Euro Day 29 - Hello Austria!

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

Today Jon and I went for one last run around the Bohinj Lake followed by a swim. I swear it's more beautiful every morning. The kiwis must have had the morning off after their pizza and beer the night before as the lake was almost completely empty.

 

 

 

Then it was back to the campsite to pack up, and most excitingly, prepare a box of hiking and camping gear to post home.  We had planned to do it in Austria but I noticed that parcel post was heaps cheaper in Slovenia, and also there was a post office just at the other end of the lake. 

 

Anyway - with our mega-box prepared, we moved on to packing up the tents, pots and gas cooker and donated them to the campground (they rent out camping gear as well). The staff were so genuinely happy about our donation that they offered us a free t-shirt, so Jon spent the rest of the day in the cleanest shirt he's worn all holidays.

On the subject of camping gear, camping with electricity is a big thing here - there are extension cords running through the forest all over the place.  At this camping ground you have to park your car in one big car park, so each morning sees a procession of people carrying all sorts of stuff past the tents.  We thought we were pretty fancy with our picnic rug and chairs, but people take car-camping to a whole new level here (note the actual fridge of our Czech neighbours).  

 

Whilst the camping sites themselves seem a bit haphazard, the campground is amazingly well run.  Each morning there is a queue of 10-20 cars and camper-vans outside the gate waiting to check in at 8. People are being turned away by about 10am.  Sad for them. Luckily we knew the drill beforehand so were there to check in before 9 - which actually made it feel like we got 3 full days here which has been great.

Finally ready, we drove around the lake to the post office (which also doubles as a souviner shop).  While Jon circled looking for a parking spot I triumphantly hauled the huge box through the narrow door (bumping unsuspecting postcard & tea towel buyers into other aisles).  It was as I approached the front desk that I noticed the horrified look on the face of the shop keeper. 'THE POST OFFICE IS NOT OPEN TODAY' she told me. Dang.  That's when I realised that it was Sunday and I had to turn around (bumping the remaining shoppers into the t-shirt stacks), and go out again.  Our awesome plan had come unstuck. Luckily it wasn't going to be a total disaster, it just meant that Zali and Jett had to put up with the box between them until Monday, and it was going to cost twice as much (actually it ended up costing almost 3 times as much). Double dang.

Re-loaded we set sail to Salzburg - via the famous 47km Grossglockner high road.

 

It's a mountain pass road with 38 hairpon bends as it winds it's way up and over the alps.  It was pretty nice although the views were a bit cloudy in sections.  We stopped for lunch (at 3pm) on the way over, and we also checked out a rapidly receding glacier. 

 

 

 

We could have stopped heaps more times for walks and lookouts but we were already running late so we pushed on through to Salzburg, arriving about 7.  

As my original plan was to do our posting and tent-dumping in Salzburg I booked an airbnb apartment so we've had a luxurious night with air conditioning and electricity and lots of space. Yay!
2017List
Euro Day 54 - Not a rest day Friday, 16 August 2019
Euro Day 52 & 53 Thursday, 15 August 2019
Euro Day 51 - Drammen & WOC Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Euro Day 50 - Hello Norway! Monday, 12 August 2019
Euro Day 49 - SOW Day 6 Sunday, 11 August 2019
Euro Day 48 - SOW Day 5 Saturday, 10 August 2019
Guest Blog: Today's tip for aspiring young uncles Friday, 9 August 2019
Euro Day 47 - SOW Day 4 Friday, 9 August 2019
Euro Day 46 - SOW Rest(ish) Day Thursday, 8 August 2019
Guest blog by Paul the favourite uncle Thursday, 8 August 2019
Euro Day 45 - SOW Day 3 Wednesday, 7 August 2019
Euro Day 44 - SOW Day 2 Tuesday, 6 August 2019
Euro Day 43 - SOW Day 1 Monday, 5 August 2019
Euro Day 42 - Switzerland to France to Switzerland to France.. Sunday, 4 August 2019
Euro Day 41 - Sweden to Switzerland Sunday, 4 August 2019
Euro Day 40 - Island Idle - Part 2 Friday, 2 August 2019
Euro Day 39 - Island Idle - Part 1 Thursday, 1 August 2019
Euro Day 38 - If it's easy, it's not worth doing Wednesday, 31 July 2019
Euro Day 37 - What Next? Wednesday, 31 July 2019
Euro Day 36 - Back into the forest Monday, 29 July 2019
Euro Day 35 - O-Ringen - Race Day 3 Sunday, 28 July 2019
Euro Day 34 - O-Ringen, Race Day 2 Saturday, 27 July 2019
Euro Day 33 - O-Ringen - Race Day 1 Friday, 26 July 2019
Euro Day 32 - O-Ringen Thursday, 25 July 2019
Euro Day 31 - Hello Stockholm! Wednesday, 24 July 2019
End of Part 1 Wednesday, 24 July 2019
Euro Day 30 - Salzburg! Tuesday, 23 July 2019
Euro Day 29 - Hello Austria! Tuesday, 23 July 2019
Euro Day 28 - Even more Bohinj Sunday, 21 July 2019
Euro Day 27 - More Bohinj! Saturday, 20 July 2019
Euro Day 26 - Bohinj Friday, 19 July 2019
Euro Day 25 - Bled Thursday, 18 July 2019
Euro Day 24 - Hello Slovenia! Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Euro Day 23 - Plitvice Lakes National Park Tuesday, 16 July 2019
Euro Day 22 - Hello Croatia! Monday, 15 July 2019
Euro Day 21 - Dolomites to Trieste Monday, 15 July 2019
Euro Day 20 - Dolomites 3 Day - Day 2 Saturday, 13 July 2019
Euro Day 19 - Dolomites 3 Day - Day 1 Thursday, 11 July 2019
Euro Day 18 - Venice to Predazza, Sea to Mountains Thursday, 11 July 2019
Euro Day 16 & 17 - Part 2 - Venice Wednesday, 10 July 2019
Euro Day 16 - Part 1 - O-Nerding in Venice Tuesday, 9 July 2019
Euro Day 16 - Thunder and Lightning in Venice Tuesday, 9 July 2019
Euro Day 15 - Thunder and Lightning in Florence Monday, 8 July 2019
Euro Day 14 - Pisa and San Gimignano Sunday, 7 July 2019
Euro Day 13 - Cinque Terre Saturday, 6 July 2019
Euro Day 12 - Transition Day Friday, 5 July 2019
Tour Du Mont Blanc - Day 4 Friday, 5 July 2019
Tour Du Mont Blanc - Day 3 Friday, 5 July 2019
Tour Du Mont Blanc - Day 2 Friday, 5 July 2019
Tour Du Mont Blanc - Day 1 Thursday, 4 July 2019
Euro Day 7 - Annecy to Les Houches Sunday, 30 June 2019
Euro Day 6 - From St Etienne to Annecy Saturday, 29 June 2019
Euro Day 5 - Heading towards Lyon Friday, 28 June 2019
Euro Day 4 - Castles Castles Castles Thursday, 27 June 2019
Euro Day 3 - Goodbye Paris hello Loire Valley Wednesday, 26 June 2019
Euro Day 2 - Sore Feet! Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Euro Day 1 - Paris - so French!! Monday, 24 June 2019