Interlaken to Innsbruck - hot brakes and wet roads

This morning was a great day to be leaving a place as the heavens had opened and it was cold and wet, Paul said lets blow this joint, (actually we had a site in Austria pre-booked through the caravan club, but that is a far less punchy statement).

We waved good-bye and set our sat nav for Innsbruck, she has been relegated to co-navigator and together we are quite a good team, I listen to her opinion and if I strongly disagree I mute her.

So we were all in agreement the way ahead was clearly the A8, a big road on the map going in the right direction, even the sign posts agreed. The A8 is a beautiful road (not unlike Chapmans peak), if one were a mountain goat it would without doubt be a favourite road, clinging to the hillside climbing steeply and almost plunging straight downwards, two goats could happily cross paths comment on the weather and then romp to their respective green pastures. However, we did not meet too many mountain goats and the airstream on the edge of the cliff, coaches and lorries on the inside was really scary. Just to ease the tension I closed my eyes, breathed in and sucked in my elbows. After our second close encounter, Paul pulled off to the side of the road in need of a wee, as he opened the car door the odour of brakes hit us, apparently the trailer brakes were smoking. Scary stuff!

The roads got better and the tunnels were fantastic, our trip topside of the mountain earlier gave us a whole new appreciation for these marvels of engineering.

Austria was another country with space for us
We were looking forward to parking up on our pre-booked super pitch at Netterer See, they knew we were coming and had assigned us a spot so this should be easy.
Our initial plan had been park up upon arrival then check out the pitch prior to getting the beast stuck somewhere, however as with the best of plans we lost cool under fire and took the pitch given to us, then drove to it and subsequently found that whilst its dimensions were fine, good even, a tree was growing about 5m into the middle of the pitch and making quite a large part of the pitch unusable. The site was packed but the guys in the office worked really hard to find us an alternative pitch, and whilst at first glance the entrance was impossible some good driving by Paul, helpful neighbours and good direction from a man on a bike got us in.

This site has recently been updated, and has the most fantastic reception block, it is beautiful. I love modern architecture and this building is superb, not at all carry on camping as so many are. It will be difficult for me to explain how what is essentially a large square building, clad in timber and artificial turf can be magical and clever and lovely but I will try. The ground floor is a reception, shop and bar, very nice but the 1st floor is amazing. A sloping floor takes you to the 1st floor, where you arrive to a huge open patio area with funky furniture, a fire pit and a superb mountain view, which is simply framed. To one side are showers and facilities and to the other side is a TV room with a huge flatscreen projector, high ceiling and nice flooring, just very cool.

I have now used the shower in the new building, it was amazing, bearing in mind the external temperature has been 11 degrees, and it has drizzled all day. Imagine arriving at the block cold and wet, opening a shower cubicle door to a huge shower, with a large private changing area, and a turf door, I thought this was pretty great until I took my shoes off and found the floor was heated.

The thing is though that a lot of aspects of camping are not cool, proven by the live old time Austrian folk songs that night, followed by some bad Elvis. The entertainment was free, courtesy of our close proximity to the bar. It was not too bad, as they started early and seem to be finished early.

Casper and Sebastian have already found the park, and fortunately our pitch is just above the park, so I can see and hear them without having to actually be with them. The caravan site is on quite a steep slope, so Casper has already been told he must not ride down the hills, even though he fixes his big green eyes on me and says in his most serious voice “but I will be careful and I will use my brakes mummy, and I will be sensible”.

We have begun an accident book, all just minor things but Sebastian was looking pretty bashed up as a combination of numerous small incidents. He currently has a black eye from walking into a post at Mystery Park, his side is quite yellow from tripping up the airstream step, he bloodied his nose in a football crash with Casper and his ability to fall over thin air has left his knees very scuffed. I got a swollen eyelid from one of the window blinds on the airstream, I was a bit distracted and the tag slipped from my fingers and whacked me, it made me weep it really hurt, but it was worthwhile because it happened in full view of Casper who is now very wary of the blinds.

Airstream Stuff I Love
It is always the small things that can just delight, I am so pleased with the outdoor shower, I fill a plastic trug with bubble bath and the boys happily sit in a warm bath outside, and I can wash their hair with the shower attachment, it is fab.

I like our awning, I am not too keen on the solid room, but with just the sides up and sometimes, one tropic side and one solid you can make it quite private.

I really like that we brought our Nespresso coffee machine and the aerochino (milk frother), having good cappuccino, is the difference between roughing it and holidaying.

The wet central heating system is utterly fantastic, we are cosy and can even measure our level of cosiness on the display which reveals internal and external temperature, currently 11 external and 22.5 internal, lovely.

The seating is really comfy, Paul proved that just about 30 minutes ago when he nodded off, whilst I sat typing.

The satellite is great, when it works but trees and mountains mean we sometimes use the DVD. Last night we watched one of my all time favourite films Rambo First Blood, I just think it is a brilliant film, which has stood the test of time. Paul was ready to mock I am sure and I felt uncomfortable about subjecting a favourite film to ridicule, but Rambo stood his ground, and proved himself to be truly worthy of his Congressional Medal of honour. We have a box set and I do not think I have watched any of the sequels before, I’m unsure I want to tarnish what is a great movie, by watching the others.

Airstream stuff I like less
The trauma of our size, she is beautiful, and I would not want a smaller one, but every time we try to park up it is hard. Although this feeling soon passes once we are set up, I just wish pitches and access roads were bigger.