Gardner Falls. Here people were cliff jumping and going off rope swings into the deep pools at the base of the waterfall. After some ice cream and games with the kids we headed back to their house. We joined Mahu for a hard workout at the beach and then cooled off, bodysurfing in the waves.

    Their home was our home for the coming few days. We cooked, played games and went to the beach together. We got around by bus, or borrowed some bikes. And check out those beautiful tie wraps on the helmet. They're not just fashionable, but are also protection against swooping magpies!    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 88

    Noosa National Park

    September 25, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    We set out for our first hike in the wilderness, a day trip to Noosa National Park. It was a 13.5 km trek through all sorts of nature. Over sandy paths, over the beaches of Alexandria Bay, past rocky cliffs of Devil’s Kitchen and Hell’s Cove, and through rainforest. We were super cautious of potentially running into snakes and spiders. But we also saw lots of exotic plants, flowers and trees.

    We looked for whales, dolphins, turtles and sea eagles (not seagulls), but we didn't get lucky. Out over the sea, we saw a peninsula with a patch of white. It looked like snow, but in that heat that wasn't possible. We later learned it was a sandblow in Cooloola National Park where we would do our next big hike.

    In the rainforest, we heard lots of beautiful and funny bird calls. All kinds of repeating patterns overlapping in a sort of orchestra. Then, all of a sudden, something big was moving in the bushes, it hopped. A kangaroo! It was about Mats' shoulder height. It bolted, then stopped and stared at us from the top of the hill. Cool! Further on, we saw and heard a kookaburra, a large kingfisher bird, famous for its laughing or monkey noises (Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!). To top it off, at the end of the hike, as we were heading back to the car park, a few locals had spotted a small koala sitting up in a eucalyptus tree, just hanging out. So cool! It didn't do much, but it was pretty cute!

    What a day! We finished with a slurpee (cold slushy drink) and took the local bus back to our CouchSurfing home in Mooloolaba.    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 91

    Cooloola Cove - Hitchhiking

    September 28, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Through CouchSuring we found someone with a boat willing to take us along to Fraser Island, the adventure hotspot of the area. Here people 4WD (4 wheel drive) on the beaches, camp, hike through the bush, spot shark, etc. He suggested to do one of the Great Walks there. Because of the heat, however, there was a fire and hiking ban on the island!

    Plan B, what other Great Walk can we do that is still open? The best option, Great Sandy National Park, which is the mainland connected to Fraser. The trail start (Rainbow beach) was pretty remote with no good bus connections, so it would either be an expensive trip or take a really long time. So, our host suggested that we could try hitchhiking!

    We made two pretty hitchhiking signs, decked out with a Canadian and Dutch flag, and stuck out our thumbs. Two guys in a van stopped within 15 minutes. They weren't going where we were, but they took us to a ramp with much better chances of getting picked up. Thanks! Another 15 minutes later, a young guy pulled over with a learner's sticker. Braydyn just got off work and, since he just got his license, loved driving! So, he would take us wherever we needed to get to. Even though it was an hour one-way from Mooloolaba to Gympie! The least we could do was share our chocolate and pitch in for gas.

    When he dropped us off in Gympie, it was starting to get late so we figured we'd have to camp in the bush and get to Rainbow beach the following morning. But immediately, an older couple from Cooloola Cove stopped and picked us up. Steven and Debbie, who turned out to be the local postmen, took us all the way, treated us to some tea, fish and chips and even let us sleep at their place (they thought the idea of CouchSurfing sounded really cool!). In return, we helped them load up for their early morning magazine delivery.

    The next morning Debbie was kind enough to first drive us to Tin Can Bay where there was an official dolphin feeding spot at the Barnacles Dolphin Centre. We watched from the pier as people fed fish to the Australian Humpback Dolphins. This would only be 10% of their daily diet, so they don't become dependent on humans. A hungry pelican was eyeing up any stray fish he could snag, but the volunteers wouldn't let him. After the feeding was done, they were happy answering all our questions about this vulnerable species of dolphin. Cool!

    Further on, a young boy was fishing off the pier. And a stingray was gliding over the bottom of the boat launch. We were spotting cool animals left, right and center!    Read more

  • TravelerWorld Trip 2017-18
    Day 92

    Cooloola Great Walk - Great Sandy NP

    September 29, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    We got dropped off at the ranger cabin and permit center to start our first Great Walk. We were informed about the spiders, snakes, dingos and other exotic things that might harm us. And we got a good sense for the amount of water we should carry each day. You must book the campsites that you will stay at along the way, to make sure they're not overbooked, and so rangers can find you in case there is trouble. Because of the dry, hot weather, another fire/hiking ban would be implemented. We would have to be out within 4 days. But the hike we wanted to do was 5 days. Hmm... The ranger asked which campsite we wanted to skip. A 5-day, 90km hike in 4 days. We can do that, right? https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/great-walks-c…

    We set off for the first campsite. We saw lots of wildlife along the way; a small snake, some spiders hanging over the path and a large lace monitor (lizard). We were startled by the lace monitor at first. Will it attack us? Is it fast? It was busy eating something, so we were assured its belly was full and we cautiously tip-toed around it. We had a nice refreshing dive at Poona Lake. But 15 minutes later, a red belly snake swam out of the water! It was poisonous but luckily also as scared of us as we were of it. But besides the scary looking animals, we also saw lots of beautiful rainforest and heard lots of crazy bird calls, from the kookaburra ("oo-ah-ah-ah-ah") to the Eastern Whipbird ("feeeee-piew!"). At night, we were startled by every chirp and falling twig around the tent, but the long hike put us right out.

    The next days we walked through more rainforest, went up and down hills, and got our first views overlooking the vast forest canopy. We went through some different vegetation; eucalyptus trees, low shrubs and more dense rainforest. We walked under trees bearing 3kg pinecones, hikers beware! We crossed a big, parched grassland, into the valley of the Noosa River. Here we came across people canoeing. We had a nice little break before going straight up a sandy path to the Cooloola Sandpatch. We hiked a bit more this day, so the last day would be manageable.

    The Cooloola Sandpatch is a sandblow. It was formed 500,000 years ago, as coastal winds blew beach sand into valleys between the hills. It is still creeping along, as the tail gets covered by new vegetation. The Great Walk crossed the sandpatch in a straight line for one kilometer. Better get out the compass and make sure you're going the right way! We played in the sand dunes and wild-camped on the other side, between the last two official campsites (kind of cheated a bit!).

    The last day was long! We had to hike 27km. And ironically, although we were rushing out for the fire/hiking ban, it poured buckets that day. But a small break in the clouds allowed us to check out the peak of a nearby hill, with awesome views over the beaches and the nearby lakes. We had a 2km stretch over the beach. And walked the last few kms through the Arthur Harrold Nature Refuge. All of a sudden, something moved on the path ahead, two kangaroos! They stopped and stared at us for 10 minutes, and we stared right back. Awesome! They hopped around a bit but didn't get off the path. Finally, when we got a little closer, they bolted, bouncing across the high grasses. An awesome finale to a tough but exciting Great Walk!    Read more

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