Wednesday 14 October
We awake to rain and cold so decide to postpone the drive across Vienna to find the van place as things are working again and really very difficult wasting lots of time for maybe no gain. So we take off from our camp which has been a great stop very clean and friendly and make our way west towards Melk along the Danube. We have found another van shop that specialises in campers so feel this will be the best bet. It is about ½ an hour from Melk so we plan on staying at a camp which is part of a hotel but will consider anything on the way we see. Even though it is drizzly and cold (my feet are freezing, goes to show you shouldn’t do the morning chores in jandals in 4c) the road is good and the rain adds a misty & ethereal outlook which, as we enter the valley’s alongside the Danube, is stunning and when you are able to look across the river to the villages on the other side it is truly a world wonder. The Danube is an unusual green colour and is wide and flowing. Maybe it is the lack of silt or mud as it is rocky amongst the huge hills (not quite mountains, well they would be in oz) but unlike all the rivers we have seen so far, almost glacial in hue. It all looks beautifully clean & fresh. We stopped around 2ish to make sammies on the river just past a town. We then carried on always marvelling at the what we would consider the most beautiful countryside we have seen, even surpassing Norway, though I would go a long way to beat NZ! It being autumn probably has something to do with it as the colours are spectacular. What makes a difference is there are castle ruins on the sides of the hills, sometimes in the most precarious places and even huge monastery’s, all nestled below by quaint villages with their inevitable church spires poking out of the mist & low clouds. On another day we would visit but it is too wet to take the van up steep, questionable roads so leave it for another time hopefully. However at Melk we stop to look at the Baroque Abbey one of the best of its kind in the world. We arrive amongst bus loads of tourists, mainly yanks, but surprisingly it doesn’t feel crowded. The inside of the church is breathtaking and it is fully covered in artwork and huge amounts of gold leaf. Words can’t describe it and as previously we have said the church we have just seen in Klosterneuburg was one of the best we have seen this surpasses it. We don’t want to pay to see the museum or gardens as we don’t have time but guess it would be well worth it.
We pull into a van stop camp which Vicki had researched and looks good. These cost 10 -12 euro which is cheap and have power and toilets and a park for around 10 campers. You drive in through a boom that opens automatically then call a number, they come down take your $$ then give you a token to get out in the morning and a code for the toilets. However we want to be closer to Melk so reluctantly leave saying goodbye to another couple who have arrived. We pass lots of wineries and grapevines all over the place on steep sides of the hills and on the sides of the roads. This is the Wauchen region and is widely acclaimed. We try and see what is open but being near winter not a lot can be seen. We stop at one seller but after going inside I can’t find anyone so go back to the van but not after trying some of the beautiful grapes off the vine. I don’t consider it stealing as I didn’t take the whole bunch. We finally got to our camp only to find it was shut for the week, we think for family reasons on the notice, even the hotel was closed. Bummer, so we decide to backtrack to the last place even though we hate going backwards but think it is worth it as it is only ½ and hour and a lovely drive.
We drive in and a third couple have arrived, Germans. We call the people and they come down with the token and code. We decide to walk the short way to a cellar that looked open, eating some exquisite grapes on the way growing on the side of the road. It is a cute little restaurant with a lot of atmosphere (unfortunatly as is the Austrian way it is full of ciggy smoke) but warm. We order a wine and a cheese/meat/bread platter and the german couple come in and sit with us. We have a very pleasant couple of hours chatting and sampling the local schnapps and Sturm which is the wine before it is finally filtered and bottled. It is like a cider but grape with a tang and is very nice and has become the latest popular drink to have here. I prefer this to wine so have a couple. We are the last to leave and wander back with our new friends wowed at the mist over the village and the castle ruins up in the hills lit up across the river.
It is another cold morning, Vicki is hungover as she does not drink this much usually (only 2 small wines and 2 small sturms) but a coffee and pills do the trick followed by breakfast. We say good bye to our German friends who give us their email address in Heidelberg if we have a chance to get there. Meeting people is by far one of the best parts of travelling and we are richer for the experience as we are learning so much. We decide to track back a little more and follow the Danube on the other side, the part we were looking across at yesterday. It is equally as stunning but funny enough it is different. As we were coming into one of the many villages we get pulled over by a cop who says we(Vicki) was doing 65 in a 50 zone which we didn’t think was true but what can you do so we paid the 35 euro and went on our way. What a bummer as we have driven 11000 miles with nothing then this. We also know our speedo says we are going faster than we actually are, so it means Vicki would have been doing about 75 on our speedo which she had hardly managed to get near 70 due to the windyish wet roads. Oh well shit happens. But really as I find out the next day when I drive the signs are very confusing and difficult to know when speed limits start and finish here especially when a 60 zone might last 10 metres then 50 back to 80 then open road sign-or lack of one- and then another village with no sign. Paranoid city. We finally get to the campervan place and bugger me if it is closed! Oh yeah they will be at the big Camper Show that we are going to tomorrow. I know you will say why didn’t you ring first but in our experience in the past when we ask if they speak English they say no or say they can’t fit us (too hard basket) in so better to just bowl on up. Normally we wouldn’t have a phone sim but we have so maybe we should have. Is it a coincidence hindsight and holiday start with the same letter?
Nothing to do but laugh and make our way to our nights camp which is at a tennis club where they charge 10 euro on a honesty system and we can hook up power and have access to very clean and new toilet and shower facilities which is very good value. We hope we can find more of these as we need electricity for the heater. We have a snacky dinner of cheese, ham, bread, olives. We have tv reception and watch a bit. They have the Linz tennis open on which we drove through today. At least with sport & nature programmes language is not so much of a hassle. Back to the future trilogy is also on but not much good really as the overdubbing ruins it and no subtitles.
Today Friday, our goal is to go to the van show where maybe we will be able to talk to someone and get a few things (door hinge, leisure batteries) I drive so Vicki can navigate our way into the city. We finally find the parking area for us vans for the day. Surprisingly it is free and only 6Euro if you want to stay overnight. Good value we think and they have toilets and showers too and some vans seem to have electricity. On the way in there is a small store where they are promoting xmas in Melk so we stop to say hello to the young lass, but mainly because we spot the urns of mulled wine. This is a lovely mix of wine with orange & cherry juice with Amaretto & cinnamon. Yum and warms us up nicely along with bikkies. Some refugee looking guys come up wanting to know if they sell ciggies or where the nearest supermarket is but the security guy gives them the short shift. The show is not as big as we thought considering the cars and vans in the park but still has a great display of campers, vans and the new fitted out vans that we like. The good thing about these is you can wild camp and it is not so conspicuous as a camper but has all the modcons. They have the usual trade show accessories(but a makeup stall??)but not we are after. We have a coffee and the local “fish & chips” which is a pork meatloaf in a bun with sauce, mustard or tomato. Quite tasty and even Vicki had half.
We walk around some more and collect a lot of brochures on Croatia, Italy and Austria as we need to find out which camp grounds are open as we travel. Croatia doesn’t seem as cheap as we thought but we will still go. It gives us food for thought and the information helps Vicki research on the net. We drive to our next camp just out of Salzburg which overlooks the city and we will have one day in the old town. It is 30E a nite which is typical for camps close to a tourist city but the facilities are excellent. Lucky we have a data sim for the tablet as Wifi costs 6E bloody ripoff bad enough paying 5.5E to wash some clothes and dry them. Went shopping in the local supermarket but small and expensive eg $40aus for 2 small steak fillets, $45 a kg for chicken. So as a first bought some fish fingers as real fish is non existent. Oh for those Norway days when we had salmon coming out of our ears. But it is swings & roundabouts and we have to go with the flow. Hopefully if the planets align we might get to see the quarter finals of the world cup tomorrow in the city if we can find a sports bar.
