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Published: September 23rd 2008
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The Wine Barrel
Peter and his wine barrel It was about 7.30pm when we drove back into Austria and the difference in the countryside and towns was instantly noticeable. Everything looked tidier and more organized, the towns had footpaths and the shops didn’t have bars. There was no litter in the streets and the houses looked loved - it felt good to be back. We found a campsite on the map at a little town called Jennersdorf which was about 20km from the Hungarian border and 10km from the Slovinian border. The campsite was worth a mention because it was the cleanest and best maintained place we have stayed at to date and after coming from Hungary was quite refreshing. We decided to stay 2 nights and just chill out before heading to Ferd’s place. We arrived back in Passail on Thursday and immediately took Dobby to the mechanic to get the gear shift sorted out which only took him a couple of hours. Oh the difference being able to find first and second gear makes! All for the sake of a couple of hours! We spent the rest of the day setting up for the party tomorrow and in the evening Peter next door invited us over
The Wine Barrel
Jose and Helmut inside the barrel for a wine, the special thing about it was the location. He had a large wine barrel set up in the front yard with a door in one end and a window in the other and inside was a table and seats. We were joined by Helmut (Heli), a friend of Ferd’s, so there were six of us in there drinking a few lovely reds by candlelight and chatting away while it had started to rain a little outside - it was a lot of fun and thanks to Peter and Jose for inviting us.
The party started slowly mid-afternoon and by dark everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves with great food, music, bonfire and no shortage of refreshments and it seemed like the more people drank the happier they were to try speaking English. Of course Ferd had to bring out the old accordion and was accompanied this time by a guy on a trombone - it was all a lot of fun and I think we crawled into bed at about 2ish.
Next morning was a little slow but everyone that stayed seemed to be functioning ok and we all pottered around and got things tidied up by
Landgastof Spreitzhofer
Johann and Elizabeths place and Lizzie's horses (see how fat they've got Lizzie!) early afternoon, then Jac and I went to the Gasthof at Fladnitz to try and catch up on our internet stuff. That night we rekindled the fire and sat around chatting for a while before heading off to bed for an early night.
Next day we were all headed off in different directions; Ferd was going back to work at Hochschober, Heli was heading back to his parents farm to look after the cows while his folks were on holiday and we were going to catch up with Johann and Elizabeth at ‘Landgasthof Spreitzhofer’ in St Kathrein (15min up the road). Heli invited us to the farm afterwards which we thought would be really cool so we readily agreed. We followed Ferd’s directions and found Landgasthof Spreitzhofer with no problems and said hello to Johann and Elizabeth. They have a really nice place with 16 guest rooms and a restaurant, not to mention 3 horses, 2 goats, a dog, ducks, chickens and several cats. They very kindly invited us to stay in one of the guestrooms which was beautiful and had nice a view over the valley. That night before dark we went for a walk up the hill which
Landgastof Spreitzhofer
Charlie the goat in the chicken coop took about an hour and ended at a little alpine hut where we enjoyed a cool beer and a bite to eat (and schnapps of course!). Luckily we didn’t have to walk back down as Vanessa (Johann & Elizabeth’s daughter) drove up, picked us up and brought us back.
Next morning after breakfast we thought we would have a wander down to the township of St Kathrein which was a really pretty little place where the people really put a lot of effort into their houses, gardens and window boxes. The town even won a European award for it’s flowers some years back. We wandered back via a little Gasthof on the side of the road where we had a bite to eat and a beer. Not long after we got back Johann took us for a drive around the district and to the Schöckl which, at 1445m, is the highest mountain in these parts. We cheated and took the gondola to the top where the view would have been spectacular were it not very hazy, as it was we were able to see Graz and some nearby villages but that was about all - pity. We wandered around the
Landgastof Spreitzhofer
Spenser giving Jac a cuddle summit for a bit and had a coffee before heading back down the gondola and back to St Kathrein via a few small villages (and a speed camera!). We chilled out for the rest of the day before another superb meal thanks to Elizabeth.
After breakfast the next morning we helped out a little in the dining room and kitchen in an effort to say thanks for the hospitality, then we had lunch and hit the road again. We were going to help Heli on the farm which was at Frojach about 2½ hours west and on the way to Germany which is where we were heading next. We found the place without too much trouble in time for milking. They were milking 16 cows with three sets of cups, which is a little different from the farms in NZ I must say, and the cows were also a lot bigger and beefier than the NZ breeds. The barn was really old and each cow walked into it’s own spot where she was chained for milking, fed (truckloads!) and bedded down for the night - it was no wonder that they were really friendly, they were pampered compared to the
Schockl
The misty view from the top of the mountain NZ cows. Still can’t figure out how they make a living milking only 16-20 cows though. The old farmhouse was really neat too and was 300 years old, I’ve never stayed in a place that old before - no ghosts though. We helped out a bit on the farm the next day and caught up on a bit of blogging but generally didn’t do much else.
Next morning we hit the road again, Jac happy after her farm fix, heading for Germany. The short term plan was to get to London and catch up with Jac’s family in England and Scotland. So we were going to drive straight through Germany, as we were going to explore it at a later date, stop in Luxembourg and Belgium and catch the ferry from Calais to Dover - so it was going to be autobahn all the way through Germany. (wish I had the Holden!)
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