Monday 20th July 2015

In the morning we parked outside of McDonalds using up some of their wifi. Ewout visited the Bau-Max a large hardware store to try and find some supply for a few jobs that needed to be done on the “Bunyip”, coming back with only half the items he was after.

Innsbruck

We found a park near to the river about 4kms out and used our bikes to ride into the city along a pleasant bike track. Near the old town we locked them up and proceeded on foot finding the tourist information office to get a map. At first we couldn’t find the office and had to ask a couple who had a map in their hand where it was, they turned out to be English and were doing a tour of Europe by train. The old town was not large but the thing that stood out was the mountains as a backdrop. After a few hours of sightseeing it was back to the bikes and another ride along the river.

Out destination for the night was a small village about 12 kilmeteres out of Innsbruck where our sources said there was a carpark that we could stay overnight next to a swimming and sports complex. Here we found a spot next to a corn field and after the swimming pool closed at 7.00 the place was all but empty. There are at times when we feel that someone will move us on and that we are not supposed to be there. In all of our trips we have only been asked to move once. This night was warm and I decided to go for a walk and just sit on a bench in the corner of the carpark, it was about 9.30 when I spotted a police car doing the rounds of the carpark. It drove in, did a lap of the carpark and drove right past us without even slowing or acknowledging us at all. We try to be discrete when parking up and not look too obvious.

Up Into the Mountains in the Gondola.

In the tourist information office we read about a cable car that went up into the mountains above Innsbruck and as we hadn’t paid out for many activities lately we thought we would treat ourselves. In the morning we drove to the Hungerburg station, up the road from Innsbruck already 860 metere above sea level, where we caught the first of two cable cars up the mountain. The first stop was at Seegrube [1905metres] and then another cable car took us to the Hafelkar station [2256metres], where we walked to the lookout. Spectacular views could be seen overlooking the mountains, but the view to the town of Innsbruck was obscured by clouds constantly coming across. It is here that we met some Americans from California that were on their honeymoon. We chatted with them for a while waiting for the clouds to dissipate but alas they just kept coming up the side of the mountain.

We descended down to Seegrube where the view was better but a bit hazy, there we chatted to an Australian couple who were travelling through Europe using trains to get around. After coffee and apple strudel we descended back to the Hungerburg station and on the road again.

Heading West and into Lichtenstein

We are heading west and are planning to spend some time in France and Spain before being joined by family in Valencia at the beginning of September. Our plans were to put in some driving days to get into France as soon as possible. In the afternoon we drove west and entered Lichtenstein a small country between Austria and Switzerland. Here they speak German and the currency is the Swiss Franc. On the outskirts of the capital Vaduz is a large car park that is used for the sports stadium and for bus parking. Motorhomes can also stay here and there are toilets and water is available. We arrived late in the afternoon and parked near a tree for shade as it was still quiet hot. Shortly after another motorhome arrived with English number plates. Paul and Emma came over to say hello and told us that they had lived in Australia for a while. It was their wedding anniversary and we were invited for drinks, they had been married for 15 years. They have been travelling in their motorhome for a year now and with their two dogs, Aussie and Uluru, and intend to keep travelling for a while more. We talked until after midnight, sitting outside as the night was still warm. In the morning we headed off as Paul and Emma were taking the dogs for a walk we wrote then a note as we couldn’t say goodbye in person. The carpark ended up only costing less than a euro and we had the opportunity to fill up the water tanks, empty the grey water and toilet. We headed through Lichtenstein into Austria and then into Germany heading for France. So many countries close together. We were also in Switzerland for about 5 minutes as we entered Vaduz. The TomTom sent us across to the motorway for a few kilometres and back into Lichtenstein, an unplanned visit. The vignette through Switzerland costs about $40 and if for 12 months. The road we were on was not covered by the vignette.