Traveling the world with children

This is a travel blog about our family of 4 (Jesper, Line, Noah and Vitus) from Denmark and our travels overseas.

We have always loved to travel but in 2015 we took the big step and planned a 6,5 month trip around the world visiting Cyprus, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Australia, Hawaii, California, Mexico, Cuba and the Deep South (USA). That was a great experience and we documented it all on this travel blog.

In the summer of 2017 we headed out again visiting The Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia as well as Bali and some nearby islands in Indonesia.

In 2018 we spent the summer vacation on the Island of Sardinia (not documented on this blog), but in 2019 we decided to chase another dream and visit the States again to discover the national parks of Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Anthelope Canyon and Grand Canyon.

Our 2020 and 2021 travel plans were cancelled due to Covid but from May to September 2022 we are on the road again visiting San Francisco (5 days), French Polynesia (6.5 weeks), Fiji (2 weeks), Western Australia (6 weeks) and 3 days in Singapore to break up the long journey home.

Come along and experience the world with us.

To find blog posts concerning a specific country just click on “Countries” in the menu and select the country – posts will be at the bottom of the page.

 

Meekatharra, Jurian Bay, Dwellingup and Perth, Western Australia part 4: Snorkeling with sea lions, skate park crash, mountain biking and the big city

By on September 4, 2022

Our original plan was to spend a few days visiting the mine towns on the Great Northern Highway on our way from Karijini back to Perth. Unfortunately, Vitus crashed and hurt his front tooth in the skate park in Meekatharra and with the nearest dentist being in Geraldton (+500 km away) we had to make a quick change of plans.

From Karijini to Meekatharra

Let’s be honest. There is not much to see along the Great Northern Highway. Endless stretches of empty outback with an occasional camel (yes there are thousands of wild camels in Australia), cow or kangaroo roadkill lying next to the road. Oversized loads also take on a whole new meaning 🙂

We made a stopover at a roadside rest area and reached Meekatharra late afternoon.

While Jesper went for a run the boys had fun in the local skate park. A spine was the major attraction, and everything went well the first 50 times until Vitus’ rear wheel caught the ramp at a weird angel and he face planted on the concrete. A bit of his right front tooth had chipped off but more alarmingly there was a horizontal crack all the way across the tooth.

Not knowing if it was a superficial crack or if most of his front tooth was about to fall off, we decided he needed to go to a dentist – unfortunately the nearest one turned out to be in Geraldton – more than 500 km. away.

We spend the night free camping at the beautiful lookout over Mekatharra and headed south after spending a few hours exploring the walking and cycling trails around Meekatharra. We had planned to visit the mining towns of Cue and Mt. Magnet but had to skip them to reach our appointment at the dentist. Fortunately, it turned out that it was a superficial crack and the tooth was OK.

Geraldton

Geraldton offers free RV parking (self contained – toilets nearby close at 9pm) on the Parking lot close to Town Beach, so we spent the night there before heading on to do the 17 km. river trail just south of Geraldton. It was a beautiful hike but also a bit monotone. At the end the trail became flooded in several places, and we spend an extra 30 min. trying to navigate around the flooded sections.

From there we drove on to Dongara where we once again free camped at the parking lot near the surf club. This time a ranger stopped by in the morning and politely led us know that he would collect our vehicle details and we would get a fine should we do it another time. Not a plan as we needed to hurry towards Jurian Bay to go snorkeling with sea lions at 10.

Snorkeling with Sea Lions in Jurian Bay Marine Park

From the harbor in Jurian Bay it was only a 20 min. boat ride to the small island that about 30 sea lions call home. We were told we would be in the water about 1.5 hours and a water temperature of about 19 degrees wetsuits were required. Normally it does not take long for the sea lions to enter the water and have a look at the human visitors but on this occasion most of them had been away hunting for more than 2 days and only 2 of them had energy enough left to want to check us out. Normally you have to stay quite to get a chance to observe wild animals but with sea lions you basically have to make as much noise as possible for them to find you interesting enough to play with.

Despite the fact that we did not have 10 sea lions around us it was still a great experience to see them close up underwater and watch them play. Back on the boat hot chocolate and Tim Tam were waiting for us and despite being a bit cold we had had a great morning.

Jurian Bay also turned out to have one of the best skate parks so far. Brand new, huge area and right by the beach.

Dwellingup – all about mountain biking

After our sea lion encounter and a quick stopover on the campground in Yanshep national park we drove to Dwellingup to hike and ride mountain bikes. We stayed at the Baden Powel campground but despite a great location it felt a bit creepy as we were pretty much the only ones there (must be because it was still winter). The boys really enjoyed the campfires at night and especially roasting “snobrød” and Marshmallows.

Line had overworked her foot on our 17 km. river hike and unfortunately it was still too painful for her to walk and let alone hike, so she spend the day with Vitus in the Dwellingup skate park while Noah and Jesper went to explore the many trails in the area. It was amazing to see what you can do if you truly prioritize mountain bike trail building in an area. At the visitor center we were given a map and much like a ski resort you could see the green blue and black trails – even with a description of each trail and what to expect. Jesper and Noah had a fantastic couple of days riding + 80 km and close to 2.000 meters of elevation in about 36 hours.

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Driving towards the campground we were lucky enough to see to huge male kangaroos fighting just 30 meters from the road. Quite a rare thing and we spoke to many Australians who had never seen it despite living in Australia their whole lives.

Fremantle and Perth – time for city life

From Dwellingup we drove North again to Fremantle. We made a stop at Rockingham on the way to walk along the beach and the short hiking trail around Point Peron

In Fremantle we went to the local market, the shipwreck museum, had incredible ice cream at Swan River Gelato and obviously had to check out the local skate park and parkour “playground”.

The next day we went to play minigolf at Wembley golf course. Line was in the lead for most of the time but the victory was Jesper’s after she made double and triple boogeys on the last 4 holes.

Our time in Western Australia was coming to an end and we spent the last full day in Perth visiting the famous King’s Park and Elisabeth Quay.

After returning the camper on the morning of our flight we just had time to visit a final skate park visit.

Karijini and Tom Price, Western Australia part 3: Beautiful hikes in Karijini, Skate Park mania and a disappointing mine tour

By on August 31, 2022

After visiting Exmouth we drove east towards the famous Karijini National park. To avoid a full day of driving we did a stopover at Cheela Plains Farm Stay and ended with a non-planned 2 day stay in Tom Price as

Coral Bay and Exmouth Western Australia part 2: Whale shark tour, Ningaloo, Body Boarding and hiking

By on August 14, 2022

From Quobba we headed further North to Coral Bay. Famous for its massive coral coverage just off the beach as well as Mantas and Whale sharks. Arriving to Coral Bay is an experience on its own. We had been driving

Perth to Quobba, Western Australia part 1: Kangaroos, campgrounds, pinnacles, gorges, dolphins and lots of humpback whales

By on August 6, 2022

Gumtree here we come Gumtree is the equivalent of the Danish DBA and while in Fiji we had arranged for a few used items to pick up in the Perth area before heading North. That included a Generator to keep

Fiji Viti Levu roadtrip: Out of our comfort zone at a homestay, mud pool, hiking, water park, coral reef and visit to Tivua Island

By on July 30, 2022

A roadtrip on the main Island of Viti Levu might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you imagine a holiday in Fiji. Most head directly for the smaller resort islands but after 6 weeks of Island

Tahiti again: Hikes, canoe race, viewpoints and the most beautiful coral reef in French Polynesia

By on July 20, 2022

Visiting Moorea, Maupiti, Raiatea, Huahine, Bora Bora and Rangiroa you would expect the most beautiful reefs to be found on the islands in French Polynesia. Having seen some of the most beautiful Coral we have ever seen we did not

Rangiroa: Diving, dolphins, and Open Water certificate for Noah

By on July 16, 2022

Rangiroa is part of the Tuamotu islands in French Polynesia. On all the Tuamotus the main island no longer exists (erosion) and thus only the surrounding Motus are still there forming a giant lagoon where the island used to be

Bora Bora: Vanilla is grown in Tahaa, Tourists are grown in Bora Bora

By on July 9, 2022

That is the saying on the islands in French Polynesia. We found this to be true and not true during our 4 days in Bora Bora. On one hand you cannot help feeling that all the luxury resorts are totally

Huahine: Our favorite island in French Polynesia so far

By on June 26, 2022

After 4 days on Raiatea, Huahine was our next stop. The flight was less than 20 minutes airtime, and it took only 5 minutes by taxi to reach the house we had rented.  We really did not know quite what

Raiatea: Amazing reef, kayaking, giant Morey Eels and another case of missing Mantas

By on June 15, 2022

Saying goodbye to beautiful Maupiti it was time to board the plane for a short 25 min flight to the island of Raiatea. We would be staying in a bungalow close to the western tip of the island in a

Maupiti: Coral Gardens, view points, missing Mantas and great atmosphere

By on June 12, 2022

After a week in Moorea we were looking forward to the very different scenery of the tiny island of Maupiti. Air Tahiti only flies to Maupiti every three days and the size of the plane was already a first indication

Snorkeling, views, tennis and beaches at Moorea

By on June 1, 2022

Getting to Moorea proved slightly more difficult than anticipated. We had received our vouchers when we first arrived in Tahiti which included a travel plan with ferry and flight departures. Unfortunately, the agency had forgotten that May 26th was a

Tahiti

By on May 26, 2022

Unfortunately Jesper had brought a serious cold with him from San Francisco so we had to take it easy for the first days in Tahiti. Ready to head out one thing did however quickly become clear – in Tahiti you

Alcatraz, Redwoods, Marin Headlands and Golden Gate Bridge

By on May 26, 2022

We spent a total of 5 days in the area around San Francisco. After our trip to Monterey Marine National Park (see post below) on the first day we spent the following days visiting Alcatraz, Redwood Regional Park, Muir Woods,

Monterey Marine National Park

By on May 25, 2022

We started our 2022 round the world trip with a 5 day stopover in San Francisco. After a good night’s sleep and surprisingly little jetlag we woke up early, had breakfast and headed out.   Monterey – Sea Otters, Sea