• Eric Schaefer

Epic World

Een 125-daags avontuur van Eric Meer informatie
  • Melbourne, Australia

    11 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Melbourne is a great city. It was very reminiscent of Toronto. We started the day by walking up to State Library Victoria which is located in a grand old building which doubles in part as a museum. Our city walking tour followed which started right outside our building. The city is known for its culture, music and food and is riddled with old impressive buildings. Melbourne grew to the city it now is as a result of two very wealthy periods related to gold rushes. The tour lasted 3 hours and took us to all of the highlights. The city is well laid out, very walkable, and you can take a free tram around the city centre. There is a really cool alley/lane way culture that has developed. The unused alleys have been filled with interesting cafes, bars and restaurants. We enjoyed a beer at Hell's Kitchen overlooking Centre Lane watching the busy pedestrian traffic below. We also explored the botanical garden, Olympic Park and docklands on our own.

    A clean hotel room to go back to was a nice treat for both nights. The price was about the same price as a private hostel room. Our only let down was our dinner selection. We ate out both nights and were disappointed by our selection.
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  • Port Stephens, Australia

    12 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We caught a flight back to Sydney to and picked up our campervan. The van feels like home sweet home. It appears we got an upgrade and have an automatic van with AC. It’s got a little more acceleration than the last van. We hit the road next and drove for 3 hours to get outside of the city. The distances between cities are definitely like being back in Canada. We freedom camped in a small park at Sawyers Point, Karuah on a river near Port Stephens. The park had no camping signs but it was filled with other campervans so we stay the night. Our van is also not a self-contained vehicle and dumps grey water from the sink on the ground. I find that very strange.Meer informatie

  • Port Macquarie

    13 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today ended up being a really nice day. Windy, but packed full of short scenic walks. We started the day touring around Port Stephens harbour and climbed a nearby summit lookout. The wind was so strong it could blow you over. We followed walk by a drive to Myall lake national park for another walk that took along a pristine sandy dune beach and up another summit with great views of the surrounding coast line. This summit actually got quite steep. Along the coast you could see beautiful beach after beautiful beach. Too bad it wasn’t a little warmer out or we would go swimming.

    Back on the road we headed to Port Macquarie for a picture perfect sunset. You can drink alcohol in the parks here so we brought some beer and snacks as we watched the sunset. Pokemon go is also huge here and it is funny to watching all the people wandering around trying to catch Pokemon on the smart phones.
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  • Dorrigo

    14 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    We parked at a truck stop last night. A little sketchy but no issues. We have found that freedom camping isn’t as good as New Zealand. Fewer spots and less signage. On route to Byron Bay we took a detour to Dorrigo Rainforest Centre for a 7km walk. The walk was way better than expected. The forest is a UNSECO world heritage site and the 3rd biggest rainforest in Australia. The trail wound around giant trees with vines hanging in every which way. It looked like perfect setting for Tarzan. We also say lots of wildlife from birds to kangaroos. Would you believe these were the first Kangaroos we have seen after 3 weeks in Australia? To top it off, the trail took us past two large waterfalls.

    Heading back we stopped at the small town Bellingen to stroll the streets. It’s a well-kept old town with lots of character. As the guide book said, it was hippy without the dippy. The food at some of the restaurants looks so good it was hard not stop for a bite. We continued on to Coffs Harbour for a short walk to Mutton Island. Outside of July and August this island would been chalk full of birds but none were to be seen on our visit. We actually preferred our visit to Port McQuarrie. Coffs Harbour was a little underwhelming. On the way out of town we drove up to a Skywalk lookout which took us past banana central. Grooves and grooves of banana plantation fill the area.

    Back on the road we continued on to the next rest stop for the night. We stayed at an interesting rest stop called New Italia which had a museum and a group of Italian immigrants that settled here. It was still basically a truck stop as we were meters away from the highway.
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  • Bryon Bay

    15 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    A short 1 hour drive through the hinterland and we were cruising the streets of Byron Bay. This is the epitome of a surf town. However, it is so popular and full of tourists and locals that it is not a cheap place. We strolled the streets and popped in and out of surf shops. We were hoping to surf again but the weather didn’t look optimistic. We took a really nice walk out to the nearby lighthouse which followed the coast line. The water was still packed full of surfers and we enjoyed watching them catch some waves.

    Feeling a little thirsty, we headed to the Wood & Stone Brewery for a flight of beers. I think this is my favourite brewery we have tried. Every sample we had was delicious. Much better than the 30 pack of Victoria Bitter we bought for the van.

    There are no local freedom camping spots so we stayed at a campervan park for the night. It cost about $40 for the night.
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  • Brisbane

    16 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It was a grey and overcast day so we bummed around Byron Bay for the morning and stopped by the Library. We decided to continue on to Brisbane as we were getting restless. The rain started shortly after and lasted late into the night. We followed the Golden Coast on route to Brisbane and drove through Burleigh Heads and Surfers Paradise…more beachside towns. We didn’t bother to stop and look around in the rain. They were very touristy. We found an RV park just outside Brisbane to spend the night.Meer informatie

  • Brisbane

    17 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The plan for today was to follow a lonely planet walking guide around Brisbane. We got half through the walk when we stumbled across a busy riverside event with food, music and talks. We wandered through and stopped for an interesting talk on permaculture and sustainable food growth. It added to our idea of wanting to try and grow some more of our own vegetables when we are back home. We continued our detour from our walk and headed to the Archive Beer Boutique and The Burrow for some craft beer and food. Feeling a little full, we finish off the city walk to burn some calories. Brisbane has a wide river winding through its downtown core which is surrounded by walking parks and botanical gardens. The parkland is very accessible with pleasant walking. Brisbane is a very livable city. Unfortunately, we ran out of time in the end of day and didn’t get to visit the Kola Sanctuary.Meer informatie

  • Glass House Mountains

    18 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We headed to D’Aguilar National Park for a leisurely 12km walk. The walk lead us through thick forest and was supposed to pass a scenic lookout at the half way mark. The clouds unfortunately never lifted and we were stuck with thick mist and staring into a blank white void.

    Our original plan after the walk was to backtrack to the Gold Coast amusement parks as the weather was supposed to be warmer. We opted to scrap this plan and continue and head towards the Glasshouse Mountains for some better hiking. On the way we saw signs for the Australian Zoo and thought that would be a good alternative to the amusement parks on the morrow. There are a few good hikes around the Glasshouse Mountains and rock climbing. We lucked out and had just enough light left in the day to summit Mt. Ngungun (253 m). It was only 30 minute walk to the top but the views were brilliant. The glass mountain are singular rock formations kind of like large sea stacks in the middle of flat farm land so the views of the other mountains, farmland and ocean stretch to the horizon. It seems the route we did is also a popular running track. At the end of the day we finally found a great free campsite in Australia. We’ll probably stay here a couple nights.
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  • Australia Zoo

    19 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Crikey! Look at all those Crocs. Today was a great day at the Australian Zoo. Really it’s more like the Steve Irwin Zoo which he helped create before his unfortunate accident with a giant sting ray. The zoo pays him tribute and really educates you about crocs. We watched 6 talks throughout the day about various animals at the zoo. The highlight talk is the 12pm Crocoseum (how do you like the name?) which features trained birds that fly overhead, snakes being paraded around and of course a crocodile feeding. The presenters all had over the top personalities like the crocodile hunter and you could tell they loved their job. To make the zoo even better, they had kangaroo, kola, and bird walk through areas. You walk right through their habitat and can pet and feed the animals. I would put this zoo up there with the San Diego Zoo in terms of best zoos. There aren’t as many animals but is well laid out and the talks really show how well these animals are being taken care of. From what I could tell, most of the animals in the zoo were either injured in the wild or rescued before being exterminated. We thought we would only stay a couple of hours but we end up staying from opening to close.Meer informatie

  • Noosa Heads

    20 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    On our visit to the Glasshouse Mountains information center we had learned about another hike up to the summit of Mount Tibrogargan that was only recommended for experienced climbers. Not knowing what that really meant we were both intrigued. We headed out this morning and got to the base of the hike which had many signs warning of danger and risk of death. The lady at the visitors center had mentioned that a lot of people have to get rescued on this climb because they get scared on the descent. Continuing on we started our ascent. The first part was an easy rocky path that switch backed up the first 100m. After that we hit the fun section. It was near vertical climbing for a few short sections. It was actually really easy climbing so there was no real risk but we got a good work out on the ascent. From the top we had even better views of the surrounding Glasshouse Mountains. There were 2 higher peaks that we could see in the distance that we would have loved to climb but both of the trails were closed for safety reasons. One of the mountains had a really interest shape. It was like a long narrow cylinder jutting out of the ground. We learned this was a volcano plug. It had once stopped a volcano flow and now the volcano had eroded away leaving the singular standing plug remained.

    Glasshouse Mountains completed it was time to move on. We stopped at a fruit market on the way that had the best prices on strawberries we have seen so we picked up a pint. We found a Noosa Heads lookout point for lunch and continued on to Noosa where we hit the beach for a couple hours of relaxing. The water was actually warm enough for a dip without a wetsuit. The waves weren’t great so we didn’t rent a surf board. To finish off our time in Noosa we completed a 7km loop in Noosa National Park which led us through the forest and back around via the coast line. A nice walk with a beautiful sunset. Good way to end the day.
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  • Noosa Everglades

    21 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Happy Birthday to me! A nice relaxing day spent paddling the Noosa Everglades. We set out from Elanda point and had a nice 4hr paddle plus a lunch stop. The route started in a large shallow lake which led to a narrow deep river surrounded by everglades. Surprisingly we didn’t see much wildlife. No crocs in this area but we did read signs warning not to swim in the river as sharks frequented the area. The tannins in the water also created mirror like reflection in the calm waters which made great photos. It was nice to be back in a boat paddling. This location would also have been great for a multi-day hiking or paddling trip if we had more time. There was a popular sandy dune beach that could only be accessed by 4wd or hiking. We decided to check out the sandy dunes from our next stop in rainbow beach.Meer informatie

  • Rainbow Beach

    22 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After a 2 hour morning drive we arrived at Rainbow Beach. It was tiny little beach town with a long beach and lots of sand dunes. We started the day with a walk to the local sand blow. A sand blow is basically a slow moving giant sand patch that is feed by the sands on the beach. As it moves it covers plants and kills them. Sand boarding is popular at this site but we didn’t learn that till later. We then headed to the local surf shop to check on the conditions. The beach front surfing wasn’t great but they offered a tour that took us out to Double Island Point which had slightly better waves. We hopped in a 4wd and they drove down the beach for 20 minutes. It was a fun drive cruising down the beach at 80km/hr watching the surf crash next to us and the coloured sand dunes on our right. When we arrived people hopped out and started grabbing gear and running off in all directions. We were a little confused as the guide hadn’t given us any direction. We when finally got to the surfboards there was only one left. What the hell! The guide wasn’t much help as he had to run off and do a lesson but he gave me a tiny board. We were pretty pissed off but not wanting to waste the day we headed out for a couple hours of surfing. The tiny sport board was useless in these conditions as the waves weren’t big enough. So we switch back and forth on the beginner board and still had a fun time. We are getting the hang of standing up. It was such a nice spot it was hard to stay mad and we did get some refund in the end.Meer informatie

  • Fraser Island

    24 juli 2016, Coral Sea ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Our Fraser Island Adventures started today. We booked a 2 day tour on Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the world’s biggest sand island. When you say it like that it sounds like it is going to be a giant sand dune which it is but it is also covered in vegetation and fresh water lakes. 200 people also live on the island. We hopped on a ferry and met up with our group on the island. The group consisted of British, Italians, Germans and a couple from Netherlands. It was a fun group and we bonded as the tour progressed. Our guide was also an interesting fellow. He had lived on the island for over 20 years and was a professional photographer and ecologist so he had so much Island knowledge. He had been featured it National Geographic and has done talks across Europe. To add to that he was also hilarious and made the trip really entertaining. All the tracks through the island are deep sand tracks so you needed a 4wd to get around. Our first stop on the tour lake a McKenzie, a beautiful turquoise blue fresh water lake. The sand is so old around this lake it has a pristine white colour. We had a nice long break for swimming and sun followed by lunch. In the afternoon we went for 2 short hikes and visited another lake. To finish off the day we headed to the beach for a beautiful sunset. The evening was filled with dinner, drinks and it also happened to be trivia night, our favourite!Meer informatie

  • Fraser Island

    24 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    Early to rise as there was a lot to see today. We had a long drive out to the champagne pools on the other side of the island. Along the way we had a quick stop to check out a sand blow and then continued on the sand track down to the beach. The beach front is just like an island highway of fine packed sand. Driving on the sand can be quite tricky and takes lots of experience with hidden potholes and deep sand to get stuck in. Along the beach we took a quick stop to let a pilot on the bus who gave us a sales pitch about a scenic flight. Rebecca had been dying to do a scenic flight and the price was decent so we were sold and went for a spin. It was really cool. The plane was a small 6 seater. You took off and landed on the beach. We flew over the island and ocean banking hard and circling when we saw whales. You could clearly see whales in the shallows. It was such a great perspective. Back on shore we landed by an old ship wreck and rejoined our group. We headed up the beach for some photos at The Pinnacles which had some interesting coloured sand. Our guide also took a couple great jumping photos. Finally we arrived at the champagne pools and spent an hour swimming and sunning. On route to our next destination we stopped for a quick lunch and continued onto Indian Head. Indian head is an interesting location as it is one of the few rocky outcrops on the island. It’s about 100 feet high and sea life flock to this location. Sometimes you can see nothing here but as it happened we had one of the best viewings in our guide’s history. To start, a giant school of a thousand plus fish swam by. They were shortly chased off by a group of small sharks. A larger tiger shark then entered the mix looking for some food. In the distances we could see large humped back whales popping up to breathe as they move closer to our location. Next a friendly giant green turtle cruised on past. To top off the viewing, the giant school of fish returned and dolphins came swimming in from every which directions to attack the school of fish which had to swim into shore to get away, What a show!!! There was a least 20 dolphins chasing the school and rounding it up. It was like a David Attenborough special live. After all that excitement we headed on to Eli Creek for a lazy river float in an inner tube. A fresh water river that carried you 100m over the white sands. On the way back to the lodge we stopped to see how muscles bury themselves in the sand. To show off our guide also took us on one of the most feared tracks on the island. Renowned for being very narrow and scared most other guides he whipped around turns and corners at mere inches from trees all while playing classic Indiana Jones theme music. To finish off we headed to the hot tub for a good soak before dinner. The whole bus fit in so it was a good send off. We caught last ferry back to the mainland at the end of a great 2 days.Meer informatie

  • Arlie Beach

    25 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A long driving day on route to Arlie beach (7+ hours). We did make one long pit stop in Agnes Beach. The waves were unfortunately too small to surf so we walked the beach and just relaxed on the sand before heading back on the road. It was still a long drive to Arlie so after a few more hours of driving we stopped for the night a free camping spot.Meer informatie

  • Arlie Beach

    26 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The long drive continued throughout the morning and we arrived in Arlie Beach in the early afternoon. Arlie Beach is the jumping off point for the Whitsundays. It is a hot tourist bed of sailing and boating adventures. Getting out on a sailing boat during our 6 month getaway was on my list of must dos and this was the perfect place to do it. We booked a one night sail on Siska, which happens to be Rolly Tasker’s 1978 Sydney to Hobart unofficial winner.

    After sorting out the details, we strolled the town and found a bar for some good old fashioned beer and nachos. The weather has finally started to get warmer as we have moved north. We were able to lay out on the beach for an hour and the ocean was a beautiful temperature.

    Finding an RV site was actually challenging. We visited 3 sites before we found availability which was important because we were in high need of a laundry mat.
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  • Whitsundays

    27 juli 2016, Great Barrier Reef ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Our sailing adventure started today. It was a beautiful sunny day with a good breeze (maybe 25 knots). The sails were hoisted shortly after leaving the dock and we had a good couple hour sail on the way to our first swimming spot. The boat had 3 crew (captain, deck hand and cook) and 22 guests. There were no private bunks onboard but Rebecca and I did score the v-birth which was a bit more private. The group was made up of Americans, Germans and British. We got along really well with one British couple who were doing a similar extended trip filled with trekking excursions. It was BYOB boat and I can imagine it could get pretty rowdy with the right crowd but our group was pretty low key.

    Our first stop was a sheltered bay for a quick dip before lunch. We learned all about stingers (jelly fish) that could do you some serious harm and we had to wear stinger suits. The stinger suits were like a very thin wet suit. The water was actually a bit on the chilly side so the swim was only brief. We enjoyed some lunch then continued on to Whitehaven. Whitehaven beach is world renowned beach for its pristine white sand. They claim it is some of the oldest sand in the world. There was a short walk to a lookout that we enjoyed before lounging on the beach for the afternoon.

    We picked up anchor and continued on to our anchorage for the night. It was a pleasant evening but the winds were still up and we weren’t completely sheltered. The motion at anchor bothered Rebecca’s stomach a little and neither of us slept very well.
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  • Whitsundays

    28 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Another beautiful day on the water. We started off the day with a little snorkeling. The water was still a little cold so it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could be but it was still fun swimming through all the school of fish. I got to throw some fish food in the water and watch the swarms of fish dart around the swimmers. It was actually a short warm up for our next intro to diving stop. Thankfully we had wetsuits on this time. The intro dive was a short 15 minute dive down to 5-10m. It was actually a ton of fun. I had done diving lessons in a pool previously but being out in the ocean was way better than I imagined. It’s too bad Rebecca has ear troubles when diving or we might have done a lot more on the trip.

    We rejoined the boat and continued on to a small beach peninsula for our last stop. Another hour of lounging before we sailed home.

    The wind had been cranking all day long and was blowing about 35 knots. We had an incredible sail home. The gunwales where submerged and there was tons of water over the bow. It was a fast, wet and fun ride.

    On the boat and Fraser Island we had heard a lot about Magnetic Island and decided to go there next. Once on land, we hit the road to get a few more kilometers north before it got too late.
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  • Magnetic Island

    29 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We finished the drive to Townsville in the morning and hopped on a boat to Magnetic Island. It was short one hour ferry. The island is big enough and populated enough that there is actually a public bus on the island. It is popular to rent small electric cars to get around the island but we elected to take the bus to our hostel. We had brought our tent along to camp which I was happy to get one more use out of before we sent it home. Our accommodations at Bungalow Bay Kola Village had a good location and were only a short walk to restaurants, beaches and hiking trail. We headed to Horseshoe Bay for the afternoon for Lunch and lounged on the beach with our books. The weather was a perfect temperature with clear blue skies.

    In late afternoon we headed in the opposite direction to Arcadia in search of a bar that offered toad races. This is a popular attraction on this island where people race toads down the bar. We found a good little 1hr hiking trail to get us there but the mosquitos were out and force. Unfortunately, we had also read the sign wrong and the races were another night so we settled for dinner and a couple games of pool.
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  • Magnetic Island

    30 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We packed up our tent and left it at reception. Would you believe it, after 3 months of travelling we lost one of the tent poles? Good thing we are done with camping. Our plan was to spend the morning hiking. It was another beautiful clear sky day and we headed to our first trail the Forts Walk. This trail took us up to an old fort that had amazing views of the surrounding island and bays. A bonus on the island is there are lots of kolas. You just have to keep your eyes peeled. We ended up spotting a couple thanks to markers left by others. We continued on our walk and did a little beach hopping through Florence Bay, Gowrie Bay, Radical Bay, Balding Bay. We stopped for a quick swim and some lounging at each bay. With our circuit completed we hopped back on the bus to the ferry and returned to the main land. We continued on north towards Tully.Meer informatie

  • Tully River

    31 juli 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    On route to Cairns, we stopped for our second white water rafting adventure of the trip. This is a popular day trip from Cairns. The tour was run by Raging Thunder and took us down grade 3 & 4 rapids on Tully River. Again we both had an amazing time. This river felt very different than prior rafting trip. The prior trip was fast moving water with few obstacles; this river was filled with giant boulders that you had to dodge. It was a like obstacle course going down the river. On one rapid you actually run head first into a boulder and use it to slow yourself down and bounce off in the correct direction. We were actually surprised to learn that a bunch tourist’s actually died on this river back in 2007. The story behind it was related to poor guiding and the practice were subsequently put in place to improve the standards but it still wakes you up to the dangers of the river. Luckily we got through with no issues and had a great experience.Meer informatie

  • Cairns

    1 augustus 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    What’s a trip to Cairns without visiting the Great Barrier Reef? Rebecca had issues will scuba diving previously so we opted for a snorkeling tour. We hopped onto a fast catamaran with about 50 other people and spent an hour speeding out to the reef. We had two 1 hour snorkeling sessions at different reefs. It’s incredible how beautiful and clear it is. The reef is filled with so much colour and movement and fish of all shapes and sizes. The tour provided a snorkeling guide in the water who you could follow. We tried at first but eventually just explored on your own. I would go back to do it again in a second.

    We headed back to a great free site that we found that was only 30 minutes outside of Cairns at the Gordonvale Rest Area.
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  • Cairns

    2 augustus 2016, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We did a great morning hike up Walsh’s Pyramid. Three false summits and an interesting conversation with a local and we made to the summit in 2hrs. We were definitely starting to feel the heat by the time we reached the top and were sweating buckets by the time we made it back to the van. To cool down we headed over to Cascade Creek. Cascade Creek is a great swimming spot just outside of downtown Cairns. It’s a slow moving river that runs down a canyon and has multiple waterfalls and deep pools for swimming swim.

    Back at the van we noticed a big crack in the windshield. It started from a pre-existing chip. Hope this isn’t going to cost us. We finished off the day with burgers and beers in Cairns.
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  • Mossman Gorge

    3 augustus 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We extended our Van rental for a couple of days so we could make a final trip up to Port Douglas and
    Mossman Gorge. It was a nice drive along the coast. Mossman Gorge is at the tip of the Daintree National Park. There is short rainforest loop walk that runs along a river. After finishing the loop and a brief swim we continued onto Port Douglas. Port Douglas was a cute little vacation town that reminded me of Florida. It has one main drag with lots of shops and restaurants and lots of retirees. At either end of the drag there were great beaches because you’re on a peninsula. We enjoyed our last day in Australia. Heading back towards Cairns we stayed at Rifle Creek Rest Area which was probably the best free site we stayed at in Australia.Meer informatie

  • Cairns

    4 augustus 2016, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    The morning was spent packing and cleaning the van. We are saying goodbye to our 100L duffle bag and shipping it back to Canada by slow boat. Good riddance, this will lighten our load a lot! No need for most of our camping gear here on out. We’ll likely be back in Canada before it arrives.

    We settled up with our van and were able to talk our way out of a surcharge on the windshield crack. What a relief, more money for beer in Indonesia. Off to Indonesia we go!
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