Austria (Vienna) 05/06 - 11/06

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Although this journey wasn’t one of our longest ventures through the airports we were feeling pretty shattered. The main reason was our 10 hour layover in Dubai airport in the middle of the night. We were hoping to find a sneaky corner to snuggle down and catch some zzz’s but Dubai airport was absolutely heaving with people. The tannoy system was shouting out different flight numbers non stop and almost all the seats in the waiting area were taken. Char managed about 3 hours but Jack only got 2. Still, we got through it and before long we had touched down in Bratislava. Char had been to Bratislava inter-railing when she was younger but didn’t really remember much about the place. It seemed the reason for this was because it was a bit crappy. So we headed straight for the train station and soon arrived in a very different world of Vienna Austria. This was the first time since being away we were in a super shiny, no expense spared 21st century city. We hauled our reduculous amount of baggage through the airport and sat down at Maccies to get on the WiFi and contact Joey. Once we had the address of the air bnb he had booked we made our way across the city. We popped out in the middle of Vienna and were faced with the most beautiful big buildings with ornate carvings, fancy statues, posh shops galore and people “lunching” out on the streets. It was all very civilised and suddenly we felt a little out of place. We were wearing trainers with holes in, stained, scruffy Asian clothes and birds nests for hair. We each had our 70l back packs, Char had both smaller rucksacks on the front with the ukulele strapped on top and Jack was carrying a ginormous bag of Nepalese gifts on his head! We scurried on past Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and arrived at a fancy bar where we sat drenched in sweat waiting for the Air BnB owner to arrive. I’m sure we were not who he expected to find waiting for him. He showed us the apartment that Joey had booked and it was AMAZING! 3 massive posh bedrooms, 2 huge bathrooms, kitchen, balcony, sauna and everything was brand new, we were one of the first guests to use it! Then we had a knock at the door and Joey was there!!!!!!! It was so lovely to see him, Char nearly squeezed the life out of him and then we went down to meet AJ and our new camper Dobby! Once we’d parked Dobby we all sat on the balcony catching up on the last 14 months! We then headed to the river where there were lots of cool bars set up and people out drinking beer. We drank until it was dark and then stopped off for pizza before heading home to the most amazing bed of the trip.



06/06

After one of the most delightful sleeps ever it was time for bacon! Jack and Char had a morning stroll to the local Aldi, which in itself was hidden in a beautiful tall stone building, and could see the sheer beauty of the city in just walking 10 minutes. There was super car after super car driving by, horse drawn carts driven by local Viennese dressed to the tilt in old fashioned gear from the 1800s, locals walking by on their daily commute looking “fabulous darling” with their designer gear and huge framed sunglasses - where had we arrived!? We soon came back armed with breakfast ingredients and we cooked up a storm. Soon after the 4 of us headed out into the city and what a treat it was. We just strolled following our noses and were astonished at the sheer beauty and decadence of the place. We found ourselves regularly being flanked by tall, ornate buildings with statues of Greek gods and almost roman architecture. There were water fountains around every turn and picturesque parks that were almost too pristine to believe. We sat in a park for a smoke where there was every kind of rose bush we could think of, with the sun out and smelling the good times! After walking around with our mouths agape for a few hours we decided to go on a free walking tour and what a treat it was! Our guide was a lovely Viennese woman called Ingrid and she was full of facts (jack was buzzing). She briefly explained the history of the City where King Frank Josef had built up his palace back in the 17th century consisting of 19 buildings, each a palace in their own right, all with different architecture designed from different people. She then took us on an awesome stroll explaining where Mozart had stayed and where his inspirations were, recommending the good places to eat, informing us of the different architecture at different times of history all whilst being bathed in sunshine. It was GREAT. What was even better was when we realised that the “richer” part of the city where it was very expensive was where we were staying! (How times have changed). Ingrid also mentioned that the ballet was on that evening at the Vienna state opera house with 2 Russian performers who were world renowned and there for one night only. Another bonus was that we found out that if we queue at the stage door we can get standing tickets for the whole performance for €4 when the front row seats sold for €600! This was too good an opportunity to miss so we made a beeline straight to the stage door and was over the moon when we had a great position in the queue. Little did we know that it wasn’t “the done thing” to wear shorts and flip flops to the ballet! We soon did though when the doorman gave us a scowl and told us to get changed! Soon enough though we managed to make ourselves look presentable with a dress for Char that hasn’t seen the light of day for over a year and the best Jack could do was jeans and his Batik from the Javanese wedding (if its good enough for a wedding then it’ll do). We eventually got through and the theatre was decadent to say the least. The Viennese Phillamonic Orchestra were within plain view and belted out seamless symphonies that sounded unbelievable. The ballet itself was pretty easy to follow, thank goodness, and the talent and dedication of these guys and girls was clear to see. Some of the meaneuvers they were pulling off was eye watering. Definitely an experience that was unforgettable. We managed to stroll through Vienna after the performance and find a pizza spot to eat after an unbelievable day.





07/06

After another dream of a sleep and a lay in it was time to check out of the palace we were living in. We managed to pack the van up, put the roof box on Dobby and tried to find a garage to put him in whilst we spend a final day with the lads before they fly back home. Safe to say that didn’t go well as we couldn’t find the right place, so we changed our minds to spend as much time with Joey and AJ. We parked the van up and headed to eat the local delicacy Apple Strudel, coffee and a glass of the best tap water in the world (the Viennese are very proud of this) before going to an Aussie bar in the city centre. We had a few drinks and in the late afternoon headed for the Albertina gallery as they had original Monet and Picasso masterpieces. Yet another thing we simply couldn’t miss! We had an amazing time. Before heading for the main event we found awesome exhibitions from graffiti artists to examples of surrealism and impressionism. When we arrived to the Monet and Picasso paintings it was so bizarre that all of the paintings that we’d seen on tv and pictures in magazines were right in front of us. What was even odder was that there were no barriers or rope separating us from the priceless masterpieces - we could get so close that we could have sneezed and ruined hundreds of years worth of culture! It was fascinating to see the brush strokes and detail up close and could fully appreciate how the paint built up the layers that revealed the whole picture. After more time with our mouths agape we had a stroll along the river Danube and had a final smoke with the lads before taking them to the airport. We said our farewells and knew it would only be 3 months before seeing them and everyone again back in England. We decided to go to a paid campsite for our first night in the van as we had some sorting to do with Dobby and we couldn’t be bothered to drive all the way to a potential free spot!



08/06

Our first night in the van went without a hitch. It was a bit tight with the two of us compared to the Mothership in NZ but couldn’t complain! We got up and immediately started to do some DIY to iron out the kinks that would make our lives easier in the long run. We screwed and unscrewed bits and bobs and made sure we knew how things worked to make sure if they broke we could at least make an attempt at fixing them. Next on the to do list was get to a garage. By this point Dobby was drinking like a fish and prayed that it wasn’t going to be an expensive job. We got to a garage in Vienna and turns out it was pricey! The water pump needed replacing urgently so we didn’t blow up and also the front suspension, according to the mechanics, was “rusty and needed replacing”. We had to fork out €300 for that and the work on the suspension involved them ordering the part and as it was Friday they couldn’t get started until Monday! Aaarrrrggghhhh cars!! To cheer ourselves up we went shopping! We bought some stuff for the van we needed and headed to a free spot by a national park and a lake we heard we could swim in called Dechantlacke. We parked up and had a stroll with our swimming gear, turned a corner and all we could see were naked Austrians of all ages, shapes and sizes laying about and swimming in this serene idyllic lake tucked away in a quiet corner of Vienna. Naturally we were initially taken aback however, we were the odd ones out with all of our kit on.... so we both stripped off and decided to join the locals for a dip! The water was so refreshing and all along the banks there were wooden structures like pontoons, huts, barriers and jumping platforms that had all been built by the people there. It was paradise! As there was no fishing, there the fish in the lake were HUGE and the wildlife was right out of a Beatrix potter novel. Dragonflies as big and beautiful as the ones you see in museums were alive and kicking, butterflies were fluttering everywhere you looked and the smells of the flowers were the best natural air freshener. It was so nice to see that this was a national park and was actually being used for a place to fully enjoy and take advantage of a natural lake. The Austrians had got it right! After a marvellous dip and of course a smoke we decided to hit the hay.



09/06

The next day we returned to the lake for a bit for a morning dip with the nudists and after that decided to check out the Danube river which was close by. The weather was hotting up nicely so decided to have a stroll along the bank. We had a sit down and saw some locals out for a swim (with clothes in this time) with their dogs. We had a further stroll down and saw more people with bbqs on the go with beers in hand. Of course we had to be reminded that we were in Vienna so 100 yards down the there was a length of bank only inhabited by, you guessed it, more naked people. As we were walking and didn’t intend to stay we decided to keep our kit on this time. There was a rowing club on the other side of the bank that were full of fit looking lads and ladies lifting their boats into the river and more rowing all in sync with one another. A delight to watch in the sunshine. After seeing the sights we fancied a dip ourselves and so headed back to our local spot at the nudist lake. Whilst we were there we met a guy who had lived in Vienna for 4 years and was shocked that we had found this place as he had only recently discovered it and was only his second time there!





10/06

The next morning we really needed to try and sort out our finances. The bank in NZ had royally fucked up (as banks always seem to do). We had arranged for our money to be transferred overseas and explained our situation of heading to Europe and travelling. Long story short, we spent the next few days short on money, with our car needing repairs in one of the most expensive countries in Western Europe - nice one bank (in the future we now intend to store all of our money in our floorboards as it’s better than dealing with imbeciles). Whilst all this was going on we wanted to go on a bike ride but as they cost money we did the next logical thing - went shopping! Char bought some much needed new trainers and spent the rest of the day browsing shops and generally killing time as cheaply and best we could.



11/06



The sun was out the next morning, it was the weekend and so it was an easy decision - lake day! We found a great secluded spot on the bank and had a lovely time. Char painted with her water colours whilst jack played his ukulele all baking in the sun and having nice dips in the lake to cool off. That evening we met another camper who was staying at the lake from the Amazon called Mao. He has lived in his camper for 15 or so years with his Austrian wife and toddler. He told us he was a shaman and spent his time travelling all over the world teaching his ways, healing and helping people. We sat down with him and had a long chat about spirituality and our experiences as well as his. Obviously there was a certain scepticism at first but as time went on, a lot of what he was saying made sense and with us just coming from Nepal and having regular conversations about the subject, felt like we could appreciate what he was saying much more. As the sun was setting he even offered to give us some “medicine” from the Amazon which involved a ceremony that lasted a whole day, which he claimed to cleanse the body and soul and afterwards give us many ideas and inspirations for future projects and plans. Char had heard of this before and it involved psychedelic trips (which we weren’t necessarily against!) but also violently throwing up..... we politely declined!

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