Aug 16
See our FILES for lots of pictures (2008 August Pictures) also a Walk on the wild side & a Lada lament
Penny
Well, what can I say about Austria, a place I’m sure many of you will know very well?
We left Hungary on 29th July prepared for another thorough search at the border post but there really wasn’t a border post at all; to all intents and purposes Hungary is already in the EU on their western border anyway. Within 7k there was a large shady lay-by with picnic tables, running water and four long-drop W.C.’s. We knew that over-nighting in Austrian Lay-bys is OK in a campervan as long as “you do not have any external erections”!
We spent the day in that first lay-by plotting a possible route through to Germany avoiding motorways. Our crossing point had been the most southerly possible and the road ahead led to Graz. That night we moved 100 metres up the road to an identical lay-by on the other side. We could see travelling in Austria would be a piece of cake!
Ha! Those two lay-bys were only there to tease, we’ve hardly seen anything similar since until pretty close to the German border. However we’ve had some great days (and nights) in the mountains including one in the remote mountains south west of Graz where our evening walk led down a side track into a world of devastation. Gigantic trees lay across the track, river and mountainside, their roots pointing to the sky as though dropped from a great height. Later we discovered there had been a major wind/storm 4 months ago which had wrecked vast areas (remember the torn-up trees back in Ukraine?). Apparently no-one was hurt in the storm but at least 9 people have died during the clearing up operations.
Our road map of Europe is somewhat lacking in detail and we stumbled on the old town of Wolfsberg almost by accident. On our second day there we needed water and spoke to a chap at the bus depot. Another one of our chance meetings that proves so fantastic. Our new friend Egon invited us back to his home in the hills for the night to meet his lovely wife Magdalena and their family (including a mad dog).
From there we headed for Klagenfurt, intending to stop for a day or two, but changed our minds as we struggled with the traffic and road signs. We did however discover where to buy a new bottle of gas, we knew the Hungarian one was running short, needless to say the Austrian bottle did not fit any of the numerous fittings Bill has in his tool box and we had to buy even more. But at least the new bottle does fit into the gas bottle cupboard so at last we do not have to have it standing by the fridge/sink.
Still heading west towards Lienz we found ourselves in real chocolate box countryside with wall to wall tourists. The countryside was beautiful, the van coping excellently with the mountains (1700metres was the highest point we reached), but we felt so out of place, every where was so immaculate.
Penny
Penny
Well, what can I say about Austria, a place I’m sure many of you will know very well?
We left Hungary on 29th July prepared for another thorough search at the border post but there really wasn’t a border post at all; to all intents and purposes Hungary is already in the EU on their western border anyway. Within 7k there was a large shady lay-by with picnic tables, running water and four long-drop W.C.’s. We knew that over-nighting in Austrian Lay-bys is OK in a campervan as long as “you do not have any external erections”!
We spent the day in that first lay-by plotting a possible route through to Germany avoiding motorways. Our crossing point had been the most southerly possible and the road ahead led to Graz. That night we moved 100 metres up the road to an identical lay-by on the other side. We could see travelling in Austria would be a piece of cake!
Ha! Those two lay-bys were only there to tease, we’ve hardly seen anything similar since until pretty close to the German border. However we’ve had some great days (and nights) in the mountains including one in the remote mountains south west of Graz where our evening walk led down a side track into a world of devastation. Gigantic trees lay across the track, river and mountainside, their roots pointing to the sky as though dropped from a great height. Later we discovered there had been a major wind/storm 4 months ago which had wrecked vast areas (remember the torn-up trees back in Ukraine?). Apparently no-one was hurt in the storm but at least 9 people have died during the clearing up operations.
Our road map of Europe is somewhat lacking in detail and we stumbled on the old town of Wolfsberg almost by accident. On our second day there we needed water and spoke to a chap at the bus depot. Another one of our chance meetings that proves so fantastic. Our new friend Egon invited us back to his home in the hills for the night to meet his lovely wife Magdalena and their family (including a mad dog).
From there we headed for Klagenfurt, intending to stop for a day or two, but changed our minds as we struggled with the traffic and road signs. We did however discover where to buy a new bottle of gas, we knew the Hungarian one was running short, needless to say the Austrian bottle did not fit any of the numerous fittings Bill has in his tool box and we had to buy even more. But at least the new bottle does fit into the gas bottle cupboard so at last we do not have to have it standing by the fridge/sink.
Still heading west towards Lienz we found ourselves in real chocolate box countryside with wall to wall tourists. The countryside was beautiful, the van coping excellently with the mountains (1700metres was the highest point we reached), but we felt so out of place, every where was so immaculate.
Penny
Judith Sterk (Lelliott)
2008-08-18