Tanami East | Camping: Kakadu National Park | Kakadu National Park is half the size of Switzerland and a real adventure. If you rent a car, you could 

road - Fernwayer Travel Stories & Experiences

Australia

Kakadu National Park is half the size of Switzerland and a real adventure. If you rent a car, you could drive along the road for weeks, camping in different places and experiencing nature in a way you can't anywhere else.

After leaving Darwin in a rented 4x4 jeep, we made the long drive to Kakadu National Park. Take plenty of drinks and snacks with you, as there aren't many stops on the road. Along the way, we visited several refreshing waterholes and waterfalls, had an open-air barbecue, and saw many birds, snakes, anthills, and farmland along the way.

At night we mostly stayed at campsites that provided tents, and the beauty of the night is incomparable. You can hear, smell, and see countless species of animals, from alligators swimming in lakes at night to dingoes howling, to weirdly chirping insects.

We hiked to a hidden waterfall and discovered some hundreds-of-years-old wooden paintings done by the ancestors of Australia's indigenous people. A must-see in Australia for sure!

Camping: Kakadu National Park

United States

The Twelve Apostles is located on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road. It’s a stunning coastal drive that is accessible with any type of vehicle. 

The Great Ocean Road stretches over 250km and there are many beautiful stops along the way.

The Twelve Apostles

Colombia

The Coffee Triangle - which includes the pueblo towns of Salento and Filandia - has its own culture, diversity, food and of course, coffee. 
[☕️]
I was told that I would find the best cup of coffee in the world in Colombia’s Zona Cafetera. I found some of the tastiest beans in little vintage cafes with vintage coffee machines. The coffee plantations nearby offered tasting sessions too. Part of the fun Is to climb on the back of a colorful Jeep to get to the plantations.

On the Coffee Road, in the colorful town of Salento, the biggest attraction - besides the coffee and the arepas - is its traditional architecture of one- and two-story buildings, with walls painted white, and doors and window frames in the brightest of candy colors.

Coffee Culture

Greece

In Santorini, we discover and fall in love with Vinsanto, the local dessert wine. So we drive up to Hatzidakis - a charming and intimate local winery - to check out the local grapes. The vines grow low to the ground and close to the road and we almost drive into them while looking for parking. 

The grapes are grown in an unusual way, not in arbors but low to the ground, in baskets made of vine stalks themselves. They are organic and are watered mostly by dew as the island has low water supply.

The tasting room is cave-like and we take home several bottkes of the small batch Vinsanto they produce.

Vinsanto

Iceland

On the epic Ring Road drive (A1) in East Iceland, there’s a black sand beach called Stokksnes, just a few kilometres from Höfn. 

A gravel road gets you to a tiny cafeteria - where you can pay a small fee to drive further in till the edge of the water. 

Volcanic black sand dunes, Tall green grasses. Waves breaking on the rocks. Wind. Reflections in the water. Incredible beauty. Pure zen.

Pure Zen

United Kingdom

Continuing my recommendations for a stunning drive to the South of Iceland -

1. From Dyrhólaey to Vik: Stop at Dyrhólaey for its sea arch and basalt blocks - turn from the Ring Road to the right to road 218, and drive that road to an end, you should see puffins at Reynisfjall cliffs, at Arnardrangur "Eagle rock” (very picturesque with Reynisdrangar and Reynisfjara in the background), at low tide, you can walk along the black beach and discover little caves and rock formations, and finally, the little village of Vik with its stunning black sand beach and sea stacks, worth visiting both at sunset and sunrise.

2.  From Vik to Stokksnes Headland. You will want to stop for pictures of the moss-filled lava flows on the sides of the highway. Go to Skaftafell Glacier National Park for a glacier walk. Then pause at Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon, a nice precursor to Jökulsárlón. I’ve always found sitting on the lagoon and watching the icebergs (barely) floating by absolutely therapeutic.

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 2

I love Iceland for many reasons. The road trips are magical - and so is the light - perfect for photography. These are my recommendations for a drive from Reykjavik to the South of Iceland. 

1. Þingvellir National Park: Go to the Visitor’s Center for a great view, and get a driving map, or suggestions from there. Find Almannagjá – the space between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. I love the little church. Lots of easy walking paths.

2. From Þingvellir to Dyrhólaey: Stop at Seljalandsfoss (easy stairs to climb behind the waterfall), Skógafoss (set your tripod in the water to take an iconic waterfall photo, then climb up to the start of the lava from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption), Sólheimasandur (for haunting pictures of the airplane that crashed on the black sand beach, there’s no sign but the coordinates are 63 27.546-19 21.887).

Part 2 coming soon.

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 1

India

My taxi driver, Chand, tries his best to persuade me to change the plan - “K.R. Market is a complete mess in the rainy season”, he argues, and for effect, twists his head around to the back seat to look at my tunic, shakes his head, and declares woefully — “You will be covered in mud and smelly water”. Sadly for him, I can’t resist a wholesale flower market. 

At sunrise every day, the southern end of Avenue Road lines up with a couple hundred flower vendors. Business between 5 to 8 a.m. is hectic and noisy.. Since it’s well past 10 a.m. now, I weave my way instead through stalls of vegetables, fruits and spices to find the building where these vendors disappear to after their morning sales. 

Chand is right about the mulch smells and slushy floors.  Climb up to the second floor to find a quiet spot to view the action from above. Or wander through the narrow passages, as I do, stepping around baskets full of flowers. 

For the record, my tunic remains mud-and-slush-free.

Bed of Roses

Italy

Driving from Salerno on Autostrada A3 and picking up SS163 at Vietri sul Mareon, we catch our first sweeping views of Amalfi Coast with its cliff-edged promontory. “The road with 1,001 turns” is a vertigo-inducing experience. 

🚗

We keep asking - Is the ocean supposed to be this blue? New skill: we can now pick out the color Amalfi Blue in a set of paints.

There are lemons everywhere, and the locals claim their lemons are ‘as large as watermelons’. When life gives you giant lemons, you make Limoncello. 

🍋 

Amalfi town is perfectly positioned right on the water - food, beach and gelato - all at convenient walking distance to each other. We hop over to quieter towns (Ravello) and more stylish ones that levitate over the ocean (Positano), but Amalfi has the perfect sense of place. 

⛱

The Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey lured sailors to their doom on a rocky island that lies just off the Amalfi Coast. Watching the sun set over the town of Maiori … we embrace la dolce far niente.

Amalfi Town Hopping

Norway

What does teetering on the edge of the ocean feel like? 
🌊
The Atlantic Road is an 8-kilometre roller-coaster stretch of road between Kristiansund and Molde. 
🌉
It skips nimbly from island to island, across seven curvy bridges. The tallest of them, Storseisundet, has a dramatic rise/fall and an impossibly artistic curve. At the highest point, I can actually see the other bridges connecting the tiny islands ahead. 
🎣 
In contrast, the bridge nearby - from where I take this photo - is flat, specially constructed for anglers - and the woman standing next to me comes here every day to catch her meal fresh. She demonstrates how she is only finding small pollock this evening - and calmly proceeds to slash the just-caught fish’s throat before dropping it into her nearly-full bucket. Too much Information, I tell her. She laughs. 
❤️ 
On the hillock opposite the bridge, I count seven pairs of people holding hands and looking out to the water. 
🎢
It is that kind of view.

Roller Coaster

Spain

A road trip through Spain is literally the best option for those looking for a local, less touristic experience. You can basically rent a car anywhere you want – we started in Barcelona, heading down the coast, and taking stops in Ebro Delta and Denia and other sleepy beach towns down the road. One of our highlights was the Spanish town of Cartagena – a historical hub with beautiful angled roads, traditional culture to explore (expect to be invited to some Cerveza by the locals), and history lessons about Phoenician traders, Roman soldiers, and Christian Reconquistas. If you have some days left, visiting Andalusia is a must. It's by far the most beautiful region in Spain and is known for its majestic horse breed, pristine beaches, hot weather, and super friendly culture. 
All in all, it took us two weeks to get down the coast – but you can make it in a week as well – though you might have less time to explore, sunbathe, and learn about the history of Spain

Australia

Northern Territory

Camping: Kakadu National Park

Victoria

The Twelve Apostles

Colombia

Quindio

Coffee Culture

Greece

Decentralized Administration of the Aegean

Vinsanto

Iceland

Eastern Region

Pure Zen

Southern Region

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 2

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 1

India

Karnataka

Bed of Roses

Italy

Campania

Amalfi Town Hopping

Norway

Møre og Romsdal

Roller Coaster

Spain

Region of Murcia

Off-the-beaten-path