Special edition or special addition!!!

Here it is, our final entry - hopefully one you'll never forget!!


For those not in the know
Here is a poem of our trip, just so we can crow

Like all our other adventures we have done
Who knows how we came up with this one

An eventful weekend to London was the plan
Smashed up one vehicle but bought a big red van

You all voted for its name which we chose to ignore
We added our own touches throughout the winter core

Thus Pat was born, all set to run
Ready to be our home for the European sun

Skinny dipping in the Highlands is chilly
The fiords were alot more than just hilly

One day we ran out of fuel
Thanks to the bikers we continued without it being too cruel

How amazed we were to see a Puffin
It had us absolutely laughin'

We got pretty good at hiking
But some days we just went biking

Sometimes we made it up to snow
That had us going pretty slow

Medieval cities took us back in time
Communism made sure that people towed the line

Some of the roads were all full of dust
I hope that doesn't make us rust

In some big cities we chose camping grounds
Just to make sure we could see all around

Some of the cities had lots of heart
Especially after listening to some of Mozart

Walking in the Alps could be quite far
So instead we took a cable car

Seeing so much history has been an absolute treat
All the way, the nature could not be beat

A special thanks to all that gave us a bed and helped us recharge
When we see you in NZ, no favour will be too large

We have brought home a souvenir with us to keep
Don't worry there's no way this is tacky or cheap

Some might say it happened in Sweden
But the Baltic Storks may want to argue between them

Late March is the month it will be delivered in
By then, hopefully we'll have a job to keep it from being too thin

Marea already has big plans for when she's 60 and wrinkling
A return trip with her kids to make up for what little she's been drinking

Thanks for reading our blog, sorry if it got too long
But now we have a new subject in which to start another song.

01/10/08 - 14,554 miles later.

Wow!!! We're finished!!! Back to London in one piece. What a feeling
of satisfaction, sadness, joy, reality check, relief. You name the
emotion - its probably in there somewhere.

I think its a sure sign that we had seen enough of this great
continent and were ready to finish when we arrived at the ferry
terminal 3 hours early. That was alright though, we got put on an
earlier crossing meaning we didn't get round to spending our remaining
Euro's or stocking up on wine, gifts or chocolate:-(

A rather rocky crossing (didn't matter to me cause I was still feeling
dizzy and woozy before we got on the boat anyway), then a fantastic
view of the White Cliffs as we came into Dover and back to England!!

Marea adapted to driving on the left and got us home in record time
(poor Pat) where Marea's brother Liam has kindly put us up until the
23rd when its time to head back to New Zealand, and back to the real
world - a job!!

In that time hopefully we will be able to sell the van and see
everyone who is still over here. First job - to turn the van upside
down and give it a good clean!!

For those who have managed to follow this blog all the way through -
well done to you! Sorry if we've managed to put you to sleep with all
our tales of walks, mountains and driving. Don't worry, you won't be
getting any more day by day accounts.

But watch this space - there will be a special edition.... sooner
rather than later!!

30/09/08 - Just like a painting.

Two mysteries remain this morning - what is a Mairie? and what is
wrong with me? I felt fine in bed, but as soon as I stood up I got
all dizzy and almost fell over!!

As for the Mairie - we could see a desk through the window? And a
sign nearby did have the word 'chapel' on it, but surely chapels are
more interesting than this plain brick building??

Onwards then to Giverny - home town to the impressionist painter
Claude Monet. To give him inspiration for his paintings, Monet
developed a garden complete with lily pond, which we now have the
privilege of visiting. In Monet's time one gardener was employed full
time just to look after the waterlillies.

To stand on a Japanese bridge in Monet's garden and see what he saw
before transferring it to canvas was a peaceful (minus Japanese
tourists) and surreal experience. If you screwed your eyes up and
blurred your vision (or unfocused the camera) you could almost
replicate these impressionist paintings. But whilst all that was fun,
seeing the garden in all it's focused glory was a real highlight of
our trip and beat visiting endless art galleries any day!!

Time to head back to the coast towards Calais. En route we went past
a couple of large 3 or 4 story brick buildings with the words
'Mairie-Ecole' on them. Ecole means school - so does that mean Mairie
is another word for school in this area?? Thats what we decided at
the time. Although we have all since been enlightened by sister
Angela's expert research skills. A Mairie is a Town/City Hall. That
made our one desk Mairie a very very small place of official decision
making!!

Our final sleeping spot was on the very windy coastline at Berck. It
took three moves along our designated area of parking to find a
sheltered enough spot to ensure that the wind wasn't going to keep us
up all night and Pat didn't get blown over.

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29/09/08 - What in the world is a Mairie??

I'm not sure whether it was the mussels last night, or just a bug -
but I felt like total shit all day today. Luckily Marea has not
fallen the same way (touch wood) - so the driving duties were totally
hers today.

A slow morning where the fog had taken over our view of the Mulberry
Harbour before we were off on the road to see if I could handle
travelling. We made it as far as Pegusus Bridge - just one last D-day
sight. Again portrayed on The Longest Day, three British gliders
landed here shortly after midnight on 6 June and took over the bridge
- ensuring German reinforcements couldn't cross to get to the beaches,
and also ensuring they didn't blow it up to slow the allies progress
inland.

It was quite amazing looking at the landing sights of the three
gliders. They only landed about 50 metres from the bridge, and 10
metres apart from each other - it seems unbelievable that they didn't
crash into each other on landing.

The majority of our afternoon was spent resting in the van besides the
Caen Canal and Pegasus Bridge - trying to figure if I can travel any
more today. Finally after a cup of herbal tea we took the plunge and
headed inland past Rouen, up the River Seinne - to the tiny (I'm not
sure if there is even a shop) village of St. Germain de-Pasquier.

According to our Camper Stop book here lies the smallest Mairie in
France. Apart from the fact that there is a designed free parking
spot here - curiousity got the better of us and we wanted to find out
what a Mairie is??

Upon arrival we have found a 3 by 2.7 metre brick building with the
words 'Mairie' on the front. The only thing we could translate from
the French information sign was its dimensions. It did have some
opening times on its door, but they could have translated to "open
Mondays and Wednesdays". As tomorrow is Tuesday, we may never be any
wiser!!

28/09/08 - Remembering the horrors of war.

Only 3 more sleeps until we finish our Grand European Tour and get on
the ferry to Dover. After some early starts the last two mornings,
Marea was taking it easy and hardly even glanced at the sun rising
over the sea. Our sleeping spot was about 6km north of Utah Beach so
about 10:00 we headed there to eat breakfast.

We then spent the day driving south-east around more of the D-Day
beach sites. We went back to Ste. Mere-Eglise for a visit inside the
church to view the paratroopers depicted around the Virgin Mary in the
modern stained glass windows. We walked around the heavily cratered
Point d'Hoc. Here the Allies successfully captured this important
strategic battery after scaling the high cliffs on rope ladders.
After two days of fighting, of the 225 Rangers who landed here - only
90 remained. We then stopped at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach,
where 9,386 soldiers are buried in what seemed never ending rows of
crosses. Also there, was a museum with stories about some of the
soldiers buried there - including a story about the four Niland
brothers of whom two were killed on the beaches, one went missing in
the Pacific - so the fourth was sent home to be with his family.
Sound a bit like Saving Private Ryan? - this was the story the movie
was based on.

In a way I think that I (Marea) found this a more rewarding experience
than Daniel, on who's initiative we visited all these sites. Like
visiting Gallipoli, having actually been to the site, makes the events
seem more poignant and real. As one who tends to avoid all war
stories, it is much harder to ignore, or forget, the hard evidence.

Note from Daniel - my problem was that every memorial we visited
seemed very one-sided. I felt a bit for the German soldiers killed
who would have only been following orders.

About 15:30 upon realising that this part of France shuts down on a
Sunday we headed to Port du Bessin in the hope of finding both lunch
and dinner! We were in luck, "Un kilo et demi de moules(€4), sil vous
plait" and a bottle of €1.80 white wine (for the mussels!); we were
set for dinner.

We took ourselves back to Arromanches to the same spot we'd parked two
nights ago. It was a beautiful afternoon to soak up the sun, and as
the tide was low we could see the Mulberry Harbour in all its glory.
When the tide was high two days ago we thought the artificial harbour
had lost most of its effectiveness and had been swallowed up by the
sea. But now at low tide it seems a perfect breakwater.

We wandered over to the Arromanches 360° cinema for the last screening
of the day. This was a 20 minute movie of old and new footage
designed to give us a view of what it was like to an ordinary soldier
during the first few weeks of the Battle of Normandy. The nine
screens set up in a complete circle ensured you a little dizzy as you
keep turning around to try and take it all in.

27/09/08 - The story of two invasions.

Another beautiful sunrise this morning as it came up over the hill,
and shed light on what remains of what was the busiest harbour in
Europe during the summer of 1944. Port Winston or Mulberry Harbour is
made up of huge concrete blocks that were towed over from England and
dropped into the water to create this huge artificial harbour. In the
1st few weeks of Normandy invasion, the Allies had no natural harbour
to use so this artificial one was used to unload all their supplies.

We had quick look around from the cliff edge and then drove down the
hill to 'Gold Beach' where we came across a memorial for Dave's county
- The Essex Regiment. Then it was time to head to Bayeux and travel
back 900 years to another invasion - The Norman Conquest of England in
1066.

Depicted in a 70 metre long tapestry made shortly after the Conquest -
the series of very well preserved pictures embroidered into the linen
cloth tell the story of how Harold (from England) betrayed William the
Bastard (from Normandy) and crowned himself, succeeding Edward the
Confessor to the English throne. This act was cause for celebration
though shortly after the appearance of Haley's Comet indicated all was
not well. William sailed to England, where the 14 hour battle of
Hastings culminated in Harold being killed by an arrow through his
eye. Thus William become known as William the Conqueror and King of
England!!!

Feeling a little more knowledgeable on England's turbulent royal
history, it was off to the train station to say goodbye to Kerryn and
Dave. Then back to take a look around Bayeux - a very pretty town
almost unscathed from the D-Day landings, and the first town in France
to be liberated. We took a walk around the peaceful, well maintained
4,868 graves of the British war cemetery. This included 8 New Zealand
graves of which we managed to find 2, among the many rows.

Then it was off up the coast to Omaha Beach where thousands of
American and German lives were lost in the most brutal section of the
D-day beaches. Now it is a very peaceful long beach with sand-sailors
(sailing up and down the beach in a little three wheeled cart with
sail) zooming around. But we could imagine thousands of troops landing
on the beach, then having a couple of hundred metres of nothing to
hide behind, as they ran towards the machine guns shooting at them -
horriffic!!

Our last D-day sight for today was away from the beaches in the little
market town of Ste. Mére-Eglise. It was in this area, inland from
Utah Beach that American paratroopers landed in the early hours of
June 6. Unfortunately they ended up scattered all over the countryside
and for those that have seen the movie The Longest Day, one
unfortunate paratrooper landed right on top of the church in Ste.
Mére-Eglise - getting himself tangled up and hanging from the roof.
Somehow he managed to survive as he got a bird's eye view of the
fighting below.
The famous church which still stands, now has a mannequin soldier and
parachute hanging from the church roof to remind us all.

26/09/08 - Some very impressive former islands.

A short drive through the quickly clearing fog for our first stop
today - St Malo. Once a fortified island at the mouth of the river
Rance, this walled town is now joined to the mainland by way of a
promenade and resulting beach. We walked along the beach to an
outlying fort, past huge breakwaters and got a feel for the extremely
large tidal differences in this area - this difference, between low
and high tide, can be 15 metres in height! We arrived when the tide
was quite low but postcard pictures of waves crashing over the
breakwaters showed us just why these are needed at high tide.

We then walked through the walls and explored this very impressive
granite town. Almost completely destroyed during the Second World
War, this is another example of careful restoration which has ensured
the town's narrow streets retain their charm.

Once we'd enjoyed a coffee in the sun, it was onward to France's
second most recognisable silhouette (the first being the Eiffel
Tower) - Mont St Michel (pronounced Michelle, not Michael as we had
been doing).

Another former island that is now joined to the mainland due to a long
sandspit, this 80 metre high island was visible to us from about 20
kilometres out. The closer we got, the more impressive it became,
with its Benedictine abbey towering above the tightly packed houses
that wind round the bottom, and the kilometres of tidal sand streching
far out to sea. In only a few hours, this sand would be completely
covered in water in a tidal change that perhaps could best be
described as 'where the waters rise faster than galloping horses'. We
got this description from the guidebook where it unfortunately doesn't
quote where it got it from.

We found ourselves a view point from a turret on the 'island' to
witness the tide come in - you definitely could witness the water
moving up the bay, although we decided we didn't need to sit up there
for the whole 6 hours of tidal change to get the idea.

It was then back on the move across the Normandy countryside to our
first view of the D-day landing beaches - where on the 6th of June
1944 hundreds of thousands of allied solders landed in the largest
amphibious invasion in history as they began the push across Europe to
defeat Hitlers Nazi Germany.

25/09/08 - A province more English than French??

Crikey this country is big!! Here I thought it would take about a day
to drive around the whole coast of Brittany, but the general consensus
of the crew was that we take the shorter route across country - and
that still took a whole day!!! With a few stops of course.

A quick look around Quiberon, before we headed back up the peninsula -
which in some places is only 50 metres across. Then we were off to
the other side of the Brittany coast - driving via through villages
and countryside which actually felt more English than French with
their stone buildings. This could be attributed to the Celtic origins
of Brittany, as large migrations from the Celtic lands of Britain
occurred throughout history to this region. It was only in the 16th
century that Brittany became part of France, and even today there are
groups lobbying for a separate Brittany state to the rest of France.

Our lunch stop was beside the Nantes-Brest canal which winds its way
through the rolling green countryside. A quick look at the Abbey de
Bon-Repos looking over the canal, where unfortunately all the
information was in French - then it was onward to our first sight of
the English channel at Cape Fréhel.

It was here we took an hour walk along the rugged coast, past a German
gun emplacement left over from the Second World War, to a lighthouse
sitting out on the cape. The view down along the cliffs showed a
castle sticking out right on the edge - stunning stuff!!

24/09/08 - Asterix and the Great Carnac Menhir's.

A grey morning greeted us as we set off for a patisserie to get our
bread for breakfast - just like the rest of the French population. A
few croissants, pain au chocolat and baguettes later we were
sufficiently full enough to drive through the rain for a couple of
hours around Nantes, and north towards Brittany.

A symbol of a castle on our map meant we took a stop at the village of
Missillac, where we found the stunning setting of Chateau de la
Bretesche - sitting on the side of a lake with neatly manicured lawns
and trees guarding it. Ignoring the 'guests only' signs, we drove on
in and took a stroll around the area - only getting told off when we
entered to the Chateau's courtyard. Oh well, we to close enough for a
look.

A bit of lunch and onwards into Brittany and The Megaliths of Carnac.
This was an area of several kilometres long where about 4000 menhir's
(meaning long stones in the local Celtic language of Briton) have been
set into the ground in long parallel rows. It is thought these were
placed here during the Neolithic period (5000 - 2000 BC) and are
linked with burial rituals.

Of course, with these impressive stones being here for such a long
time, a number of legends have evolved - including the one about Saint
Cornelius who was pursued by pagan soldiers, which he then turned
around and transformed them all into stone.

But Dave and I worked out the best theory - as we are in the heart of
Asterix and Obelix country, and Obelix always carried round a menhir -
it must have been him who put them all here. Surely he would be the
only one strong enough??

A quick walk around the rows of menhir's, then a visit to the museum -
where we even found Asterix books for sale!! Then we were off down
the very narrow Quiberon Peninsula to our camping spot near the
seaside town of Quiberon. We finished the day with a walk along the
rocky coast followed by a very red sunset from the comfort of the
van!!

23/09/08 - Bridge spotting.

The plan today, was to get some miles behind us, as we head north. In
saying this, we still had to take the scenic coastal road and not the
motorway.

Around Gironde - a big inlet that reaches down to Bordeaux, past a few
of surf beaches and up to Rochefort - luck would have it that we
stumbled across France's last operating transporter bridge!! This
wouldn't normally be much to excite us, but Dave is a bridge engineer
so the question of whether we should stop to check it out was rather
simple.

How to describe ... this is a structure with two towers about 90
metres high on each side of the river, with a joining 'bridge'
crossing the river sitting high up on top of the towers. Then cables
hang down from the 'bridge', supporting a platform, that used to carry
cars, but now only tourists, across the 270 metre wide Charente River.
At first glimpse, this metal structure looks like an object that
wouldn't be out of place in a port, unloading cargo off ships, instead
of spanning a river.
The rest works just like a ferry - you drive/walk onto the 10 square
metre platform, and then the cables guided by rails, carry the
platform across the river. Simple!! In 1900 when the bridge was
built there was still a lot of shipping traffic going up and down the
river, so it was necessary to have enough height clearance.
We paid our €2 each for the privilege of a return trip across the
river, where on the other side we found a pretty cool bridge museum!!
It was rather interesting reading about the different ideas for
crossing rivers and seas over the centuries.

Back on the road we arrived at the very pretty harbour city of La
Rochelle. This very white city (due to its limestone buildings) was a
major port from the 14th to 17th century, and was the setting off
point for many French immigrants to Canada. Its tiny old port is
guarded by two 14th century towers, that at night used to have a chain
stretched between them to stop any ships entering the harbour.

We took a quick walk around the towers, and along the city walls
before finding an outdoor cafe and enjoying a drink in the afternoon
sun, taking in the atmosphere.

22/09/08 - Biking among the vineyards.

A chilly morning was had amongst the grapes, but soon we were on the
move and off to the supermarket, before heading back to St. Emilion to
hire our transport for the day - bikes.

Kerryn was armed with the list of wineries that looked like they may
be accommodating to a bunch of amateurs like us, so we headed into the
countryside. First mission was to make it up a hill to get the view,
then feel the wind as we flew down the otherside with vineyards and
chateau's all around us (just a point - a chateau doesn't mean a grand
castle type house, just the estate that is on the vineyard - although
some were pretty nice, and all were very old!!).

A nice picnic lunch of baguette, cheese, ham and all other things
French, beside a pretty little lake, then it was time to taste some
wine. After being told by the first vineyard that tastings and tours
were by appointment only, the second was kind enough to enough to let
us in. We decided our host was very French, you wouldn't call him the
most welcoming man, but we got to taste a couple of vintages from the
vineyard that has operated through 9 generations in the same family.

A bit more biking, then another tasting by a very welcoming French
lady and a young Québecan translator. It was very interesting to
learn about the different blends of grapes they use - 70% Merlot, 20%
Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc. We took a stroll amongst
the vineyards tasting all of the grapes trying to distinguish the
different types, followed by a walk past the big vats which housed the
previous two years harvests. The 2006 brew is due to be bottled this
week - in time to make room for the 2008 harvest.

Of course with all this great service and education, we had to buy a
couple of bottles to add to our collection - the general consensus
from our two visits from Marea, Kerryn and Dave was that the older
(1998, & 99) bottles were alot better than the more recent vintages
for the fact that they have been able to age a little. It was only me
who thought the opposite - I guess that makes me a poor connoisseur of
fine wines?

21/09/08 - Welcoming in the new harvest.

Marea seems to have a thing about sunrises at the moment - she was up,
and heading up the sand-dune at about 7:15 this morning, even though
from our experience in Spain it would still take another half an
hour!! Still, as cold as it was sitting up there - when the brilliant
red sun made its appearance, it was worth it! Though we couldn't
convince Dave to get out of bed!

Today's plan was to head around Bordeaux and into the heart of wine
country. It was quite neat just driving the country roads, surrounded
by rows and rows of vines that had nice big juicy bunches of grapes
currently sitting on them as the picking season is just about to
start. Kerryn and Daniel compared the bunches of grapes to udders on
an aging cow - heathens!

Our destination was the charming medieval village of St. Emilion -
situated on a hill, giving a great view of the vineyards all around.
First stop was a walk through an underground cellar where thousands
upon thousands of bottles of wine lay in the cool atmosphere. The
oldest batch we could find were a few bottles from 1965. It was
definitely very trusting of them to just let us roam about down there.

We were told that at 4pm something was going to happen from the top of
the Castel daou Rey (King's tower). We found the perfect viewpoint -
from an outdoor restaurant with great views looking across to the
tower. Marea and Dave took charge of the drinks menu, and pretty soon
we had a couple of reds and whites ordered. We were feeling very
French with our fine view, setting and lovely afternoon sun. However
upon being served, it became apparent that 'Pineau des Charrentes -
Chateau de Beaulon blanc/rouge 5 ans' does not mean a 5 year old glass
of white/red wine, but instead a highly fortified desert wine!! All
the same - they were some beautifully sweet, strong drinks - and the
waiter did tell us that an afternoon desert wine is perfectly
acceptable to enjoy the sunshine. Then again, he could have told us
anything and we would have believed him!!

By the time we had finished our drinks, nothing yet had happened up on
tower, so we took a free tour into an underground area carved out of
the limestone rock between the 9th & 12th centuries. Down there was a
Monolithic Church, Catacombs, Trinity chapel and Hermits Cave.
Unfortunately the tour was all in French, so halfway through we snuck
ahead to the tour half an hour in front of us, and got outside just in
time to see the celebrations on top of the King's Tower.

Again, all in French - but from what we could gather, the 30 or 40 men
in red robes waving out to the town from the tower were the Master
Sommelliers (wine experts). The ceremony finished with whole town
yelling out 'alleluia' repeatedly, and then 10 bunches of helium
balloons that looked like bunches of grapes were let off into the sky.
I think what we witnessed was the greeting of the new harvest, with
the picking season starting this week.

Our camping spot, courtesy of our book of free spots, was in among the
vines of a local vineyard. Our thank you to our local's hospitality
was the purchase of a couple of their product to enjoy for a very
pleasant evening with bread and cheese in the last of the setting sun
- beautiful!!

20/09/08 - Double the trouble.

Another first today, it was dark enough this morning that we had to
turn the lights on - summer is coming to an end!! Of course the other
reason was that there wasn't any sleep-in today as a quick drive up
the road to Pau airport was required as Kerryn is re-joining us along
with our token Englishman - Dave. That will ensure a cosy van for a
week.

A little investigation of the map, and we decided our plan for the day
would be to head north-west and find a beach somewhere up the coast.
Travelling through Grenade-sur-l'-Adour we found a very typical French
local market in full swing - this should be a bit more fun than a
supermarket. A few veges, meat, bread and €30 of cheese (I think it
was a case of too many chiefs, not enough indians) later, we continued
up through the flat plains of the area until we reached Biscarosse
Plage and our first glimpse of the deep blue Atlantic Ocean, with some
pretty impressive waves rolling in.

A picnic on the beach with some good cheap tax-free Italian bubbly, a
swim in the relatively warm sea and bit a sunbathing was the order of
the afternoon. Just down the beach from us, the National French
Championships for freestyle jet-skiing was getting started. We only
saw a few of them practicing, but it was pretty impressive watching
the jumps, twists and backflips as the riders used the waves to launch
off into the air.

We only managed another 15 minutes of driving before we reached the
highest sand-dune in Europe - Dune de Pyla. At about 110 metres high,
and 3 kilometres long, this sand-dune is quite a sight and it's a real
slog to climb!! But once we made it to the top, the reward was a
brilliant view over the other side to the sea, and of course a
magnificent sunset. Finally, the last treat as we returned to camp -
a run down the dunes. We probably contributed to the problem that all
the local campsites have with the sand-dune. Apparently it is
swallowing up everything eastwards at a rate of 4-5 metres per year.

19/09/08 - A different kind of Tourism.

One last day in the mountains and for once our view is spoiled by mist
and clouds - sort of makes you thankful for all the great weather we
have had.

We did drive up to the village of Cauteret which is the setting off
point for lots of walks in the French Pyrenees National Park, though
we didn't venture much further. We took a walk through the cute town
where we found a street market in process and the local delicacy -
Foie Gras. Made of goose liver, where the geese have been force fed
to ensure an en-larged fatty liver - charming. The taste was ....
interesting, and we did manage to eat all of the tiny expensive can
that we bought - with the help of some fresh local pain (bread) and
fromage (cheese) du Pyrenees. Yum!

Then it was down the valley to Lourdes. Lourdes was just another
sleepy village until 1858 when a young woman - Bernadette saw a series
of apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Since then Lourdes has become an
important pilgrim place where the faithful and especially the sick
come to take the waters and seek their own miracle.

It felt quite weird walking the streets of souvenir shops, as the
tourists around us were definitely a different breed to what we had
been used to on this trip. Some of the souvenirs were rather
interesting too - 5 or 10 litre plastic containers so you can take
some of the holy water home??

The weather was slightly sunnier down in Lourdes so the first stop was
a funicular up the Pic de Jer for a 360° of the town and surrounds.
We enjoyed the 1 hour walk back to the carpark then headed into town.

Our next destination was the Grotto and sanctuary which has been built
up around the original place of Bernadette Soubains' first apparitions
in 1858. After taking in the grotto and lighting a candle for absent
family and friends we enjoyed a walk around the area that has been all
set up for the 150th jubilee celebrations that go on throughout the
year - we just missed the pope's visit by 4 days (probably a good
thing considering the crowds I could imagine).

By now it was late and we were too tired to drive on so we parked up
with all the other campers at a supermarket in Lourdes.

18/09/08 - Pats last few hills.

It was a bit of a driving day today. Although when you look at the
map, as the crow flies - we haven't gone far at all. Just gone over
the hill really.

An hour of along the valley and over a small pass (that cheated by
sticking a tunnel at the top to deny us a view), before we reached
Biescas, the first town that could be described as bigger than village
- however we still weren't able to find a supermarket. Not to worry,
we found a butcher, vegetable store, and pattiserie to cover all our
needs - we probably should have been shopping like that alot more
often cause you get so much more chance to try and stumble through a
view words of the local language.

Then it was up to Puerto de El Portale (1,794), and into France.
Almost down to Laruns, up to Col d'Aubisque (1,709) - all the way up
this road there was graffiti all over the road giving support to the
cyclist's of a recent (or lots of) race that obviously came up here -
possibly Tour de France? It definitely would have been a real good
hill to separate the men from the boys!! Then at the top (apart from
another amazing view), we had three oversize bikes sitting out in the
paddock looking as though they were just reaching the top. To make
the picture even cooler, about 20 dairy cows (complete with bells of
course) were all standing around the bikes. They were great at posing
for photos!!

Our next stretch of road had a sign all in French that we decided
translated to say that vehicles over 3 tonne could only go east to
west in the morning, and west-east in the afternoon - west-east was
our direction, so off we went. The road wasn't too bad - although I
still wouldn't have wanted to meet another large vehicle on some
spots. Once we made it to the other end of this section and took in
another great, but misty view - a couple of large campervans headed
along the way we came in the opposite direction - so I do wonder
whether we got the translation right, or did they just ignore the
sign?

Down to Argeles-Gazost, a very pretty French feeling village - where
we caught up on a little bit of internet, then, as we are back in
France we can continue to enjoy these designated free parking spots
that are dotted all around the country. This one was at the equally
pretty village of Pierrefitte-Nestalas, although it was very popular
as it seems there is a dog show on somewhere round here this weekend.
But we squezzed in after moving a few picnic tables about :-)

17/09/08 - Follow the green road.

Ah ha!! Finally we can say we have seen a sunrise. And some of us
didn't even have get out of bed to enjoy it!! Of course some of us
had to get up and be the photographer. Either way, it was fantastic.

The plan for the rest of day was hopefully going to be pretty relaxed
- keep following the green scenic roads. Can't go wrong!

Our road continued to wind its way through the rocky, dry but
beautiful terrain as we entered the Aragon province (I'm sure this
sort of area would have been just as good as NZ for filming the Lord
of the Rings - and with the namesake in the film, could really add
something to it?).

A quick stop round the typical hill top village of Benabarre. Then a
longer stop and stroll about in Graus - where we found the Basilica de
la Virgen de la Peña - an impressive church sitting up on the hill
behind the town.

Now it was time to turn north and start heading back towards the high
peaks of the Pyrenees and France. But before getting too far, we
found the bottom corner of the National Park of Ordesa & Mt Perdido.
This corner, just off the main road from Escalona, boasted the Añisclo
Canyon with its one-way road (for a good reason) that wound up the
canyon, clinging onto the cliffs that made for a very exciting bit of
driving. It was just damm lucky that we didn't have to worry about on
coming traffic also!!

A little hour long walk in the canyon ensured we were able to take in
the peacefulness of this place, then it was up and out of the canyon
where after many 'possibilities' for a decent sleeping spot - we found
'the one' just on dark.

16/09/08 - Chasing Celestial Objects

Feeling almost 100% better this morning, we set off to explore the
capital Andorra la Vella. Andorra is pretty much only known for it's
skiing and shopping meaning this country of 70,000 absorbs 11 million
visitors every year. It enjoys something of a tax free status too so a
lot of French and Spanish visit, to buy cheap cigarettes, alcohol and
other goods.
Andorra la Vella is the only village which has anything of an old town
and we had to look hard to find it. The majority of the place
resembled any one of the new ski resorts in the United States and has
none of the centuries old charm of the resorts of Switzerland, France
or Italy. Still, the mountains more than make up for the over
commercialisation of its towns, so we stayed until everything shut for
lunch! and were again on our way.
We'd deliberately entered Andorra from France in the north such that
we could drive the entire length of Andorra as far as its solo highway
would allow. Thus, we headed south into Spain, first stopping for
diesel, which at €1.046 was 15% cheaper than Spain.
With our newly aquired map of the Pyrenees, we chose all the 'green'
scenic roads that could take us westwards. We took in mountain passes
with varied rock formations, valleys with crops and groves, and such
magnificient views meaning we often stopped in the middle of the road
just for a photo. Not to worry, there is very little traffic or people
in this part of Spain. Pat is not even required to pull over so that
cars can pass, making us confident of finding a very suitable, quiet
place to camp for the night. And there it was; at the top of Coll de
Montllobar pass (1080), with amazing views overlooking the town of
Tremp and valley we'd driven through. But first we just had to drive
around a few more corners to soak up the last of the beautiful sun and
watch it set somewhere in the direction of Serra del Montsec (a
mountain range). Then it was back to our pass, where we had to get
the camera out again to capture the rising full moon, stained red from
the setting sun. Finally dinner and to sleep, where we have parked in
anticipation of a magnificient sunrise over Serra de Boumort (another
mountain range).

15/09/08 - Our 20th country: Andorra

It was almost disappointing as a clear, cool, blue sky day greeted us
this morning - why couldn't it have been like that yesterday when I
was scaling the peaks above us!! Never mind - A perfect day to visit
the tiny nation of Andorra!

First, Pat had to do some climbing - up and out of The Great Valley
via the French pass of Col de Puymorens (1915m), then down, then up
again to Port d' Envalira (2408m) and into our 20th country on this
trip. It is both our 33rd country in total, so we are about 1/6th the
way round the world now. Who knows when we will do the rest??

It was from the top of the pass, whilst taking in the grand view of
the whole of Andorra (where it would seem, there is a chair lift at
the top of evey hill) that our minds were made up. With such a
beautiful day, we'd bag the tallest peak in Andorra: Pic de Coma
Pedrosa @ 2946m!

Down, into the long winding valley that divides Andorrra, through the
nation's capital: Andorra la Vella, then on to Arsinsal where we would
set off from. With all the information offices closed for lunch, we
took a photo of the map on the board and got climbing!!

The Lonely Planet promised a steep ascent for 1.5 hours to the halfway
point at Estany de les Truies (a lake) at 2260m. While enjoying the
scenery from here, all of a sudden across on the other side of the
lake these very large Bearded Vultures all started swooping down to
one spot where there was obviously something there for dinner. We
never did see the animal as there would have been at least 20 Vultures
ripping it to bits, but a couple of locals who were watched explained
that is was a deer that died the previous day from the cold, and the
poor sighted Vultures have only just smelt the animal now - obviously
it only took one to smell it, and once it swooped down, they all
came!!

At 16:00, after 2 hours and with the number of daylight hours
diminishing, Marea decided she was quite content with her exertions
and the recent excitement and headed back down. With promises to turn
back, should the hour get too late, Daniel continued to Pic de Coma
Pedrosa on his own.

The gradient of the walk didn't let up (I guess it shouldn't if you're
climbing a mountain :-) as the plant life got less and less until all
there was, just rocks and snow and incredible views all around!!
Reaching the top at 6:12pm ment I had 18 minutes to enjoy the feeling
of being on the roof of the Pyrenees - taking in views of France,
Spain and of course Andorra - it was fantastic!!

Then the return trip that almost followed the time schedule that I had
allowed - only the last 30 minutes was completed in darkness ;-). But
to be honest, by the time I made reached home I was quite shattered
and felt like I was coming down with the flu (or in Marea's words -
pathetically exhausted).

14/09/08 - Feeling the elements

It was rather hard getting up this morning as the night had brought
snow to the hills above us, and unfortunately the clear blue sky that
we ordered hadn't quite arrived yet!! A look across to the other side
of the valley, showed us that we should be over there instead, as
there was a big patch of sunshine that just wasn't budging - hopefully
it will wait for us.

A quick stop for bread in Puigcerdá turned into an hour's stroll
through the streets of the old, but obviously expanding town. Then we
headed up the Spanish end of the valley to the village of Meranges for
our next walk into the hills.

That patch of sunshine still hadn't moved, so at last we were able to
feel a little bit of heat from the day. Marea enjoyed it from the
bottom as she chose a restful afternoon, while I would have appeciated
a bit of shade, as the track steeply climbed up the valley.

At first I thought I was lost as there were no beehives as per
instructed, (I still couldn't find the damm things on the way down) -
but the remaining instructions started falling into place as the
walk/climb headed up past a group of horses with bells on, then out of
the sheltered area and into the high exposed spots. Time for a few
more clothes, as the cold wind whistled down from the peaks.

I managed to disturb a family of Marmots that all scurried across the
grassland disappearing, one by one, into an obviously large hole, if
they can all fit into it together! A quick stop in the Refuge Girona
to have a nosy around, then the last little climb to Engorgs - a
series of little lakes sitting at about 2,500 metres.

I sheltered behind a rock from the wind, and had a chat with a
Scotsman who was walking the length of the Pyrenees (now that would be
something cool to do!!) - it was then time to return before darkness
arrived. Easily done, as it was all downhill of course!!

13/09/08 - A great valley shared by two countries.

A beautiful sunny Saturday meant our carpark quickly filled up with
the day's tourists. Our plan though was to head down and back up the
other side of the valley to the village of Serrat, as Marea's eagle
eyes had spotted a poster advertising a festival there this weekend.
Unfortunately, on arrival we found that this mountain pueblo very very
quiet, with only a hint that bigger things could be taking place later
on.

So, for us, it was a case of taking in the fabulous view, then on the
road headed towards the border town of Puigcerdá. Our climb up to La
Collada De Toses (1,800m) was doubly exciting as Ange S's texts kept
us informed of the All Blacks v Wallabies score. Then after a lazy
lunch at the top, it was down to 'The Great Valley of the Pyrenees'.

I'm not sure if its just me, but when you look at the map and the town
of Puigcerdá sitting right on the border with France - I got the idea
that this was a town sitting at the top of the mountains - cause isn't
that where you would stick a border?? But no, sitting right in the
middle of this section of Pyrenees is this big huge valley that Spain
and France share.

Armed with lots of possibilities of walks around the area, we headed
to the French end of the valley where one of the walks started - that
by the description sounded like a good sleeping spot. A late birthday
phone call to Father Smith, then lots and lots of blankets cause it
definitely feels like summer is over in these hills!!

12/09/08 - Ascent by cog railway

Our morning view was non-existent, as the fog had rolled in overnight
making it almost impossible to see the other end of the car park!!
This gave a perfect excuse for another slow morning.

Once we finally made it on the road and picked up some groceries
(Marea found the freshest bread ever - yum yum), we headed into the
Pyrenees and the little hillside village of Queralbs where the sun was
starting to shine through. Suggested by our neighbouring campers in
Cadaques, nestled high above Queralbs lies the little ski area of Vall
de Núria.

Not accessible by road, we took the easy option up to Núria - by a cog
or rack railway (where the train grips to the line by a cog). The
railway was quite amazing - going from 1,180 to almost 2,000 metres,
the track seemed to cling off the edge of cliffs as it climbed up the
very steep valley. At the top the valley opened out into a couple of
nice big basins with what would be some brilliant beginner slopes -
I'm not so sure about more challenging terrain?

Anyway, it wasn't the season for playing in the snow. We had a nice
walk in the hills following a pathway depicting 14 very artistic
Stations of the Cross. We took a look around the large building
complex that housed among other things a skiing museum, then it was
time to start the decent by foot back down to Queralbs.

Following the same valley as the railway, our walk took in some
fantastic views of the line, over little arched bridges and down some
very steep zig zag sections. At one point our track decided to be a
bit mean to us, as after a big down section, the track turned one
corner and lead us upward for what seemed as much as we had been going
down!!

Nonetheless, we made it back to Queralbs before dark - with our
carpark emptied out sufficiently to find a nice flat sleeping spot.

11/09/08 - Into the Pyrenees

Wow - a sleep in till 9.30!! We should really be making the most of
things like this, cause it won't be long till we are back in the real
world!!

With the hot, dry Mediterranean wind whipping off the ocean, drying
all of our washing only took half an hour. Then it was Pat's turn to
have quick wash and get all the salt off him. We then took one last
swim in the Mediterranean, then headed inland with no particular
destination in mind, except towards the Pyrenees.

We stopped at the foot of Montserrat - a 1,236m mountain with some
very cool bulbuous shaped peaks, sort of made you feel like you were
back in the Italian Dolomites - except these peaks had been eroded
down to a nice smooth finish. There is a Benedictine Monastry
accessible via cablecar, but we were content to view its precarious,
though picturesque setting, from far below.

Onward in a northern direction until we turned off onto a side road.
The only thing we knew about this road was that it was marked as
'scenic' on our map. It certainly was scenic enough, as we passed a
dam and resulting lake, then slowly climbed up and down through the
forest covered hills. We passed a number of parking spots that could
be aright for a sleeping spot, but everytime we kept saying 'just one
more corner' - as surely in an area like this we should find the
perfect view to spend the evening looking over.

Finally, sick of driving - we got to the little Catalan village of
Alpens. It even had a parking area that overlooked the village - that
will do!!

A few hours later it looked like we might be regretting our choice, as
a neighbouring party was in full swing. Then luck came our way and a
massive thunderstorm & torrential downpour sent the party goers home -
good stuff!!

10/09/08 - Feeling the heat (33°) of a happening city

Our big day in Barcelona didn't start too well, when we got off the
bus at the wrong stop. The area that we hopped off at looked pretty
damm fancy, and huge - you can't blame us for thinking we had reached
the city centre - Placa de Catalunya. Instead we had only made it as
far as Placa d'Espanya.

Anyway, down one of the streets was a rather grand looking building
sitting up on a hill. This looked like it was worth investigating, so
off we went!! Getting to the top of the hill, we got our first views
of the huge mass of a very densely populated Barcelona. A 5 minute
walk along the hill, and we came across our 2nd Olympic stadium of
this trip!! The things you find when you get off at the wrong bus
stop :-)

Home to the 1992 Olympic games, Barcelona's Montjuïc Stadium doesn't
quite stand up to the grand size of what I imagine the Sydney or
Beijing Olympic stadiums to be. But I wonder if you can go inside
and have a look round for free there? We got a great photo of me
pretending to shoot the flaming arrow up to the Olympic cauldron (if
you recall the opening ceremony and how they got the flame up into the
cauldron) - but then seeing a picture of the actual event, we realised
there were two cauldron looking things high up above the stadium, and
we were shooting at the wrong one :-( The angle was all wrong for a
second take.

Down the hill, past the diving stadium that gave more great views of
the city, then down to the port area and the bottom end of Barcelona's
famous Las Ramblas street.

After checking out the Monument a Colon - a tall statue of Columbus,
we started making our way up Las Ramblas past everything from street
performers, food stalls, artists, souvenir shops, restaurants, flower
shops, news kiosks. In fact I think if you name it, they probably got
it. Except of course we still couldn't find a personalised named
souvenir with Marea's name (spelt properly of course) - I thought
Spain would be the place where Marea's name wouldn't be so unique!!

To either side of Las Ramblas are mazes of streets with shops which go
on forever. This would have kept Marea happy...if she was on her own,
sadly for her my patience for trolling through rows of clothes and
shoes does not exist!!

A must in Barcelona is to check out the work of the eccentric
architect Antoni Gaudí. After a longer than expected walk through the
streets, we found his masterpiece - La Sagrada Família. With piles of
'fruit' placed on top of the spires, little bridges erected high up
with solo religious figures sitting on them, the spires themselves
looking like space rockets, and futuristic looking 'legs' supporting
the bottom of the church. This late 19th century church looks like
something from the future, even though it official architecture style
is classed as neo-gothic.

Finally, to finish our exhausting day of walking (why is walking in
cities so much harder than walking mountains?), dinner was a
traditional Spanish dish - Paella. Rice fried up with seafood and
sauce - mmmm not bad. Although next time we go out for dinner, we
will have to sample another Spanish staple - Tapas!!

09/09/08 - Crazy Barcelona roads

Another day to remember. Marea was up and out of bed first!! The
drawcard - a chance to witness a sunrise.

Unfortunately, the beautiful sunny day of yesterday was replaced by
clouds today - so our sunrise was less than spectacular I'm afraid,
and looked more like a milky moon:-(

Once packed, we were heading south, past numerous working girls on the
road to the Catalan capital of Barcelona. We read that there were
camp grounds to the south of the city - we found one alright, but that
was while zooming past it on the motorway. Taking the next exit we
found a nice big sandy beach, but the only way into the campground
seemed to be straight off the motorway!!

Since we had missed the campground, we negotiated endless motorway
entrances/exits, roundabouts, dead ends before finally finding a
supermarket - then it was back slowly along the motorway where we
found the entrance again and got ourselves a nice front row seat
looking out over a golden sand beach to the windy ocean.

We hadn't achieved alot for the day, but I think the sun from
yesterday had taken all energy out of us. So a quiet evening was had
watching the waves roll in, and sampling these very

08/09/08 - Wild rocky coastline.

A beautiful sunny hot day today - didn't really help us get into gear
this morning. But by late morning we'd made it down to the Cadaques
information centre. There, we obtained some maps of the walk along the
coastline out to Cap de Crues. There was a road, but driving the van
out there was knocked on the head when we were told about the fines
you can get for taking a campervan on their precious road - I think
its to stop people being tempted to free camp. Other options such as
train, boat, scooter or bike were mooted but discarded, in favour of
our more cash efficient feet. But first, a snooze was in order.

Then, about 13:00, when most Catalans are turning in for siesta, we
headed off for what was a very long, hot excursion amongst the
terraced olive trees and rocky outcrops. However our walk did take us
around many inviting rocky beaches where we'd stop off for a quick dip
before continuing on our way. Marea even braved some small brown
jellyfish at one 'Nudista Playa'. Perhaps it was the jellyfish keeping
away the 'enthusiasts', but anyway she was very thankful not to
encounter any 'bits' hanging out.

After a final last push on we made it to the Cap de Crues lighthouse.
Here we wandered among the unique volcanic looking rock formations,
whose causes and effects we could only guess at. I think to be a
geologist would have been a most useful profession on this trip.

The walk back in the late afternoon sun was much quicker and easier
and our reward: one last dip before heading back to our campsite for
dinner.

07/09/08 - Not French or Spanish, but Catalan.

We had a lazy Sunday morning watching the canal boats do their thing
along the Canal du Midi. This canal is 240km long and was built in
the17th century to enable cargo vessels to sail from the Atlantic to
the Mediterranean without needing to go around Spain.

Although we were still a couple of hours from the border - it didn't
take alot of driving to feel that we had left France behind, and
entered into a drier Spanish landscape. To be accurate, we were
actually in the Catalan speaking area known as Catalonia - split
between two countries in 1659 when a treaty between Spain & France
agreed on their borders by spliting Catalonia down through the
Pyrenees.

Through Perpignan, then on to some very windy, scenic coastal roads.
Olive trees and vineyards were planted on terraces which must have
been built several hundreds of years ago. The views of the blue
Mediterranean were fantastic, but the damm flies were a complete pain
in neck!! Lets hope they are not like this everywhere in this part of
the world.

Finally, over yet another hill looking over the sea, we were in Spain,
where our gamble had paid off - gas prices were alot cheaper than in
France!! After filling up, we headed for the small seaside town of
Cadaques. We have been tempted by the lonely planet's discription of
Costa Brava (Rugged Coast) with its picturesque inlets and coves where
beaches are small and scattered and Cadaqués "the most picturesque of
all Spanish resorts".

We negotiated the narrow streets, avoiding those that threatened a
€150 fine to any campervans, to Cadaquès Camping. Our guide book
promised "soul satisfying mountain views and easy shore access".

After checking in went for a walk to Port Lligat to check out Savador
Dali's (the surrealist painter) house and then to the Cadaqués town.
Thiswas indeed pictureque and looking lovely with the harbour and
buildings all lit up.

06/09/08 - Walking with Pink Flamingoes.

The area around our non-descript town of Salin-De-Giraud lies the
Carmarge - a 780 square km delta of the Rhône river. A quick visit to
the information centre and we were equipped with what we decided was a
pretty, but not so accurate map. We headed out of town, found a place
to park and started walking alone one of the numerous dykes that
crisscross the delta forming lagoons that flocks of Pink Flamingos
call home.

We'd read that the best time to see the Flamingos was in spring, but
there were still plenty about, wading in the muddy lagoons, burying
their head in the water in search for food. They didn't come too
close to us, but hopefully we got some good photos.

Without too much help from our map, we found the end of the delta and
the sea where there were even more kite boarders than yesterday, there
were about 40 battling the choppy waves.

More photos of Flamingos, a diversion via a 'short' cut (it could
have meant a very long backtrack - but today we were lucky) - then we
were back to the van and heading to the western end of the delta
towards Aigues Mortes.

Established in the 13th century so the French could have a
Mediterranean port under their control - the little town has to be one
of the most completely walled towns we have ever visited. It was
pretty cool strolling around the old streets checking out the shops
for all the tourists.

We had another designated free parking spot all lined up thanks to our
camping book - right by the beach at Valrus-Plage. But upon arriving,
and reading our guide a bit more closely we realised it is only open
from October to April. Our next potential spot was in a not so pretty
area, but at least there were lots of campervans there. But on
parking we were told by the other campers that we weren't welcome
here?? It was then we had realised we had moved into a big group of
gispsies!!

Third time lucky though - this time at Villeneuve-les-Bains, right by a canal!!

05/09/08 - Pat's got new legs!!

We thought we'd been pretty good at checking out Pat's tyres -
'thought' being the operative word, because on inspection yesterday
evening we were taken by surprise by how worn two of the four back
tyres had become!! We'd been thinking about replacing them back in
the UK before selling Pat, but all of a sudden it had become a little
more urgent! Another inspection this morning even found some wire
showing through - woops!!

A quick swim in the sea, then we were off in search of a suitable
garage - we saw a sign that we concluded sold tyres; it had the word
'Hyeres' (seems similar doesn't it?) - but after few minutes of
tentative driving we realised we were heading towards the town of
Hyeres!!
We got some mispelt directions which we finally located on Tomtom and
after a bit of aimless driving round the town and we found a
specialist tyre shop...except it was closed for lunch. Oh well,
surely these tyres can last another 5 minute drive to the beach
whilst we wait.

The beach had a long causeway with a estuary on one side, and pretty
good looking beach on the other. The only problem was that you
weren't able to swim here - it was reserved for kite boarders. Not to
matter, these kite boarders were pretty damn good and were worth
watching. Towed along the water, by what could better be described as
a small parachute rather than a kite, it was possible for some to hang
in the air for 5+ seconds whilst doing their tricks.

Back to the business that we had come for - our French only speaking
tyre man didn't think too much of the state of our two better tyres,
let alone the bad ones. Anyway, the good news is that he had the
right tyres in stock and quite a few euros later we were back on the
road all safe and sound.

As for the expense well, before we started our trip we did throw some
numbers about regarding possible maintenance costs while on the road.
With our power steering bracket in Finland and today's exploits - we
are only about a third of the way through the £1,000 maintenance
budget - so can't really complain too much.

It was then time to make up a few miles. We waved out to Tana Umanga
as the motorway sped past Toulon, then somehow we got off the motorway
in into some very busy streets of Marseille. That took some time, but
we can at least say we have seen a snapshot of France's 2nd biggest
city and what seems to be a very big melting pot of many different
cultures, particularly from Africa.

Finally, in the dark we made it to Salin-De-Giraud and another
designated free parking spot. This time the location was good, on the
edge of town away from any traffic!!

04/09/08 - Back to the seaside!!

It was up and over Col de Braus at a mere 1,002m first thing today.
Then down-down-down where a more and more Mediterranean feel came with
olive groves thriving and pink and terracotta houses perched on the
hillsides. Finally, after getting on the crazy French toll roads in
Nice, we got our first view of the sea since leaving the Baltic all
those weeks ago.

We got off the motorway at Cannes after going through two toll gates
with completely different prices that didn't seem to fit with the
distance traveled on each section of toll road - then finally we were
able to get up close and personal with the best of the French Rivera -
well at least we thought we had found the best part because there
wasn't a fancy yacht or apartment in sight - just a beautiful wild
coastline with red rocky outcrops on every corner, and little bays to
stop off and have a swim in the very warm Mediterranean. Fantastic!!

One unfortunate drawback to this magnificent part of the world is the
stories and warnings we get regarding car thieves. We have read that
the locals remove the plastic panel that covers the boot of their car
just to show the thieves that there is nothing to take!! I don't
think we are going to be able to convince anyone that there is nothing
in the van - so at the moment we are being a little paranoid in some
areas. I guess if its going to happen - its going to happen but we
today no chances were taken and we took turns going swimming.

Onwards to La Londe-les-Maures where our camping book showed a
designated free parking spot for campervans, no wonder it was free as
it was sitting right next to a busy roundabout!! I'm sure it would
have been fine as people do sleep, and cars don't go all night.
Anyway, we chose not to be cheap, and instead found a camping ground
only 5 minutes walk from the beach.

Unfortunately this area of coastline was not quite as brilliant as
just west of Cannes, but still the water was warm and there was an
endless array of restaurants sitting on the waterfront. With a big
pot of the local specialty - Moules et Frites (Mussels and Fries) we
had a very pleasant evening sitting alfresco at one restaurants right
on the marina, doing our very best at another French custom - people
watching!!

03/09/08 - Getting sociable with the Marmots & Chamois.

After yesterday's lazy evening we were up bright and early to do our
round trip which according to our guide book should take about 8 hours
of walking. Hopefully their estimates are favoured towards to slow
side.

The first hour and a half was a gentle climb around the valley, past a
mountain dairy farm and up to a rocky basin where hopefully we would
be able to find some of these rock carvings. While wandering amongst
the rocks our attention was taken off the task at hand for a while as
we seemed to have entered the heart of Marmot country!!

We had seen a couple of these furry creatures that look a bit like a
beaver in Austria and Italy - but here it seemed like every other rock
had one sitting out taking in the sun. It was pretty cool watching
two of them have a bit of a fight over a rock. They were both up on
their hind legs pushing each other round like a couple of kids.

Finally we found some of the Bronze Age rock carvings - they were a
bit difficult to make sense of, and all the information was in French.
But they seemed to be carvings of people, animals and other aspects
of day to day life.

With that hour side trip out of the way, and our sunny morning
disappearing thanks to some big black clouds coming over the peaks
above us - Marea decided to take it easy for the rest of the day so
headed back down, while I continued further up into the mountains to
Baisse de Fontanabla (Fontanabla Pass) at 2,568 metres. On the way I
came across a herd of Chamois grazing away up in the mountains. It
was neat just sitting back watching the young ones clamour about
amongst the rocks, while the big male Chamois didn't seem at all
bothered about my presence as he just continued to graze away only 20
metres away from me. I guess I should have been the one bothered as
his two horns were at least half a metre long, and he would have
weighed about 200kg. I think if he had taken dislike to me I would
have been the one coming off second best!!

Then it was over the pass, down a very steep rocky trail (I'm glad we
didn't decide to go the other way around) to the first of the three
lakes sitting in between the peaks.

More Chamois later, the three lakes passed, and a couple of English
walkers for company the trail began its descent down to the van. At
this point I had decided that the rain clouds were going to do nothing
more than threaten rain. But of course, 5 minutes later the rain came
down just to complete a very good day walking - oh and the 8 hours
that the guide said, was almost right - maybe 6 and a half when you
take off all the photo and lunch stops.

Back to the van where Marea was nice and cozy out of rain - we headed
down the valley giving our English friends a lift part way, then
onwards through the last of the Alps that were quickly making an
amazing transformation from alpine pastures and green forests - to fig
and olive trees, dry rocky arid slopes and a real Mediterranean feel
amongst the villages that we passed through.

More German hitchhikers later and we had found our camping spot
looking over the village of Sospel - maybe tomorrow we will make it
down to the French coastline??

02/09/08 - A medevil mishmash.

We didn't quite account for all factors in when choosing our parking
spot last night - I think we found the shadiest spot around, as the
beautiful morning sun warmed everything up except for us!! Once we
moved a bit to get the sun, and given the inside of Pat a bit of a
clean we were off down to the little village of Tende to find out what
there was to do round here.

All it took was a walk up the main street where we spied some very
scenic post cards showing off the local mountain landscape - this
obviously worth finding out more about!! The information centre was
able to explain that we had stumbled across Le Mercantour National
Park (once again fantastic organisation from us!!) - encompassing the
last of the Alps before they plunge into the Mediterranean Sea (quote
from the brochure).

A quick visit to the next door museum told us a bit more about the
area - including facts about a large number of Bronze Age carvings
that had been made into the rocks as part of an old religious
sanctuary.

After this we took a circuitous route back to Pat via the 'Medieval
Town' Wow what a discovery, from the road this town almost looks like
a slum. 5 and 6 storey buildings cling haphazardly to the mountainside
and washing is strung from mishmashed balconies. But take a walk
through the 'streets' and it becomes clearer that these are no
temporary dwellings but 400 and 500 year old apartments. Some have
basements carved out of the rock and there are nooks and crannies,
courtyards, gardens or terraces around every corner. And to top it
off (excuse the pun) there is a cemetery perched at the very top of
the town, with the most amazing views. What a way to go.

Finally, after seeming to go halfway (not quite) to Nice to find a gas
station that was open - on a Monday lunchtime?? Then picking up a
couple of German hitchhikers heading up to National Park, we made it
to Casterino for a late lunch, and then headed for the end of the road
and the start of two walks heading in opposite directions - one to
some of the rock carvings, the other up to three lakes. Since it was
after 4pm, the decision was made to not make a decision about which
area to see. Instead we would make a whole day of it tomorrow and see
everything in a big round trip!!

01/09/08 - An hour long red traffic light.

One more month to go!!!! To be honest - I think when the end comes,
we are going to be more than ready to get out of the campervan and
back into the real world. As enjoyable as its been, we are here for a
good time, not a long time.

It was a relatively early start for us this morning, as we had to
brave the Milan rush hour traffic, get Robyn to the airport and see
her off back to London. With that done without too many problems, it
was off towards France.

Leaving the Alps behind, we worked our way across the Italian plains,
through villages that while they had some charm, in that it felt like
you were stepping back 50 years with their narrow streets and old grey
houses, they also could have done with a bit of paint and just a
general clean up all around.

By the end of the day we made it back to the Alps - this time the ones
sitting on the Italian/French border. After stocking up on groceries
in Cuneo we found a road that we figured would give us one more view
from the tops as we drove up and over into France. However - it
wasn't to be!! Our map didn't quite tell us that this road cheats a
little by giving us a tunnel to enter France by. Whats more, they
have a crazy system of letting cars go both ways through the tunnel,
while the trucks and campervans have to wait for at least an hour.
Then they let all the trucks/campervans go from the opposite side, and
then finally it was our turn. Just as well too, cause it was getting
a bit dark by then, but we found a parking spot ok, once we were
through on the French side.

31/08/08 - How much shoulder can you show off in church?

Since we are enjoying the best that Lake Como has to offer, we thought
we had better check out the main town of the area - the town of Como.
Situated at the far south end of the left leg of our lake, for some
reason I was expecting Como to be fill of rich swanky people and their
flash boats all over the place.

Unless we ended up at the wrong end of town, or could be because today
is the last day of everyone's summer holiday - Como was a little bit
of a let down compared to the smaller more authentic feeling villages
around the lake that we had visited. To be fair to Como, it currently
is in a state of development along the lake front which I'm sure will
give it some of its sparkle back.

We visited the cathedral in the town centre where a church service was
in progress. However it was deemed by the staff that Marea was
showing off too much of her tanned shoulders to be allowed in!! While
Marea and I waited outside for Robyn we were very interested in what
people were wearing as they went into the church - we decided that the
staff member just mustn't have liked the look of Marea. So we tried
again, with Marea hiding behind me - this time we managed to get a bit
of a look around ;-)

Then it was up to our new campsite, where the rest of the afternoon
was spent chilling out and getting the washing done. Our washing
would have been all dry by the morning, except a big thunderstorm
decided to come in during the night. Luckily Marea and Robyn were a
little more awake than me, and managed to save it from getting any
more wet!!

30/08/08 - Pretty little narrow streets of Varrena.

We were off on our daily excursion a little earlier today - just
before lunchtime ;-). The destination was across on the ferry to the
eastern side of the lake and the fishing village of Varenna.

Fishing on any grand scale may have finished long ago, but Varenna
still proved to be a very quaint, pretty little village with steep
narrow pedestrian streets/stairs running down to the waterfront and an
equally secluded terraced lakeside walkway.

With another hot day brewing, it was extremely hard to say no to one
of the cafes along the waterfront - where Marea and Robyn got
comfortable, while I felt compelled to take the 15 minute walk
straight up above Varenna to the Castle of Vezio. From the high point
of the castle; the Keep, the views looking over Varrena and up each
'leg' of Lake Como were fantastic!! Even if the haze from the heat
was setting in at the ends.

Back down to Marea and Robyn where we took a swim and Robyn spied on a
local wedding to see how they do it over here. As the bride walked up
into the church, everyone that was standing outside doing the same
thing as Robyn gave the bride a round of applause. Not sure if that
happens at home does it??

Finally, one last walk through the narrow streets back to the ferry
and across the lake to 'home'. This time we waited around for the
bus, but of course because it was the weekend the timetable was
completely different. When a bus did arrive - even the bus driver
didn't know his timetable!! That didn't matter though - what we
didn't know was that you can't buy your ticket direct from the driver
- so he let us go for free :-)

29/08/08 - Living like the Romans.

Our morning of go slow dragged on into the afternoon as we got right
into holiday mode. Brilliant!!!

In saying that, we did get the gazebo up to give us some much needed
shade, plus the front driver's speaker now works after a bit of
tinkering. Unfortunately I still can't work out why the leisure
battery is not charging off the main battery when the van is going??
We are coping with the help of the jumper leads, but the challenge is
still there to find the problem and fix it without the help of a
professional!! Don't worry to anyone interested in buying the van - I
will admit defeat and get it fixed properly before we flog it off to
you.

By mid afternoon we finally got ourselves into gear and took a walk
down into Bellagio. If you imagine Lake Como as a man with no arms -
Bellagio sits right in the groin area. This giving fine views across
to both opposite sides of the lake. A summer residence for Roman
leaders and then Lombardy's (the local province) noble families - you
really do get the feeling of ancient grandeur as you stroll around
past old villas, gardens, narrow pedestrian streets and outdoor cafes
lining the shoreline.

Once we had checked out a few of the shops (or at least the girls
did), we found a little swimming spot to cool off a bit, while Robyn
enjoyed a glass of wine in what had become a very hot day.

The only trouble with camping up above the town of Bellagio, is that
we had to walk back up the hill - this was after checking out the bus
timetable, thinking we had missed the bus by 5 minutes, then once
walking the bus roars past us!! Oh well - the walk wasn't that bad
:-)

28/08/08 - Mother comes to join.

Huh, quite road my a#€e! Not the best sleep, so we were up and on the
road relatively early as we have a bit of travelling to do today. Up
to the top of Simplon Pass (2,005), then down to the Italian border,
where there was such an obvious contrast between the Swiss Chalets on
one side of the border and the Italian stucco houses on the other. We
drove up a pretty forested valley, down around some very narrow blind
corners then back into Switzerland, complete with a stretch of
congested traffic, in 31° heat, adding another half an hour in our
very hot van. We then drove through the city of Lugano (which had such
an Ialian feel we had to check to see if we were still in
Switzerland), then back into the real Italy, finally reaching Menággio
and Lago di Como (Lake Como).

With its red terracotta roof tiles, brilliant green colour of the
lake, and steep surrounding hills - one can see how this area is such
a popular destination.

Unfortunately we couldn't relax yet - a ferry trip across to the town
of Bellágio, then up the hill to our camping ground where hopefully
life is going to slow down for a few days as we soak up the hot sun
and cool off in the lake!!

But there was no slowing down just yet!! We claimed our camp spot,
then off down the road to Milan airport to pick up Robyn - Marea's
mum, who is joining us for 4 days. Hopefully she will make sure we
take it easy :-)

Our timing at Milan airport was pretty much perfect, we, being delayed
by an infrequent ferry and Robyn by a fire alarm at Gatwick. Then back
to camp for a fantastic alfresco meal, champagne with our 'next door
neighbour' Ross, and a phone call home. Cheers Ross for sharing a
fantastic evening, soaking up the last of the Italian heat. I trust
your trip south is a good one, and your Harley behaves itself (even
though Marea suggested it was a Triumph!!).

27/08/08 - Matterhorn - majestic, marvelous, magnificent, magic, massive.

There are enough alliterative superlatives this time - Wow!! Our wish
has come true. A clear blue sky day when we need it most!!

We weren't about to trust that it would last though so we were up and
about, bright and early. We took the train up to Zermatt, then a
funicular, gondola, and finally a cable car to 3,103m.

In one word - magnificent!!! The Matterhorn is not actually the
highest peak around, but at 4,478 it's not far off. It sticks out
dramatically above the surrounding ridges, and the two faces on the
Swiss border side are just sheer cliffs reaching for the sky - it
really is an unbelievable peak!!

After giving the camera a good workout, and with the Matterhorn in
sight allmost all of the way, we began the long walk back down to
Zermatt. Our first port of call on the way was the Findelgletscher
glacier, where our track wound up to a steep ridgeline. At the top we
found ourselves peering straight down to this very clean glacier.
Then as we walked down along the ridge, we started to theorise about
what geographical events had shaped it as the glacier grew, retreated,
then grew again.

Leaving the glacier, behind we came to a hamlet of farmhouses sitting
on the side of the hill. After a drink in the sun, watching the
Matterhorn attracting a few clouds, we headed through the hamlet
where the only traffic on the 'streets' were walkers and sheep
sheltering from the sun.

Finally, after a wrong turn we made it back down to Zermatt. Zermatt
is surprising peaceful considering the number of tourist because there
are has no gas powered vehicles racing around, only electric buses
and service vehicles. Unfortunately these can be too quiet at times,
and one is often prompted to jump out of the way by a loud beep!!

We had a little problem as our time was ending in Switzerland. Far
too many Swiss Francs!!! We soon worked out how to get rid of some of
them - two haircuts later (definitely overdue - Marea would even agree
about that), another magnet, and a bit of food we were headed back
down the valley.

Once at the bottom we tried to use the rest of our money for gas, but
Pat must be such an efficient hill climber (not!), that we still had
money left. To top this off - every shop seemed to be closed (surely
this would normally count as a good problem don't you think?).

We began heading up the Shiplon pass road that connects Switzerland
with Italy. We were not sure how far we would get before finding a
parking spot - but then the decision was made for us. Somewhere up
ahead was closed, and we think all the warning signs were telling us
the border was only open between 08:00 & 20:00. Well at least that
should mean this road will be quiet during the night.

26/08/08 - The mysterious present.

Believe it or not, but Santa Claus showed up last night!!! A
supermarket bag fill of Asda canned food was sitting outside our van
when woke. Thank you very much to the two Newcastle bus drivers who
obviously rise a little earlier than us. I hope the long trip home
was a good one.

For us it was another day of up-down-up-down-up. First was
Oberalppass to 2,046m, this pass was a little different to all the
rest as instead of the train going through the mountain it went up and
over like the road - quite amazing really.

Then it was down and straight back up to Furkapass at 2,436m After a
bit of lunch at the top, while Marea rested, I took a walk to a
glacier and some very impressive jagged rocks sitting up above.

Finally, after dropping a long way down we reached Visp where we
turned up a valley for our final climb to the village of Tasch - our
launching pad to the vehicle-free town of Zermatt which lies at the
top of the valley. Above Zermatt - the mighty Matterhorn!!! Fingers
and toes crossed that the clouds that have been round today do a magic
disappearing act!!

25/08/08 - Little Liechtenstein.

After goodbyes the Annj and Bartli - Dankeshen (thank you very much),
we were off down the valley headed for Liechtenstein. Why??? (as Annj
and Bartli asked) - just because its a country of its own. Anyway,
what other capital city can you visit where finding you way to the
centre and getting park is so so easy!! That capital city is Vaduz -
population 5,000. On population, the country has 35,000 people, but
70,000 registered companies. Liechtenstein being something of a tax
haven.

Apart from watching a music video being filmed (the singer wasn't even
singing!!), and a walk up to the castle of Liechtenstein's royal
family (not open to the public) - there wasn't too much more to this
town. Nonetheless we took a quiet stroll about, brought our token
magnet and stocked up on groceries before heading back to Switzerland
and southwest, past Annj and Bartli's valley and on to Sedrun. We'd
just thought about parking for the night, when we came across another
campervan friendly place with fine views down the valley to boot :-)

24/08/08 - Real Swiss cheese.

We were so comfortable in our big bed, that we didn't get up early
enough to say goodbye to Kirstin (sorry Kirstin, we look forward to
seeing you in New Zealand). After morgengessen (breakfast) we got on
quite well communicating with Annj and Bartli using all sorts of
different means (hands, pictures, maps, feet, dictionary). We were
then joined by friends/translators Susanne and Peter for the morning
trip, high up the other side of the valley to get the low-down on how
real Swiss Alp Käse (mountain cheese) is made. We also had the
pleasure of tasting Käse from the stereotypical large 5kg round
blocks.

This farm has around 60-70 milking cows to make cheese & butter from.
About 5 farmers, from around the valley, own up to 20 cows each.
During the 3 month summer window when the cows are milked, the cows
are moved up into the mountains into the one 'big' herd. The alpine
grasses and herbs give the Alp Kase a regionally distinctive flavour.
Meanwhile, down in the valley, the farmers cut the grass and store it
for feeding their cows over the winter. It was quite amazing seeing
some of the steep slopes they managed to cut grass from!!

We were treated to a symphony of cow bells as the cows were eating
from the mountain pastures - it made us question how the cows aren't
driven insane by the constant 'ding ding ding' everytime they move.
Believe this or not (I think someone's telling stories), but
apparently the Swiss cows are very proud of their bells, the bigger,
the better!

After a fantastic mittengessen (lunch - we certainly aren't going
hungry in any German speaking countries now :-), and goodbyes to
Susanne and Peter (we look forward to seeing you in NZ also) - we
headed up the valley for more wundaban (wonderful) views all around.
Then last, but not least, we visited the Salginatobel Bridge - voted
the most beautiful bridge of the 20th century and one of 47+
structures voted as World Monuments due to outstanding engineering
(thinking of you Dave). This group includes the Eiffel Tower, Statue
of Liberty, Panama Canal, and of course the Raurimu Railway Spiral
right at home in the central North Island.

The Salginatobel Bridge is a 132 metre structure spanning the small
Salgina brook 90 metres below. With huge cliffs on each side, the
bridge is very impresive, it spans the narrow gorge cliffs and makes
access to mountain farms on the other side so much easier.

More fantastic food, more charades during Arbengessen and we were done
for the day!!

23/08/08 - Becoming experts in Deutsch?

We awoke this morning to a chorus of church bells or so it seemed, a
quick glance out the window, and we saw 200 sheep, all wearing bells,
being herded right past our sleeping spot. Crazy!

After getting some good photos of that and 'little' red Pat sticking
out like a sore thumb amongst all the big flash white campervans, we
headed down the hill into Livigno. It is easy to see that not long
ago this would have been a sleepy little mountain village, now it is a
duty free oasis with flashy brands and their overpriced shoes,
clothes, perfume etc.

Then it was into a one laned tunnel, with an unexpected €15 toll,
straight through a mountain range and into Switzerland - where finally
we had to show our passport to someone!!

With not much idea of the exchange rate our first task was to find
that out, then figure out how many Swiss Francs we'll need for the
next 5 days.
The Info centre wasn't much help, as in Italy, everyone takes a
siesta between 12 and 2! After backtracking when we took a wrong turn
which would have got us on to a 'car train' we headed once again into
the hills.
Our destination is Buchen a little 'six house' village in the Prätigau
valley near the Swiss/Austria border. We have organised to say with
some more Verry family friends. When I say organised, this involved a
phone call to New Zealand (thank you very much Hans & Stephanie),
because our hosts Annj and Bartli don't speak English, and we don't
speak German! It will be an interesting experience:-)

We arrived in Buchan with directions to the house with the New
Zealand flag outside - easy!!! There we were greeted by a very
hospitable Annj and Kirstin. Kirstin had been invited for dinner, and
acted as translator for the evening. Luckily there were a number of
English/Deutsch dictionaries available and we spent the evening
cramming our heads with suitable German nouns and adjectives, which
would enable a level of communication, beyond charades, between our
hosts and us.

We had a most enjoyable evening playing with traditional Swiss
raclette. This involves preparing you own food on an electric hotplate
and grill which in located in the middle of the table. Alpkäse
(alpine cheese) from this region and the local speck (bacon) is
grilled then poured over baked potato. Yummy!

Towards the end of Arbengessen (dinner) Bartli arrived back from his
deer hunting reconnaissance, and joined us for homade cherry scnapps.
Again... yummy!

22/08/08 - A tax-free oasis!!

Our 'free' campervan friendly spot that we found on our first night at
Madonna di Campiglio turned out to have an overnight parking charge.
Still we got away with it the first night, so why not try again -
however come the morning, we weren't hangin' round... Just in case!!
Anyway, today is another driving day - so it was good to get away
early.

Note to the people who make the road maps, if you put 'no caravan'
icons on some roads - you positively invite us to go that way, because
it's bound to be exciting and give some great views, this seems to be
our philosophy anyway.
Up to the first of three mountain passes today - Passo Tonale at
1883m. Then, before we were hardly down again, straight up to Passo
Gavia at 2,652m. This one proved to be a bit of a handful. A couple
of hairpins into the climb, the road turned to single lane for large
parts of the trip up!!! This caused lots of fun (or havoc), with cars
having to back up or down to let others pass. It was probably a good
thing that the majority of vehicles were motorbikes, or very very keen
cyclists out for a 'bit' of a workout. There were photos in the
Chateau at the top, showing cycle races there whilst it was snowing,
it looked pretty amazing!!

Finally, after passing through Bormio we headed up to Passo di
Foscagno, where at the top is a customs checkpoint - even though there
is one more valley of Italy left before we get to Switzerland?? After
driving past a number of perfume, tobacco and alcohol shops in the
middle of nowhere, it soon it became apparent that - the whole of the
valley we were driving into was a duty free area!!!
All of a sudden, Italy had gone from one of the most expensive
countries to fill up with gas (€1.40+), to one of the cheapest (€0.95)
- for you English, thats £0.75p/litre!!! It was like Christmas :-)

A bit of gas, wine, chocolate and cigarettes (for Marea's mum) later,
the next Christmas present we found was yet another designated free
campervan area with a fantastic view to boot!! And unlike Madonna di
Campiglio this one wasn't going to throw any parking charge surprises.

21/08/08 - Hanging off the end of cliffs.

Again we can thank our travel insurance company for putting the
previously unknown 'sport' of Via Ferrata into our heads, and because
we paid extra to be covered for Via Ferrata we absolutely have to make
sure we experience it!!

Referring back to the "07/06/08 - Ropes, ladders, glaciers and fiords"
blog - our previous experience of Via Ferrata was a little more
unofficial than this one. For a start we actually had a map that
described our track as a Via Ferrata trail, and secondly with the help
of a rental shop we were equipped with safety harness and carabiner
lines.

A quick trip up the Grosté gondola of the Madonna di Campiglio ski
resort, and we were in amongst the Brenta group of Dolomite peaks.
The only downer to yet another superb 360° view was a little misty
cloud just hovering about some of the peaks. Onwards then for the
track named Via Ferrata Alfredo Benini.

The initial part was just a mountain hike across terrain that reminded
us of The Burren in Ireland - a rocky, desolate but beautiful
landscape. We then got into the real stuff - traversing cliff ledges
that are only 30 cm wide in places. The idea of Via Ferrata is that
on these dangerous sections, cables are attached to the cliff so that
you can then attach your carabiner to the cable - then should you fall
the cable should catch you.

To be honest, while looking down was a bit daunting, the first half
was relatively stress free - we would have done this without the
safety gear I'm sure. Although to keep our mothers happy - we did
clip in (half the time). It was daunting to look back to where we had
been and trying to pick out our path - it just looked like a sheer
cliff, but somewhere out there was a ledge that was our path.

The second half was more exciting - firstly we had to deal with the
mist that came and out with a second notice. Once it was in, it could
be very hard to see where the track went (don't worry again mothers -
we weren't on a cliffs edge at that moment). Then near the end of our
vertigo adventure became a real need to clip in. This section of
cliff that we had to traverse didn't really have a ledge to walk
along. Instead we were stepping between little rocky footholds whilst
hugging the cliff, going down ladders that were somehow attached to
the cliff, and negotiating steep rocky paths. Great fun!! Although
unfortunately (or fortunately) nether of us managed to loose control
at anytime to test our harnesses.

The route back was not a Via Ferrata route, but it soon turned out we
were walking down a snow covered glacier!! Poor Marea might argue
that this was more difficult than clambering down cliffs. She then
worked out an easier way - just lose control and slide all the way
down on your bum - then expect me to catch her at the bottom!!!!

Once we were on firm ground it was a race past more fantastic scenery
(like a big rock garden with alpine plants popping up all over the
place) to get back to the gondola for our return trip - unfortunately
we arrived 10 minutes after closing. The attendant compromised and
let us ride to the midway station. From there it was a leisurely walk
down ski slopes and forests to home - pheeeew.

After all that, no one was about to cook, so we treated ourselves to
pizza. After all, we are in Italy aren't we :-)

20/08/08 - 80+ hairpins in 1 day

A short stroll from our sleeping spot, was a stone building that,
apart from being covered in scaffolding, looked to be of no particular
interest to us. However, come round the other side and there was an
entrance to a small museum that explained the mysteries of the
trenches above us and apparently every other mountain top around us.

Before the 1st World War, the whole area - the Südtirol (South Tirol)
province was part of the Austria-Hungary empire. Italy decided that
this was on their side of the Alps, hence the resulting battlefield,
that for a couple of years turned into a bit of a stalemate in the
mountains. There were some amazing stories such as miners digging
through the rock to plants mines under enemy positions, and the -30
degree winters where the poor watch guy had to sit motionless in the
cold for fear of snipers seeing him if he moved.

By the end of the war, Italy took control of the province in 1919 when
the Europe map was rewritten. It is interesting to note however, that
the majority of the Südtirol people prefer to use German as their
language of choice.

On the road, and down the other side of the Passo Vaporola - where had
we been a little more on to it. We would have started counting the
number of hairpins as today was a bit of a driving day, but a very
very scenic driving day at that. Just for the record it was about 15
hairpins down.

So down the Passo Vaporola road going from 2,199 to 1,506 metres
(1,506m was the altitude at the last hairpin, although we did drop
further). Then immediately it was back up 33 hairpins to Passo
Pordoi, sitting at 2,239m.

A bit a lunch and looking round the top, then 27 more hairpins down to
approximately 1,500 metres again. Another hours drive of down a
valley, then we were given some great (although a little hazy) views
of the large valley where the cities Bolzano and Trento lie. Apart
from a few villages and towns dotted about on the river plains below,
the rest of the valley was packed fill of vineyards while on the hills
that surrounded it where apple trees everywhere.

A couple more hairpins to add to the grand total and we were down to
the valley floor and vineyards, then up up the other side towards
Dimaro. Then finally one last climb and about 8 hairpins and we
reached our destination of Madonna di Campiglio just before dark. And
luck was definitely on our side as we seemed to come across yet
another campervan friendly parking area!!

19/08/08 - How many superlatives to describe the Dolomites.

Continuing alone the Drau valley, it was time to say goodbye to
Austria and head into Italy. With the already impressive Dolomites
towering above us, our first town was that of Toblach, where we were
finally able to spent some time on the internet and catch up on all
New Zealand's Olympic stories, and send our blog stories.

With that out of the way, it was up a side valley where we stopped by
a small lake to take a decent look at the numerous pinnacle rocks
jutting out all over the place, and have a long overdue (according to
Marea) wash in the lake.

However before we could leave the van, we were approached by a very
friendly policeman who - due to our UK registered van wanted to check
on all our details, van documents and our planned travel whilst in
Italy. Considering we didn't really have a plan, he seemed quite
envious of our holiday. He gave us a few hints on where we should go
and sent us on our way.

A freezing cold swim later and walk round the lake we continued on
through Cortina d' Ampezzo and up, up, up to the mountain pass Passo
Vaporola - sitting at 2,199m above sea level (they get it exact round
here don't they!!).

The whole drive was interrupted with frequent stops to take in the
unbelievable views of the rocky outcrops above us. It was near the
top that we started looking for a quiet hidden spot to park up. We
thought we may have trouble finding legal camping spot, as the signs
all the way up were definitely not campervan friendly. However, like
an oasis coming over the horizon, right at the top of the pass was a
large car park with about 10 campervans dotted all around, and no
signs to say they couldn't be there!! We claimed our spot, and stared
gobsmacked up to the last of the sun lighting up the rocky peaks and
sheer cliffs. It was a stunning sight!!

Keen to make the most of remaining daylight, I headed up to the summit
of the peak next to us - called Sasso di Stria. Part way up the rocky
slope, a series of trenches started to appear. First thought was that
they were naturally cut by the numerous people walking all over the
mountain over the years. But that couldn't be possible as the whole
place was just hard rock. They had to be war time trenches. Further
and further up the trenches turned into a complete maze that I managed
to get lost in a few times before finally making it to the top, where
apart from an amazing view, there was a cross and a plaque with the
date 18 October 1915. As we were to find out tomorrow, this was the
front line of the Austrian-Hungary troops as they defended their
empire against the Italians in WW1.