Day 91: Long and Winding River

Date: Friday 27^th June
Staying: Camping ???!!!???
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: At the River – Groove Armada

In our book of 1000 things to do before you die (still find that morbid), it says to take a cruise up the Rhine from Koblenz. Who are we to argue with that!

We had a look round Koblenz in the morning. It is small, but very picturesque. It is obvious that it has a lot of tourists, as the cobbled squares and streets are lined with eateries and postcard stands, but it was quiet for us as everyone had been up late watching the European Championship semi-final (We could see the big screen across the river from our campsite, and hear the crowd). After a peaceful late breakfast, we made our way to the river and joined our boat.

Of course, it decided to rain for part of the journey, which doesn’t help when you have your camera on its tripod taking photos. Fortunately, by the time we reached our destination of St Goar, it was back to boiling hot like we have come to expect Germany to be. St Goar has the largest Castle along the Rhine, and it is an impressive monument perched above the town. We only had an hour and a half here, so it was a mad dash around town looking at the shop and castle and taking photos before we were due back on the boat.

We spent the trip back enjoying the boats galley and the stunning views of the river. On arrival, we took a look at the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial, which is enormous, and provides a marvellous view of the rivers. I am surprised that no castle is there, as it is on the point where the Mosel and Rhine meet.

Day 90: Long and Winding Road

Date: Thursday 26^th June
Staying: Camping ???!!!???
Distance Travelled: 196.9 Miles
Song of the day: The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles

I will have to admit to the mistake today. It was a genuine mistake though. We decided that we would stop off in Baden-Baden on the way to Koblenz, and there was a road that headed there from where we were. It turns out, however, that this road is not suitable for long vehicles, or short vehicles that are heavy, or anything other than a 4 wheel drive, or motorbike. Anyway we persevered, more fool us.

As it would have been quicker to drive the long way round, we had wasted most of the time we were gong to spend in Baden-Baden. We pulled up determined to see something of the place, and proceeded to spend 30-45 minutes trying to find a parking space. At this stage we really starting to feel defeated and realised we just weren’t suppose to see Baden-Baden, so we left.

The highlight of the day was to come however. Our end goal today was the Rhine Valley town of Koblenz, which sits at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers. We came off the motorway just west of Mainz, and spent the next hour plus driving through some stunning scenery. It was like every outcrop had a castle hanging from it, with field after field of vineyards acting as the subjects. It was a truly stunning place. After a brief stop in Bacharach, a small village nestled beneath a castle, we headed for Koblenz.

We seemed to hit the jackpot in Koblenz. We had seen that there was a campsite in the city, but we didn’t have directions to it. As we had passed a lot of sites on the way, we knew we could find somewhere, but we wanted to be in Koblenz. We made a wrong turn early on, and had given up and were heading back to the motorway, when we saw the sign to the site. Turns out we got off 1 stop too soon. And the site was excellent. It was right on the join of the rivers, over looking the massive memorial to one of the Kaiser Wilhelms. We lucked out.

Day 87 – Day 89: No Gateaux in Sight

Date: Monday 23^rd June to Wednesday 25^th June
Staying: Camping Kleinenzhof – Bad Wildbad, Black Forest, Germany
Distance Travelled: 186.6 Miles
Song of the day: Enjoy the Silence – Depeche Mode

I actually feel cheated you know. It was quite disappointing. You’re brought up your whole life thinking one thing, but it turns out not to be true. I walked into the restaurant, went straight to the desert menu, as is my want, and there was not a Black Forest Gateaux in sight. I was distraught, heart broken. I mean, ‘Man can not live by Ice Cream alone’ ;-)

We were originally going to stay in Baden-Baden when we went to the Black Forest, but decided after a few epic days on the road, and not really having a rest since Venice, it would be better to find a quiet, out-of-the-way place to chill for a few days. Kleinenzhof was exactly this. It was surrounded by forest, which provided some fantastic walks, it was only 5km from a settlement if we needed anything, and there was a herd of Deer walking around outside the site to enjoy.

The weather even came to party so we didn’t feel guilty about not doing anything. We were woken by a massive thunder storm on our first morning (I saw one lighting bolt that had four forks strike down), and then there was a repeat the next day too. When it wasn’t thundering, the sun was out and it was blazing hot. The camp site was quiet too, so it was a fantastically relaxing couple of days.

Of course if they had gateaux, it would have been perfect.

Day 86: ...And Cold Beers

Date: Sunday 22^nd June
Staying: Camping Thalkirchen – Munich, Germany
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Born Slippy – Underworld

To coin a phrase from the aforementioned song:

‘LAGER, LAGER, LAGER, LAGER ...’

Munich is truly famous for 2 things, Sausages and Beer. Now, Laurie and I have never been to Beerfest, and let’s be honest, aren’t likely to get there now. So, it seemed necessary that we indulge in another truly German experience of the Beer Hall.

Now being the pious people we are (OK, fair enough, I can’t back that up, but it sounded good at the time), we decided to see the main cathedral of Munich before the beer hall, so after service finished, we had a brief look in a very nice, modern church and then got down to business.

We visited the world famous Hofbrauhaus. This is basically a massive hall, full of wooden benches, with a band playing traditional Bavarian music in traditional Bavarian costume. You take a seat, and someone will come over for your order. I obviously had to get the litre mug, it seemed only right, and Laurie had a ‘small’ 0.5 litre, cause she isn’t a big beer drinker (of course, the small does dwarf a pint anyway). It is a fantastic place. They have girls walking round as pretzel sellers, dressed in traditional costume; they serve massive plates of sausage that the beer helps wash down. If they showed sport, I would have been in heaven and may never have left.

As it was, there was an F1 race on, so we headed back to the camp site and watched the race, then off to the river Isar, to join all the locals in trying to cool down.

Day 85: Hot Cats....

Date: Saturday 21^st June
Staying: Camping Thalkirchen – Munich, Germany
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Zoo Station – U2

It is Hot. Smoking Hot! Absolutely Roasting! It’s uncomfortable to move. And it seems that every person in Munich is heading for Thalkirchen, whilst we head the other way. It appears that Thalkirken is the best place to enjoy the river Isar in the region, where it is shallow and slow moving, and in this weather, who can blame them.

We, on the other hand decided to brave the swarms, and the heat, and head into Munich. Thalkirchen is on the Metro, so we grabbed a decidedly cold war period looking train and joined the multitude at Marienplatz. This is the historical heart of the City. The beautiful Town Hall is on one side of the square and Church Spires appear all around.

After a stop at an Internet C@fe we had a look around the Town Hall, then headed to the Royal Palace. Unfortunately, the place was covered by a makeshift facade, as it was being restored underneath. This is the same problem we had in Berlin. As there is very little state money in these areas of Germany, any restoration work is sponsored by corporations. So instead of the Royal Palace, we got an enormous picture of Pearce Brosnan advertising Loreal Men Expert. Not sure why, but I didn’t feel the need to buy any.

Laurie was feeling the heat at this stage, so we decided she would go back to the van and I would head to Munich Zoo. The Zoo is world renowned, and I spent several hours there practicing my photography for when we get to Africa. Although I hope I don’t get this close to too many carnivores.

Day 84: Suspicious Minds

Date: Friday 20^th June
Staying: Camping Thalkirchen – Berlin, Germany
Distance Travelled: 362.6 Miles
Song of the day: Riding Dirty – Charmillionaire

Police just love us. Really. I guess a dirty, 20 year old van with a GB sticker and blacked out windows must have them simply salivating since today we were pulled over by the police again.

This time we were on the autobahn rocketing along at our top speed of 100km. I’d noticed an official looking police-type van at the exit of one of the rest stops and quickly forgotten all about it. 15 minutes later, they were driving right behind us. After doing this for 4 or 5 minutes they pulled out to the next lane, then in front of us, and proceed to flash “Follow Me” from their back window. All this was a little disconcerting, especially when they pulled off the motorway and into a police courtyard a few hundred metres away.

It turned out they were customs police. From his line of questioning, they were looking for people smuggling large amounts of cigarettes from Poland. Clearly, not us. They checked our passports, then one of them proceeded to do an inspection of the van while the other stationed himself strategically next to Cam and chatted about the F1. Naturally not finding anything, we were free to go ten minutes later, wondering if there was anything we could do to avoid further encounters of this nature.

In comparison, the rest of the day was positively tame. Cam got stuck behind lots of German Army officers at Burger King. I drank lots of coffee. You know, the usual.

We managed to get to Berlin with barely a hitch (who knew there could be two exit 76’s?), and made the campsite by 5pm, a new record for a long distance drive of ours. Cam was not disappointed when we parked next to a number of German football fans who proceeded to watch the football on a TV sitting on their windowsill, and Cam could see the game from the comfort of the van. An excellent arrangement all around.

Day 83: Division of Labour

Date: Thursday 19^th June
Staying:Camping Sanssouci-Berlin – Potsdam, Germany
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Reckless - Australian Crawl

We had different goals for today, mine relating to the cold war, and Laurie’s more ‘retail’ related.

His Part: The walking tour we did yesterday was so good (and the Tour Guide Mike was a kiwi from Wellington), I decided to join him for his Cold War tour today. I wasn’t the only one either, as I was joined by a couple of other people from yesterday.

Today’s walk was all about the Cold War. There were two highlights (for sake of a more appropriate word) on this tour for me. The first was a guided look at the Stasi Museum. The Stasi were the East German’s ‘Secret Police’. They had a very visible presence in having 91000 officers on the streets, but they also employed 175000 ‘informers’ from the public. When the KGB was at its most officious, they had 1 operative to every 2600 (approx) people in the Soviet Union, an incredible amount of coverage; the Stasi had 1 operative to every 61 people in East Germany. This kind of coverage meant the Stasi had a file on 1 in every 4 people in East Germany.

The exhibits stretched from the files they had (180 miles if laid beside each other), to the incredible devices used for spying, and was excellently explained by Mike. As this was small group, there was heaps of questions too, which was excellent.

The second stand-out was visiting the only piece of the wall in its original state. It has been rebuilt by the Government, but it is exactly as it was 20 years ago (less the landmines, dogs, guard tower and sensor controlled machine guns). At about 15 – 20 metres, it is not surprising so many people were killed trying to escape to the West. There was so much else that was worth talking about, but this is not the forum for it.

Not having had my full of 20^th Century German history, I headed to the German History Museum to see their displays on the Nazi Germany and the Cold War. The collection is obviously extensive and extremely informative, but the less said about this the better. If it’s the kind of thing you want to learn about, this is the place to go.

Her Part: I left Cam to his tour for the day, and headed off into Berlin by myself. I had a much more relaxing (if not so edifying) day, visiting bookshops, taking local buses around the city, poking my nose into churches, buildings and shops that took my fancy, rounding it off by having a quiet sit by the river watching the tourist boats go by. It was nice to take the city at a more leisurely pace and explore a few of the suburbs (some accidentally) that we hadn’t seen up until now.

Day 82: Berlin by Foot

Date: Wednesday 18^th June
Staying: Camping Sanssouci-Berlin – Potsdam, Germany
Distance Travelled:0 Miles
Song of the day: The Wall – Pink Floyd

Berlin is a city with such an incredible amount of history. Even if you only studied the 20^th century of Berlin, it would be enough to keep you busy for the rest of your life. To fill in the gaps for us, we decided to take a walking tour of Berlin.

Our tour guide was Mike from Wellington. Yep, a kiwi. He’d even studied at Massey, so we felt right at home. Boy did he know his stuff though. The walking tour was meant to take 4 hours, and after 5 ½ we finally finished at the Brandenburg Gates. The tour started in the west of Berlin, where we took a train to the east, and trailed through Museum Island, Unter der Linden, the Book Burning Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, a fragment of the Wall, the new Jewish Memorial and finally round to the Reichstag, with Mike keeping up a (totally understandable to New Zealanders) dialogue the whole way around, his “800 years of German History in 8 minutes” being a particular highlight.

There is simply too much information to convey even the gist of what he told us in the five hours. I’ve sometimes found walking tours a bit dry, but there was no chance of this here. He commented on how few New Zealanders come on the tour (though he was blessed with 4 that day), and we were rewarded with a copy of a photo that he keeps for Kiwis on the tour. The photo, taken before the Berlin wall fell, shows a map of New Zealand spray painted in red, along with the inscription “Aotearoa. Greetings to nuke-free New Zealand”. He also managed to take us to the only cafe in Germany that serves a decent coffee.

After this mammoth effort, we decided to take the rest of the day a bit easy. We both realised that we needed another day in Berlin, so did a little souvenir and book shopping before retiring to the comfort of the van. Well, I did anyway. There seems to be something called the “European Championships” on at the moment, and it causes Cam to spend a long time in the camp bar. The perfect excuse for me to catch up on my sleep.

Day 81: Berlin Checkpoint Charlie

Date: Tuesday 17^th June
Staying: Camping Sanssouci-Berlin – Potsdam, Germany
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Winds of Change – The Scorpions

Berlin had been a desired location of mine for some time. Like Barcelona, I had just never managed to get there and am not sure why. For our generation it is the centre point of the first real piece of history that took place in our life times. I still remember the jubilant scenes as the wall came down, and was very much looking forward to seeing it for myself.

We headed first for the Brandenburg gates, the centre piece for Berlin with and without the wall. When the Berlin was up, The Brandenburg Gate stood in the middle of ‘the Death Strip’ between the western and eastern walls. So for 41 years, no-one could go near it. It is now one of the main tourist attractions in Berlin and is awe-inspiring to see. The irony of the gate is that is was built as a gate of peace, but came to symbolise to clearly the division between Communism and Capitalism in the cold war.

Next was the Reichstag, the scene of the infamous fire that helped propel Hitler to power in 1933. The building is impressive, especially with its new glass dome that brings natural light throughout the building, but not as impressive as what the Nazi’s were planning to build there. Have a search for ‘Germania’ in google, it is something to behold, dwarfing the Reichstag. We stopped for lunch beside the river Spree, which ran between the two Germany’s; sitting in what once was the death strip (these things seem to pop up regularly in Berlin.

After lunch we wandered down to the ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ Museum. This was the main crossing point between the Soviet and American sectors after WWII, and then between East and West Germany. The wall went up in 1961, and the Museum opened in 1962. It quiet literally overlooks the checkpoint into East Germany and sits across the road from the former KGB building, and opposite the former CIA building. The information it has is colossal. We spent about 4 hours in there and it could easily have been doubled. They even had a plane someone had built in their apartment to fly themselves out.

The last stop for the day was one of the last pieces for the wall still standing in its original location. It actually runs through the location of the Gestapo headquarters from WWII. Above ground is the wall, and below it has been found the torture chambers. They are both now an outdoor museum.

Day 80: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Date: Monday 16^th June
Staying: Camping Sanssouci-Berlin – Potsdam, Germany
Distance Travelled: 372.4 Miles
Song of the day: The Journey – Fat Boy Slim

We had a long day of driving ahead of us, but we were tired from our drive to Cesky Krumlov, so slept a little later than we meant to. Filled with optimism, we left the camp only to be pulled over after less than 2 miles by a Czech policeman. The gent was doing random checks on vehicles, and apparently was ensuring that we weren’t driving a stolen vehicle. This was no problem, except the ownership papers were not readily to hand. I spent a few amusing moments pulling the van apart to find the necessary papers. Unfortunately I couldn’t figure out where I’d put my International Drivers Licence, and eventually he gave up and told us we could drive on, his mind seemingly at rest.

Apart from the normal traffic jams (road works), and seeing the aftermath of a rather nasty accident, we had an uneventful driving day. I’d like to mention Czech drivers however, who seem to have no sense of moderation – they all seemed to be driving at 30 or passing on blind corners. Nevertheless, we managed to get to the campsite without any problems, which had a restaurant on the edge of a lovely lake, and where we enjoyed a cold beer at the end of our longest driving day yet.

Day 79: Cesky Krumlov

Date: Sunday 15^th June
Staying: Cesky Krumlov Zentrum
Distance Travelled: 161.4 Miles
Song of the day: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

We had an unusual problem today (well, unusual for us) in that we couldn’t decide which camp site to go for out of 3. If you have been following our blog, you will see how we usually have trouble finding any campsite at all. Being Sunday, the public transport was not running, and the closest we could get to town was 4km out. But it was like a ghost site, with no-one else parked at all. We learned later they had all driven into town. Oh well, at least we got some exercise.

Our destination was Cesky Krumlov, which is listed as a World Heritage site, and it is easy to see why. The place is small, with the central part based on an island, and an unusually shaped castle on the mainland. We took a walk through old cobbled streets, with unusually decorated houses/buildings, which can only be described as quaint.

We hit the main square and sampled a traditional Czech lunch (unusually, mine consisted of a fair amount of meat), before doing some shopping in the boutiques. After a few hours we headed back out via the castle, which has a couple of Bears living under the access bridge. They looked pretty bored it has to be said, and sad to see them caged up. We made the 4km trek back to the campsite to find we had been joined by some other wanderers and were not going to be by ourselves.

Day 78: Down the mines

Date: Saturday 14^th June 2008
Staying: Camping Kasern – Salzburg, Austria
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Super Massive Black Hole – Muse

For day 78, we decided to go on our first organised tour of the trip. It was not (as some of you may be speculating) “The Sound of Music” tour, but instead one of the Salt Mines.

Crossing over the border to Germany, we were taken to a mine just outside Berchtesgaden. Before they let you into the mines, you must don “miners overalls”, large black coveralls with lots of elastic, a reinforced inner leg (purpose to become apparent shortly), and a lot of reflective strips. You are taken by train (think of the train in the Esplanade if you know Palmerston North), 600m into the mountain, where you are escorted around and shown various models and pieces of equipment associated with salt mining. To be fair, the real highlight and the reason people visit I’m sure, is for the miner’s slides. The slides consist of two parallel rails which are rounded on top, about a foot apart, and on an angle rather like a children’s slide. You straddle the two tracks, lean back a little, lift your feet and slide at rapid speed downhill. The first slide was 34m long and a fast ride. Cam got on first, I snuggled up behind him, and our guide gave us a little push. In the photo, I have my eyes squeezed shut, which tells you something about how fast it was. Fortunately I managed to keep my eyes open on the second slide which was a bit slower, but still a lot faster than I like to go under my own steam.

After the mines, we picked up another tour group who had been up to the “Eagles Nest”. We could just see it on the top of the mountain, but as it is a restaurant these days, it seemed a bit of a waste to spend €45 each to see it. We stopped for lunch in the village of Berchtesgaden, where kids were busking wearing lederhosen and playing accordions.

As we were driving back to Salzburg, I spotted a car parts shop. Now is the time to confess to my “oops” moment from two days ago. I mentioned in my last blog that we stopped in Liechtenstein to get a road tax vignette for Austria, but we also filled up the tank at the same time. Later in the day we noticed that the spare set of keys was missing. Yesterday I finally twigged. The last place we had the keys that I could remember was the petrol station in Liechtenstein. I had a walk around the van and the puzzle was solved. The keys were in the petrol cap. Which was still at the petrol station in Liechtenstein. At a distance of around 400km from our current location. To top things off, it had been raining overnight, so not only were we bereft of a petrol cap, but possibly had water in the tank too. For once, Cam had not lost his keys – this was entirely of my own doing.

Fortunately things turned out alright – I had an adventure on the local buses in Salzburg to the car parts shop (think Halfords or Repco, depending on your country of origin) and got a new petrol cap. Jarno, after a drive, seems none the worse for wear either. A lucky escape for us.

Now we just need a new set of keys cut.

Day 77: Overrated

Date: Friday 13^th June
Staying: Camping Kasern – Salzburg, Austria
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Jaded – Green Day

I think I may be about to be lynched, as I am going to say something that every other person I have spoken to will disagree with. I think Salzburg is overrated, and I don’t really like it (see me duck for cover behind the nearest Wurtzel stand, as the sauerkraut flies).

We headed into town early, trying to beat the crowds, but hit on a snag. As some of you will know, the European Football Championships are currently being held in Switzerland and Austria, Salzburg being one of the host cities. This meant that there were a lot of tourists in the city. The main square of Salzburg, which at other times I am sure is stunning, was turned into a ‘Fanzone’, where those that didn’t have a ticket to the game could watch the game on three enormous screens, with pre-match entertainment thrown in. Even an ardent football fan like me was disappointed with the effect on the place.

We went into the churches, but found them a little uninspiring; we went to the market, which was nice, but not fantastic; we even went to the restaurant recommended in our guide for a view of the city, but even that wasn’t overly impressive. It may have been because it is Friday the 13th, maybe even that we are Jaded, or even the proliferation of football paraphernalia over everything, but I think, however, I can put my finger on the problem. We were suffering a Lauterbrunnen hangover. This has happened before when we had really enjoyed a place; the next just doesn’t feel right. It happened in San Sebastian after our Chateau weekend, it happened in Croatia and Como after Camping Fusina; Andorra after the Grand Prix. I think the only solution is not to leave anywhere that we like.

The next game in Salzburg is tomorrow night (Russia v Greece. Black market tickets are at around €800, so I won’t be going, no matter how much I want too), so the city, and our camp ground, are gradually filling up with Russian fans, (the Greeks were already here after their last game) which will hopefully give us some excitement.

Day 76: The Long and Winding Road

Date: Thursday 12^th June
Staying: Camping Kasern – Salzburg, Austria
Distance Travelled: 361.6 Miles
Song of the day: My Mistake – Split Enz

I’m going to admit upfront that I’m going to leave you in suspense about the song of the day. One of us will explain when we get it all sorted and in the meantime, I’m just going to say “Oops”.

So, day 76 dawned bright and clear, and Cam and I were both sorry to be saying goodbye to Lauterbrunnen and Switzerland. It is a beautiful part of the world, consisting almost entirely of mountains, valleys and lakes, and the landscapes are not ones that will be readily forgotten.

It’s always good to have a plan, and today we had three. Our first target was the tiny principality of Liechtenstein. We were going there primarily to just say that we’d been, and to send postcards home (stamps being one of the mainstays of their economy). Liechtenstein is separated from Switzerland by a river, and Austria by mountains, making it one of the few landlocked countries that is surrounded by landlocked countries (Cam is full of these interesting titbits of information). It actually turned out to be a very picturesque little place, small enough for us to drive into (at around 4,000 people), and was dotted with cafes and shops selling stamps. We spent all of 1.5 hours there, having had our passports stamped at the tourist office for €2.

Our next aim was to make it as far as Innsbruck, where we could (if tired enough) stop for the night. Having acquired our road tax vignette for Austria we ventured on. As Innsbruck drew closer, we were faced with a dilemma. Should we drive on to Salzburg? Unfortunately we didn’t have a clue how far it was, so I made an executive decision that if it was only 90km or so, we’d drive on. If it was 200km, we’d stop for the night. We finally got to Innsbruck, but, having not seen a road sign yet with Salzburg on it, we still had no idea how far it was. Finally we saw the exit to the campground, and we decided to drive on, still entirely in the dark. About 500m on, there was the road sign – Salzburg 200km! By now it was too difficult to turn around though, so we forged on. Fortunately we made it to Salzburg with no more disturbance than a few road works, and found our campsite without a hitch. In all it was our longest driving day at around 550km. Needless to say I was fast asleep by 9.30pm.

Day 75: And then came the Rain

Date: Wednesday 11^th June
Staying: Camping Jungfrau – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: The Sky is Broken - Moby

We were hoping for another beautiful, clear, hot day like we had yesterday. Unfortunately, the rain came in (good for the waterfalls which are stunning after rain, and there are more that appear out of no where, not so good for us). So, instead of spending the day exploring the valley, we decided to investigate Interlaken, the main centre of the area.

As you can probably tell from the name, Interlaken is at the confluence of two lakes, and is surrounded by mountains. So it should be a fantastically beautiful place, and probably is, but not when you spend your time there diving between shops to avoid the thunder storms. This had the added bonus for Laurie of letting her do lots of shopping (I think she was starting to get withdrawal). And my aching arms cans safely say she took full advantage 

The highlight of the day was probably the place where we had lunch and Laurie got to try a proper Swiss cheese fondue (apparently it is a local dish. Learn something new etc). I tried another local dish called Rosti which was a lot like a mashed up hash brown with onions (the sausages were excellent though, which is always good). So today was a bit of a loss really, but even in the pouring rain, the valley is stunning. I could have sat taking photos for hours.

Day 74: Top of Europe

Date: Tuesday 10^th June 2008
Staying: Camping Jungfrau – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: How much is that doggie in the window?

To prove how much we love mountains, Cam and I got up at 5.30am to take the train up to the heights of the Jungfrau (plus, it was cheaper to go early). The Jungfraujoch has the distinction of being the worlds highest train station, the last 6km or so of the journey being entirely inside the mountain (including the train station). The cogwheel train gets so steep in parts that the seats are fixed at a permanent angle.

Unlike in Chamonix, we had perfect weather conditions, with clear blue skies all around. Arriving at the summit at 8.30am we made straight for “The Sphinx”, where a lift takes you up the last 120m to the highest point. We were only the second couple out there for the day, so we had a perfect view of mountains, glaciers and crevasses without the usual hordes. Overnight, ice had frozen to the grating of the viewing platform, so we had fun stamping on the grates and watching the ice plummet down the cliffs beneath us.

It was only a mild -1° outside, so it was a chilly shock to go into the ice palace, a series of rooms carved in ice. Inside, the ice was so dry that it felt like smooth plastic under your fingers. Featured in the palace is a permanent display of ice sculptures: penguins, polar bears and the like. Quickly making our way back outside, we warmed up on the plateau, taking photos among the (newly arrived) tour bus crowds.

Since time was getting on, we headed out toward the glacier where they had an attraction I just couldn’t resist – sledging with huskies. On the reasoning that this would probably be the only opportunity to go sledging in my life, I got into the sledge and was whisked around in the snow by four incredibly keen (and very beautiful) huskies, whose little feet threw up a small shower of snow over me as we went. To dispel the Hollywood myth, there was no whip, and the driver did not yell mush at them, but rather chatted away in much the same way as you would to a dog at a sheep dog trial trying to herd sheep. (Mum: I tried to sneak one back with us, but Cam wouldn’t let him in the van, sorry.)

By the time we got back to Lauterbrunnen, I was shattered from the high altitude (lots of puffing again), so I had a poke around town while Cam went to Trummelbach, a series of 10 glacial waterfalls inside a mountain just a few miles down the road. Going up by lift, you walk down whilst watching 20,000 litres of water per second flowing by. Cam says “It was wet and cold, but pretty.” On the way back to the van, he took the time to be chased by a bull before returning for dinner.

Day 73: Feels like New Zealand

Date: Monday 9^th June
Staying: Camping Jungfrau – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Distance Travelled: 155.1 Miles
Song of the day: Take My Breath Away

It is quite possible that we have stumbled upon the most beautiful place in the world. Without exception, nowhere I have ever been can come close to being as picturesque as Lauterbrunnen. And the best part was we wouldn’t have come here if it hadn’t been for our friend Marty who we meet at Camping Fusina. Marty said if we were going anywhere is Switzerland, it had to be Lauterbrunnen, and on his word we decided to come. I can see why he recommended it!

Today dawned bright and clear, giving us a fantastic view of Mont Blanc and Du Midi, as well as several of the glaciers that had been shrouded in cloud up until this point. Although tempted to stay, we were well behind where we intended to be anyway, so we headed off. The route we took into Switzerland could only be described as precipitous, and Jarno was letting us know his displeasure at the gradient; even he settled down when we reached the top of the road and we were treated to a truly spectacular view. Martigny valley stretched out before us, surrounded on all sides by the Swiss Alps rising up to 3000m.

This, it turns out, is fairly common for Switzerland, and it was not the last time we were struck by just how stunning this place is. The roads through Montreux (of Deep Purple ‘Smoke on the Water’ fame) and then from Thun to Lauterbrunnen were flanked by ever-enlarging mountains, with snow capped peaks poking through high cloud.

However, I think it may have been the drive into Lauterbrunnen that was truly a breath taking moment. Lauterbrunnen is situated in a valley named ‘The Valley of 70 Waterfalls’ (there are actually 72), and is a truly magical place. The valley is walled by shear cliffs that rise hundreds of metres, with waterfalls all along the edge that appear to throw the water out into thin air, where it is whisked up by the swirling winds. It is hard to describe, but I can see why Goethe was inspired by this. At the end of the valley was the Jungfrau (over 4100m tall), which had cleared of the weather we had endured in Chamonix, and provided a stunning back drop. Of all the places I have been on this trip, I would recommend this as the one place for everyone to come, Winter or Summer.

Day 72: At Altitude

Date: Sunday 8^th June 2008
Staying: Mer de Glace – Chamonix, France
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Edge of the World – Faith No More

“You can see the top of the mountains, quick, look outside!” were the words I woke up to. Dutifully I pushed back the curtain and wiped the condensation from the window. Outside, looming above our campsite, we could finally see the snow covered peaks of the surrounding mountains. Ten minutes later it was my turn to come running back to the van, “You can see where we’re going today!” Away in the distance, nearly 4000m up, I could see the Summit Terrace atop the Aiguille du Midi.

Time is of the essence in the mountains, and knowing that it could cloud in any minute, we raced to the cable car station in Chamonix. Going up the mountain is done via cable car in two stages. First up to the Plan de l’aiguille at 2,317m (Chamonix is at 1,035m), then a change of cable car to the Aiguille du Midi at 3,832m. The second cable car travels the last 400m or so at an almost vertical angle (a lot like Table Mountain in Cape Town, only much, much higher). At 3,750m the view was amazing, looking out at jagged black and white peaks and snow covered mountains. Far from snowing, the moisture in the air seemed to be crystallising, making the whole place glitter like a snow globe.

The final 80m is via lift, where the pointed Summit Terrace gives a 360° view of the surrounding mountains including Mont Blanc, the highest peak around at 4,810m. We had timed it just right – it stayed clear enough for 5 minutes to take photos before some patchy cloud rolled in. Sometimes we would be in almost whiteout conditions, at other times we could see large swathes of jagged landscape.

Now, the air is very thin at that altitude, and Cam and I were already panting like two dogs on a hot day. Having had enough of being short of breath, we descended to the Plan de l’aiguille, bought hot chocolate and took in the view. Just as we were preparing to leave, the cloud rolled in for good, smothering the whole mountain top in dirty grey clouds. Our timing had been perfect.

Day 71: Ice

Date: Saturday 7^th June
Staying: Mer de Glace – Chamonix, France
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: 7 Days in Sunny June - Jamiroquai

I have been looking forward to our visit to Chamonix for a long time. Ever since watching a world cup skiing event on Eurosport that showed what a stunning part of the world this is. Unfortunately, it has been shrouded in cloud since we arrived, but we weren’t gonna let something like that stop us.

We took a stroll into Chamonix (about 1.5km’s from the campsite along nature paths) and to Laurie’s great satisfaction, walked straight into a market in the town square (I am sure you can picture the look of complete resignation on my face as I realise I will be following her around for an hour and a half and then have to carry everything for the rest of the day). After an hour and a half (told ya) of looking through stalls selling roughly the same sort of thing, we headed into the main shopping street. Being out of season, most shops were closed, but, it is a picturesque little town, so was worth a look.

After lunch, we headed to the train for ‘Mer De Glace’, in the vain hope that the weather would clear enough for us to see it. It wasn’t looking promising on the way up, as we got clouded in, and when we arrived, things didn’t look any better. Not being able to admit defeat, we started down the path to the glacier (the cable car was closed), and as we were just discovering the path had been blocked off after 300m, the cloud cleared enough for us to have a fantastic view. It was well worth the effort. Now here’s hoping the weather does the same tomorrow when we are going up to over 3800m.

Day 70: France (Part 3)

Date: Friday 6^th June
Staying: Mer de Glace – Chamonix, France
Distance Travelled: 184.6 Miles
Song of the day: Move Mountains – Jesus Jones

I think we may have mentioned that Cam and I have established a rule when driving. No matter how many miles you are travelling in a day (we measure in miles, it’s what the van does), the first 30 and the last 30 are always the longest. Today, it took us 1 hour 35 minutes to drive 38 miles. The first 20 miles out of Como were easy, but as soon as we got to Milan we were bumper to bumper. I can only imagine what the non-toll roads are like. I’m not going to be ungrateful though, because today was one of those unique days where we didn’t take a single wrong turn. Granted, we didn’t end up at the campsite we were aiming for, but we found a nice one none-the-less, and didn’t get lost (the answer apparently is “When in doubt, head for Switzerland”).

So apart from the first 30 miles, we had a pretty good driving day. We also had our longest tunnel (these things acquire some significance), being the Mont Blanc tunnel at 11,611 metres, and costing a grand total for our “Class B” vehicle of €42 (our most expensive toll so far). Waiting to pay the toll, we had a lovely view of a glacier though on the Italian side, which Cam shot out the window of the van. Years ago there was a very nasty fire in the tunnel, so it’s very heavily regulated. No faster than 70km and you must keep 150 metres between you and the vehicle in front of you at all times.

Getting to Chamonix on the other side of the tunnel was worth it though. At the foot of Mont Blanc, Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1926, and has two high seasons – Winter and Summer (skiing season and trail season). From Chamonix, you can take various cable cars and trains up the mountain, even as far as Italy on the other side if you want. We arrived with the mountain swathed in heavy cloud, the Mer de Glace (after which the campsite is named) hidden from view. We’re hoping the cloud will raise over the next few days, giving us the chance to take in the view at 3,800 metres.

Day 69: Heinousness Most Foul

Date: Thursday 5^th June
Staying: Rivabella - Lake Como, Lecco, Italy
Distance Travelled: 150.0 Miles (Yes, Really)
Song of the day: Street Spirit – Radiohead

If there is such a thing as the God of roads (I am trying to come up with a name for my Street Spirit, no luck so far) he was not smiling on us today. This was another day where traffic and wrong turns (or not turning in our case) played havoc most foul with our plans.

We knew it was going to be difficult to get out of Verona. With the trouble we had trying to find our campsite (and the lack of adequate street signs), it was never going to be easy. After a 17 point turn to get out of our tiny parking spot, we followed the road out, and even though we were forced into a detour that wasn’t mapped, we ended up heading in the correct direction. But that is where the fun started.

It turns out its not just street signs that Verona is lacking, but direction signs too. So as we come flying up to an intersection, it’s only when we stop for the light that we discover we are in the incorrect lane. This time however, fortune favoured the brave, as a truck was in the lane next to us, so we managed to steal across in front of him. It’s not like that is uncommon in Italy. Next adventure was the 6 lane highway that diverged into 3 different highways. Unfortunately, our exit was in the fast lane, not something that should often be attempted in Jarno without a downhill start.

OK, so we get to Milan, and apparently there are 2 exits we can take to head towards our campsite on Lake Como. Turns out we missed both of them. We didn’t see the first one, and we were going to take the second one, so through some confusion, we missed them both. This left another problem, Traffic! Around Milan it was horrendous, and then at Como (we had to go there to get to our campsite), 4 lanes merge into 1, so you can imagine what that was like.

We eventually made our campsite, frustrated, and quite a bit later than anticipated. Maybe the camp owner could see this, maybe the Street Spirit was saying sorry, but we ended up with a spot right on the lake, which was very still and calm, even in the rain. The camera got a work out as we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. It was a beautiful place

Day 68: The City of Star-Crossed Lovers

Date: Wednesday 4^th June
Staying: Camping Castel San Pietro – Verona, Italy
Distance Travelled: 83.8 Miles
Song of the day: Romeo – Basement Jaxx

Cam and I couldn’t leave Fusina without a cooked breakfast, and besides, we had promised Michelle (the one from Sydney), that we would drop by. So, fuelled with eggs and caffeine, we said a sad farewell to Fusina, trying to look ahead to the cool things we’d be seeing in Verona.

We only had one night scheduled for Verona, so the aim was to arrive early and spend the afternoon doing the tourist thing. For a change, we had instructions from Via Michelin (one of those sites where you put in the start and end points and it works out the route for you). Of course, it didn’t help us one iota, since instructions are really only useful if the place you are going has street names. Which Verona doesn’t. After stopping at a service station, buying a map, and getting instructions from the staff, we headed off again. In the wrong direction. Fortunately we realised our mistake after 4 or 5 km (and the sign which told us we’d just left Verona), turned around, and embarked on the long and winding road that led us to our campsite just inside the old city walls. There we were given the teeniest camp spot I’ve ever seen (literally less than 2 inches on either side to back the van into). This was not Fusina.

However, now that we were parked we could head into Verona, which we did via Castel San Pietro, which gave us a great view out over the city. First priority was to get some food, which we did down a little side street off the main piazza, where we were served by a lovely woman who even helped me out with my limping Italian (must remember that “il conto” is “the bill”).

Now, Verona is all about Romeo and Juliet, and every tourist stall is covered in (very) tacky merchandise. They have even designated a house as the Capulets residence, even though they were (of course) entirely a figment of Shakespeare’s imagination. We did the required visit to Juliet’s balcony, where the walls of the residence are entirely covered in protestations of undying love. We also visited the amphitheatre, where every year they hold a world-renown opera season. Unfortunately we were a bit early (the season starts mid-June), but the Aida set was already up, looking very Egyptian.

As night fell, we were treated to a spectacular view from the campsite of Verona by night. Cam took the opportunity to get out the tripod and take some night shots. We finally fell into bed at midnight, exhausted and having a long drive to Lake Como in the morning.

Day 67: All Wheel Drive

Date: Tuesday 3^rd June
Staying: Camping Fusina – Venice, Italy
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Ticks & Leeches – Tool

I don’t think it is possible to sum up how good a time we had in Camping Fusina. It is one of those rare places and times where everything seemed to come together and we were happy staying and didn’t really want to leave.

And this is not to mention the people either. Case in point was the tyre that we came back to fix. Michelle (from Sydney) and Stefano (born just up the road from the campsite) were amazing when we mentioned the dodgy tyre problem. With our Italian being as poor as it is, we were just trying not to get ripped off, which could potentially happen. Stefano picked me up after he had finished work, and took me and the offending tyre down to a local shop, where he explained the problem, which was promptly fixed, and got us a price that I had not seriously considered would have been possible if we had been there on our own. But this is symptomatic of these two people, who were fantastic to us during our stay there.

After we had got back and started to get things ready for our departure, Erin (the Aussie with a taste for Vegemite, and who has earned the nickname of ‘Kebab Chick’ due to her fantastic culinary skills) came to find us, as it was her night off, and we headed back to the bar for one last quiet night before we left. Well, that didn’t happen. We ended up in the restaurant for dinner surrounded by staff and drivers having a fantastic meal and a good laugh, until we were all keen to head back to the bar for a couple more. The night ended up around 12, with Laurie and I playing a fantastically amusing game of table football with two of the Bar Staff, Sara (from Perth) and Michelle (from Latvia).

A special mention must be made, however, of the mosquitoes. I have been bitten so many times that I am taking antihistamines to help get ride of the bite marks. I really should not have worn shorts to the bar at night. I only have myself to blame.

Day 66: In which we have now spent a week at Camping Fusina

Date: Monday 2^nd June
Staying: Camping Fusina – Venice, Italy
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: The Bartender – T-Pain

Despite our late night, we didn’t stay in bed for long. Since we were here last, it has gotten so hot that our little van heats up to somewhere in the 30’s during the night. Consequently when Cam woke up at 7.30am he immediately wanted a cold shower, and the van is small enough that one person getting up always wakes the other. Along with the heat has come the mosquitoes, and we both have a liberal covering of little red bites (Cam has come off worst, I’m afraid).

We went off for breakfast and quickly found ourselves joined by refugees from the night before. Our new friend Marty is leaving the campsite for two months to drive tour buses around Europe, and breakfast quickly escalated to Champagne breakfast. Mustering our resources, we dragged ourselves away for a few hours to sort ourselves out (paying credit card bills, the final payment for our Africa trip, and calling the travel agent to get flights changed). Even though you’re on holiday, all the little details of life continue on just the same, and you have to spend a few hours every week sorting things out “back home”. For those of you who are curious, the African leg of our trip is still on, though we’ll hopefully be flying into Livingstone Airport in Zambia, rather than Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The two airports are only a few kilometres away from each other, but right now it makes a big difference!

After I had a kindy nap in the afternoon, Cam and I resumed propping up the bar (which now has Laurie and Cam sized dents in it where we’ve been standing). At six we joined some of the other great people we’ve meet here for Marty’s farewell dinner. Last night was a much quieter night (in part no doubt to Marty’s departure at 7pm), however a Kumuka bus arrived and we were quickly spotted by the Kiwi’s (it was Cam’s NZ football t-shirt again) who came over to say hello. After a few drinks (it’s those Jager-Bombs I swear, no wonder we don’t sleep!) and some dancing in the Fusina bar (yes, Cam too, though I’m sure he will strenuously deny it), we had a relatively early 1am finish. Before retiring, we took a stroll around the campsite in the cool, and took a good look over at Venice which looked beautiful with its lights twinkling in the water.

Day 65: Back to the Future (Or Venice in Our Case)

Date: Sunday 1^st June
Staying: Camping Fusina – Venice, Italy
Distance Travelled: 201.4 Miles
Song of the day: An Honest Mistake – The Bravery

So it turns out that Laurie and I have a slow leak in one of our tyres. Seeing as we had met some really cool people in Venice, we thought we would head back there for a couple of days and have a good time while we got the tyre fixed.

We left Bled a little later than we intended due to the drinks we had last night, but we got under way at 10, and headed towards the Italian border. However, things were not as they seemed. It turns out that the turn-off we wanted was signed with an abbreviation, not the full name of the town we were heading for. This would normally not have been a problem; you can just get off at the next exit, turn around and go back. Unfortunately, the next turn off was in Austria, and the first we knew of this was when we were driving into a 7.9km tunnel (longest of the trip so far), with a sign saying Austria at the start of it. (Why does this stuff keep happening to us? I think we are disaster magnets).

So, we were now driving through a country where we didn’t have the requisite road tax discs, and hadn’t intended on being in for another week and a half; and there was no where to turn around, and even if we did, we would have to pay another toll for the tunnel. OK, so after I pored over the maps for a bit, I found where we could turn off to get back to Italy. If we had been pulled over, we would have got a massive fine for not having paid the tax, but fortunately we didn’t, and we got back into Italy after driving an extra 30 miles.

So we arrive at Fusina and head to the bar where the staff are getting ready for the Sumo contest that is on that night for the enjoyment of the 6 Contiki buses. After a few inquiries as to the best place to get our tyre fixed, we learn that tomorrow is in fact a public holiday in Italy, so nothing will be open (Typical! I should have guessed that would happen before we arrived). So there was nothing left to do but to join in with the other punters and have a few drinks and a dance, and watch people knock each other over in padded sumo suits.

We had a fantastic night, the ended up at about 3.30am having toast and vegemite with a couple of our new friends back at the van (an Aussie far from home loves Vegemite enough to stay up that late for it. Quality effort Erin!). All-in-all, a great night!

Day 64: Out of the gate, and off for a walk

Date: Saturday 31^st May
Staying: Camping Bled – Bled, Slovenia
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Better be Home Soon – Crowded House

Because Lake Bled is so small, we decided to take a leisurely stroll around, stopping off at the town of Bled on the other side of the lake. We set off at 9am, since the temperatures around Slovenia were a bit warmer than we’ve been used to on the trip so far, and we didn’t much fancy walking around during the heat of the day.

It’s beautiful around the lake, and your eye is constantly drawn across the clear blue water to the island and church in the centre. There were plenty of other walkers around, and periodically we came across watercolour sellers hocking off €4 prints depicting the lake (in other words, good colour photocopies of what were once originals – we’ve seen this before in plenty of places!). We were on the other side of the lake in Bled in 40 minutes, which really only consists of one main shopping street. After stopping for the compulsory postcards and patch, we wandered around the other side of the lake in the cool of the trees, stopping to take frequent photos.

We were well back before lunchtime, so we stopped off at the restaurant to try the Slovenian fare (cheese dumplings, anyone?). After a relaxing afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the free WiFi access to check our emails, and Cam went wandering off to the front of the campsite where reception was better. Coming down to join him 30 minutes later I discover that he had struck up a friendship with the other Kiwis at the campsite (the ones whose flag we saw yesterday), and they promptly invited us back later for a drink.

So after dinner we spent a very pleasant four hours chatting to John and Debbie from New Plymouth who had also been living in the UK. They shared the benefits of their camping wisdom with us (and their camping site book), and it was interesting to compare experiences. Fortunately, we’re not the only ones who have things go wrong, which was very reassuring! We even got to see what the inside of a real campervan looks like (ah, so spacious!), and I was treated to a kahlua. We had a good old chat about all things kiwi, from sport to housing, and it was nice to socialise with some other campers. We’ve found that campers aren’t very social on the whole, unless it’s with others from their home country, so mostly it’s the Kiwis and Brits that spot the “GB” sticker on the back of the van and come for a chat.