I’ve left the kingdom of Epirus and after a day of driving with a couple of uneventful detours to closed sites, I’m now on the very oddly shaped peninsula of Peleponnese. In addition to the much reduced winter hours, the whole country apparently closes every Tuesday, and since I was driving on Tuesday, I missed out on a couple of ancient theaters. They were small sites and last minute additions anyway. There’s really only one thing to see and do…
I just don’t have the words to describe how beautiful the drive from Kalambaka was. To get to my next stop in Ioannina I had to drive the twisty roads all the way through those mountains most of the day, but I didn’t expect the scale of them. Every bend revealed a new eye popping view. I was really caught off guard by it all. Tzoumerka National Park Be prepared, this post is a long one… This region of Epirus…
It was a long day of driving to this next short stop. The first thing you notice arriving in the small town of Kalambaka is those crazy rocks racing for the sky. With the exception of the gas station right across the street, the view from the balcony of my hostel was pretty awesome! Those rocks loom no matter where you are in town though. The town is called Kalambaka, but the area is referred to as Meteora. As early…
After exploring the ancient Macedonian city of Aigai, I drove a couple of hours to my next stop, the beautiful coastal city of Kavala. I’ve heard this is true of Greece in general, but the first thing I notice in Kavala is that there are cats everywhere! I won’t bore you with a thousand photos of felines, but trust me, they are on every street and walkway, hiding in every fence, on every motorcycle, under every car, and circling your…
Greetings and welcome to my next adventure, Greece! My flights and connections here all went surprisingly smooth. I landed in Thessaloniki, got a tiny rental car, and immediately drove almost two hours southwest to the small village of Litochoro. I had a specific reason for coming so far out of my way on day one, but more on that in a bit. I got a good night’s rest and then started exploring the area. Get prepared for lots of ancient…
I caught my flight south from Cairns in the morning and by mid afternoon I arrived at the Sunshine Coast airport for a Holy Crap Adventures first. I got picked up by my Aunt and Uncle who live in nearby Coolum Beach for a little family visit and sight seeing on their home turf. The sight seeing started by driving a bit inland for some local waterfalls. First up was Mapleton Falls. It was a quick stop and just a…
After all my croc hunting excursions I was finally on my way to the next stop, Cairns. Cairns for me is just a useful stop to sleep, eat, say goodbye to my rental car, and get ready to fly to my final destination in Australia. There’s not a whole lot to do here. That doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything though. I spent a day riding the Skyrail over the rainforest. The Skyrail extends for almost five miles over the…
This next chapter of my Australian adventure is way up north in what is believed to be the oldest continuously surviving rainforest in the world, the Daintree. How the heck do they even know that? Apparently, because they found a type of plant here, Idiospermum, in 1971, that was previously thought to have been extinct. Before that all we had were fossils. Anyway, It was not a long drive at all from Innisfail up here, so I broke up my…
I hope you are all ready for another waterfallapalooza, because that’s all I did at this stop. Continuing my journey north through Queensland, I based myself next in Innisfail on the coast. The highway that heads directly west from there is sandwiched by a few national parks, lush rainforest, and a whole bunch of amazing waterfalls. I started with Tchupala Falls in Wooroonooran National Park. I can’t say either of those names without stuttering. The hike made it’s way through…