And it feels like home

I'm sure I have said it before but it is an observation that still stands; Austria seems to have been designed as the perfect holiday playground for the two of us.  There is always somewhere to cycle or walk, the beer is good, the cakes amazing, the camp sites excellent quality, the meadow flowers are abundant, the public transport efficient and accepting of cyclists and it all looks stunning.

We are camped on the shores of Wolfgangsee, with a view across the lake to the mountains;  mallards and swans passing by and swallows flying overhead; it doesn't get much better in terms of location and after two days of rain the sun is shining.

After a morning of laundry a breaking-us-in-gently cycle ride was called for. This is our first holiday with mountain (rather than road) bikes and we bounced through the forest tracks happily.  We took the boat across the lake so that we could cycle around the northern half of the lake back to the camp site and as we toiled up the hairpin bends above the lake, we realised that the tourist information leaflet with the cycle routes on didn't show the contours, so much for an easy day.  Of course, no one said Austria was flat and if we were able to move here to play permanently we would soon get used to the gradients.

Everyone seems to know the score

As the European Cup final was between two German teams, FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, we didn't think it would be too difficult to find somewhere to watch the game while we travelled through Germany.  At Camping Hertenteich in Baden-Wurttemberg we found the perfect spot for some football action.  The jovial restaurant owner, not only served up excellent kasespatzle, the only vegetarian dish the Germans regularly provide, but also generously promised a free glass of homemade schnapps for every goal scored.  There were about 15 of us watching the match, including mein host and after the first half it seemed as if we wouldn't get to try the schnapps at all, as the score remained 0-0; one impatient group of drinkers could wait no longer and paid for shots to toast the first 45 minutes.  However, soon in to the second half the first goal was scored and 15 small glasses of colourless liquid were ceremoniously handed out for the guests.  No one drank until the restaurant owner had said a few words and then together, we downed our drinks in one gulp.  Fortunately, there were only three goals, otherwise we may have struggled to find our way back to the blue bus across a dark camp site that night; the ceremony was the same each time but the speeches got longer.  The European Cup came home to Germany that night and they celebrated.The next morning we visited the Steinheim Crater, an excellent example of a crater formed when a meteorite hit the earth 15 million years ago.  The photograph shows the central uplift of the crater (behind the village), an unusual feature in meteorite craters.

2013 Holiday spending

Weimar

As usual, we give readers a breakdown of our holiday spending.  This was a cheaper holiday than last year, as Italy tends to be more expensive and some of the countries we visited were much cheaper for food and cafes, although we didn't notice much difference with camp sites; in Hungary these were between €12 - €20 equivalent.


Total spending in Euros over 26 nights (2 nights on the ferry):

Diesel €542
Supermarket shopping €575
Cafes €221
Campsite €398
Other €72
Total €1808 - €69.50/day



Equivalent in sterling
Total spending £1540
Ferry Hull - Zeebrugge return with dinner £430
Total cost of the holiday £1970

Winter Camping Tips

During the winter of 2012 - 2013 we have made a conscious effort to continue with our camping trips as often as possible.   Winter camping in a small van has some challenges and it is clear is not something everyone does.  We have been pleased that a number of people have been in touch through our contact button asking for advice on winter camping, so we thought we would put some of our top tips on the blog.











Snug as a bug in a rug
We have found that a night-time combination of sleeping bags and duvets works to keep us warm in bed even in temperatures below freezing.  We use Snugpak sleeping bags that pack up small.  If it really cold, we also always have spare blankets and have used these in the side-door foot well to cut down drafts.  We have never left the heating on all night.

Concerns about water
Our fresh water tank is under the van and is not insulated or heated.  We always check the forecast and take no risks; if the forecast is for a frost, we don't fill the water tank and instead use a 10 litre water tank in the van.  This does mean we don't have running water and a flushing toilet but it is better than burst pipes.  The down-side of this is constant filling, when we think the frosts have finally finished and then draining when we see the forecast of more frosts.
In Cardigan in March, the forecast was for above freezing and so we filled up the fresh water tank.  However, we woke up to a very heavy frost, with ice on the inside of the van windows.  I leapt out of bed to check the tap, the water was sluggish, indicating they pipes had frozen slightly but no leaks have appeared, so we seem to have got away with it.
We also never use the waste water tank when it is freezing.

Light my fire
During winter we prefer to have a hook-up, we then use a 2kw fan heater which quickly warms up the small space in our van.  When we don't have a hook-up, our diesel heating keeps the van very warm, although it does sound like we are on a count-down to launch to the moon.  Having the two heaters means we feel confident that we will always be warm.

The sky at night
Living in Greater Manchester, the light pollution means we don't get much chance for star-gazing at home and one of the marvellous things about winter camping is being able to see the stars from a dark camp site.  We use the Google Sky Map to check what we can see; it can be downloaded to your mobile phone at no cost and is lots of fun to use.

I don't stay nowhere long

2012 has been a good camper van year; we have used the van for 59 over night stays on 36 different camp sites; many of these for weekends long and short from February until December, in various parts of the country, from Whitby to London.

During the summer we are strict with ourselves and make sure we go camping every other weekend, whatever the weather and however exhausted we are from work, occasionally we have been blessed with sunshine and always we have been glad we made the effort to go.

The van is only now starting to show some signs of wear and tear after 537 nights sleeping in it over the past five and a half years and we are bracing ourselves for the cost of new upholstery and flooring in 2013; other than this, it is bearing up to our usage very well and we are very pleased with the Blue Bus.  You might have seen our article in Motorhome Monthly Magazine (Summer 2012), Living with a Devon Sundowner, which tells of our experiences of living in the van.

Highlights from our weekends away in 2012 include:

The seals at Donna Nook

Camping with friends

Three Pigeons in Graigfechan

Cliff-side camping in Whitby

Winter sun in Norfolk

Howgill Lodge site Wharfe Dale

When you’re with me baby the skies will be blue

We celebrated our 28^th wedding anniversary by having a day of easier cycling in the sunshine on country lanes around the town of Pont de Vaux, north of Macon.  By easier cycling, we mean cycling where you cycle, rather than spend most of the day walking the bike up 1:4 hills (see previous posts about cycling).

The town has a cycle map of 20 routes, for walking or cycling; all fairly short at between 6 and 15 kms and we thought it would be fairly easy to string a few together.  This is a rural area with crops and fields of cattle and a web of narrow lanes joining picturesque farmhouses and hamlets.  The combination of a poor map, confusing signposts and the vast number of the lanes meant that we were soon lost.  However, with so many routes, it didn’t really seem to matter and we would eventually get to where we wanted to be.

Along the banks of the river Soane, we followed the dyke; we still get a thrill from seeing working rivers in mainland Europe and the Soane had plenty of large freight barges, as well as smaller pleasure boats.  Navigation along the river was straightforward, compared to the winding lanes, but at every field boundary it was necessary to carry the bikes overhead to get through the narrow stiles.

This is a lovely area for a day or two of meandering cycling; there are a number of campsites around the town and Pont de Vaux itself has cafes, restaurants and a supermarket.  Having written about our awareness of our own mortality in the last post, we now find ourselves on a campsite that has the air of an outdoor old people’s home; it is populated with retired English and Dutch caravanners and looking around we feel we might live to one day be celebrating 50 and maybe even 60 years of marriage.

Well tonight I'm gonna live for today

We cycled past a cemetery with a sign over the gate asking all who entered to be prepared to meet their maker, in French.  This seemed to sum up our days cycling by the River Drac, just south of Grenoble.

We had come to the campsite because it promised spectacular walking and cycling, including over the Passerelle du Drac, a 220m long suspension bridge high over the Drac River gorge.  We planned a cycle ride that included crossing the bridge, which proved to be a spectacular experience, particularly when, as we were half way across, the 40 strong French walking group behind us got on to the bridge and insisted on bouncing and running, so that the bridge swayed alarmingly; we were certainly glad to survive and return to firm ground.

After cycling through quiet French villages, woods and fields, we stopped for lunch in a small, remote cemetery.  These are often good places for a lunch break; in the van they usually have space for parking and we can stop and wander around the graves with a mug of tea; when cycling a cemetery is somewhere peaceful to sit and rest, there is always a grave or two for someone who died much too young and we can contemplate how every day we are alive is a gift we should make the most of.

Our cycle ride was only 30 kms, so should have been an easy day, but with 750m of ascent and temperatures of around 28C, we were barely functioning by the time we returned to the campsite.  Fortunately, tea and cool beer soon put the life back in us.

MMM pubished an article about our time in this area and our cycling trip in July 2013.  This link will take you to a pdf of the article if you want to read more.