Tag Archives: sea

Playa el Coco

by ladina

I guess we dreamed about that, when we were sweating in the unswerving heat of Montaña Grande: a deserted beach, a lost paradise on Earth, where we could relax and cool down in the water whenever we wanted. Though the waves of the Pacific Ocean — I still cannot fathom who named it like that — mostly raged so furiously that we would not swim in the sea, we found refuge in the pool that belonged to our hotel. No wonder we stayed for a whole week at Playa el Coco, tanning in the sun, playing frisbee on the beach and splashing in the pool. In the evenings we even had the chance to observe courageous little turtles which made their first journey into the vast deep blue, being swallowed by the waves and not returning on land until they would be old enough to lay their own eggs.

Continue reading →

The Great Ocean Road, Victoria

by ladina

We had hardly put our feet on the Australian continent when we set out to discover one of the most impressive coastlines in the world: the Great Ocean Road. Built in the 1920s, this world-famous road runs along the wild ocean in the south-west of Victoria. During our roadtrip together with my aunt and uncle, though the weather was definitely not postcardlike, I felt that the clouds, the wind and the rain actually showed the force of nature: its domination was immensely present. After all, those elements — together with the constant coming and going of the waves — shaped the cliffs and rocks over thousands of years to the stunning form they have today.

Standing near the edge of a precipice, surrounded by this powerful nature, I was overwhelmed by the vehemence and beauty of our planet.

Continue reading →

Marlo & Orbost, Victoria, Australia

by jose

In the midst of countless unexpected complications (bad schedules, stuff to do, personal problems, journey delays), one thing from my stay in Marlo remained: I saw Bailey again, after our amazing trip in the Middle-East, and before going on around the world.

To be honest, I would have never heard of Marlo, a small village of 340 inhabitants – they call that a town in Australia – lost on the South Coast of Victoria, if not for her. We had agreed on meeting again when we parted in Cairo airport, almost six months ago now (God time flies) – and despite the lack of communication means, despite the vague schedule of my hitch-hiking, we did.

And thus I ended up there – where the Snowy meets the sea.

Continue reading →

Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia

by jose

“You did Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle?”
“Errr… Yeah – how did you guess?”
“That’s what everyone does.”

And so I recently learned from Stephan, Dutch architect now living in New Zealand, that my itinerary on the Australian East Coast was kind of classical. I only looked at the map and decided to hit the biggest points along the way, though, but I guess that on a coast, you have not much of a choice when you follow that sort of thought process.

So I followed the touristic road, named the Pacific Highway, towards the south while the summer was giving life to thousands of tourists, so-called backpackers (I will come back later to these ones), and travelers.

Continue reading →

Benaulim & Anjuna Beaches, Goa, India

by jose

— This is Friday Coffee?
— Yeah!
— By Mango?
— Yeah!
— Remixed by Paul Keeley?
— Are you a DJ too?

And then I realized. Yes, I really was in Anjuna Beach, this now worldwide-known trance scene (thanks to Above & Beyond and their label Anjunabeats) which used to be bustling with loads of illegal night-time trance parties. And yes, I was in Goa, this now worldwide-known province of India where the electronic genres of… goa and psytrance started, thanks to an incredible number of crazy Israeli tourists coming there to have a hell of a good time on those amazing beaches.

Obviously, they were not really the type of tourists you meet in resorts or five-star hotels. They were backpackers, with almost no money but an incredible energy and no need for comfort. I, too, thought I was one, but really, I think India still lowered my comfort standards. Good thing I went there, I guess.

Continue reading →

Jerusalem, Israel

by jose

— Crap, they dropped us in the middle of nowhere – we’re on the highway!
— I love it. This is freedom, Ant!

Freedom. This is the intense feeling that grasped me a few seconds after I jumped out of the minibus with my backpack between my arms, following the Donkeys that had just woken me up. I took a look around us, and yes, we were in the middle of nowhere, on the side of a highway, with no clue about where to head. We only knew we were in Jordan, somewhere not that far from the Dead Sea – we only had to find it.

Getting lost in a country you had not even thought you were going to, getting lost with your backpack on your back, getting lost with friends you basically just met but already know you are going to keep for your whole lifetime. Getting lost and decide to walk in the general direction you want to go to, with all the equipment you need, which means you never have to look back or go back to wherever you came from – simply walking in this breathtaking landscape, in this unknown territory, just because you heard that a place you need to see is somewhere ahead of you.

Welcome, freedom, this feeling I had never experienced before. Take a seat somewhere in my heart; I will keep it for you forever, so that you can come back and chill out here whenever you wish.

Continue reading →