Our Adventurous Journey in Australia

Contributed by Stefan Klopp

Klopp Family Tree IV & V

Mateo and I have always had a very special bond. His first few years after he was born I was lucky enough to live just down the street from him and his parents before they moved to Montreal. When Richard asked me if I would be Mateo’s godfather, I was honored and vowed to be the best uncle I could be.

Years ago a friend had told me about their Aunt who had taken all of her nieces and nephews on trips when they turned 16. As someone who love to travel, I latched onto the idea and decided when Mateo turned 13, if his grades were good I would take him on a trip.

For his 12th birthday after clearing the idea with his parents I told Mateo I wanted to take him on a trip. After discussing possible destinations we settled on Australia. Mateo had a real fascination for animals (especially those down under) and I loved the idea of going to a continent I had never been before.

A few weeks after Mateo turned 13 we set off on a 777 Air Canada jet to Sydney; our first stop on our adventure. It was a long flight, but we were lucky to be flying direct, and 16 hours later and we arrived in country.

The plan was to spend 4 days in Sydney, before flying south to Melbourne. From Melbourne we would then rent a car and drive the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. Then we would take a small jet north to the center of Australia to spend a few days camping and hiking around Uluru and finally make our way to Cairns to get some sunshine and explore the Great Barrier Reef.

The trip was everything I could have imagined.

We zip lined through the Otway National Park, snorkeled and dove the Great Barrier Reef, surfed in Manly and hot air ballooned north of Cairns.

We saw a breadth of animals from koala bears to echidnas to kangaroos.

We hiked the Grampians, explored Uluru, and adventured around Kangaroo Island.

Most of all however, we got to hang out and be buds for three and a half weeks. As 2015 comes to a close I look forward to future adventures with Mateo big or small.