Sea of Okhotsk: Iony Island. August 31, 2014

The tiny rocky outcropping that is Iony Island, about 124mi / 200km north of Sakhalin Island, has a reputation for being a magnet for wildlife. The plankton rich waters provide food for a variety of seabirds and seals. Out came the zodiacs and the island did not disappoint.

Arrived at Iony Island with fog slowly rolling in.

It got really foggy.

Sea of Okhotsk: Grey Whales and Piltun Lagoon. August 30, 2014

This day we anchored off Piltun Lagoon, about midway up the east coast of Sakhalin Island.
Immediately after dropping anchor the zodiacs were lowered into the water and the expedition team went looking for, and found, grey whales. So all 8 zodiacs were loaded up with participants and off we went to admire those magnificent creatures. It was all about spotting the 'blows' and then going after and towards the animals. We were lucky to have as our zodiac driver Conrad Field (1), an expert on, amongst others, marine mammals.
Later that afternoon we went for a hike in the flat coastal land. It was nice to be able to stretch our legs a little.

We got out on the zodiacs.
Photo courtesy of Peter Wainberg.

These grey whales don't come up much.

But we did get lucky with this one!

Thanks to Conrad we managed to get quite close.

(1) From the Expedition notes:

Conrad Field is a professional naturalist and biologist residing in Homer, Alaska. He often works as a seasonal field botanist with several government agencies throughout Alaska and teaches marine science to elementary students for various educational organizations. 

He is also an accomplished artist in the media of pen-and-ink and scrimshaw. Conrad and his wife, Carmen, own Northcountry Nature, a small natural-history publisher, and in 1999 wrote a guide to spineless wonders of the north, Alaska’s Seashore Creatures – A Guide to Selected Marine Invertebrates. In June 2008 Conrad's Alaska Ocean ABCs, a colorful introduction via the alphabet to marine life of the north, was published by Northcountry Nature. 

Since 1989 Conrad has been a naturalist-lecturer aboard a variety of expedition vessels, primarily in polar and sub-polar regions, including a dozen to the Russian Far East and over 82 voyages to the Antarctic. On these voyages, he has lectured on natural history, seabird biology, marine mammals, whaling, the art of scrimshaw, marine invertebrate life, and local flora and fauna. 

Sea of Okhotsk: Tyuleniy Island. August 29, 2014

The World anchored off Tyuleniy Island and we got our first chance to get out in the zodiacs to go a spot some seals. And seals we spotted... thousands of them: Northern fur seals and Northern, or Steller's sea lions.
In the afternoon we attended a very enlightening and passionately delivered lecture by Professor Ludmilla Selezneva (1): 'Gorbachev and the End of the USSR'.

Hilde, Tricia and Stephen.

Northern Fur seals.

Northern fur seal.

Steller sea lions.

No space left on the beach.

The waters were teeming with wildlife.

(1) From the Expedition notes: 

Ludmilla Selezneva is Professor of History and Politics at the Humanitarian University, Moscow. She graduated with honors from Rostov State University in Rostov-on-Don in 1978, where she received her first doctorate in history (PhD) in 1982. Professor Selezneva attained her second doctorate in 1996 from the Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow). 

She has published more than 10 books and 50 articles, and participated in more than 100 national and international conferences on politics, history and government. 

Speaking tours have taken her to universities, schools, business conferences, and local communities in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Eton, Glasgow, Manchester, Bath, York, Norfolk, Suffolk, Inverness, Scarborough, Nottingham, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Washington DC, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Fresno, Dallas, and Amsterdam. 

Sea of Okhotsk: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. August 28, 2014

Upon debarking that morning we were entertained by a Military Brass Band on the pier. We also got a traditional Russian 'bread and salt greeting' to welcome us all to Korsakov.
We got on board buses to visit Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, about a 1 hour drive north of Korsakov. We stopped at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the local museum and the central city square before returning to the ship for a 15:00 departure.

'Bread and salt greeting'.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Housing estate.

Exhibit at the museum.

Sea of Okhotsk: Expedition Kick-off. August 26-27, 2014

Tuesday, August 26.

In the morning we walked over to Hilde and Tricia's hotel. After a little last minute shopping, mainly for shoes, and some sushi lunch, we took our friends to board The World.
We all attended the 'mandatory pre-departure safety briefing', followed by the 'face-to-face immigration inspection' to be stamped out of Japan. The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and settling into our apartment for the upcoming voyage. As The World departed the dock in Otaru we were entertained by the sounds of a traditional Japanese drum performance.

Tricia, Hilde, Caroline and Stephen.

Traditional Japanese drum performance.

Wednesday, August 27.

Overnight we had sailed to Korsakov where the clearance procedure into Russia would happen. While that was going on we attended the 'Mandatory Expedition Welcome Brief' which not only addressed zodiac safety, but also introductions of the Expedition Team.
Later that day went to a lecture by Simone Winchester: 'The Story of Sakhalin and the Kurils'. Sakhalin, the island Korsakov is on, is Russia's largest island. The Kurils are an island chain, part of the 'Ring of Fire' of which some are the subject of a 60- year old dispute between Russia and Japan. Next up was a photographic workshop with Raul Touzon. The evening started with the Expedition cocktail party and a cultural performance of traditional Cossack and Russian songs and dances.

The 'Sea of Okhotsk Expedition on The World' will again be led by EYOS Expeditions, who have several expeditions on this vessel in the past years. This is their link to track our progress:
EYOS Expedition Tracker.

Japan. August 23-26, 2014

Saturday, August 23

After just under 24hours traveling by car, train, plane, bus, taxi, we arrived in Hakodate, Japan, where we boarded the good ship The World for 4 weeks of pampering :). It was good to be back on board. Our first days where spent mainly relaxing.

Waiting for the train in Brussel Centraal.

Sunday. August 24th

Stephen hiked up the local hill with a small group from the The World. The viewpoint afforded nice views of the city. Later that night TW sailed onto Otaru where we docked in the morning of the 25th. From here we would set off for the Main Event: 'The Sea of Okhotsk Expedition'.

Monday, August 25th

Hilde arrived and joined us and Peter for a drink and a sushi dinner. There was still enough time for the ladies to sip for shoes. Tricia also arrived, but too late to see her. We spent the day walking and walking and walking around town. We found an excellent place for lunchtime sushi.

The World docked at Otaru.

Tuesday, August 26th

Hilde and Tricia joined us on the The World and the start of the Sea of Okhotsk Expedition.

Brussel. August 21-22, 2014

Thursday, August 21.

We said goodbye to Eeklo for now and took a train to Brussel. We'd never visited Brussel together before so we decided that after seeing lots of new and exotic places a visit to Belgium's capital was in order. We may be doing this more often before flying out of Zaventem!
We booked into the Ibis hotel on the Ganzemarkt, ideally located 1 minute from Brussel Centraal train station, so easy enough to catch the train to the airport the next day.

We wandered around marveling at how beautiful Brussel is.

Stefaan joined us for an after-work drink (well for him it was) on the Grote Markt, which by the way is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and later we sampled some more Belgian beers and had dinner with Sofia and Steven. After dinner Steven took us to nearby Parking 58, one of the best free places for views in town.

Koninginnegallerij.

Rue de Bouchers / Beenhouwersstraat.

Grote Markt.

When in Belgium....

... sample the beers.

Caroline and Sofia.

Morning view from our room - when leaning out a bit :)

Friday, August 22

Off to the airport to catch our midday flight to Japan.

Eeklo. August 16-21, 2014

Saturday, August 16.

And then it had arrived, kind of faster than we'd expected, and bitter-sweet: the last driving day of our 'Overland Adventure'. Sure, we'd still planned to go places before going home to San Francisco, but, as far as the 'Sydney to Eeklo' part was concerned, this was it: the day we'd arrive in my hometown, Eeklo.

When we started planning the trip in earnest, one of the big decisions was which direction we'd go in: Europe to Australia or vice versa. Somehow I always envisioned arriving in my hometown, so that was that.

Before getting to Eeklo we stopped in Oud-Turnhout to have lunch with friends Helly and Willem.

Lunch with Helly and Willem.

And then we were there, in Eeklo!!!
First we made an 'unofficial' stop at my mum's place....

After a quick visit to Caroline's mum...

.... before arriving on De Markt in Eeklo, where a special reserved parking spot (it helps to have friends in high places ;) ) was waiting for Sterlin, right in front of Café De Kabouter. Friends joined us for a lovely homecoming celebration on a lovely sunny day, on the terrace of De kabouter. We were delighted by a live accoustic performance of Peter 'DeeZee' De Zutter and our hosting waiter was Stefaan, my brother. Some friends stayed for drinks, some joined us for dinner in Cafe Leffe, also on De Markt.

...We arrived on the Markt in Eeklo
where a a spot had been reserved!

Geert, Mieke, Nils, Ilse, Gina (front), Erik, Kristien, Jan, Robert,
Magda (mum), Katrien, Stephen, Sven.

Carlo, Mieke, Siska, Caroline, Peter (thanks for the music!),
Erik, Gina, Stephen.

Sunday/Tuesday 17-19, August.

The next 3 days we spent seeing family and friends and re-organizing our luggage for our upcoming trip, and Sterlin who would be parked for the next 4-5 weeks.

Would you believe that Eeklo also has a UNESCO World Heritage site? Its Belfry is on the list 'Belfries of Belgium and France'.

Stefaan, Stephen, Caroline and Koen in De Kabouter.

Eeklo at Sunset met de Herbakker.

UNESCO World Heritage.

Eeklo by night. With the Belfry / Belfort left.

Wednesday, August 20.

Originally we were going to leave Eeklo for Japan on August 19, but a few days prior we'd received the sad news that Caroline's Tante Aline had passed away and we decided to stay so we could say goodbye and attend her funeral on the Wednesday.

Thursday, August 21.

We said goodbye to Eeklo for now and took a train to Brussel. We'd never visited Brussel together before so we decided that after seeing lots of new and exotic places a visit to Belgium's capital was in order. We spent the afternoon wandering around Brussels with the highlight being a visit to the King's Residence. We finished the evening enjoying a drink with Stefaan on the Grand Place.

We booked into the Ibis hotel on the Gansemarkt, ideally located 1 minute from Brussel Centraal train station, so easy enough to catch the train to the airport the flight the next day. The hotel was very convent, so we may be staying in Brussels this more often before flying out of Zaventem!

Groningen. August 14-15, 2014

It's always good to take every opportunity to catch up with god friends so onto Groningen we went to see our Heleen and Mark.

Heleen, Stephen and Mark.

Wine, mussels and good friends... life is good.

Sterlin in Groningen.

Hamburg. August 11-13, 2014

The main reason for stopping in Hamburg was to catching up with Ilse and Nils, and, to give Stephen an extra 'tick' in the '200 Best Cities Book - Lonely Planet'. We had the most marvelous and wonderful time with such good friends. Also a chance to do a little touristy things around town.

Nils, Stephen and Ilse.

Sterlin in Hamburg.

August 16: Arrival in Eeklo / Aankomst in Eeklo!!!!!

We set out on an Around the World Trip in May/June 2013. The Overland Adventure started for real on Sep 1st, 2013, in Sydney, and will finish in Eeklo on Aug 16, 2014.

In mei/juni 2013 vertrokken we op 'Reis Rond De Wereld'. Het echte Overland Avontuur begon op 1 september, 2013, in Sydney, en zal eindigen op 16 augustus in Eeklo.

That day we will arrive in Eeklo and will pull up in Sterlin in front of Cafe De Kabouter on De Markt (provided we can find an available parking spot there) sometime between 3pm and 4pm. This will mark the official end of our 'Sydney-to-Eeklo Overland Adventure'.

Die dag komen we aan in Eeklo en stoppen recht voor Cafe De Kabouter op De Markt (als we daar een vrij parkeerplaatske vinden) ergens tussen 15:00 en 16:00.
Dit wordt dan ook het officiële einde van ons "Sydney naar Eeklo Overland Avontuur".

We'd love it if you could join us for a drink!
This is not a 'private' event; De Kabouter will be open as per normal. It's just a matter of gathering with friends in our favorite watering hole in Eeklo at the end of our adventure :)

** With Live Performance of the one and only: Peter De Zutter!!

Het zou zeer leuk zijn mochten jullie er zijn om samen met ons een drankje te nuttigen!
Dit is geen "privé evenement"; De Kabouter zal gewoon open zijn. 't Is gewoon een kwestie van in ons favoriet Eekloos Cafeke samen te komen aan het eind van ons avontuur :)

** Met Optreden van de enige echte: Peter De Zutter!!!!

Berlin. August 9-10, 2014

Saturday, August 9th

It was a 600km drive from Krakow to Berlin and we were back on the good old E40, which was in 'slightly' better nick than in some of te other countries we'd been on it, so the drive was good and fast.

We pulled into the driveway of our Berlin Hotel just after 3pm. Our room overlooked the German Cathedral on the Gendarmenmarkt, a splendid view indeed.
We spent the afternoon wandering around the area near Checkpoint Charlie, the remains of The Wall (with exhibitions) and the Brandenburg Gate. There was a music festival in the Tiergarten, the park and street on one side of the Barnderburger Tor - very nice to be back in Europe to find festivals on every corner.
That evening, after a mediocre dinner, to say the least, in a mediocre German style restaurant, we had a nightcap in the lovely Bistro am Gendarmenmarkt.
It was good to see Berlin again. Although not much has changed in 10 years.

View from our room.

Hug a bear in Berlin.

Remains of The Wall.

Brandenburg Gate.

Sunday, August 10th

We started the morning with a visit to an photography exhibition of Walker Evans, followed with a coffee. Yes, of course we had located the Starbucks one block away :)
We then ventured a little further away towards the Museuminsel / Museum Island and Berliner Dom / Berlin Cathedral and sat down for lunch on a terrace somewhere nearby. We then did a nice loop back to the hotel, via the Alexanderplatz, Das Rotes Rathaus, Rolandufer along the river Spree, tracing some of where the Wall used to be, back to our hotel.

Picked up the catalog of the Walker Evans Exhibition.

Walking towards the Dom.

Berliner Dom.