“Sea of the Viennese”.

Due to its location, the lake offers perfect conditions for sailing and windsurfing. But the “Sea of the Viennese” as we like to call it (it’s only about 45 kilometres from the capital city), has more to offer than just water sports. The most western steppe lake in Europe provides a natural habitat for a unique diversity of flora, fauna and wild life. Since 2001, the region around lake Neusiedl is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All of that makes it a special location worth visiting.

Often Underestimated.

Lake Neusield is very often underestimated. Yes, it’s not surrounded by imposing mountain landscape, it doesn’t offer cute little towns right next to the lake like Hallstatt (even though the town Rust for example is very charming), and some might even find the brown colour of the water disturbing. But as said, don’t underestimate it!

Almost the entire lake is surrounded by reeds, which serve as a habitat for wildlife, making the lake an important resting place for migratory birds. The region is actually known for its bird species-richness and some even say it’s one of the most exciting bird paradises in Europe. Equip yourself with a pair of Swarovski Optik CL Pocket 10 x 25 binoculars, a wind-proof jacket and some hiking boots and you’re pretty much ready to go.

Sailing is one of the main reasons people come to Lake Neusield in Austria.

There are several sailing schools around Lake Neusiedl, for beginners and experts.

Reed around Lake Neusiedl in Austria.

Swarovski CL Pocket 8 x 25 Binoculars.

After an action filled programme, Seerestaurant Katamaran in Rust is a great place to finish off the day.

Seerestaurant Katamaran in Rust is especially beautiful at sunset, sitting on the terrace and enjoying a good meal with a nice glass of wine.

Mozambique had a civil war going on for many years (starting back in 1977) and still isn’t back to square one and this can make things a bit tricky. With only about 2 weeks on our hands, we couldn’t afford to take up too many challenges, like for example going overland for long distances, therefore – after flying into Johannesburg in South Africa – we took a plane to Vilanculos, which is a town right in front of the beautiful Bazaruto Archipelago.

Where to stay:

• The resorts on this archipelago were out of question, because they were simply too expensive and a bit too much out of the local action. And also, only a beach near by is not enough for our taste because we love to look above the blade’s edge. So we decided to stay “Aguia Negra” – which was a fantastic choice.

Aguia Negra hotel in Vilanculos, Mozambique.

At the adjoining diving facility, we booked trips out to the various islands. It’s not a long trip but of course you still need a boat … The scuba diving there is truly fantastic! The area is well-known for whale sharks and we were lucky enough to see one as well. After returning from the underwater world, we settled on the sandy beach for a while. It didn’t take long and some locals walked by. It turned out, that one of the resorts was not too far away and the locals used this stretch of the beach as “station”. They simply waited until a fishing boat spotted them and picked them up to sail back to the mainland.

The beach in front of our hotel was always sort of busy; whenever you walked down there, some fishing activity went on – which wasn’t a bad thing btw. Some really huge fish or lobsters were carried past us and one day a group of men came running towards the beach spot. It was the local running club, maybe exercising for a place in the Olympic team ;) These guys are really tough because it had about 40° Celsius in the shade.

Men running on the beach near Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Vilanculos itself is a sleepy coastal town which is a bit stretched out and with more or less non-existing public transport – one is confined to walk the area. The center is small, with a market, a pharmacy, a few shops and a bus station where minibuses depart to other villages.

One thing to be a bit cautious about are drunks or druggies, who wander around the area. During the daytime it didn’t bother us at all but going out at night would not be advisable … we really felt some sort of weird tensions and were told to rather not walk alone as soon as the sun went down. But other than that, our vacation in Mozambique was more than relaxing with great food, scuba diving and fantastic beaches.

Ladies walking along Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Fishermen near Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Fisherman around Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Waiting for the next ferry off Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Sailing boats near Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Fisherman on the beach near Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Fishermen at sea near Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

Sailing along Bazaruto Island in Mozambique.

What is the Plastiki anyway?

The Plastiki is an 18 m long catamaran made out of 12.500 reclaimed plastic bottles and other waste products. The name might sound familiar to book worms & adventurers…its origin comes from one of the most famous rafts in the world. Do you remember the adventures of Thos Heyerdahl? He crossed the Pacific ocean in 1947 on the Kon-Tiki. The parts that I remember the most out of the book were the stories about the crews encounter with giant squids and sharks. For me, there is almost no greater classic among adventure books than this 104-day-long raft ride from South America to Polynesia. 6 men fighting the elements on a hand-made balsa wood vesel. Insane! As soon as you start reading the book, you won’t be able to put it down! Anyway, now back to The Plastiki ;)

The Plastiki – a catamaran made out of plastic bottles. Photo credit © The Plastiki

The crew.

Skipper: Jo Royle
Co-skipper: David Thompson
Expedition diver: Olav Heyerdahl
Filmmakers: Max Jourdan & Vern Moen
Expedition leader: David de Rothschild

The Plastiki crew. Photo credit © The Plastiki

The voyage across the pacific.

In March of 2010, the crew set their sails. But before they did so, the boat was tested for 3 days to make sure she was seaworthy. When she was, their starting point was San Francisco and by the end of July 2010, The Plastiki sailed into Darling Harbour in Sydney. It crossed the Pacific ocean in about four months with more than 10.000 km behind them. It was planned that during the trip, the crew would pass several sites of ecological importance (like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch) or which were susceptible to environmental issues (caused by global warming).

The map of the voyage. Photo credit © The Plastiki

So what did they eat?

This is an interesting question…you might think that the crew ate fish every single day. I mean they sailed across the Pacific ocean, right?! Well, think again…Quote: The Plastiki crew have managed to catch only 3 fish in 40 days, whilst during the Kon-Tiki expedition (over 40 years ago), the crew ate freshly caught fish every day and couldn’t enter the water for fear of sharks. The Plastiki crew have seen no sharks during their expedition. What does that tell us? Overfishing, overfishing & more overfishing…

So why did David de Rothschild want to sail across the Pacific on a plastic boat?

Well, he wanted to do it for a couple of very good reasons: To demonstrate the amazing things people can achieve when recycling their junk & at the same time to show people what happens when they don’t…

Quoted from the website:

• It is estimated that almost all of the marine pollution in the world is comprised of plastic materials. The average proportion varied between 60% and 80% of total marine pollution.

• In many regions in the northern and southern Gyres, plastic materials constitute as much as 90 to 95% of the total amount of marine debris.

• Scientists estimate that every year at least 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die when they entangle themselves in plastic pollution or ingest it.

• According to Project Aware, 15 billion pounds of plastic are produces in the U.S. every year, and only 1 billion pounds are recycled. It is estimated that in excess of 38 billion plastic bottles and 25 million Styrofoam cups end up in landfill and although plastic bottles are 100% recyclable, on average only 20% are actually recycled.

My opinion.

I think that this project is absolutely great! Showing people, what you can do with recycled stuff and documenting the whole story around it is fantastic. The Plastiki is a one-of-a-kind project and a good example for other people. Well done!

The Plastiki sailing into the sunset. Photo credit © The Plastiki