ARGENTINA | Saturday, 15 Dec 2007 | Views [89]
Again the planning phase was all but useless. Well, that is not entirely true, since it's always a lot of fun for me. Nevertheless, after a short week in Chile, Antoinette and I are already headed to another country, when we were supposed to travel south ... Read more >
Tags: food & eating
CHILE | Friday, 23 Nov 2007 | Views [42]
There's no such thing as leaving again for a long trip. My European break is over and Antoinette and I have finally boarded a plane together. Two actually, since the majority of flights to south-America are leaving from Madrid. After a long but quite ... Read more >
Tags: on the road
SWITZERLAND | Wednesday, 24 Oct 2007 | Views [187] | Comments [1]
Not going to Switzerland while I was in Europe would have probably meant that my family would have put a contract on my head. A risk I wasn’t willing to take, especially since I love being there. Furthermore, the Expo de Coss happened to start ... Read more >
Tags: People
SWITZERLAND | Monday, 15 Oct 2007 | Views [182]
Every year, the Swiss Air Force is in action above the lake of Brienz in the Bernese Alps. The show is opened to the public for 2 days, during which the small village of Axalp is invaded by aerofanatics armed to their teeth with the latest and biggest ... Read more >
Tags: planes trains & automobiles
NETHERLANDS | Sunday, 23 Sep 2007 | Views [205]
As this trip has strayed far from the original plan, of which Australia wasn’t part, and has become much more consequent with a non-planned South American leg, budget considerations have to be taken into account. The stint Down Under has made a major ... Read more >
Tags: Budgets & money
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 19 Sep 2007 | Views [172] | Comments [1]
If the Ambassador adventure is now over, my trip altogether had not reached its end yet. After six weeks behind the wheel and more than 7‘200 km, I have reached my first Australian metropolitan area. With little more than a million and a half inhabitants, ... Read more >
Tags: sightseeing, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 12 Sep 2007 | Views [212] | Comments [2]
Watching Roger Federer win – again – the US Open happened to be the last thing I did as an Ambassador. The match was showing at 6:30 AM , and a straight set victory allowed me just enough time to check-out before 10 o’clock . But the experience ... Read more >
Tags: on the road, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Saturday, 8 Sep 2007 | Views [681]
The southern part of Western Australia has the reputation of become ablaze with wild flowers in spring time. Spring being not that far away, I have witnessed the prelude of Nature’s great symphony. The fields went from ochre to green, and progressively ... Read more >
Tags: the great outdoors, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Friday, 7 Sep 2007 | Views [176]
Here’s a classic that I haven’t read yet: Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote . From what I know about the story, Don Quixote has something against windmills. So, as I was approaching the town called Cervantes, I couldn’t help but wonder why this name ... Read more >
Tags: the great outdoors, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Tuesday, 4 Sep 2007 | Views [315] | Comments [2]
On the morning of November 16 th 1629, two men rowed ashore just south of modern day Kalbarri onboard the dingy of the Sardam , a jacht belonging to the VOC ( Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie ), the Dutch East-Indies Company. They were marooned ... Read more >
Tags: culture, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Sunday, 2 Sep 2007 | Views [183]
I left Shark Bay late one afternoon, and driving at night is not such a good idea. I’ve seen enough dead Kangaroos on the side of the road to add my own. In such cases, one can easily sleep in some special rest area that can be found at regular intervals.... Read more >
Tags: the great outdoors, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Tuesday, 28 Aug 2007 | Views [302]
In the early 17 th century, the Dutch were the masters of the sea trade. To reach their colonies on Java, they were rounding the Cape of Good Hope, and using the recently discovered “roaring forties” to go straight east, before heading north to Batavia, ... Read more >
Tags: culture, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Monday, 27 Aug 2007 | Views [301]
Like in Black Sheep’s old hip-hop song – Strobelite Honey? No? Stromatolites? The origin of life on earth? And they still exist? Those are the kind of arguments that easily convince me to make a detour, especially since this one’s on the way to Monkey ... Read more >
Tags: sightseeing, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Saturday, 25 Aug 2007 | Views [380] | Comments [1]
Since driving past Carnarvon, the scenery has become a bit greener, with some wild flowers adding some patches of colour here and there. Still, the road leading to Shark Bay is a detour of 130 km one way, and as I’m cruising along the straight black ... Read more >
Tags: sightseeing, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 22 Aug 2007 | Views [336]
There are places whose name only makes you want to visit them. Coral Bay is one of them, and it stands up to it. A dozen km off the main road, you stumble on a small resort town nestled on a gorgeous turquoise bay. There’s everything you might need, ... Read more >
Tags: scams & robberies, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Monday, 20 Aug 2007 | Views [306]
Here’s an expression that has a double meaning, but when used in its original sense, it can be an unforgettable experience. This one started some times ago with a friend of mine, while sipping a bottle of good wine. Having visited Australia before, ... Read more >
Tags: the great outdoors, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Friday, 17 Aug 2007 | Views [1522] | Comments [1]
Now this one might be truly appreciated only by the Australians and the Swiss. The Australians because, after meeting so many of you guys on the road saying that Vegemite was damn’ good mate , I finally had a chance to try it. And the Swiss ones ... Read more >
Tags: food & eating, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 15 Aug 2007 | Views [320]
So the Kimberleys were ruled out for me and I didn’t want to dwell on it. The decision was made, I had to move on. Destination Broome, and along the way, I figured I could still see a few things, like the towns of Wyndham or Derby at both ends of ... Read more >
Tags: culture, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Tuesday, 14 Aug 2007 | Views [490] | Comments [1]
On the morning of March 3 rd 1942, Russian WWI ace Ivan Smirnov took off from Bandung on the island of Java, at that time part of the Dutch East Indies. Just before leaving, he was handed a small package wrapped in brown paper, with the instructions ... Read more >
Tags: lost!, ambassador van
AUSTRALIA | Thursday, 9 Aug 2007 | Views [270]
In this part of Australia, the beaten path is quite clear. It's the one and only main road and everything you want to see is somewhere off that road, sometimes a hundred kilometres out or more. And that’s where my problem starts, since a large majority ... Read more >
Tags: misadventures, ambassador van
1 2 Next >
