Napolivan Dontfallapart Adventure

Day 99 - Drove into Plsen early but had to wait around for an hour until an English tour of the underground cellars. Not particularly interesting tour of the underground passages where locals used to brew beer and hide during various wars, and felt like it was a waste of time, so headed for the proper Plsen brewary tour straight after. Again had to wait around for a while for an English tour but this time it was worth the wait. First up we visited the bottling plant and saw thousands of bottles of beer being filled up along the conveyorbelt, then moved onto the distillery and saw the old and new buildings before being allowed to taste the unfiltered beer poured straight from the old wooden barrels which was beautiful. Fairly late when tour finished so drove straight over to Prague and found a campsite.

Day 100 - Didn't realise it was our 100th day on the road so didn't celebrate. Walked to the train station to get into town, a few detours along the way after getting lost in an industrial estate. Eventually made it into city centre and immediately loved the atmosphere of Prague. It was buzzing with people but didn't feel too busy and claustrophobic, walked to old town square and saw the famous clock, which did have heaps of people around it. Then saw a banner for a free walking tour of the city so joined that and were taken around the old quarter and the Jewish quarters and thoroughly enjoyed it. Really small and intimate tour group with only two other people and a really good guide whom we took for a beer after the tour. Wandered to a church in the old town square that had an orchestra playing that evening but only had expensive tickets left so tried to listen from the outside steps but no good, so decided to get train back to campsite.

Day 101 - Back into Prague on the train to do another walking tour with the same company, this time across the river to the castle. Bigger group this time and couldn't really understand the guide due to her thick accent but still enjoyed walking around the town and up the hill to the castle. After the tour ended we walked back down the hill and across Charles' bridge to the new town and found the U Flecku pub that is famous for its dark beer. Really cool place in an outside courtyard and the waiters just bring out the beer on trays and you can pick what you want, like a beer Yum Cha, it was great, before the heavens opened and we got drenched, luckily just after we'd finished our food. Couldn't find a seat inside after this so gave up and headed back.

Day 102 - Headed north into Germany and city of Dresden. Wasn't expecting much as it was bombed heavily during the war, but was really impressed with their reconstruction of the old buildings and again had a nice relaxed atmosphere about the place. Had lunch in the main square and wandered around for a while before making our way further west to Weimar, found a nice little campsite just outside of town.

Day 103 - Fairly sombre start to the day as we visited the Buchenwald concentration camp. Had an audioguided tour of the camp which included the main gate, prison cells, torture rooms and the crematorium where the ovens are still in place. Then visited the museum which documents survivor stories and the trials of the SS officers and a film of the liberation of the camp. Very interesting and very moving as well. Afterwards, drove into Weimar for lunch which is again a nice little town and had string quartets and brass bands playing in the squares - a good pick me up after the morning. From Weimar we headed south west to a village just outside Wurzburg and the start of the Romantisch strasse (Romantic road)

Day 104 - First stop was in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a really pretty town with picturesque old coloured buildings with flower baskets on every window. Em found a winter wonderland Christmas shop and spent a good while looking at the various decorations and bought a few things. Then headed further south to village of Dinkelsbuhl another pretty village very similar to Rothenburg, with old buildings lining the streets and cafes around a main square so stopped off for a Weissbier. Continued further south along the Romantisch strasse and found a campsite just outside Nordlingen. Camped next to a group of Germans on a 'boys weekend' who invited us over to join them for a beer. They'd bought along several kegs and made sure that we continually had full glasses, only a couple of them spoke any English, but were good fun and needless to say it was a later night than expected.

Day 105 - Very late start as feeling the effects from the night before, but eventually managed to drive into Nordlingen and checked out the town. Was pretty enough but not quite as good as the towns we visited the day before, so instead headed east into a national park to find a campsite near a walking trail, but couldn't find a site and the national park didn't look that good so headed to town of Ingolstat instead with plan to head to Munich the next day.

Day 106 - Two hour drive to Munich and found a very busy campsite on the outskirts of the city. Had a quick lunch then caught the bus and underground into the centre of town. Were wanting to hire a car for a couple of days and head south into the mountains and visit some of the castles of Mad King Ludwig, and save Napolivan the strain, but everywhere was fully booked, we think there was a national holiday that week. So cut our loses and headed for one of the famous beer gardens situated in a park among lots of trees and spent the rest of the afternoon there.

Day 107 - Hit by a rainstorm overnight that hadn't really gone by the time we got up, so decided to rag off going back into Munich as didn't have anything we especially wanted to see and instead headed south to Fussen. En route, we stopped off at a monastery in Andechs and sampled the monks homemade 11% beer, again the place was really busy and being a monday we assumed it must be a public holiday. Ploughed on south to Fussen wanting to stay just outside the town and visit the castle the next day. However, had real difficulty finding a place to stay as everwhere was full, eventually stayed at site on the opposite side of the lake with views of the castle from a distance - pity the view was marred by more rain.

Day 108 - Woke up to beautiful sunshine and could finally appreciate view across lake to the castle. Drove short distance into Fussen town but traffic was backed up so parked a little way out and rode the bikes in. Had a quick look around the town which was pleasant but very busy with tourists before riding back to Napoolivan and heading for Neuschwanstein castle. Apparently all the cars that were on the road earlier were now in the castle car park, and the bustle of tourists all around dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Decided against going into the castle itself and instead walked 40minutes up hill to the Marianne Brucke (bridge) where we got excellent views of the castles from close up. Hoping that the walk would put a lot of people off, but wasn't the case as buses took people up to the lookout point as well. Was worth getting the photos in the end, but a bit unnerving crossing a flimsy bridge with bus loads of tourists trying to barge their way onto it as well. Was glad we saw the castle but happy to be getting on the way north again and pressed on just passed Stuttgart to a little village Neuenstein.

Day 109 - On the recommendation of the campsite owner we headed to town of Bad Wimpfen on the way to Heidelberg. Was a beautiful little town and very chilled out away from the hoardes of tourists we encountered yesterday, and spent a while just wandering around the town. Then kept on going to Heidelberg which is meant to be a lively university town - a little bit too lively as we couldn't find a parking space. Drove around the town for about 45mins with no luck, by which time felt like we'd seen the town anyway, including the delapadated castle overlooking the town. Instead, pressed onto the Rhine and the village of Cochem. Beautiful drive along the river and through vineyards, and found a campsite right on the river banks.

Day 110 - Decided to stay here another day as looked so nice and rode the bikes along the cyclepath into Cochem and stopped for a look around the market. Then continued along the river for another 10kms and crossed over the water on a floating bridge to Beilstein and stopped for a beer. Decided against doing a really long ride as was baking hot, so returned along the opposite bank over the river and got cracking views of Cochem with the castle looming over it, before returning to the campsite and cooling down in the pool. Nice to have a bit of sunshine again.

Day 84 - Drove about an hour east of Innsbruck to Imst, still a bit damp but decided to do walk anyway. Set off on the Rosengartenschlucht circuit, which took us up through a gorge along a network of boardwalks and bridges over waterfalls which were very pretty and up to a pine forest at the top of the gorge. Strolled through the forest for a bit until we came to village of Hoch-Imst which is famous for the worlds longest Alpine rollercoaster, which is like a bobsled on metal rails and went for 3.5kms. Em stationed herself at the bottom as official photographer as I took the chairlift up to the top - which seemed to go on forever, and was worth the entrance fee intself just for the views over the valley. Rushed to the start of the course as didn't want to be held up by a parent and child braking all the way down, and my haste paid off as I had a clear run all the way to the bottom - brilliant fun! They didn't have an official clock, but pretty sure I would've set a new lap record! Continued on the walk down the other side of the gorge and back to the car and back to camp. Still pretty wet

Day 85 - Early start in torrential rain, and set out for Mayrhofen about 1 1/2hours drive away hoping that the weather would clear so that we could complete the Zillertal walking circuit. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was still bucketing it down, and would have been no fun at all and no views due to the heavy mist. Instead, turned around and headed back to Innsbruck via town of Wattens which houses the Swarovski Crystal museum. Being a rainy Sunday, the queue for an indoor attraction was understandably long, so decided to drop the hire car back at airport and drove Napolivan back to the museum a couple of hours later, when the queue had subsided a little. A pretty quirky place with a garden and a maze, for the kids and us! Entered the museum through a giants mouth to see various famous artworks and buildings all made from crystal, the largest crystal ever cut - which we decided against buying - and a room that mimicked being inside a crystal with really weird accoustics. Luckily, the shop at the end was heaving so Em wasn't so keen to stay and look around, and made a quick exit - bullet dodged! Then headed towards Salsburg and stopped overnight at village near Kufstein for another walk the following day.

Day 86 - Set off early on the Kaisergebirge circuit, which started in excellent style going up on a one-man 1970's chairlift through a pine forest. I thought it rivaled the Alpine toboggan run in terms of fun, but Em was more sceptical being a bit chilly and a touch nervous, and was relieved to get feet on terra ferma at the top. Started off walk through a herd of cows with bells on, and then through some more forest to a lookout at 1449m, down a ridge overlooking the valley and a very severe rock face. Reached a stretch in the walk that the guide book described as a high altitude game of snakes and ladders, which I was again excited about, but was left a little disappointed as it was just a long set of stairs going down the hill - not a snake in sight. Reached an alpine lodge where we stopped for lunch and encountered two very friendly resident donkeys who were extremely interested in our sandwiches, and at one stage got overly friendly (as a photograph will atest), considering we hadn't exchanged telephone numbers yet or even gone out for a drink! Continued walk along river back to Kufstein and the bottom of the chairlift. Great walk, took about 5 1/2hours to complete, drove onto Salzburg afterwards and just crashed out.

Day 87 - Bit of a sleep in, then caught bus into Salzburg. Did the walking tour of the old town, similar in size to Innsbruck, but had something more about it - lots of old shops with iron signs outside, buskers in the squares and a really lively atmosphere compared with Innsbruck. Spent a while amusing ourselves watching one street performer in particular, who had an accordian and was playing it with such gusto that it looked like someone was electricuting him. Bought a painting from one stall and Em looked in several lederhosen shops for a dress. Caught bus out o airport and picked up another hire car and decided to do a short trip to Berchtesgarten in Germany, and the site of Hitler's "Eagles Nest". A little disappointing as only saw the building from afar, tours ran sporadically and were quite expensive, and apparently the building itself is now only a restaurant, so decided against going up to see it close up. Back to campsite.

Day 88 - Drove to Zell am See, about 1 1/2hours from Salzburg, and a pretty little town perched on a lake, and probably better known as a skiing resort. Caught a gondola to the top of Schmittenhohe at 1965m, and greeted by a stunning 360degree panorama of the surrounding mountains. Spent a bit of time at the top taking photographs before setting off on the walk along a ridge on the opposite side of the valley to the Grossglockner mountain range and uninterupted views of the snow capped peaks. Followed the trail for around 2 1/2hours, traversing the valley from high up with the most beautiful scenery so far! Then cut through between two peaks and towards town of Saalbach. Reached the chairlift station that was meant to take us to the bottom only to find it was closed and nobody about. Saw a sign pointing to Saalbach that was a further 2 1/2hour walk away, not having much of an option had to trudge down the hill through a forest and down some steep ski runs to the village. Luckily, got there just in time to catch the last bus back to Zell Am See. Not so luckily, the bus dropped us in the village centre, a 2km walk uphill to the gondola station where we had left the car. So I left Em in the village with a mission statement to find beer and take away pizza as it was now approaching 8pm, whilst I went to collect the car from the top of the hill muttering a few choice words along the way. Beer and pizza mission was unsuccessful so headed back to Salzburg and stumbled across an Indian pizza takeaway en route, a bit of a bizarre place, but by this stage we were so hungry and tired we didn't care that the pizza base had a slight hint of tikka massala. Another really excellent walk and well worth the effort.
Day 89 - Slept in, Em drove hire car to Eisreisenwelt (perhaps my favourite Austrian place name - you can't say it without sounding angry or annoyed at something), a big ice cave about 40 minutes away. Initially parked in car park at bottom of long hill and were going to get a bus up to the top which we thought was included in the ticket, however found out that it was extra and so hopped back into the car and drove up, at this stage met a couple of Aussie lads from Melbourne who were in same predicament but had caught the train from Salzburg so charitably gave them a lift up. Were greeted by a long queue just to get on the cable car that takes you up to the mouth of the cave, but again, well worth the wait as amazing views of the valley below when we reached the top. Joined an English language tour group, - learned our lesson from the cave tour in France when we joined the wrong group and had to listen to the whole tour in French, very romantic but not terribly informative! Were given old school lanterns with an open flame to take into the cave, and warned not to burn the arse of the fella in front of you. As soon as we walked through the door we were hit by a big gust of wind as the cold air was let out from the inside, and walked into a temperature of 0 degrees. We were prepared for this as had been told about this in the guide book, unfortunately one of the Aussie lads hadn't done his homework properly and was wearing thongs and a singlet, I would have offered him my jacket, but would have felt like an overly friendly donkey offering my jacket to a bloke I'd only just met! Ice caves were very impressive though, walked up 700 steps to the top of them and saw natural sculptures that looked like various animals. I got told off by the guide for taking a photo and felt like a naughty schoolboy - cracking shot though! Caught cable car back down the mountain and gave the Aussie lads a lift back to Salzburg. Rushed back to camp for an early dinner before heading back into Salzburg to watch a live philharmonic orchestra recital. Didn't obviously translate the billboard correctly as it turned out to be a live recital from Vienna being aired on a big screen in the main square. Still pretty cool although not as impressive as we were hoping and left and the half time interval when we were cold and wet.

Day 90 - Drove straight to the Lichtensteinklam gorge which has been made accessible by a series of wooden board walks along the gorge, and some tunnels carved into the side of the rock. Rewarded with close up views of a large waterfall at the end, although slightly marred by the volume of people on the walk with us. Headed off towards village of Hallstatt on some nearby lakes but got pretty hungry en route so stopped off at a little bar along the way advertising XXL Wienar Schnitzel mit pommes - and the sign didn't lie! Huge plate of meat and chips and not even a hint of a side salad that would take up valuable plate space, washed down with an oversized beer, and to top it off, it was all served to us by an overweight biker with a mullet, a definite pinnacle of the tour so far and left me wandering if anything could possibly beat that! Continued on our merry way to Hallstat, which is a beautiful little village jutting out into a lake, surrounded by green mountains and pretty much picture postcard idyllic. Wandered around for a while before heading back to camp via St Wolfgang, a little town on a different lake for only a fleeting visit.

Day 91 - Short drive to Hallein and the Salzwelten salt mine. Given white boiler suits to dress in to go into the mine and boarded a little train before being taken on a little tour of the mine. Highlights were sliding down two miners slides and a short boat ride on an underground lake used for getting the salt out of the rock. Obviously very much set up for kids but we enjoyed it just as much if not more than the kids. Drove back towards Salzburg and stopped off at the Hellbrunn Schloss, a garden that is filled with joke fountains that squirt at unsuspecting visitors. It was built 400 years ago by an eccentric monk and a lot of the fountains are still the originals, all very clever, and had fun getting a bit wet too.

Day 92 - Back out to Obertraun situated on other side of the lake from Hallstat. Another cable car ride up to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately views so as grand as we are used to due to the low cloud, and this time I hadn't come prepared wearing shorts and thongs. Short walk over to the "5Fingers" which are 5 look out platforms projecting over the side of a cliff, with glass floors, that look down onto Hallstat and the lake below, and weather cleared just enough to get a farily decent view. Also a favourite spot for paragliders and watched a fella trying, albeit with difficulty, to take off - he managed in the end, and was still in the sky when we left so must have worked it out. Down the cable car again and then drove back to Hellbrunn Schloss so that Emily could get her photo taken in front of the conservatory where someone sang "I am 16 going on 17" in The Sound of Music.

Day 93 - Our 2 Year Anniversary. Decided to pass through the Danube valley en route to Vienna. Found a campsite early on, right on the riverside on the south bank just east of Melk. Headed into town quickly to pick up some picnic food and a bottle of bubbly and then set up the picnic rug and chairs on the bank of the river and watched the sun go down over the river and what I think is an abbey that was overlooking us.

Day 94 - Beautiful sunny day which was welcome as starting to wander if we would see the sun again. Jumped on the bikes and headed east along the river towards the town of Krems. First stretch of teh ride was uninteresting but then the trail took us though orchards of apples, pears, apricots and vineyards. Stopped off at a fruit stall on side of the road and bought some apricots which subsequently got squished in my rucksack. Reached Krems after about 2 hours of riding and stopped for lunch and a walk around the town, fairly nice little town but nothing remarkable. Ride back along the north bank of the river was far more interesting. Rode through lots of vineyards and pretty little villages overlooking the river and stopped off in one vineyard near Durnstein to sample the local wines, gave us the extra energy needed to get back to the campsite, discarded the squished apricots and replaced them with a bottle of local plonk instead - incentive to make it back quickly! Fantastic ride past Spitz and back over the river at Melk before getting back to the campsite , pretty tired after 80km ride, but well worth it.

Day 95 - Drove straight to campsite in Vienna. Lunch in van and then caught bus and train into city centre, about 30 minute journey, and started on the walking tour of the city. First impressions were that it was far more modern than we had expected, could have been walking up a high street in England or Australia, which was slightly disappointing, but it did have a good atmosphere with people bustling about and several street entertainers. Further along we came across the older buildings which were more impressive, such as the Stephansdom cathedral and the Hapsburgs palace and wandered around the museum quarter for a while, but still felt that it didn't quite have the charm of Salzburg. Headed back on train and bus to camp.

Day 96 - Wanted to give Vienna another chance so headed back into town after lunch and walked down Gumpendorfer Strasse, which was advertised as the 'real' Vienna, but again felt as though we could have been anywhere. Wandered through a modern shopping district but stumbled upon a bar that brewed it's own beer so stopped for a cheeky one in there, and booked a table for dinner. Saw an advertisement for a lederhosen outlet store across town, so headed for that and got there with about 1/2 hour to spare before it closed. Em found a dress she liked that wasn't ridiculously priced for tourists and so bought it - photos to follow I'd imagine. Headed back across the city to the brewary for another beer and a big slab of meat before catching train and bus back to the campsite.

Day 97 - Left Vienna feeling that we'd seen everything that we wanted to and head for the Czech border. Retraced our steps a little and started west towards Linz before turning north to Freistat a little medieval town inside a moat. Stopped here for a little wander about, and as luck would have it, there was a local beer festival starting up that afternoon celebrating the local brew Freistader. Picked up a few bottles for later and headed further north across the border to the Czech Republic and a little town of Cesky Krumlov. Went into the town just looking for an ATM, but were pleasantly suprised at how pretty it was. Situated in the bend of a river it's a lovely medieval town with cobbled streets and many original buildings, a tad touristy but nothing over the top. Jumped back into Napolivan and found a campsite nearby which was just a field full of solar panels, so parked underneath one and plugged the van straight into the panel which was pretty cool.

Day 98 - Went back into Cesky Krumlov and found an English bookshop so exchanged several books that we'd already read and had another wander around the town and a coffee and watched several locals on the river messing about in kayaks and rafts. Eventually decided to move on and headed north to Ceske Budejovice to check out the Budweiser Budvar brewary, which unfortunately didn't run tours on Saturdays, so instead went further north to Plsen, arrived too late to visit brewary so found campsite on will check it out the next day instead.

Day 75 - Rudely awoken this morning by a rain shower and had to quickly bring in the washing and chairs. Managed to get back to sleep for a little while though, before packing up and setting out for Lienz. Stopped via Millstatt and had lunch overlooking the lake, then continued onto Spittal an der Drau where we had a look around a weird but interesting museum set inside a castle. Had an interactive flight simulator over the local area that was good fun, but then strange reconstructions of old mountain huts, and old school classrooms, but interesting nevertheless. Back into Napolivan, who is at last showing serious signs of fatigue, making lots of clunking and grumbling noises and overheating more easily as well. Found campsite just outside Lienz, underneath massive mountains, unfortunately view was obstructed by rain clouds.

Day 76 - Drove through Lienz town to cable car station. Pretty expensive to get up and back in gondola, but thought it would be worth it. Very strange going up gondola and chair lift without ski gear, but good fun and wonderful views of green pastures along the valley. Had a quick walk around at the top but unfortunately the weather looked like it was closing in, so stopped for a coffee in the mountain restaurant instead, before heading back down. Nursed Napolivan along the valley towards the grossglockner pass, and stopped in village of Dollach. Still very wet and so just chilled out in the van hoping that we wouldn't get any leaks!

Day 77 - Weather a bit brighter this morning, so decided would be a good day to tackle the famous grossglockner road and see the views on a clear morning. Unfortunately, Napolivan had other ideas. Literally 400m after paying 30Euro at the toll booth to get onto the pass Napolivan lost all power going up the hill and had to pull over at the side of the road quickly, almost taking out a couple of cyclists in doing so, who shouted something at me in German that we weren't taught at school! Decided that it was useless trying to go any further, so performed a U-turn and coasted down the hill to the nearest mechanic. Had to wait a while as there was another British couple in front of us who also had campervan trouble. Eventually mechanic had a quick look at Napolivan and in very limited English said that the manifold and gasket had gone and needed replacing. Slightly dubious about this assesment as he'd only listened to the engine for 30 seconds, but didn't have much option. Walked about 1/2hour into town of Heiligenblut, which is a quintessential Austrian village. Set in the middle of a green valley with mountains all around and beautiful church as it's centre piece. Grabbed some lunch and quick walk around town before walking back to mechanic. Bad news, he didn't have the right part on him and would take about 4 days to get one. So, packed several bags with 4 days worth of clothes etc and headed back up the hill to Heiligenblut and the tourist office. Found out that there was a big running race on that weekend and most places were booked up, but eventually found found a room and settled down there for the night. Had dinner in town, but pretty exhausted after stressful day so had an early night.

Day 78 - Walked into town around midday to catch the running race only to find that we'd missed it. Had lunch in town instead and then took a walk along the river and up the valley to the Grossnitzwasserfall. Beautiful walk through a pine forest and topped off with stunning view of the waterfall, got close enough to feel the spray on your face. At this stage we certainly felt that if Napolivan was to break down anywhere, then Heiligenblut would be very high on our list of places to be stuck.

Day 79 - Saw a 4 1/4 hour walk advertised yesterday, up the Franz-Josef lookout point over a glacier which you can also drive to on the Grossglockner road. Felt if we saw this then wouldn't feel like we'd missed out on doing the famous road Should have been an easy walk with a bus ride back down to the village afterwards. Start of walk was tough going with lots of steep uphill pinches, but very rewarding with beutiful views over the valley. Then made a fairly significant blunder when we thought the path we wanted to go down was cordoned off and so had to go the other way. Map showed it as being a loop around a peak that would eventually take us to where we wanted to go - turns out that we weren't where we thought we were! Continued along the trail still taking in the stunning scenery and thoroughyl enjoying the walk. Saw Edelweiss flowers, and eagles flying high above us and lots of marmotts running around. Started to get a little worried that we might be on the right path, but stopped and asked a local farmer who pointed us up the hill in the direction we had been travelling, so just ploughed on. Luckily, stopped some other walkers with a half decent map and then realised the error of our way, and instead headed to a nearby Alpine hut for some assistance. By this time it was 4pm and we'd been walking for almost 5hours and getting pretty tired. Guys at the hut said that the Franz-Josef lookout was a further 3 hours away, and Heiligenblut was 5hours back down. Best decision of the day, was to admit defeat and that we'd messed up and to stay overnight at the hut, they provided us with a sleeping sack and blankets, warm food, but most importantly a couple of shots of schnapps which instantly helped us see the funny side of the situation. Less than half an hour after deciding to stay the weather closed in and there was pretty much a white out and the temperature dropped dramatically - walking tired, along routes we didn't know without the proper gear would have been potentially disasterous. Was a very weird night and on several occassions had " What the hell am I doing here?" moments - 2600metres up an Austrian mountain in a pair of shorts and running shoes - something to tell the grandkids at least, and a cracking adventure! I have to add that I was very proud of my wife for not freaking out about the situation once, didn't have a single tantrum the whole day, even though I was on the verge of several myself.

Day 80 - Very early start so that we could make it to the Franz - Josef lookout point and catch the first bus back down to Heiligenblut and sort out Napolivan. Got lucky with the weather and had fine sunshine for the most part of the 3 hour walk. First part was a traverse along the top half of a mountain and at that early hour we were above the clouds, so had views down to the valley floor that were interupted by white fluffy clouds, very bizarre and another "What the hell am I doing here at 7am on a tuesday morning?!" moment, but very cool nonetheless! Reached the end of the traverse and then had a steep descent back down into the clouds, and were again very satisfied with our decision not to attempt this the previous afternoon/evening as was tough going in parts. Finally made it to where we wanted to be the previous day, caught a glimpse of the glacier but decided not to take the trail to walk on it, as visibility was pretty poor and just wanted to get back to civilisation at this stage. Instead headed straight for Glocknerhaus and jumped on the first bus that took us back down to Heiligenblut and a much needed hot shower and teeth clean. Very kindly, the hostess of the Pension only charged us half price for the previous night as we didn't sleep there - we had contacted her the previous evening to tell her what had happened so that she didn't send out the rescue helicopters for us - would have been even more embarassing! I then walked down the hill to the mechanics to check on the status of Napolivan only to be told that he had no luck finding a part as the van was too old, and Ford had stopped making them, instead he offered to repair the existing part but made no promises as to how long it would last for - at least that's what I think he said with a mix of his broken English and my broken German. So, a few hours later Napolivan was back on the road, and we had everything crossed that he would stay that way for a while yet. As expected, mechanics bill was pretty expensive but if Napolivan gets the rest of the way around will be more than worth it.... and as if to add salt to wounds when he gave me the bill he wanted to ask where Emily was, as she had stayed behind at the Pension to pack up our stuff, but got his translation mixed up and said to me in a thick German accent, "Where is your husband?" - if I wasn't so exhausted he would have ended up with the manifold wrapped around his neck, but instead explained the error of his translation. Drove for about an hour to the Italian border and a town called Silian where we kipped for the night, very glad to be back in Napolivan Dontfallapartagain.

Day 81 - Very easy day, late start to catch up some needed zzzz's. Eased Napolivan towards Innsbruck, going back into Italy and then back into Austria - barely a hint of a border crossing, just a change in the language on the road signs. Did get very close to Selva di Wokenstein at one stage and tempted to check it out, but thought better of it with Napolivan in this state. Found campsite in village of Judenstein, about 15minute drive from Innsbruck.

Day 82 - Em not feeling too well. Caught bus into Innsbruck and followed the walking tour of the old town that was in the guide book. Quickly realised that although Innsbruck has some lovely old buildings and streets, it is not very large at all, and had seen everything in about an hour, Hofburg Palace,Hofgarten Park and Dom St Jakob being the main sights. Stopped for a coffee and some apple strudel. Then caught bus out to the airport where we picked up a hire car. Took the decision to hire a car in an attempt to save Napolivan going up too many hills and increase his longevity - will be worth it if he makes it back to UK in one piece. First drove to village of Hall in Tirol, again recommended in guide book, and had a stroll around, quite nice but nothing overly special to see, so back to camp.

Day 83 - Made up some sarnies to take with us on our walk and then set off around 10am and drove for 1 1/2hours to Krimml and Europe's largest waterfall. Really nice drive through the mountains to get there, but once we arrived it was unfortunately crawling with tourists - several car parks full. Made our way through the crowds to start the asscent and got stuck behind a group of school kids, and so the first stretch of the walk was marred by being far too busy and detracted from the phenomenal waterfall that we were walking beside. Got a couple of cool photos but fed up of being barged about, so quickly made it to the top and continued along another trail that took us into a valley and a beautiful scene of a babbling stream running through a lush green meadow with cows in, with a couple of Alpine huts in the foreground and snow capped peaks in the background. Picture postcard stuff which made it all worth while and by this stage the crowds had thinned dramatically too. Stopped for sandwiches and a rest at one of the Alpine lodges before beginning the descent. Retraced our steps for a little of the way before turning off to the other side of the waterfall and a trail that was slightly off the beaten track. A much better descent and some excellent photo opportunities. Certainly the second half of the walk made it very much worth while. Back into the hire car which had also started to make some funny noises and behave oddly, so back to the airport to swap it, which was easy enough, and finally back to camp. We were going to head into Innsbruck to check out an outdoor jazz festival, but started belting down with rain so battened down the hatches and stayed in Napolivan.

Day 68 - Spent a lazy morning at the hotel sorting out the blog and photos etc, a short walk through back streets from hotel to Rialto bridge and a sit down at one of the canals and dipped our feet in, much colder than expected. Met Mum and Dad for lunch near hotel, then wandered to St Marks square, queued a little while for the basilica and Em integrated with the Japanese tourists by putting up her umbrella for shade. Basilica impressive but busy, got excited when saw a sign pointing towards the 'treasure room', but didn't live up to expectation. Wandered over the square to the tower, pretty expensive for not much of a visit. Up to the top in an elevator, and spent about 10 minutes taking photos and then down again. Back to hotel for a chill out before heading out for dinner at same restaurant. Again a very nice meal followed by limoncello apperatifs. Into St Marks square for 'the battle of the bands'. Choose a cafe a sit down at, and band started to play for about 5 minutes before stopping and then a band in opposite cafe would strike up for 5 minutes before our band would go again, very enjoyable. Hung around the square for a while and took a walk down to the waterfront before hitting the hay.
Day 69 - Final day in Venice, left bags at hotel and walked to markets by the Rialto bridge. Lots of fresh produce including fish and snails still wriggling, right next to the canal, and bought some stuff for dinner. Then caught a vaparetta to Lido for lunch, but very hot so didn't walk around much. Vaparetta back to hotel and then water taxi to airport, too hot to mess about with buses, but fantastic way to finish up in Venice. Left mum and dad at the airport, and tentatively walked back to Napolivan, fingers and toes crossed that he hadn't been towed and would start properly. Prayers answered, could see Napolivan in the car park sticking out like a sore thumb from about 1km away. Bonus that he started first time as well, purred like a jaguar on heat! Only obsticle was caused by human error, as I tried to put a ferry ticket into the parking paying meter, luckily there were no Italians behind me to beep their horns, but still felt like a prat. Decided to head further east towards Trieste. Only about an hours journey and found a nice little campsite on top of the hill with views over Trieste and the sea. Campsite advertised as being unsuitable for caravans due to steep, winding roads, but Napolivan negotiated them with ease.

Day 70 - Realised last night that the satnav didn't have maps for Slovenia, Austria or Germany. Decided that trying to map read our way around would cause undue stress and marital arguments so trekked into Trieste to buy a cable to link satnav to the laptop so that we could download the neccessary maps. Several shops later found what we were looking for and continued into Slovenia and towards Ljubljana - lots of fun trying to work out how to pronounce this. Very nice drive with mountains in distance, caused carnage in Ljubljana city centre having to perform a 15 point turn away from a car park that we were too tall to fit into. Eventually found suitable parking spot and wandered into city centre, very quiet for a university town. Found a bar with wifi so that we could sort out the satnav and watched world go by for a while. Almost completed downloading the maps when laptop battery ran out - nothings ever easy. Continued on towards Bled and found campsite about 5kms outside, a bit expensive but had wifi so decided to stop here. Went for a swim in their lake and finally sorted out the satnav. Slovenia looks beautiful, but unfortunately not got much time to spent here.
Day 71 - Spent morning trying to change the rear brake light on Napolivan, made it harder than it should have been and snapped off a bit of the plastic before realising I didn't need to take that bit off, but no real harm done and fixed in the end. Headed into Bled and found a car parking spot, jumped on the bikes and rode around the lake. Lake was stunning and one of our favourite places so far, took lots of photos of the church in the middle of the lake and the castle on the hill overlooking the lake, and stopped off for a swim among the lillies and the ducks, guide book described it as post card perfect which is pretty accurate. Drove on through Slovenia, couldn't work out the toll system as never issued a ticket and never stopped and asked to pay even though we drove through several booths. Made it into Austria and headed for town of Keutshacher near Wurthersee lake. Found lovely little campsite about 5km from town and chilled out there for the afternoon and had a swim in the small lake.
Day 72 - Easy start. Took bikes out and headed back towards Keutschacher and then towards Wurthersee lake. Rode around the lake to Klagenfurt and continued for a while along northshore of the lake and found a spot for lunch in a park. I had a swim in the lake whilst Em napped. Back on bikes and rode back to Klagenfurt, onto Viktring and then back to Rauschelesee Campsite, altogether only about a 30km and an easy ride but very hot and much needed swim in lake next to campsite. Hit by big thunder storm, managed to just finish cooking dinner before it chucked it down, but exciting being stuck in Napolivan with thunder and lightning all around. Thoroughly enjoying Austria already!

Day 73 - Packed up Napolivan and went to pay for the stay only to find that the lady had gone out for the morning and wasn't back until 1pm, so decided to drive to supermarket and do a few chores until she got back. After settling up drove to Maria Worth, a little village on the lake with a pretty church jutting out and stopped here for lunch. Then headed west around lake to Veldon and did a drive through, not much to see so continued on towards town of Villach, again not much of a write up in guide book, and Em was asleep in passenger seat so just drove through on towards Hermagor about an hour away. Stopped off at tourist info and got map for the walk we were planning to do next day and drove little way to Moderndorf and checked out start of walk to see if it was reasonable to leave Napolivan there whilst we did the walk. Then back through Hermangor to campstite about 6km away and set up. Beuatiful spot in between the mountains and went for swim in nearby lake and mess about on bouncy castle on the water. Back to campsite to cook traditional Austrian dinner of wiener schnitzel and sauerkraut - got it spot on, definately having that again!

Day 74 - Easy start, and then headed out to Moderndorf and the start of the walk called the Garnitzenklamm circuit which led through a stunning gorge. First stage of walk was fairly busy but didn't detract from the beautiful scenary. Crystal clear water running over jagged rocks with sheer cliffs on either side, got lots of great photos. Decided to press onto stage 3 of the walk which is where most of the other walkers turned around as is advertised as 'difficult', but was the best bit of the walk. Felt absolutely isolated for most of it, and had tricky paths to navigate with chains to clamber up, ladders to climb and rickety bridges to cross - really was an adventure and great fun. Reached the top of the gorge where there was a church with views over the whole valley on one side and up the rest of the gorge and mountains on the other, really breathtaking - litterally as we had to climb a steep hill to get there. Not the longest walk either of us have ever done, only about 5hours, but probably the most challenging in terms of obstacles and terrain, and certainly my favourite walk so far. Looking forward to the next dozen or so that are in the Austrian guidebook! Back to camp, and rode bikes down to lake, and completed the triathlon with a quick dip - not exactly Ironman stuff but good bit of exercise nonetheless. Then ruined all the good work by cooking bratwurst and sauerkraut for dinner, another feast, reckon we've got the knack for Austrian cuisine and think we might have found a niche in the Sydney restaurant industry!

Day 63 - Sleep in needed and Auf Wiedersehned the Germans, then drove rest of way to Bologna. Bit lost around the university and some narrow streets, ended up driving through cobbled pedestrianised section but eventually found parking spot. Wanderred around the town, stopped for slice of pizza, nice main piazza, obscene fountains that were apparently art, then through the shopping section and stopped for coffee and bought some mince meat for genuine bolognese from Bologna, very impressed by the city. Back to Napolivan and drove to Modena, lost our confidence about driving into centre of town so found spot on outskirts of town and walked in to see the cathedral which was meant to be a Unesco World Heritage site, but unfortunately the entire building was covered in scaffolding and couldn't actually see it - luckily found the funny side of this and had a coffee instead. Onto Parma where we were going to stay, but when we turned up at the campsite there was a sign saying that it had been closed for years, messed about trying to find another spot on outskirts of town but no luck, so headed about 20kms west to a site at Fidenza. Arrived at about 8pm set up camp and started cooking dinner, only to find that the fuse kept going and electric cooker didn't work. Tried to ask for a discount as couldn't cook dinner and site was expensive anyway, manager refused so had first proper argument of the trip and had passports thrown back at me. Packed up our stuff again and left, hungry and tired Emily = tantrum. Tried to get takeaway pizza but no luck with that either, eventually stumbled across a small trattoria that looked empty. Stopped and asked owner if we could park over night in the car park at the back of restaurant. Lovely bloke but only spoke one word of English, "complicate", which wasn't terribly useful, but after a game of cherades we vaguely understood each other and we had dinner at his restaurant and slept for free in the car park - all worked out in the end and a top memory!

Day 64 - Drove straight to Verona via Lago di Garda and found great little campsite in Verona, only a 10 minute walk down the hill to the centre. Chilled out for a bit at the campsite and then strolled into town to find Julliet's balcony, Em got to grope the right breast of the statue for luck, wandered around the town and then back up to campsite. Made dinner in communal area as no electric hook up, met an interesting American chap and a Belgian couple and stayed up with them until early hours of morning sampling the local limoncello, and eventually moved out to the castle overlooking the lights of the town - another great memory.

Day 65 - Slow start and drove a little way towards Venice, stopped off at service station and had a short nap. Then continued onto Venice airport, left Napolivan in the long stay car park and then met Mum and Dad off their plane. Caught water taxi from airport straight to hotel door. Wonderful experience and superb way for Em to get her first taste of Venice, felt like being in a James Bond movie racing around the canals on a speed boat. Wandered into St Mark's square for a beer and then found a small local tratorria for dinner. Em in love with Venice already.

Day 66 - Early breakfast at hotel, enjoyed not having to dismantle the bed this morning. Wandered into St Marks square again, but queues for basilica and tower were too long, so continued onto waterfront. Very busy with tourists so headed away from the crowds to the arsenale and stopped for coffee. Walked through back streets and harbour front passed v.expensive looking boats to a park and jumped on a vaporetta back to the Rialto bridge where we stopped for lunch and strolled through the market stalls on the Rialto bridge itself and Em purchased some glass earings and tried on several masks. Long walk through tiny back streets to Ferrovia ferry station and caught long boat ride all the way down the Grand Canal to St Marks square. Chilled out at hotel for a bit, sunk a bottle of wine in Mum and Dad's room whilst showing them our travel photos so far. Then ate out at pizzeria nearby to the hotel.

Day 67 - Headed out first thing to the ferry stop at St Marks square. Headed out to island of Murano, famous for glass blowing. Saw an exhibition of glass blowing and saw a fella make an ash tray and a horse, very skillful and interesting to watch. Then a wander around the island and had packed lunch before catching another ferry to Burano, a beautiful little island with multi coloured houses and lots of lace shops. Chilled out here for a bit, had to run to catch ferry back to Venice. Found lovely little restaurant in back alley near hotel, very good food and decided to return again the next night.