In search of warm weather and (more) good times

Back in aus, back home

My flight from Singapore landed in the early hours of Saturday morning, once reunited with Nala I headed straight for a spot I found next to the beach in Kirra the week before and slept pretty much most of the day. 

parking lot naps are my
speciality by now

It was a great day, full of naps, a swim in the ocean, a good book, a walk on the beach and pancakes for dinner. It was good to be home again.

It’s amazing how such a (relatively) small space, the inside of my Toyota RAV4, can become home. In all it’s possible ways. 

I had decided to (finally) take on the great tropical north of Queensland, Australia and that I would start back in Byron. So an hour back down the road I met up with all the wonderful people I lived with the past couple of months. I booked all my adventures through a friend at Peterpans adventure agent and went for drinks in the evening.

So my north-east coast trip had started! 

First stop: Byron Bay, April 2019

There’s so so much to do in Byron and surroundings I’m really happy I ended up living there for 3 months but it wasn’t until my very last day there that I finally went kayaking with dolphins (woohooo!) 

There are two major kayak adventure companies in Byron. Both located right next to the beach and right next to each other haha!

I booked my tour through the YHA, and went with Cape Byron kayaks. The other company is Go sea kayaks which offers (as far as I know) just about the same tour in the bay along Cape Byron. 

It was a great morning, a little chilly perhaps but all blue skies and loads of fun. The wind created some decent waves but we saw some turtles and I’m pretty sure I got a glimpse of a dolphin or two! The tour is very well done with occasional information on the bay and the surroundings and ending with tea coffee and tim-tams on the beach.

The Pass from Fisherman's lookout

If you're only passing through Byron for a couple of days the lighthouse walk is an absolute must. My advice is to take an afternoon or even a day for it. Pack your swimmers, a picnic, a surfboard, snorkel gear and whatever else you'd want on the beach and brace yourself for some of the best beaches in the world!

looking east toward Wategos
 and the headland
from Fisherman's lookout

Starting at main beach, which is always busy but has lifeguards and is merely a stroll across the road from town. Check out the shipwreck on your left or head to the right along the beach toward Clarkes beach. Head back to the walkway to get some great views across the boardwalk that swings you around to The pass. This world famous (longboard) surf beach also has a great lookout which provides you with panoramic views across the bay with heaps of chance to not only see loads of surfers but also dolphins, sea turtles and whales (June to Oct)!

The pass

If you're out of luck and it's high tide there isn't much of a beach going on here, so if you're not into the surf scene trod along the lighthouse track toward Wategos beach. Wategos has sort of a bay going on where heaps of fish are to be discovered while snorkeling. 

When you're all filled up with your picnic, surfed, snorkel and swam to your hearts content head back to the track for the last leg, about (half an hour to) an hour before sunset to finally reach the iconic lighthouse. 

lighthouse walking track

After a long day beaching around it's time for that well earned glass of wine or beer, which only tastes better with the magnificent views you'll have from the lighthouse. Get your picnic blanket out again and plant yourself in the grass and enjoy the panoramic views and (hopefully) magical sunset before walking back down again. 

Don't wait too long after the sun has set though,

it gets pretty dark pretty soon and there's no street lights 

on the way down.

Anyway, for me a shop, a lovely and unexpected afternoon catch up on the beach with a friend and quick shower later I was on the road again, off to Hastings Point where I’d set up camp for the night before heading further up to the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast

Broadbeach

So Tuesday I made my way up to the Gold Coast once again, yet this time I was headed for an old friend. I met Jenny over 4 years ago at the very first stud I worked at in Australia November 2014, we caught up again in February 2015 when I was heading up the coast that time and now April 2019 I found myself on the Gold Coast once again. It was so great to catch up after all those years even for the two short days we had. 

I don’t think I’d ever be able to actually live full time in Surfers Paradise (heart of the Gold Coast you could say) but I’ve definitely learnt to appreciate the beauty of the southern Gold Coast this time around.

Brissy

Two refreshing days Iater I headed up another two hours up the coast to Brisbane. Hello uncharted territory !! (personally uncharted obvs)

Southbank from the Victoria bridge

A little explanation here: During my previous Aussie adventures I ventured up to the Gold Coast to visited Jenny for about a week after which I drove up North west about 90k past Brisbane (thus bypassing it) for another horse job. I got pretty sick here though pretty soon so I ended up only staying for about 3 nights after which I decided to head back down to Port Macquarie where a Eva lived at the time, the daughter of my dad’s best friend. Thus I ended up crashing with her for a good week before heading down further back to Sydney to pick up my incoming sister instead of heading back up again.

So Brissy, woooo! I’d heard so much mixed ‘reviews’ about the city so I was dying to go explore it for myself and I’m very happy to report that I really liked it.

Southbank

Found a hostel about 4 (big) blocks from South bank with free parking, Brisbane backpackers resort is quite a decent hostel. It’s got just about everything you’d need or want from a hostel. Front desk staff are friendly, there’s a pool, kitchen isn’t too bad, rooms are pretty roomy with a fridge and cupboards, en suites and balconies. Only down things is that the night manager dismally failed at his job one of the nights I was there by failing to shut down a group of party people shouting and playing music on their balcony.  

Anyway, hostel is a good enough place to have as a home base to explore the city.

So Brisbane city is divided by the Brisbane river. South bank is (very famously) the perfect place to hang out with the big lagoon and the parklands which stretch over a good 17 hectares. It offers great places to chill, eat, drink and enjoy the views across the river. 

Venturing across the river into the CBD, the botanical gardens or to Kangaroo point is easy with the free city hopper ferry which has two stops along south bank, one right across the river next to the CBD, one on Kangaroo point, close to the botanical gardens and a few other that take you a bit further down stream. It’s a great way to see the city from a bit of a different views point plus, it was pretty warm in the ferry haha.

First day I ventured through the CBD, it had been almost 6 months since I’d been in a capital city like this and I honestly quite enjoyed it for the two days I was there. I’d bypassed Sydney on my way up and didn’t go back to Melbs after leaving end of October so it was nice to have that big city vibe going on around me again. Even though I’m very much a small city/country side-kind of person, I do really enjoy big cities every now and then. There’s just something in the buzz of a big city that I just love. And Brissy had just that buzz going. I spent the day pretty much (window) shopping, eating and just wandering around south bank until it got too cold when I went back home for a nap and to layer on some more clothes. 

When in Brisbane I most definitely suggest to explore south bank in the evening/at night too. There’s always something going on.

Day two was even colder and rainier so I hopped onto the free ferry and ended up falling asleep most of the way (typical me lol). Anyway getting off close to the Botanical gardens to wander through as I love to do. to head back into the city for a shelter from the rain in the form of a coffee. 

On your way out of Brisbane (north) it’s only too easy to make your way to Mt. Coot-tha, an easy drive up the mount leaves you with a magnificent 360° view of not only Brisbane but all the surrounding area. The cafe offers wonderful food and drinks with the views free of charge, there’s also walking tracks to waterfalls, other lookouts or all the way back down the hill to the planetarium.

For me it was time to hit the beach again, the Sunshine coast to be precise. And mercifully it was warm and sunny again when I reached Noosa. 

Noosa

newly redone boardwalk
from town to the headland
national park 

I had been told that Noosa is much like Byron, but more ‘grownup’ whatever that may mean haha!

But infact I was pleasantly surprised it to be correct. Noosa (heads) is a lovely little town and a very busy one at that as I had made my way up there on the first weekend of the Easter holidays. Jam packed with families I very luckily found a parking space quite quick so I could explore Noosa Heads, the national park. The walkway along the headland offers absolutely magnificent views all round and is easy accessible. The beaches along the way provide great surf (watching) opportunities as well as lookouts and fairy pools to refresh. The headland walk reaches all the way around to Sunrise beach, it’s an almost 11km return walk well worth doing.

surf watching 

I slept on the Noosa sea scouts grounds, which is a lovely family owned property/camping a little out of town (7km) with all the facilities you could wish for, all for the great price of 18$ a night (for just me and my car). 

Noosa is a great place to stop and rewind from the hustle and bustle from Brisbane, if I had the time I would’ve definitely stayed for at least 3 or 4 days but allas, time wasn’t in my favour (as usual lol) and just like that I was on the road again because Fraser Island was waiting!

Also, Noosa police patrol street parking seriously, got fined for standing in a free spot for too long  🙅)

sunset surf-sesh done right

Can't wait to tell you all about Fraser Island and 

my week chasing waterfalls in the tropics 😍

Stay tuned for more tropical adventures !

xoxo Liz

Captivating Costa Rica

Costa Rica 2018

In my last year of uni I had to do a 3 month internship. Naturally I wanted to do this outside of Belgium, knowing I would want to use my degree internationally after graduation. 

It took a lot of hard work and dedication to get the required grades to be able to go on an international internship.When I got the green light I chose Costa Rica for it's lush wildlife, obviously wanting to work with wildlife. I was correct in thinking this would be a great place to do so.

So I applied for an internship at a wildlife rescue centre on the Pacific Coast deep in the jungle and so Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR) became my home away from home for almost 3 months.

As I also wanted to see as much of Costa Rica as possible but couldn't during my actual internship (working 6 days a week), I gave myself a week before and after of vacation to see a bit of the country.

Feb 4th, San José & Caribbean Coast 

And so I left cold, wintry Belgium behind for the beautiful dry season in Costa Rica at the beginning of February. 

After a miss understating at the airport (apparently you need an ESTA-visa even if you're not officially entering the US and just staying in the airport for 3 hours) I arrived in the city of San José. 

I had heard and read that the city isn't much special. That most people only spend a day or two at most. So I didn't have my hopes high for the city. But I was pleasantly surprised!

As per usual I did the free walking tour on my first morning, which was really good as usual. Even though San José doesn't really differ to any other big, capital city, I still enjoyed spending the day walking through the numerous parks, learning about the history of the city and country by extent.

Costa Rican National museum

San José is nestled in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, tucked in between 3 volcanoes the temperatures are fairly constant throughout the year with a mean of 22°C.

As Costa Rica is tropical is does come with wet and dry seasons, which obviously makes it a less desirable destination some months of the year.

Fun fact!: San José receives almost 2m of rain every year!

After a fun day, meeting new people, learning new things and getting a hair cut in Spanish I headed back to my hostel to figure out a rough plan for the following week. I wanted to hike one of the nearest volcanoes, but discovered too late that there's only one bus going out there daily and it departed about half an hour before I woke up. So that plan was off the table. Instead, I decided I wanted to see the Caribbean coast as I would be working on the Pacific coast so I would be able to explore that side on my days off. 

Eventually it took me an entire day to get to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, a laid back little town with mostly dirt roads in the south eastern corner of the country. A full days worth of waiting, because the bus I wanted to take at 10 was booked full and the next one wasn't until 12 followed by a 4 hour trip that ended up in an almost 7 hour sweaty uncomfortable bus ride.

Safe to say I was happy to wake up in paradise the following morning. I was promised paradise and paradise is what I got.

I spend the next 3 days, walking along beaches and slices of tropical rainforest, looking out for monkeys and other wildlife, swimming in the tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea and drinking out of coconuts. As well as meeting new people, learning Spanish and stuffing my face with Gallo pinto (a national dish consisting of rice and beans eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

In my determination to see as much as possible of the Caribbean coast while I was there, I quite impulsively booked a domestic flight from Tortuguero to Quepos (northern east coast to central west coast). This would save me a full days worth of busses in the best case. Tortuguero is a world renown national park for its turtle breeding and beautiful mangroves. The likewise named town is only accessible by boat and after some research I found a good priced boat that would take me from Límon (which is an hour north of Puerto Viejo by bus) all the way up to Tortuguero. 

It would've been perfect, an awesome boat ride up the coast and a full day to discover the national park then an easy flight out to my internship. 

Allas, things don't always go as you want them to. In my case they don't usually when I start planning stuff haha. hence why I don't really plan a lot of things.

Anyway, less than 24hours after booking everything (flight, boat and hostel) I got an email my flight got cancelled. Apparently the company I booked through (NatureAir), one of the two only companies who fly domestic in Costa Rica, didn't have a licence to fly anymore. This because of a recent crash that killed an American family and the pilot. So in a way I was glad I didn't have to take that flight and possibly crash but still, it left me kind of stumped with my "brilliant plan".

Either way I wanted to see and go to Tortuguero, so I took the boat up. It was an awesome trip. Public transport and tourist trip all in one!

The trip took about 4 hours and the captain stopped to show us all the wildlife along the way.

Hence we saw crocodiles, sloths, monkeys, raccoons and a lot of different birds and other aquatic animals.

Once arrived in Tortuguero, checked into the hostel and walked around the little town, I found a comfortable hammock to figure out what to do and how to get to the other side of the country. 

After a lot of research, a chocolaty snack, a phone call home, many conversations with the hostel mom and a mental breakdown, I found a way around my problems. 

First of all I managed to start the process of claiming back my money through the company. And secondly I found a way to cross the country all be it that I had to sacrifice my full day in Tortuguero. 

So the next day after a mere afternoon in the beautiful Tortuguero I woke up at 4:30 to get the very first boat out of the island at 4:45 am. A taxi, bus, a walk across San José, another bus and taxi later I arrived at the KSTR headquarters, a good 10k into the jungle from the nearest town, Quepos. 

And all of a sudden I was home for the next 10 weeks.

Feb 10th, Kids Saving the Rainforest & Pacific coast

The weeks to follow I worked as a vet tech in the wildlife rescue centre clinic, alongside the two vets, rehab intern and another vet tech volunteer. With one day off a week to explore the region most adventures took place far in the jungle in the rescue centre. 

morning foodpreps

  Every morning and every afternoon first things up was doing the food prep for all the animals in our care at the clinic and in rehab. Fresh fruit and veggies were cut up to fit every animals needs and wishes.

The rest of the mornings usually consisted of treatments. These treatments could be anything from the basic administering painkillers, antibiotics or extra vitamins, changing bandages, cleaning wounds to surgeries such as removing an eye or amputating a leg. 

After everyone had their food and medication/treatments done we took to cleaning and enriching the enclosures, always making sure we and the clinic was ready for emergencies/rescues that came in at all hours of the day. 

Following are some snaps of daily life at work

holding Colin, the Squirrel monkey, still for his acupuncture treatment 

Lavalamp in bootcamp during my nightly behavioural observations 

Scarlitto the Kinkajou munching away
on a piece of banana as Kinkajous do 
(upside-down)

Moncho dunking his head in his daily vitamin treatment

Some days weren't much special, just the usual food prep, treatments and cleaning. Other days we would have birds dropping from the skies it seemed. Big, ugly and bold ones like Gonzo to little, pretty and feathery ones like Tiny. All rescues are rehabilitated and released where possible. 

Little Moncho had been held captive as a pet for his entire little life, he got so imprinted on people it was decided that it would not be safe for him to be released into the wild, simply because he would not now what to do in the wild. Lavalamp, however, was one of the many rescues we were able to fully heal, rehabilitate and release after getting electrocuted. 

Patty and Grubby chilling during their
playtime in bootcamp

Gonzo, the baby Toucan during one of his
many feedings

Shrek the Tamarin looking angry at me because I usual was the one to catch him to treat his amputation wound

Tiny, the little parakeet with a broken leg

Holding an orphaned coati for his medical-check

team clinic & rehab for the win ✊💙

On my days off however, I took to exploring the beautiful Pacific coast.  Drinking coffee and having big brekkies with ocean/jungle views, surfing and sea kayaking with friends from work, exploring the famous Manuel Antonio National park or taking the bus to hike to beautiful waterfalls down the coast.

treat yo self brekkies with views to die for

Nauyaca waterfalls, best way to refresh after a 5k hike

wanderlustig in Manuel Antonio nat. park

I met so much incredibly great people, staff of the clinic and sanctuary and volunteers alike. I learnt so much from the vets and all the animal-passionate people I met at KSTR. And I will be forever great full for the opportunities I got working in the wildlife rescue clinic.

April 21st, Playa Santa Teresa 

For my last week in paradise I decided to not travel around but to treat myself to a weeks worth of surfing, pristine beaches and yoga. I did this because I still had a lot of work for my dissertation for uni. So I made the deal with myself that I would spend a couple of hours a day analysing and writing for that so that I could chill for the rest of the day. 

My bachelors dissertation got titled: The human influence on injured wildlife in Costa Rica: a 5 year study. In short I analysed all the animals that passed through the rescue centre, looking at why they came in and what happened to them. It was extremely interesting but extremely time consuming to gather, analyse and process all the data. But well worth it in the end. 

So my last week consisted quite literally of writing, surfing at various locations, exploring the region, yoga and eating. which looked a bit like this .....

A wild Coati foraging in the Cabo Blanco nat.park

Playa Cabo Blanca, well deserved beach
after a good 2 hour hike

Playa Santa Teresa surf

Playa Hermosa surf sesh, with some hostel friends

Playa Santa Teresa

From this beach I took two busses, a ferry another bus, spent a night at the San José airport and two flights back to Belgium, back home. 

my last Costa Rican sunset on the ferry
across the Gulf of Nicoya

And thus I skipped most of the winter, arriving back home in spring to find a new place to live, get a job and work hard to finalise my dissertation and pass my last couple of exams.

xoxo Liz