Autumn in the Austrian Alps

September 2011 in the Austrian Alps

On arriving back in Austria from Spain and Portugal friends offered us the use of the Alpine cottage (or hutte) as they call it for 3 weeks while they where travelling through China, we agreed to in exchange for looking after their little dog called Fiona. The cottage is situated above the village of Sonntag in the Vorarlberg region. The area is called Stein at 1485 meters with a ski field at the door in winter. From the cottage we looked across the valley to a river and forest plus many farms. You can hear the cow bells during the day as the stock graze on the surrounding hills. It was picture post card scenery. While staying at Stein we took the opportunity to read plenty of books as there was no radio, TV or newspapers. We hike in the surrounding Alps most days doing one overnight trip through to the Freyberg Hut, which was a 6 hour walk. This was extremely special as the scenry was magnificent plus we got to see wild life and eat at one on the many little alpine huts that provide restaurant services and cold beer over the summers months for the hikers. The weather was amazing other than 2 days when we had light snow which of course delighted us no end and made everything look even more beautiful. The 3 weeks just flew by and before we knew it Albert and Bridget returned home. After helping Bridget celebrate her birthday 2 days after they arrived home we said our farewells and packed up Moggy and drove into the sun for our final adventure in Europe for 2011

Weranui Wanderers Return to Europe May 2011

Weranui Wanderers Return to Europe May 2011
AUSTRIA:
After arriving in Zurich from Johannesburg on the 27th May we picked up a rental car and drove through to Bregenz on the edge of Lake Konstance in Austria. This is the home of our dear friends Siegrid and Gerhard and where we had left Moggie to rest over the northern winter while we escaped to the warmth and sunshine of South Africa. Sadly Moggie did not fare so well in the cold winter climate. This lead to us having to find someone both experienced and willing to work on the old girl to get her up to travelling fitness once again and to replace some of her pipes which had split with the cold. After some time following leads and referrals we found a man across the border in Germany in a little place called Fredrickschaven. As we all know technology has changed considerably since 1980 when she was built, so getting replacement parts has taken time and lots of patience. We decided that this gave us the perfect opportunity to take a long term older rental car and while basing ourselves in Bregenz we could do a number of short trips to countries whose borders touch or are close to Austria as well as seeing more of the valleys and larger areas surrounding Bregenz which is an absolutely beautiful part of the world and so safe.


ALSACE & LAKE COMO:
Firstly we visited the Alsace wine region France, driving through Germany and up to Mulhouse, Colmar and Strasbourg. We swayed in a small hotel and then did daily trips meandering our way through small historical villages which were alive with colour as everyone has window boxes full of flowers. We also visited the famous cathedral in Strasbourg before returning to Bregenz. Our next trip we decided to head off to Lake Como in Italy taking in south eastern Austria and Lichtenstein along the way. So many of our friends back home have visited here and raved about it plus my son Hamish is being best man for his NZ business partner there in Sept so we decided to go and see for ourselves especially as the forecast for the next 5 days in Austria was for rain. Lichtenstein is very small and did not hold a lot of interest on a cool wet summers day so after visiting the art gallery, having coffee and a drive around we moved on. Obviously we have been spoiled by the Austrian countryside.
On arriving at Como we drove up the lake away from the main centre, it is beautiful and everyone was very friendly and helpful. The sudden change to the Italian way of life was evident. We found a dear little hotel right on the lake and proceeded to hike around the village and up into the valley to some small villages, the weather was perfect for sitting outside a small cafe/bar sipping a little glass of vino. The old architecture and the history in these villages is wonderful and some of the old lakeside properties are breathtaking, full of period furniture and with amazing gardens. After a few days we headed back to base and life on the shores of Lake Konstance for a week or so.


HUNGARY:
Next we decided to travel through Hungary and stay in Budapest for a week exploring all the wonderful sites historical sites. Here we took an apartment in one of the main streets so that we could park the car and walk everywhere. Budapest has a turbulent history and some wonderful architecture which I am pleased to say is still very much intact. One evening after a long day of walking we took a cruise on the Danube and watched the sun set. We visited the historic old Turkish baths, where the waters are said to be healing. Seemed like a great idea for my tired feet. Spent evenings in the huge parks watching families and young people enjoying the outdoors and sunshine. Life is Budapest in summer is very much a cafe scene like the rest of Europe, they are very fashion conscious and the # of designer shops makes you think you’re in Milan or Paris, with price tags to match. My only purchase here was post cards. After 6 days here we drove into the Czech Republic and Germany and back to base as we were running out of time as two days later Vic was to fly off to the States for 2 weeks to help Terry Winson celebrate his 60th birthday.
Those of you at Vic’s 60th will remember Terry, he acted as M.C. He was also able to catch up with Stephen his eldest son who was attending a work related conference in Las Vegas.

SPAIN:
Vic was home 3 days when we decided to head to the Island of Mallorca to look after Andrew, Vic’s youngest son who had broken his heel after a good night on the town and trying to impersonate Spiderman, he ended up in plaster and on crutches with no weight baring allowed for 6 weeks, this out an end to his working on luxury yachts for the season.
We arose early on the morning of the 15th July (early being 3.45am) and drove through Switzerland, France and on to Barcelona, Spain where we caught an overnight ferry to Mallorca arriving at 6am on the 16th July. Here we decided to take an apartment for a month in the Santa Catalina area so Andrew could move in and still have easy access to his friends and the local bars and night life activity that the area is famous for. During the month here we have had endless warm sunny days of between 27-32c, lots of swimming while exploring all corners of the Island. We have eaten seafood almost every day as it is so fresh and plentiful. We love visiting the market daily and deciding what to cook for dinner that night. Vic is truly in his element.
Andrew finally got his plaster off but was still not allowed to weight bare for another 2 weeks which would then need to be followed by physio so he decided it was time to return home to NZ. He flew out on Wed 10th Aug. We leave Palma in 2 days for the mainland.
We will take a ferry to our first stop of Valencia from there we head to Grenada to visit the famous Alhambra. The bull fighting season is over thank goodness as neither of us has any desire to see such an event live and might offend the Spanish if we were asked to do so. After that we will head to Cordoba and then Seville. Here we hope to meet up with some people we met while camping in Norway last year. After Seville it’s on to Lisbon in Portugal where Julia, Vic’s daughter will fly in from Dubai to join us for a short break away from the extremely hot weather there at this time of year. After a few days seeing the sights of Lisbon we will all head to Porto where Julia has friends to catch up with. As this is the Port Wine area of Portugal no doubt once again we will visit a vineyard so Vic can do some tasting. We did this when we were here 3 years ago and it was fun. However Port and Michele do not go together so I shall just look on from the side line. Then it’s off to Madrid for 5 days. Our itinerary for Madrid is hectic as there is so much to see plus we have some friends there to visit we will locate ourselves centrally so we can walk to all if the museums and art galleries etc. From here Julia will fly back to Dubai and we will drive back to Fredrickschaven to collect Moggie who is ready and waiting for us to do the next phase of or European trip. We still have to decide in which direction we will head, but bearing in mind that winter in Europe can start as early as mid October you can bet it will be to somewhere warm. Who knows we may even get to Turkey and Croatia yet.
We read in this morning’s Herald that you are having a really cold snap and that Auckland had snow for the first time in 30years, our house at Weranui Road must have looked beautiful, hopefully Richard and Linda took some photos for us.
We wish you all the very best of good health and happiness. Don’t forget we love to read your comments which you can put at the end of each blog entry. Warm regards to you all
Michele & Vic Aug 2011

Easter 2011 trip to the Richtersveld
With our time in South Africa drawing to a close the chance to travel to the Richtersveld Transfrontier National Park in the north western corner of South Africa and the border of Namibia with 5 other couples in convoy camping for 6 days was an opportunity too good to miss.
We knew only one of the couples (Vic’s cousin and her husband). As the couples all lived in Johannesburg we arranged to meet them in Augrabies Falls National Park on Good Friday. This in mind we set off on the Wednesday morning before Easter heading for Sutherland where we planned to camp the first night.
Sutherland is a small township in the middle of nowhere that boasts having the best night sky conditions for star gazing in SA and markets itself around this. We camped on the edge of town in a small private camp ground. As soon as the sun went down the chill set in as Sutherland is also known as the coldest place in South Africa in winter, so being tough Kiwi’s we donned our jackets and lit a camp fire, opened a bottle of red wine and settled down to star gaze and BBQ our steaks. The next morning we arose to -3c but a clear blue sky and sunshine. We continued our trek north stopping a little villages and townships along the way. One in particular was Middlepos, a must for Vic as they sell prickly pear syrup , which is delicious over ice cream (or so I am told). Vic bought their entire stock ,2 bottles. The prickly pear is the fruit of a cactus which local people pick and eat and make a syrup out of which is high in vitamin C.
At around 4pm and after many kilometers we arrived in Kamoes, on the banks of the Orange River, an area renowned for growing sultanas. Here we camped on a vineyard, and had the place to ourselves. It was delightful as it had originated as a small catholic primary school which had its own vine yard growing sultana grapes, also lots of history and charm. The weather here was much warmer and we were reluctant to leave the next morning but we still had a little way to travel before meeting up with the group at Augrabies Falls so around 11.30am we made our way back to the highway. Driving through this vast countryside with its huge paddocks, some with at least 4kms between fence lines. All have jackal fencing and unlike NZ lambing is done in April –May. As we drove on to the Falls the landscape was ever changing, one minute flat as a pancake, then rolling hills followed by mountains and then huge rocky out crops. We arrived at the falls at around 1.30pm where we were to stay 2 nights in well appointed individual chalets. Augrabies is always a busy place as the falls are well known and due to heavy rains in Lesotho this year, which is where the water originates and becomes the Orange River, the falls were full and truly magnificent.
Here we got to know the other members of the group around the camp fire, the weather was stunning and once again the days brought cloudless brilliant blue skies and warm sunshine, great for hiking and exploring the park area.
At 7am on Easter Sunday we headed off into the sunrise towards the Richtersveld where we would spend our first night at Sendelingsdrft. This is a full day’s drive stopping at various townships along the way. It was agreed that lunch would be in Springbok at a little cafe known to one of the couples from a previous visit, we then passed on through Steinkopf, Port Noloth on the Atlantic Ocean then up the coast to Alexander Bay. This area is well known for diamond mining. At this point we then headed east towards the park where we stayed the first night in chalets as there was no camping until further in the park.
It is probably a good time to mention that there are no animals in the park that consider humans a delicacy. The only thing we need to be aware of was scorpions ( they like to climb in your shoes if you leave them outside overnight) and the odd snake. I am pleased to report we only saw 2 scorpions and both were very shy. Sadly as we set off that morning one of the group had to pull out as there gearing selector failed and they need to head back to Springbok for repairs. After Sendelingsdrft we drove through this amazing landscape of red earth huge rock formations which look as though they come from another planet to the river campsite of Richersberg. Sadly this has been badly damaged by the flooding on the Orange River in January this year. A lot of the campsites are now under water of washed away. However we found a nice area for 5 vehicles under the trees which we later found out we were to share with a group of vervet monkeys who took great delight in stealing any food not put away or guarded, thankfully two of our group had catapults. Camping in this part of SA is rustic but beautiful, with the temp getting up to 34c we enjoyed swimming in the fast flowing Orange River while holding on to a rope attached to a tree. After 3 days we left the river and drove further inland doing some serious4x4 driving. One of the vehicles broke a shock absorber and we lost a side window, still these small mishaps did not deter us or spoil our fun. Finally we reached the Kokerbloomkloof camp, this is a dry camp, you have to bring in all your water even to flush the toilets however it is one of the most amazing places and the landscape and silence are breathtaking. Here we hiked, drove and took lots of photos, by early afternoon it was too warm to do anything but sit under the awning and read with a cold beer, thank goodness for camping fridges and freezes as there are no shops once you enter the park. In the evening as we sat around our camp fire the African Wild cat visited us. He is a tabby type cat, a bit bigger than a large household moggy and has pointy ears. He just watch us from about a metre away, possibly hoping for scraps of meat. After 6 days in the park it was time for everyone to pack up and head for home, at this point we said farewell to Julie, Stuart, Adele, Carlo, Helen, Peter and Beata and Vic ,I , Dianne and John headed to Vioolsdrift on the Orange River and Namibian border were we camped for the night before we headed back to Knysna and they headed back to Joburg.
As we headed south we stopped off in Calvinia to stay a couple of nights with friends Korbus and Petru Louw on their farm then home to Knysna and start the process of packing up after 6 months and getting ready to leave for Europe.
We say farewell to SA on the 26th May as we head back to Austria to pick up Moggy and spend a few days with Siegrid and Gerhard before we head east through Croatia to Turkey at which point we will continue our blogging so that you can continue to joins us on our travels.
In the mean time love to you all
Michele & Vic