Travel Blog Posts
August 26th 2011
Amsterdam to London An early morning start and some goodbye’s to those ending their trip in Amsterdam before hitting the bitumen once make our arrival in France. The ferry trip across the English Channel seemed so quick, and after some testing traffic – we finally made our way back to where it all began at the Royal National Hotel in London. Not surprisingly, the weather was miserable once again! I guess you don’t visit the UK for their weather. Sadly we said goodbye to our new friends, and we will miss spending our days wandering new exciting towns. Only a couple of days and we’ll be back home in Australia... home sweet home! ... read more
August 23rd 2011
Swiss Alps to Amsterdam via Heidelberg We packed up the tents and headed north to Heidelberg where we spent a few hours strolling along the Neckar River we were found a cheeky baboon statue near the bridge. We passed the large church in the town centre, with a beautiful medieval castle (Schloss) overlooking Heidelberg that had once been destroyed. An early start led us to the riverside town of St Goar – where we saw the world’s largest beer stein and free-hanging handcarved cuckoo clock. After a brief history on beer steins, we browsed through the shop before grabbing a bite to eat and heading towards our evening destination Amsterdam. We checked out Amsterdam’s trendy cafes, ‘coffee shops’ as the tour group visited a once-in-a-lifetime cultural evening at the theatre. Very weird!! The following day ... read more
August 21st 2011
Munich to Swiss Alps We made a quick lunch-stop in tiny Liechtenstein before heading to lakeside Lucerne where we visited the Lion Monument (a stone carving commemorating lost swiss guards who died protecting their country). We crossed the Wooden Chapel Bridge with it’s pretty flowers cascading at the waters edge, then spent some time looking at the locally-made swiss watches and knives (who hasn’t heard of a Swatch or Swiss Army knife?). We took a scenic drive through the Alps where we arrived in Lauterbrunnan to get a bit of rest before a long day up in the Alps. We opted for a cog railway ride up Jungfrau mountain, scaling up 3454 by train through 7km’s of tunnel to the highest railway station in Europe. Standing at the highest point in Europe (Jungfraujoch), we were ... read more
August 19th 2011
Prague to Munich We departed Prague and headed towards Munich in Germany – the festive home of Oktoberfest! We explored the cultural side of Munich, spending some time in Marienplatz (the main square) where we watched on as the New Town Hall (NeuesRathaus) revealed an amazing Glockenspiel show, the most overrated tourist attraction in Europe. Also in the square was the Mariansaule (column monument with golden statue of Virgin Mary), we then visited Frauenkirche where we climbed the tower to take in the view out of the 15th century cathedral. The Viktualienmarkt was incredible with around 140 stalls selling everything from fresh fruit, veggies, cheese and most importantly wurst!! Yum! We spent a bit of time experiencing the old-world charm and famous beer halls. Hofbrauhaus was incredible, and we spent our evening meal with the ... read more
August 17th 2011
Vienna to Prague As we travelled through Bohemia to Prague, we stopped at the World Heritage listed town of Cesky Krumlov. This pretty little medieval town was situated on a river bend with plenty of water-sport participants making the most of a hot day in their kayaks while owners watched on as their dogs enjoyed the cool water with flowing current. At the castle we came across a small enclosure where a brown bear was seen pacing – such a large beautiful animal in a small space. Although this is sad to see it makes us appreciate our Australian zoos like Western Plains in Dubbo. We had lunch at a pub to find that half a litre of beer was cheaper than 200mL of coca-cola! Then it was time to get back on the coach ... read more
August 15th 2011
Budapest to Vienna Morning tea was at a small road-side stop on the way to Bratislavia for Lunch, but to our amazement the little rest-stop was packed with fresh fruit, home-made pasta as well as the most incredible waffles with maple syrup and whipped cream! Mmm! We entered Slovakia where we stopped for a bite to eat and some Pilsner beer which the area is well-known for. We arrived in Austria to set up our tents in a mad-rush to beat the oncoming stormclouds, then headed to Vienna’s Prater fun park where Lach tested his sniper ability. We sat down for a local dish of wiener schnitzel with pommes (pork schnitzel with fries). The size of meals here were massive, with our friend ordering a burger and only being able to eat a quarter!! We ... read more
August 12th 2011
Dubrovnik to Budapest via Zadar As we continued up the Dalmatian Coast, we stopped in the old town of Split for lunch and a wander around Diocletian’s Palace. Unfortunately the markets were closed today, so travelled on towards Zadar. All feeling exhausted from the long day on the coach and a few late nights previous, we headed to bed early in preparation for some more quality time on the bitumen. After another full day’s drive we had travelled from Croatia through Bosnia, then back into Croatia and finally we had arrived in Hungary. Budapest seemed alive with music, cafes and art, it’s no wonder it’s known as ‘Paris of the East’. The history of this city was fascinating– split by the Danube River into hilltop Buda & bustling Pest, hence it’s name Budapest. Our shoes ... read more
August 9th 2011
Tirana to Dubrovnik From our hotel in Albania, we continued along some of the worst main roads we’d come across this trip – they appeared to be nothing more than a dirt track with no obvious road rules to follow! We made it to the edge of Montenegro where border control made us wait 5 hours before allowing us into the country! After some lunch and a few games of cards at the roadside stop we travelled the sparkling coastline through Montenegro and toward another border crossing into Croatia to set up camp in the dark of our Dubrovnik camp. The next morning began with a guided tour of Dubrovnik’s Old Town district, seeing many historic buildings, modern galleries and exploring the walls of the fortified city and old port. Our tour group spent the ... read more
August 8th 2011
Sofia to Tirana via Struga We spent the day driving across Macedonia to Skopje where we checked out the hospitality at a sidewalk cafe. On our drive through the countryside we passed many red-roofed houses as we made our way to our camp on Lake Ohrid. This beautiful natural lake was perfect for an afternoon dip before our group had a talent quest with some pretty interesting (and some very disgusting) talents on display. Can’t believe we made it to Day27 before our tour group learnt that Sheree could actually sing! Breakfast was cooked and tents were down early in the morning in preparation for a long day’s drive into Albania and on to Tirana where our hotel for the evening was perched on a steep mountainside. After a few cold beverages we plunged into ... read more
August 5th 2011
Istanbul to Sofia A local guide gave us an early morning tour around Istanbul to see the Blue Mosque and Turkish Baths before making a quick visit to a carpet store. It was here the salesmen explained the differences between wool, cotton and silk carpets with many of various designs available for purchase. Thinking that a rug might not be suitable for the camper trailer, and also way out of our price range we headed to the Grand Bazaar and Spice markets. We couldn’t believe our eyes when a 10 year old boy purchased cigarettes, and we also came across a fishing/camping/weapon store where we could have easily bought a Desert Storm handgun or M16 for less than $840 Australian dollars. Don’t think we’d clear customs with an M16! A small group of us went ... read more
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