brodie.mcculloch
adventures of a rogue thinker.
I live and work in the most isolated city in the world. I am passionate about social innovation, entrepreneurship, marketing, travel, technology, government 2.0, sustainability, design, photography and have been known to have entrepreneurial tendencies.
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On the ms Noordam in the Caribbean
This Caribbean season was more work than play. There was some beach time but after Jayne left there were very few photos. Still was good fun but work was the priority. Many of the ports were new to me and I really enjoyed the Dutch ports of call, very different to the rest of the Caribbean (I thought anyway).
In the Mediterranean on the ms Noordam
A lot happened in Europe during the 2.5 months in the Med, below are some of the photos and the two itineraries that we sailed. All the photos can be found on flickr.
It was a awesome few months and got to see many of the european ports while working which is always good.
Jayne took most of the photos which was good because it gave me a break. I think I will be back in Europe next year for the whole season so that should be good to.
Jayne took most of the photos which was good because it gave me a break. I think I will be back in Europe next year for the whole season so that should be good to.
Training on the ms Eurodam in the Baltic
I flew from Dubrovnik to Copenhagen, Denmark where I had an overnight ready to board the ms Eurodam the next day.
20 days in the Baltic
I really didn't get a whole lot of time to explore the Baltic as I was doing a lot of training and getting ready to take over the ms Noordam 20 days later. What I did see of the Baltic was amazing, the weather was really good and the views were amazing. Work was good and I have a strong feeling that I will be back in the Baltic in the future. One thing that was really annoying was the fact that I didn't have a Russian visa or seaman's book so i couldn't get off the ship in Russia. next time.
20 days in the Baltic
I really didn't get a whole lot of time to explore the Baltic as I was doing a lot of training and getting ready to take over the ms Noordam 20 days later. What I did see of the Baltic was amazing, the weather was really good and the views were amazing. Work was good and I have a strong feeling that I will be back in the Baltic in the future. One thing that was really annoying was the fact that I didn't have a Russian visa or seaman's book so i couldn't get off the ship in Russia. next time.
Days out in Dubrovnik
We had about 6 or 7 days in Dubrovnik, Croatia before my flight to Copenhagen so we spent some more time chilling and checking out the old town which Dubrovnik is so well known for.
View from the walls of the old town
It is an amazing place, although we had got used to paying Eastern European prices for everything and now we were back onto the tourist rates.
Tower
We walked the wall of old town and had dinner inside. We stayed at a really cool hostel and the owners known as Croatian "ma" and "pa" for their homely appeal and shot of honey port (or something like that) on entry.
Ryan on the Wall
Ryan booked his ferry ticket to Italy as he was going to learn Italian and make some wine for a few months. This was good bye for a while but with the interwebs it is easy to stay in contact. I left my bike at the hostel, I told them i would be back in 30 days, i don't know if it translated but we will see.
View from the walls of the old town
It is an amazing place, although we had got used to paying Eastern European prices for everything and now we were back onto the tourist rates.
Tower
We walked the wall of old town and had dinner inside. We stayed at a really cool hostel and the owners known as Croatian "ma" and "pa" for their homely appeal and shot of honey port (or something like that) on entry.
Ryan on the Wall
Ryan booked his ferry ticket to Italy as he was going to learn Italian and make some wine for a few months. This was good bye for a while but with the interwebs it is easy to stay in contact. I left my bike at the hostel, I told them i would be back in 30 days, i don't know if it translated but we will see.
Quiet time in Croatia
So after 6 nights not sleeping in a bed we caught the train to Belgrade and then onto Zagreb in Croatia.
We checked into a hotel for the night and all five of us slept. The next day everyone slept in but I needed to get my medical completed for the ship, this is harder than you might think as I was told there were only 3 or so doctors in Croatia who were licensed to do it. I was lucky to get some help from an emergency doctor who made some calls and found one of these doctors. The next day I had my medical done and off to Holland America Line.
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We then planned to continue traveling with our English friends to Split and spend some time there in an apartment. Here is another thing to remember, high speed trains everywhere don't take bikes. So we missed another train from Zagreb to Split; they got it and Ryan and I cycled to the bus station and managed to get transport that way. easy.
We then spent an awesome five days in Split overlooking the water and a walk to the beach. It was a really good time and I think what was needed after EXIT.
It was time to say good bye to our English friends and get the bus to Dubrovnik where we would spend sometime before I flew to the Baltic for training on the ms Eurodam.
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Four days of fun at EXIT
EXIT festival was big. It was held in a castle on the shore of the Danube and there were a lot of people there.
EXIT
It was far to hot to camp but thats what we had tickets for. We stayed with the English kids that we met on the train and then Dan and Jess from home were there so they stayed with us as well.
Camp site
EXIT was 4 nights; this is far to long for a festival but was really good fun. Below are some generic photos because mine did not come out to well.
In there somewhere
EXIT
It was far to hot to camp but thats what we had tickets for. We stayed with the English kids that we met on the train and then Dan and Jess from home were there so they stayed with us as well.
Camp site
EXIT was 4 nights; this is far to long for a festival but was really good fun. Below are some generic photos because mine did not come out to well.
In there somewhere
A painful train ride
We had many issues on the train from Bratislava to Hungary and then onto Novi Sad in Serbia.
We were refused entry to about 4 trains, then rode to the outskirts of Bratislava to buy a car....we were frustrated.
Bratislava has a rule that you need to have a local license to purchase a car so that was out. We then sprinted back to the train station and got the 11pm train (the first train we missed was at 8am). The 11pm train was coming from Germany and had a bike section so we were saved.
not looking good for the bikes
We got into Budapest, Hungary at some point (it is a but fuzzy) and then there were many backpackers all heading to Novi Sad, Serbia for the Exit Festival.....we were worried about the train and getting our bikes on. So when the train finally arrived we ran past the guards and threw our bikes on. Then we chained them to the train so they could not be thrown off.
still smiling somehow...
The bikes stayed on and we were lucky to meet some English people who let us in their booth thing.
locked to the train
Ryan got hauled off by the Serbian Army at the boarder crossing as they took one look at him and instantly came to the conclusion he was running drugs.....forgivable mistake. We finally made it to Novi Sad for a four day music festival in a castle on the Danube.
not looking good for the bikes
We got into Budapest, Hungary at some point (it is a but fuzzy) and then there were many backpackers all heading to Novi Sad, Serbia for the Exit Festival.....we were worried about the train and getting our bikes on. So when the train finally arrived we ran past the guards and threw our bikes on. Then we chained them to the train so they could not be thrown off.
still smiling somehow...
The bikes stayed on and we were lucky to meet some English people who let us in their booth thing.
locked to the train
Ryan got hauled off by the Serbian Army at the boarder crossing as they took one look at him and instantly came to the conclusion he was running drugs.....forgivable mistake. We finally made it to Novi Sad for a four day music festival in a castle on the Danube.
Onwards to Bratislava
I think Vienna may have been the city that I spent the most time in, I would have been there a total of about 7 days which was about 3 days longer than anywhere else. So I was ready to move on to the next place.
We headed off and managed to get out of the city more easily than we were expecting however this is where it got fun. The cycle way from Vienna to Bratislava was nothing like what we had been used to from Passau to Vienna along the Danube.
So we made a few wrong turns and ended up on an island in the middle of the Danube, then had to turn around, climb some steps to get onto a bridge and then continue to make our way up the river. There were also a few points where the cycle way disappeared, but appeared further down the road, it was not as well signed ether which made it more difficult. Either way we managed to make it to Bratislava which was quite different to Austria even though it was right on the boarder.
It was a bit longer ride than we thought it would be but this was ok as we left early in the morning and our hostel was in the center of town which was handy.
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