Newsletter – First Half 2024

Welcome to our third Newsletter

Find out what we’ve been up to during the 1st half of 2024 and what our plans are for the rest of the year

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Starting the year in Belgium

We had to cancel our New Year’s Eve party due to us both getting COVID. Fortunately we managed to reschedule it, and had a lovely New Years party mid January. So nice to catch-up with good friends and family.

We headed back to New Zealand; with a pit stop in Seattle, mainly to pick-up the last few things remaining there, including an e-bike. Big thanks to Darrin for storing our stuff. Getting the e-bike back to New Zealand was a bit of a drama at the airport, but it safely arrived.

Finishing Summer in New Zealand

February through March was spent in New Zealand.

Stephen returned to Te Araroa trail in February to complete the five missing days between Hamilton and Auckland Airport. Caroline flew into Auckland, where we re-united, rented a car and headed to the very North of New Zealand. The first 20 kms of Te Araroa trail were closed when Stephen started his trip, and with it now being open, it was time to finish those missing 20 kms. Also a chance for Caroline to see the far north of the country. And with that, Stephen has completed Section 1¹.

March was spent enjoying the mild weather, our house and garden and family in the area.

Southwest Roadtrip

Late March we returned to Molly for our spring roadtrip. We caught the total Solar Eclipse in Texas and went on a 2 month road-trip around the Southwest of the US with friends.

We flew into Seattle and caught-up with Darrin. We visited Angie in WA and Cindy & Seve in OR.

The South was calling as the solar eclipse would not wait for us. Along the way we went to Great Basin National Park, Red Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park, 4 Corners, Petroglyph National Monument and NRAO Very Large Array. In Comfort, Texas we converged with friends to camp right in the path of totality for the eclipse. We had a great time and relaxed for three days, but unfortunately cloud cover obstructed our eclipse viewing.

From here we continued the road-trip and kept our itinerary very flexible. This turned out to be a good idea, as it allowed us to adjust for (mainly) hot weather. We went to Big Bend National Park, but the searing temperatures forced us north. We then visited McDonald Observatory, Stephen hiked up Guadalupe Peak, stopped to explore the amazing Carlsbad Caverns and looked for Aliens in Roswell. By then a little luxury was called for so we stayed in a resort hotel in Santa Fe for 2 nights.

Next we headed to Los Alamos meeting up with friends (2 Earthcruisers, Gary&Monica, Dale&Gina and a FieldVan Bec&Em) and discovered the history behind Oppenheimer’s Little Toy. Molly needed minor surgery which was performed at another Earthcruiser’s house where tools, advice and fine lodgings were available. Thanks so much to Gary and Alison. We turned south again visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado National Monument, Arches National Park and Butler Wash where we re-joined our overlanding friends. We enjoyed Canyon Time on the San Juan River and Hovenweep National Monument before heading north again to return to Colorado and fix Molly’s windscreen.

Our time in United States and the road-trip was coming to an end, but not before we visited Natural Bridges National Monument, Muley Point and John’s Canyon, Navajo National Monument, Marble Canyon and White Pocket and Overland Expo 2024.

We shared these last places with Tim and other overland friends. Overland Expo was great, as always, but a little more expensive this year than previous years. We made the decision to buy a INEOS Grenadier.

We turned south one last time towards Sedona and Phoenix, meeting up with Stephen’s mum for lunch and placing Molly into storage in Phoenix. Time to fly to Belgium.

Language Course

Stephen went back to school for 4 weeks to attend Ghent University and Level 1 Flemish (Dutch). This was a demanding and intensive course requiring Stephen to learn how to learn again. But he passed and will do level 2 next year at the same time.

Rob Roy Way

Caroline and Hilde walked the Rob Roy way in Scotland. They had amazing weather and an excellent time.

We finished the first half of 2024 with a huge Birthday Party to celebrate Caroline’s 60th lap around the sun.

What’s Next

Most of the rest of 2024 is already planned out, and probably will not change much. In July and August Stephen returns to Norway to walk the Saga trail and part of the Nordlandsruta, with friends. Our Autumn road-trip in Molly will be to the Arctic North of Canada along the Dempster Highway, a road we have wanted to drive for many years. In mid October Stephen heads south to walk more of Te Araroa while Caroline enjoys more time with friends in Belgium. We will re-unite in mid November in New Zealand (Coldplay concert in AKL) for the start of the summer. Christmas this year will be in New Zealand. Hopefully we will have our new car and can explore a more of New Zealand in 2025.