Where are we, and where are we going?

Hello friends and family! We’ve listed here a brief synopsis of our daily travels, and attempted to predict the future, which you may notice changes frequently.

Where are we?

4 May, 2016 Land in Reykjavic and get right on the road in rental car to see the Golden Circle. Sleep at Airbnb in the city.
5-6 May: London
7-20 May: staying with Nick and Louise in Louth. Including a few lovely days in Liverpool, but mostly experiencing charming Lincolnshire, sorting out our car(s), and setting up for the trip.
20-22 May: Camping in the Kent Downs in southern England, fussing about and obsessing over the wittle lambs, goats, chickens, and horses.
23 May: Crossed the Channel from Dover, UK, to Dunkirk, France. Camping and touristing in Bruges, Belgium, a medieval town with lovely canals
24-25 May: Two nights camping in a funky campground in the sketchy/trendy/derelicte Eastern Docks area of Amsterdam, including a day of super intense walking tourism in Amsterdam
26 May: Camping in Giethoorn, Netherlands, a little village accessible only by boat. Putted about on one of said boats the morning of the 27th, and took a 30k bike ride that arvo.
27 May: Stayed with Zsofi, Eve’s college roommate and lovely person, in the heart of Brussels, Belgium. Touristing ensued.
29 May: In Bortogne, Brussels. On the way to Bouillon tonight for camping and a meander in the pretty village. Visited the impactful war museum in Bastogne.
30 May: In Thionville, France – diverted due to flooding. Visited ancient fort in Bouillon (Belgium) as well as Luxembourg City.
31 May: Hospital in Nancy, and camping in Wasselonne, France.
1 June: Camping in Obernai, France. Day in wine region, and took a tour of the Fort de Mutzig.
2 June: Staying in Riquewihr, France (Alsace). Spent the day driving the Route des Vins, including a market in Obernai.
3 June: A walk around Riquewihr in the day, then drove to Cully, a small town on the shores of Lake Geneva. Camped next to the lake.
4 June: The mountains above Lake Geneva, Switzerland – gondola ride, hiking, Gruyere fondue in Gruyeres, and a hot outdoor pool complex.
5 June: A day touristing in Lyon, France and staying with my old friend Berangere
6 June: Working day in Lyon (laundry, sim cards, etc), staying in Beran’s apartment
7 June: In Le Puy-En-Velay, France
8 June: Another night in Le Puy-en-Velay
9 June: long drive down to Cahors, France
10 June: Day of driving. Stopped to camp en route to Pau, France
11 June: Visit to Pau and camping in Arudy, France, at the foothills of the Pyrenees
12 June: Hike and baths in the Pyrenees (Col D’Aubisque and Cauterets). Camped in Cauterets.
13 June: Drive to San Sebastian, Spain, and stay in guesthouse after a day of pintxos
14 June: Hike in Urrederra, Basque Country. Camp in Lasierra, Spain
15 June: Camp in Segovia, Spain
16 June: a day of Russian visa-getting in Madrid. Camp in city.
17 June: a day in the Russian visa centre. Yay.
18 June: Night in Córdoba – flamenco on the square
19 June: Touristing in Córdoba, night in Córdoba campground.
20 June: Drive to beach campground and laze about.
21 June: “Secluded” beach overrun by Spanish army. Night at beach campground
22 June: Beach morning and day walk around Cadiz. Stayed at ok campground in Chiclana de la Frontera.
23 June: Beach campground near Malaga
24 June: Beach campground near Malaga
25 July: Beach campground near Malaga
26 July: Drive to Granada
27 July: Day of touristing in Granada
28 July: Drive to Valor (small white village in Sierra Nevadas) to stay with Nick and Louise
29 July: drive to Madrid for our Russian visa
30 July: drive to Barcelona, camp by beach
1 July: long day of Gaudi touristing in Barcelona
2 July: drive to Southern France, beach campground
3 July: beach campground in Southern France
4 July: Drive up through the Camargue (southern France) to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.
5 July: Hike in the Gorge du Verdon, and stay in Palud-sur-Verdon.
6 July: Go canyoning near the Gorge du Verdon. Stay in Palud-sur-Verdon.
7 July: Drive from the mountains, through Monaco, to Genoa. Stay in Genoa.
8 July: Look around Genoa. Stay in Levanto, a seaside town near Cinque Terre.
9 July: Hike around Cinque Terre and sleep at a campground in Florence.
10 July: Stay at campground in Siena
11 July: Camp at farm near small town of Pitigliano
12 July: Look around Pitiliagno area and stay at farm again
13 July: Camp at Pompeii to visit Herculanuem, Pompeii, and Vesuvius
14 July: Camp at Salvatore’s in Campania en route to Venice
15 July: Night tourism in Venice and stay at campground by the water
16 July: Stay at lovely campground near Skocjan, Slovenia
17 July: Hike to Skocjan Caves and spend another night there
18 July: Camp near Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
19 July: Camp near Zadar, Croatia
20 July: Camp near Krka national park
21 July: Camp near Trogir, Croatia – near Trogir
22 July: Camp near Dubrovnik, Croatia
23 July: Drive into Bosnia and Hercegovina and stay at a campground in the Srpska Republic area of the country
24 July: Border crossing from Bosnia to Serbia. Staying in a hotel (gasp!) in ski area of Divcibare
25 July: Staying with Rads, Leah, Peter and and their wives in Novi Sad, Serbia
26 July: Another night in Novi Sad, Serbia
27 July: Pick up my Mom and Dad in Zagreb, Croatia! YAY!
28 July: Near Lake Bled, Slovenia, with Mom and Dad
29 July: Bovec, Slovenia with Mom and Dad
30 July: Another night in Bovec
31 July: Visit family friends in Bad Haring, Austria with Mom and Dad
1 August: Bad Haring
2 August: Travel to Salzburg, Austria with Mom and Dad
3 August: Vienna, Austria with Mom and Dad
4 August:Another night in Vienna
5 August: Budapest with Mom and Dad, and Julia, Bill, and lil’ Henry
6 August: Budapest
7 August: Budapest – Mom and Dad leave in the morning. Drive to Romania to meet Rach and Manny! Stay with Manny’s parents, Maria and Garby, in Oradea, Romania
8 August: Hang out with the fam in Oradea, Romania. Much needed rest.
9 August: Oradea
10 August: Oradea
11 August: Oradea
12 August: Oradea
13 August: Romanian road trip with Rach and Manny! First stop: The Bear Cave, near Oradea, and then stay at a hotel in Brad
14 August: Touristing on the way down south towards Retezat National Park. Stay at a mushroom farm in Sarmizegetusa.
15 August: Massive hike in Retezat National Park, and another night at the mushroom place.
16 August: Drive back to Oredea.
17 August: Oradea
18 August: Our last night in Oradea
19 August: Drive away from Romania, through Hungary and Slovakia. Camp in a large wooded site in southern Poland.
20 August: Checked out Krakow, including Schindler’s factory.
21 August: Lunch in Warsaw. Night at a campground in rural north-east Poland, near Augustow.
22 August: Drove through Lithuania. Night at convention centre campground in Riga, Latvia
23 August: Checked out Riga, Latvia. Night in a small village in Latvia, where we tried to camp but ended up staying in a guesthouse due to language issues.
24 August: Made it over the Russian border, at Luhamaa! Whoo hoo! Night at a hotel in Pechory, Moscow.
25 August: Checked out Pechory Monastery. Free camping on the Latvia-Moscow highway
26 August: Night at a hotel in Ostashkov, Russia.
27 August: Took at boat ride to an island monastery on Lake Seliger. Night at hotel in Torzhok, Russia
28 August: Car troubles – belts blow off. Staying at a fancy-shmancy hotel in Moscow (for the safe parking)
29 August: Apply for Mongolian visa and take the car to the Mitsubishi dealership. Another night in Moscow.
30 August: Tourist at the Moscow Kremlin. Pick up Mongolian visa. Drive out of Moscow and stay at a roadside motel on the way to Nizhny Novgorod
31 August: Stayed at a hotel in Nizhny Novgorod, Russi
1 Sep: Stayed at a hotel in Kazan, Russia, and checked out the town’s kremlin
2 Sep: Convinced an hotel in Abdulino, Russia, to let us stay.
3 Sep: Free camped in a rainy spot near the Kazakh border
4 Sep: Cross the Kazakh border. Pass through Aktobe and free camp on the side of the road.
5 Sep: Still lots and lots of driving to get to Astana. Another night of free camping.
6 Sep: In Astana
7 Sep: In Astana. Applied for our Chinese visas.
8 Sep: In Astana. Lots of errands – get tires, car parts, haircuts, etc.
9 Sep: In Astana. Picked up our Chinese visas and Luke has car repair adventure with Beksan. The first day of Kim and Doug’s wedding back home, which we are devastated to have missed.
10 Sep: Tried to leave Astana, instead ingested petrol and spent the night at the house of Andrei and Tamara in Akmole, Kazakhstan.
11 Sep: Free camping at a windy spot on the way between Astana and Pavlodar.
12 Sep: Spent the night in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
13 Sep: Spent the night free camping outside of Semey, Kazakhstan.
14 Sep: Spent the morning in Semey, doing internet. Crossed the border into Russia. Stay in a hotel in Rubtsovsk, Russia
15 Sep: Stupided our way out of a ticket on route to Biysk. Night at truckie hotel under television tower in Biysk, Russia
16 Sep: Drove down the Chusky Trakt in Altai Mountains, Russia. Took ski lift and camped at campground near Katun River.
17 Sep: More Chusky Trakt. Free camped near Kupchegan.
18 Sep: Last day on the Chusky Trakt. Stayed at boarding house in Kosh-Agach near Mongolian border.
19 Sep: Mongolian border. Horrible half-night in Tsagaanuur and half night in ger camp in Olgii.
20 Sep: Another day in Olgii, recovering in the ger camp
21-25 Sep: Drive through Mongolia, via the South Route, to Ulaanbaatar
Blank spots to fill in! Oops! Including Ullaanbaatar and Gobi trip.
October 9: Drive from Ulaanbaatar to Erenhot. Met our group and stayed the night at a hotel in the Mongolian border town
October 10: Crossed the border from Mongolia to China, night in Chinese side of Erenhot
October 11: Another night in Erenhot while waiting for our paperwork to be ready.
October 12: Night at Ulan Qab
October 13: Drive to the Great Wall at Badaling and visit in the afternoon. Stay at a hotel near Badaling.
October 14: Drive to Beijing early in the morning, first street food egg wrap, train into the city, visit Forbidden City and hutongs. Great street food while we wait to be rejected at various hotels.
October 15: Drive to Datong. Visited Yunang Grottoes. First night camping with the group, got moved by authorities once set up.
October 16: Went off track to see the Hanging Temple, followed by drive to Pingyao. Walk around Pingyao at night and stay at magical courtyard hotel.
October 17: More walking around Pingyao. Drive to Shaolin Temple area.
October 18: Lounge around in hotel while everyone else visited Shaolin. Drive to Luoyang.
October 19: Lounge around while one group went to Longmen Grottoes. Drove to Xi’an. Stay in Xi’an at Terracotta Warriors carpark.
October 20: Visit the Terracotta Warriors and Xi’an town. Beer garden, traumatic massages, and Snack Street. Stay in Xi’an again.
October 21: Drive to Guangyuan and spend the night there.
October 22: Drive to Chengdu. Visit Chengdu ethnographic museum. Drive to Panda parking lot and camp there.
October 23: Visit Pandas! Drive to Chengdu CBD. Visit the biggest mall ever. Hotpot with Bully.
October 24: Drive to Leshan and see the Giant Buddha. Camp in parking lot across the river from Jens’ childhood home. Meet Jens’ Dad.
October 25: Can’t get through the toll at Xichang. Spend the night in a hotel on a busy street. Luke went out to BBQ with Jens and Jo got cupping.
October 26: Finally drive to Lugu Lake (Next Day Lake). Arrive late in the afternoon and camp by the lake.
October 27: Faffed about lake while Jo touristed with the Belgians. Took scooters around the lake. Stayed at hotel near lake.
October 28: Visited Buddhist temple by Lugu Lake and drive by the Yangtze River to Lijiang. Walk around crowded old town.
October 29: Retreat to the much more lovely Baisha while everyone drives to Dali. Meet them at Dali and have a group dinner at a restaurant near the old town.
October 30: Lounge in the hotel in the morning. Drive to Stone Forest and stay in hotel.
October 31: Stone forest visit. Stay for second night at hotel near carpark.
1 November: Stay at youth hostel in Jianshui. Karaoke night!
2 November: Drive with Arne and Jenny to the logging town of Gejiu. Attempt to find KFC. Stay at hotel together.
3 November: Partially retrace our steps to meet the group for a night in Lijiang (not the same Lijiang as before)
4 November: Drive about 1.5 hours from the border and stay there for the night.
5 November: Go through the border to Laos. Drive a short distance to Luang Namtha with most of the group, and stay there at some bungalows
6 November: Surprisingly long drive down to Luang Prabang. Stay at nice resort.
7 November: Lounging day at nice resort in Luang Prabang.
8 November: Drop Jo off at the airport in Luang Prabang. Switch to cheaper guesthouse.
9 November: Watch the world crash and burn as Americans make the saddest, most hateful decision we have made in many, many decades.
10-14 November: Luang Prabang lounge time. Eat cheese, get massages, lounge in boho bars full of westerners.
15-16 November: Visit the Elephant Conservation Centre in Sayaboury, Laos.
17 November: Return to Luang Prabang for vegging and museum visiting.
19 November: Drive to Nong Khiaw, stay in guesthouse overlooking the river
20 November: Boat ride and trek in Nong Khiaw area, stay in guesthouse again
21 November: Drive to Muang Hiam aka Xiang Thong. Stay at guesthouse overlooking rice fields
22 November: Long drive to Vieng Xay. Stay at moldy-smelling bungalow under karst rocks.
23 November: Visit Vieng Xai Pathet Lao caves. Another night in the mold bungalow.
24 November: Long drive to Phonsavan. Stay at guesthouse on dusty main street.
25 November: Made it to Vang Vieng. Computers stolen on first night.
26 November: Vang Vieng and first police visit.
27 November: Vang Vieng
28 November: Vang Vieng: Did report at police station and then hit the road to Vientiane
29 November: Vientiane
30 November: Vientiane
1 December: Vientiane
2 December: Thakek
3 December: Waterside
4 December: Kong Lor
5 December: Savannakhet
6 December: Pakse
7 December: Pakse
8 December: Pakse
9 December: Toured Bolaven Plateau and stayed at Jhai in Paksong
10 December: Saw another waterfall and made it to the raucous Don Khong
11 December: Don Khon
12 December: Don Khon
13 Dec: Don Khon
14 Dec: Drove up to Paksong (dropped of Jocelyn in Pakse on the way). Last drive!! Packed up at Jhai in Paksong and stayed at Tyson’s
15 Dec: Finished packing, visited school, and Tyson drove us to Pakse
16 Dec: All day epic bus saga to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
17 Dec: Recovered in Phnom Penh
18 Dec: Phnom Penh
19 Dec: Phnom Penh – sent our baggage to Australia
20 Dec: Phnom Penh
21 Dec: Big day of work at coffee shops in Phnom Penh
22 Dec: take a bus down to Sihanoukville and make our way to Otres beach in the pouring rain.
23 Dec: boat trip out to some islands, snorkelling, and jumping of rocks. Night at Otres beach.
24 Dec: Christmas Eve feast with the Germans and Swiss right on Otres Beach
25 Dec: relaxing Christmas Day on Otres Beach
26 Dec: Otres Beach
27 Dec: Travelled with Arne and Jenny to Kep, a coastal town
28 Dec: Kampot, another coastal town
29 Dec: Visited a pepper farm and drove to Phnom Penh. Stayed at waterfront.
30 Dec: Visited a floating village on Tonle Sap Lake and stayed at Kampong Channg
31 Dec: travelled to Battambang. New Years festival.
1 Jan, 2017: Day in Battambang
2 Jan: Arne and Jenny drove to Thailand, and we took a bus to Siem Reap
3 Jan: First day in Angkor. Walked around temples in Angkor Thom and visited Angkor Wat.
4 Jan: Visited our three favourite temples: Preah Khan, Ta Keo, and Ta Nei
5 Jan: Visited Ta Prohm. Also cool.
6 Jan: Took a bus to Phnom Penh. Hung out on rooftop bar.
7 Jan: Took bus to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Hotel in district 1 tourist area.
8-11 Jan: HCMC
12 Jan: Visit Go Cong and sleep in My To
13 Jan: Toured Mekong by boat. Took overnight train from HCMC to Da Nang
14-17 Jan: Travel on to Hoi An from Danang. Stay in Hoi An, including bicycle ride around countryside.
18-22 Jan: Took a train to Hue and hung around town for several days. Included visits to the Citadel, tombs, pagodas, and cemetary
23 Jan: Fly to Hanoi. Stay at a noisy hotel in the old town.
24 Jan: Walk around Hanoi.
25-28 Jan: relax thoroughly at the Cat Ba Beach Resort, on Cat Ba Island in Ha Long Bay
29-31 Jan: Move over to a hotel in Cat Ba Town. Take a boat ride in Lan Ha and Ha Long Bay.
1 Feb: Night in Hanoi
2 Feb: It’s over! Fly back to Sydney from Hanoi.

Where are we going?

No where! It’s over!
Just kidding, kind of. We’re couchsurfing with family in Australia for a couple of months while we work on getting Luke’s immigration to the States all set up. If all goes well, we should be in California in April!

Where are we?

Where are we going?

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