We made it! Day 731 is upon us and to reward ourselves for this epic journey we made it to Berlin and have the flu! Yep, both of us! So we've been feeling pretty sorry for ourselves....oh....poor us....cough, cough.
To top it all off, we had trouble finding a campsite that was open (many don't open till 1May) and that wasn't a million dollars a night (ie under 20euro inc electricity). Our gas regulator decided to become blocked and therefore gas heating virtually non-existent so wildcamping is out of the question as most nights are around-8c and there is still snow everywhere! As we are feeling a bit sick and sorry for ourselves we've been particularly unmotivated to blog or to go sight-seeing. We'd just been bragging to ourselves (as there was no-one else around anyway) that we hadn't had a flu, cold or been sick for 2 years with any of those funky viral things that go around the work place every season. Hahhh, that'll teach us hey! I'm sure no one one was really holding their breath anyway as we are no where near as pro-fo as some of our fellow travelers. Its hard to believe that 2 years ago, we said goodbye to our loved ones in Australia & flew off to discover big bad Europa. When we think back to when we left it only feels like a few months ago but when we look back at how much we've done it it seems like ages ago. Its a weird feeling, we've have done soooo much & we are incredibly lucky peeps.
that bloody bike - Alpe d'Huez, France
Our journey so far has taken us to 23 countries across 4 continents. We've traveled all around the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland), 2 loops of Europe in a southerly direction, the top of Africa to Morocco, through Eastern Europe and skiing 2 incredible season's in the AMAZING French & Austrian Alps. That doesn't include the side trip to New York & transatlantic crossing on QM2 (well we are in d'hood) plus the bonus of seeing family and loved ones to celebrate Nicky & Tony's wedding in wonderful Thailand. We've frozen our butts off on our motorbike at minus -20c in the French Alps but made up for it with the summer we shall never forget living in our kini's and euro-swimshorts on the Italian & Greek coastline.....Yep, its been a tough 2 years.
yankee stadium, NYC - USA
lake Garda, Italy
With great debate between the 2 of us, with jury still out on what should & shouldn't be included, I thought it only fitting that we make a list of our personal observations & highlights from the past 731 days.
General
Italy has the worst drivers closely followed by Morocco & then France
Italians 'make friends' by offering you food. We hated this - NOT. hence they came known to us by whatever food they offered. ie Mr & Mrs Bruschetta from Naples, Mr & Mrs Lemoncino from Catania
The birds in France make beautiful bird song all times of the day and night, summer & winter, it really is beautiful and haven't found this to be the case anywhere else but France
LOVE France, hate their dog shit
UK supermarkets are excellent, extensive, high quality, well priced and really fresh
England make "THE" best Ales & beer by far! & yes, brown ale taste best at room temperature
We love England and could live there if it wasn't for the weather
In just about every country an excellent bottle of wine is no more than 3euro & 500ml beer only 50cents - were gunna get a shock when we go back to OZ
We want to live in Greece
Australians are a mixed bag of European cultures and we can now see where (ie what nationality) we get certain traits, attitudes and ethics from......
laid back friendly attitude from the Greeks
get in there and give it a go work ethic from the Italians
our love beer from the Poms
German's for high income tax
Best countries, locations for a road trip
England, in particular Scotland & Wales, France, Switzerland.
Italy's Great Lakes (Como & Garda), Amalfi Coast, Sicily & the state of Puglia in Southern Italy
The Peloponnese, Greece
Bath - England
Our favorite country so far
Greece
wild camping Greece
Highlights
England & Scotland
cris-crossing the Pyrenees France, Spain & Andorra
Nimes, Bordeaux & Dordogne Region inc. Gouffre de Padirac Cave, France
Budapest, Hungary
Siena & Puglia, Italy
Seville, Spain
Peloponnese, Greece
Dresden & Berlin, Germany
Cascades d'Ouzoud & High Atlas Mountains, Morocco
the tip of Africa, Ait Benhaddou, Morocco
slightly uninspired by
Athens & Olympia, Greece
The Romantic Road & Munich, Germany
Marrakesh, Morocco
Ireland
We've mastered the art of international speak whilst on this journey and had the most wonderful conversations with people who don't speak a word of English and we don't speak a word of what ever language they speak. Google translate has become a good friend and of cause a bottle of vino (the top shelf stuff at 3euro) always helps break down barriers in any language.
Dordogne region, france
We've not met nearly as many fellow travelers as we had hoped but we now also realize our preferred weather conditions and therefore journey take us in totally different directions. The British tend to go South in winter and North in summer & backpackers or those on GAP year tend to visit the 'big sites' which we did on previous trips.
We've had some inspiring moments and met amazing people whom we now call friends, but we've also had some lonely times when we've had no other English speaking contact for 3 months. We've been known to stalk Dutch motorhomer's as they are generally really friendly & speak excellent English. We are pretty sure that we scared one English guy on the chairlift in Alpe d'Huez he was the first person we'd been able to have a conversation with in nearly 6 weeks, but as soon as his ski's could hit the snow, he was off like lightening. (we still laugh about this one)
There are a few things from this trip that we wish we could share with friends & families just once.
wild camping on a beach in Greece & having the whole thing to yourself
driving up & down our 'snow driveway' in Bischofshofen, Austria
waking up to one of the most amazing views of the Alps from our bedroom window on the farm
view from the farm - Bischofshofen, Austria
The old saying is true for us.....we shall never regret that of which we did, but only regret that of which we didn't do. Thank goodness for Facebook, blogging & digital photos otherwise we could find ourselves forgetting some of that, which we don't regret.
roughing it on QM2
From here our journey will take us to Tasmania (aka Denmark - we've told Mary to pop the kettle on), Sweden, Netherlands and back to UK for our MOT. We've booked a 7 night cruise ex Southampton for the Norway Fjords which we are super excited about.
the euro's - greece
me and ma kini's, Puglia, Italy
Our intention was then to make our way back to Bulgaria & Greece for summer, but now after all this travel through Germany we are in 2 minds as to what we will do for summer. Maybe it's the fact that we are missing home and excited to know we will be back later this year but we can't be bothered doing the big drive across Europe again and are feeling a little less motivated. We've done so many miles in the past 2 years and our main goal for summer is live in our togs on the beach, surf, swim, spearfish & BBQ's. So we are now considering just choosing one location, i.e. northern Spain, Portugal or Italy and stay put for 2-3months. No sightseeing, just being bums in our swimsuits and working on our tans.
ohhhhh - tough decisions. where would you choose???
WOW.....I
didn't realize how close we were to reaching our target of 731 days.
It’s only fitting then that this post comes just as we are about to move
out of our apartment and hit the road again. It’s a funny feeling
as time has flown by & it seems like only a few months ago that we left
Australia for this adventure, but it also seems like ages ago.
We're
being held captive by all this snow. We initially intended on
leaving Bischofshofen on 16 March, but then the cold snap came.
Europe is in the throes of winter again and it doesn't look
like it’s going to end anytime soon. In a moment of brilliance I decided
to sell our Ski's, snowboard & passes last week from the back of our car
boot (like a true Aussie scab) so we haven't been able to get on the
slopes to enjoy it. It was hilarious and I was the talk of the
Ski Resort car park. Word got around that I was from Australia, so lots
people just came over for a chat. They wanted to know what I was doing
here, what Australia was like and then coming back later to see how I was going
with my sales. I even had a taxi driver, couldn't speak a word of
English, but he kept dropping is clients off in front of me, just in case they
bought something.....how’s that for free advertising! The Austrian's are
such great people & we will really miss them.
We have
wonderful landlords here, so it nice to have not been in a rush to say goodbye.
We've been able to get in the last of our Deutsch-lisch,
google translated & hand gesture conversations before we leave & Loni
presents us with a bit of home cooked food every now and then (which is super
yummy) so wheres the rush!!
It has
also given us a good chance to give Wher'dmadaygo a bit of TLC before we hit
the road. She's been resting quietly these past 3 months high up on the
farm with a million dollar view. The soggy ground and snow didn't want
to let go at first, but Rupert didn't let that stop him. He pushed and
pushed and I have absolutely no idea how he did it! Rupert v 4.5ton Wher'dmadaygo - Rupert won!
No machines or tractors where used in this process, just sheer brute man
power. We're wondering how we can bottle him up and take
him with us for all those sticky situations we get in around Europe.
We had a
wonderful day trip the other day to see the beautiful town of St. Wolfgangsee.
On our return decided to take a high mountain pass back to the farm only
be to held up by the authorities as they needed to clear the road.
It will be sad to say goodbye to the Holzmann's
& Austria but also excited about seeing Germany, Denmark, a bit of Sweden, Netherlands
& Belgium as we head north and then back to UK for more cold
weather.
Wolfgangsee
We also booked a cruise to check out the
Norway Fjords yesterday, which we will do in May from UK. We
are running out of time, so this is the best option and at 399pound per person,
it is a total bargain and soooo much cheaper than trying to take the
camper through super expensive Norway with its hefty tolls & fuel costs.
We are missing home, and work, so plan to be
back in Australia by November. There is so much that we haven't seen or
done yet, but it will be nice to have a few places to discover when we return
in later years.
Thought
it was about time to post a recipe as it’s been a while. Not an
Austrian dish, but it’s a great winter comfort food, especially for a lazy
Sunday morning brecky whilst enjoying our spectacular view of the Alps. It’s also really good for those fellow
campers out there, who only have a hob as no oven is needed.
naughty french toast
Ingredients
·1-2 small banana's
·a nice handful of blueberries
·1-2 large eggs
·1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
·4 slices of medium-cut white bread
·butter, at room temperature
·low-fat Greek yoghurt, to serve
·optional: icing sugar, for dusting
To
prepare
Peel the
banana and mash in a bowl, add the blueberries and lightly crush.
Crack the eggs into a separate shallow bowl, add the sugar and beat with a
fork.
Place bread in the sweet egg mixture till soaked through on both sides.
Pick up the bread and let the excess egg drip off, then pop on a plate.
Smear most of the banana & berry mixture onto one slice, leaving a little
gap around the edges, leaving a little of the mixture left over for serving.
Put the other slice on top and press down with a egg flip to help them stick
together.
Put a frying pan on a medium heat and add a knob of butter and melt.
Fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown & crisp.
Transfer to a plate, serve with a dollop of yoghurt and the remaining fruit
mixture on top.
Dust with icing sugar.
Summer has been ripped away from us like a band-aid once
again. Our month spent in Thailand went
way too quick and we were having too much fun to be bothered to update the blog,
so this is a post-Thailand update. There a few things that I really miss about my previous
employment; 1) Being paid an income. 2)
flying as a staff member. For the first time in nearly 10 years I had to fly as a
normal commercial passenger & realized how horrible it is. I really miss being able to go on standby for
any flight with any airline and hated being stuck to a schedule for just 1
airline. I also realize that I don’t
miss flying! When we first embarked on
this road journey I was wondering how I would go driving around Europe in a
camper and not stepping foot an aircraft for nearly 2 years. I thought I would really miss it. Long haul travel was (in fact for both of us)
quite the norm for our jobs but from the moment we checked–in at Munich airport
I just wanted it all to be over with and hated not having control of our own
journey and destiny.
gorgeous setting at AoNang Hilltop
The sole purpose for this trip was to attend Nicky &
Tony’s wedding in Krabi and being that is was a wedding in the family meant it
was an opportunity to see them all after 2 years away from home. The wedding was amazing…..so beautiful &
they are such an awesome couple! I’ve
always been pretty biased and thought that our wedding was the best but I’d have
to say Nicky and Tony’s wedding takes the cake.
The location was just stunning, set above Krabi bay with beautiful views
and a spectacular sunset that gave it such an stunning atmosphere. They had everything from fire-dancers,
lanterns, fireworks, DJ, open bar and not a dry eye in the house when it was
time for speeches and Tony did a special presentation for Nicky.
& our ride - tuk tuk
kath & joe - paul's folks
We hired our own Tuk-Tuk as transport for the 4 of us
(Paul’s folks + us) and the locals thought that was pretty funny. It’s not often they see a Farang driving a locals
Tuk-Tuk’s as it’s actually really hard
to handle and keep stable. Thumbs up
everywhere we went and on a few occasions traffic was held up in both
directions as they wanted to talk Paul and ask where he was from and how he was
going with it.
floating snack bar - Railey beach
In true Rose & Paul style most of our time was spent in
our togs on a beach & in the water. Have
to admit we were not that impressed with Krabi beaches & don’t think we would
go back. To access the good beaches you
had to take a boat out into the bay & go to one of the islands or to the
remote beaches that can’t be accessed by road which was a bit of a pain. They were a nice setting but the water wasn't really that clear, not a huge amount of fish, dead coral so it just didn't seem worth the effort to us.
We couldn't help it but we kept comparing it to Greece & the Med. Nothing compares to wild camping on a deserted beach in Greece, with crystal clear water & fish abundant. This is one of the little experiences we wish we could share with friends & family just once.
Hong Island
When then took a speedboat to Phuket to meet Daniel & Ingrid (Rose's bro & sis-in-law) & spend a wonderful week with them. It was so great to see them and spend time
with them, we always have a blast and really didn't want to say goodbye when
the time came. We love you guys and miss you a bucket load already.
2 best people anyone could wish for in their life.
Paulie & Ing
Phuket was wonderful and there is so much more to Phuket
than we ever imagined. We virtually
explored the whole island, every beach, every cove and found the most beautiful
out of the way places to stay and eat in, it was wonderful. The water was so much clearer & calmer
than Krabi.
my! what good genes we have Dan!
Previously when I thought about Phuket I only ever knew it
for the Patong & Karon areas. The commercialized,
touristy hot spots with an OK beach, lots of big posh resorts, go-go bars,
ping-pong shows, lady boys & drunk yobbo’s.
Not that there is anything wrong with that! In fact I've always loved Phuket and stayed
in some lovely spots but I’d just never really adventured to far from this
area, maybe 1 beach north or 1 beach south and didn't realize how big the
Island was and how much it had to offer.
There are so many amazing bays & beaches in Phuket that I had never
heard off and we have fallen in love with the place! We've been trying to work out how we can live
there! Yeah right - Dream on sista!
beach bungalow with a view
We stayed in some very basic beach bungalows on a beautiful
little private bay at the southernmost part of Phuket, called AoSane
beach. Came complete with wooden plank for bed, mozzies, cold shower & rock'n happy hour. What more could one ask for??? Paul also caught his biggest fish ever
within 20mins of being in the water.
Paul wants to live in Phuket just so he can go spear-fishing for the rest
of his life. We have heard that during
the rainy season the water is not so flat and clear, so I suppose we did go at
the best possible time. We are looking
forward to checking out the rest of Thailand one day around Koh Lak, Koh Thao &
Koh Samaui – I hear the waters are even better around these places.
paulies big catch - it was yum
It was pretty hard saying goodbye to everyone when the time
came, but we hope it’s not too long before we see you all again. We are now back on the farm in Austria. It’s funny but as soon as we arrived back on
the farm we instantly felt at home. The
Holzmann-Spieglfamily have made us feel so
welcome during our stay here that I think it will be another sad goodbye when
we leave for good in a few weeks.
Austria has also turned it on again for us. Lots of fresh stuff when we arrived and it kept snowing for 4 days. The sunshine is out
now though, temps are above zero and everything is melting pretty quickly, so we
better get out there and enjoy it while we can.
