Beaches, Boats, and Bikes in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Costa Rica has been quite the adventure. We zipped over the jungle in Monteverde and rode the rapids in La Fortuna. A night walk was part of the agenda in our glamping site in Sarapiqui. Later we watched a turtle lay eggs in Tortuguero. Now we were headed to our final destination, Puerto Viejo. It was a rainy morning for our hour long boat ride back to the main road from Tortuguero. Because of the rain, they pulled the plastic…

Exploring the Unique Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve

Last week I mentioned that the central part of Whidbey Island was part of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. This is truly a unique situation in terms of the National Park System. 85% of the land within this reserve is privately owned. Nevertheless the national, state, county, and city of Coupeville have worked together to make this a place where the historical, cultural and geographic uniqueness of the region is preserved. Visitors won’t necessarily know they are in a national…

Melbourne’s Victoria Market and famous St. Kilda Penguins

Our second full day in Melbourne was the day of the Grand Final, but we had other plans. We started with a visit to the well know Victoria Market. For us it was a stop on our tram ride to the city so an easy stop. We planned to eat breakfast there. Later we would continue our tram ride out to the beach community of St. Kilda and see the St. Kilda penguins. To begin our day, however, we needed…