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Tag: Rick van de Schootbrugge

NZ In One Day: Mount Doom

NZ In One Day: Mount Doom

Published 02/05/2014 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

A while back this one lady was such a Lord of the Rings fan that she travelled all the way to New Zealand. She visited places like Hobbiton. She then bought a golden replica of the One Ring with only one mission; Destroying it. Being not fit enough to climb Mount Doom, destroy the ring and save Middle Earth (like Frodo and Sam did before her) she went to Wellington, booked a helicopter flight to Mount Nguaruhoe, which is seen in the trilogy as Mount Doom, and once above the massive volcano she dropped the ring in the crater and with that saving Middle Earth once more…

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NZ In One Day: Dying By The River

NZ In One Day: Dying By The River

Published 24/04/2014 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

New Zealanders (or Kiwi’s) are a little bit different from us, the Dutch. Kiwi’s grow up around vast open land, beautiful mountains and lots of outdoor adventures. Their country is the size of the UK but only holds 4 million people. They love their beaches, their BBQ’s, their freedom and their nature. They are proud of it. And it makes them down to earth, relaxed, friendly, liberal and tolerant. That’s why I like it here, a big country with a small town feel to it. So when a Kiwi goes on an adventure it is nothing like what we are used to…

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NZ In One Day: The Pinnacles

NZ In One Day: The Pinnacles

Published 17/04/2014 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

Hey everyone, been a while, as I haven’t been traveling much lately. But thats about to change as my dad is coming over. Some know that I moved from Auckland to Wellington in February and that has been quite the adventure by itself. Regardless, fun stuff still needs to happen, and recently that has been more in the shape of one day trips. And I will post them in the form of short one-day stories. The Pinnacles Ever since the Tongariro Alpine Crossing more hikes have been on the back of my mind but none had happened until now. The Pinnacles…

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Cape Reinga, New Zealand: The Race to the Top

Cape Reinga, New Zealand: The Race to the Top

Published 01/12/2013 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

Another road trip, another destination! North, instead of south this time. I team up again with Hans and with the addition of two great friends; Lulu and Chey. And this time it’s not our physical endurance that will be tested, instead it is an epic struggle between Time and Ambition! With Hans leaving New Zealand in a month we wanted to travel together once more and get to see more of the country. But lets not fool anyone here, we don’t really need an excuse to travel. Our preparation for this trip mainly revolved around hawking the weather forecast. We…

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Tongariro Alpine Crossing: Challenging my inner youth!

Published 10/06/2013 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

Supposedly it is one of the most beautiful one-day hikes in New Zealand and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing can be a true challenge of your inner youth. Imagine someone who lives behind a computer screen, likes the convenience of fast food a little to much and doesn’t walk more then 10 minutes a day… Yes, I am that stereotype. Since my first visit to New Zealand I knew this would be the perfect base camp for the next 10 years of my travels. Although remotely positioned on the edge of the world it is also conveniently close to some of the most…

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Vanuatu 2011 Part 1: A paradise better to stay undiscovered!

Vanuatu 2011 Part 1: A paradise better to stay undiscovered!

Published 14/09/2012 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

It has been a while since I shared my last experiences, and it is time to change things a little. For starters… i’ll try doing this in English from now on. Its good practice, a potentially bigger market and I’m quite positive my dutch friends will understand.

So… Vanuatu. What a place! During my stay in New Zealand traveling to the pacific was relatively easy compared to Europe. During my six month stay in NZ I wanted to make a trip to at least one pacific island group. Just read my French Polynesia coverage and you’ll understand why. Luckily for me Air New Zealand had a couple of great deals that I had to make use of. I had been looking into Vanuatu before and I decided to book myself a trip. The main thing that attracted me to Vanuatu was the untouched and unspoiled beauty that the country had to offer together with the fact that is was a third world country and thus relatively underdeveloped.

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Going there where the Time is Square! New York 2010!

Published 23/02/2010 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

Kijk. Mij kan je het echt niet kwalijk nemen… Ik ben zelf ook maar een slachtoffer. Maargoed, ik geef het eerlijk toe; ik ben verslaafd. Ja. Ik ben verslaafd aan New York. Gelukkig is dat zo vreemd nog niet want een aantal mensen om mij heen ook. En verslaafd zijn met je vrienden en familie is altijd leuker dan in je eentje. Happy Me! Om eerlijk te wezen had het al veel eerder moeten gebeuren. We zaten in 2007 nog niet in het vliegtuig terug naar huis en we hadden al heimwee. Maar er zijn altijd zaken waar je rekening…

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Around the World 2009! Hoofdstuk 16: Konichiwa Japan!

Published 18/10/2009 by Rick van de Schootbrugge

(goed, inmiddels zijn we al lang terug toch zijn er nog 3 hoofdstukken te vervullen waarvan deze er 1 van is. Bij deze bent U gewaarschuwd 😉 )

Tokyo. A city of millions! Een mierenhoop. Er zijn zoveel mensen op straat dat je je alleen maar kan afvragen waar ze in godsnaam allemaal wonen. De meeste vrouwen hebben teveel make-up op en besteden het grootste deel van de ochtend aan hun haar. De mannen zijn in pak, of in rockstar outfit. Allemaal klein en dun. Veel japanners hebben mondkapjes en maar weinig nog in traditionele kleding. Hoge gebouwen en veel lichtreclame. Veel plastic kleine Aziatische auto’s maar bijna geen files. Dat zijn zo’n beetje de eerste indrukken van Japan.

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