South West Coast Path

In April 2016 I took a week off to hike 7 sections of this trail in Cornwall, UK, together with a hiking friend.

Rounding Land's End, the most Western point of England, was my personal goal to achieve. In the 1970's I have done so on board of several Shell Tankers.

Starting from Perranporth on the Atlantic coast we walked in a South-Westerly direction to Land's End for 5 days and from there along the Channel coast in an Easterly direction for 2 days.

Activities

Under this menu my travel, hiking and other activities will be grouped and most items on this home page will link to these pages by just clicking on them.

Living in The Hague

In 2012 I created the My Horizon page with the 270 degrees view from my living room. But as the city is almost constantly changing an additional page is under construction to view these changes in My Horizon.

Another day on the SWC path

At the end of June was back 2 weeks in Cornwall for work and on the Saturday walked another track of the South West Coast Path from Porthleven to Lizard Point.

Riding a bicycle in New York City

With the bikeways on the waterfront, bike lanes in the streets, bridges and city parks  riding a bicycle is New York City is a great experience!

I rented a sports bicycle complete with helmet and lock plus mapholder and bag on the handlebar at Blazing Saddles on Pier 84 at the Hudson River.

I rode the bike to Brooklyn and Coney Island and off course through Central Park!

9/11 Memorial and One WTC

This was my first visit to New York City since the 9/11 Memoril Museum and the One World Observatory on the new World Trade Center One building were opened

Having seen the WTC area 2 years after the desaster in September 2001 I was impressed with the memorial museum.

The One World Observatory was like another city view from a high building but you have to go there for great views of Manhattan!

Hoboken and Liberty Park

A day full of memories when I crossed the Huson River by ferry to North Hoboken (New Jersey) and walked through Washington Street where I stayed in 2003.

I continued to walk to Liberty Park but as there was no way to go up the Statue of Liberty (all tickets sold out) I decided to take the ferry back to World Financial Center and walk back to the hotel

Highline and Manhattan

The Highline Park on top of an old elevated railway track was an amazing new attraction in New York City for me.

The first two days of my visit to the city I enjoyed long walks on the Hudson and East River waterfronts as well as through Central Park.

The little parks on Braodway and 6th Avenue were my favourite place close to the hotel to relax with a coffee and read my newspaper.

India, work and trains

January 2017 started with a trip to Mumbai in India to assist colleagues with Go-Life support.

It inmediately came up in my mind that I wanted to visit an old colleague and friend in the south of the country for which I was able to take some time off before flying to Seoul, South Korea for the next job.

The big challenge for that time off was how to travel from Mumbai to my friend's farm in Tamil Nadu.

Ahmedabad, Gujarat state

My first day in Ahmedabad was a day off for the the Indian Republic Day.

I explored the area around the hotel but many shops were closed and it became very hot in the afternoon with no wind so I did not stay out long. Saturday afternoon I walked from the office back to the hotel.

Sunday I visited the old town and really got in the mode of hiking around town!

Indian trainride and Tamil Nadu

After some weeks of exitement finally the day arrived to ride the train south from Mumbai!

37 hours past bye so quickly before I met Ramesh at Tirunelveli Junction and had 2 relaxing days experiencing the farm life.

Return to Mumbai was a 4 hrs drive in the early morning to Thiruvananthapuram Airport in Kerala followed by a 2 hours flight.

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Seoul, South Korea

After visiting India another project for work took me to Seoul to assist a colleague for 3 weeks. What I will never forget about that visit is the variety and quality of Korean food and spices I enjoyed.

I was happy that a stay like this also allows me to visit places in and around the city during the weekends. In clear freezing weather with maily blue sky's I was able to see some of the Korean history and walk around this in this buzzing town.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Since May 9th 2017 I am working from Sao Paulo as member of the Brazilian Implementation project.

On July 29th I took the train from Antonio Joao Station for my first visit to downtown Sao Paulo to join the Paulista free walking tour.

Sao Paulo Old Downtown

As I enjoyed the Paulista walk I decided to discover the old and current downtown Sao Paulo with another Free Walking Tour.

This tour runs from the Republica Square and circle's around streets and buildings up to the Monastry of Sao Bento.

After the tour I walked with 2 others to the Mercado Municipal where I bought fruit before taking the metro and train back.

Ibirapuera Park

Like almost every big city in the world also Sao Paulo has a big city park where many citizens relax during the weekend.

With my colleague Jose I walked around the park before going to his place for a BBQ!

Santana de Parnaiba & Paulista Skyline

Visiting the village Santana de Parnaiba just about 20 kilometers from the hotel in Alphaville followed by a visit to the SkyBar of the Unique Hotel watching the Skyline of Paulista Av.

Villa Madalena

This old village now a suburb of Sao Paulo is well known for the café-restaurants and nightlife but also the Beco de Batman alley with Grafittie and Street Art is close by.

Xingbo Canyon and Aracaju

My first trip outside Sao Paulo was also the first trip with an InterNations group.

On Friday I flew to Aracaju in the Sergipe state in the northeast of Brazil.

On Saturday we went on a bus/boat trip to the San Francisco river and on Sunday we explored the beaches of Aracaju in between the rain showers.

Green Hart of Holland

While I was home for 2 weeks in October I made a hike in the Dutch flat grasslands between Leiden and Alphen aan de Rijn.

Rio de Janeiro

When I asked my collegues Jesus and Danny if they wanted to do something for the weedkend we stayed together in Alphaville (SP) they immediately said Rio!

So on Friday we left after lunch in a rental car and drove back on Sunday afternoon.

Grand Prix Formula 1 Sao Paulo

Even though Lewis Hamilton is already World Champion 2017 it was once again great to enjoy a life race.

The Autódromo José Carlos Pace at Interlagos is a great circuit and the section A of the spectators area gives great views over most of the track.

Trail of the 7 Waterfalls

With the InterNations hiking group I went on a trip during the November 15th public holiday.

It was my first hike in the countryside of Sao Paulo state and although it was very tough for me I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to the next event!

Riding the bicycle to Guarapiranga

Starting with a little bit of rain that soon enough disappeared this was a beautiful not to difficult ride with the InterNations Sampa Biking Group.

Happy that I fanally made it back on the bike that I brought to Sao Paulo I am looking forward to more rides.

Ilha do Cardoso

Island in the south of Sao Paulo state that became an ecological research area by state degree in 1962.

Several types of vegetation of the Atlantic Forest are found in the park and is considered one of the largest breeding grounds for marine species in the South Atlantic.

Peru for work and travels

In November 2019 I made a first trip to our offices in Lima, Peru for the start of a new project.

Hiking the Inka Trail in Peru to Machu Picchu has been on my bucketlist for a long time so immediately my mind started working to make this happen.

Read about it on the new page about my Peruvian and Chilean travels!

Training for Inka Trail

After I confirmed my holidays to go hiking the Inka Trail I searched for mountain trails in The Netherlands but in a country with no mountains they are hard to find.

These trails around Rheden and Nijmegen at least did give me some hight difference!

Waterlinie pad - LAW 17

In August 2019 I did the first hike on this long distance trail that is followung the late nineteen century defence lines around Amsterdam and in the province of Utrecht.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage site about engineering and warfare at that time

Woerden to Breukelen

A day hike with my sister.

We try to meet at least once a

month on a train station

somewhere in the country for

a hike, lunch, drinks and dinner.

Uithoorn Amsterdam

The plan was a track of the

Waterliniepad but as a ferry

was a few days out of service

we ended up in Amsterdam

after a beautiful hike along the Amstel river and enjoyed a great Vietnamese dinner!

Maarten van Rossumpad

The whereabouts of a warlord who took his army through the country while serving his masters the counts of Gelre in the 16th century was the model for this 384 km long distance hiking trail.

I did the first section in 2008 and the last in 2019. On this page I tried to recover my memories.

Waterliniepad Uithoorn to Abcoude

Another track of this long distance trail.

A walk around my hometown

Short break in Portugal

In the beginning of November 2021 I flew to Lisbon and then on to Setubal where I rented a studio for 10 days.

The reason was to catch up with a friend from Brazil who was staying there!

The biggest surprise for me was the great weather for the time of the year!

Marskramerpad - LAW 3

This long distance walking trail runs east to west through the Netherlands.

Now I retired in October 2021 my plan is to walk 2 stages every week from west to east as a training for another well know long distance trail that I want to do in the summer.

The first stage was done on January 15th 2022.

12 Tops: Amerongse Berg

The Netherland is a flat country protected against the North Sea by sand dunes. The hills in other places are moraines formed in the ice ages.

I came accross a hiking guide that describes the highest point in each of the 12 provences in the country and today I climbed the first one with my sister.

Scheveningen to Kijkduin

and de Uithof

The first hike I organized as a

Consul of the InterNations

"The Hague Outdoor Group".

From Scheveningen harbour we walked through the Westduinpark to Kijkduin and on via Ockenburg estate to De Uithof tram station.

Vlaggeduin Katwijk

The highest point in the province of South Holland is the Vlaggeduin near Katwijk.

I made a hike with mysister from the village Town Hall to the sea side where we had lunch and on to the sand dunes where we climbed the Vlaggeduin before getting back to the Town Hall.

LAW 3 - Marskramerpad track 8

With my siter I did another track of the long distance hiking trail Marskramerpad that runs east from The Hague to the German town Bad Bentheim.

Track 8 was from Klarenbeek to Deventer where we crossed the river IJssel by ferry.

Again as before we had great weather for the time of the year!

Hike to Voorburg and back

This weekend the weather forecasts were poredicting lots of wind and rain so when I woke up with sunshine on Saturday morning I took advantage by taking a walk around the suburb of Voorburg.

Being a member of InterNations

Since many years I have been a member of the InterNations, a group that in many cities around the world brings expats together.

I am a member of the Outdoor Group in The Hague and organised my first hiking tour for that group from Wassenaar to the Meijendel dunes and on to The Hague central station.

Hike from Delft to Rotterdam

On a beatifull sunny Sunday I decided to enjoy the weather with a hike starting in

Delft by getting out of the train in the renewed underground trainstation.

                          The hike gave me a nice

                          mixture of city-, country-,

                          vilage- and nature areas

                          and a great feeling to be

                          outside                                                    

Hoefbladlaan to Kurhaus

After an early morning visit to my dentist in the western part of the city I walked through the sand dunes and over the beach to Scheveningen Harbour. From there I walked to the sea side boulevard and from the Kurhaus station took a mini rail back home .

LAW 3 - Marskramerpad track 7

The day after the hike from Delft to Rotterdam I took the train east to Deventer and a bus to Lettele for track 7 of the Marskramerpad.

A nice hike through the Salland region in the provence of Overijssel.

LAW 3 - Marskramerpad track 6

With my sister I again walked a track of the Marsramerpad from Lettele to Holten.

After 2 hours travel with public transport we planned to start with a lunch in Lettele but the only restautant there was closed.

As there were no restaurants on the trail we ended up hiking the whole trail before we reached the end where we had an early dinner before going back home

                Pijnacker and Dobbeplas

                with InterNations

                   Another hike with a group of

                   foreigners living in and around

                   The Hague.

We took the metro to Pijnacker Centrum station from where we walked around the Dobbeplas and back again. We also visited the corn mill Windlust.

Cycling to Wassenaar for a Sunday morning coffee

A morning ride with InterNations members following the Estate Routa to Wassenaar.

Back to The Hague through the sand dunes and via Scheveningen after a coffee in the Broeders cafe.

12 Tops: Haantjeduin - Emmen

With my sister I completed another hike in our effort to visit the highest hill in each of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands.

After a lunch in downtown Emmen we saw some historical burial sites in a beautifully landscaped forest around the north eastern site of the city and 'climbed' the 31.3 meters high Haantjeduin.

As usual we completed the day with a dinner on the way home in the city of Arnhem this time.