Day four - Dettelbach, Germany to Stinhausl, Austria

Location: Stinhausl, Austria.
Total Miles: 1215

We have got to the end of another day, and this time have parked while it is still (kind of) daylight outside. We even made it past our hoped for destination.

 

Julian and Thomas in their night positions

So, winding my mind back to where I signed off yesterday, I went into my room and had the most amazing hot shower before collapsing into bed and being asleep probably within a couple of minutes. I was SO tired. My alarm went off at 5.30 and I jumped out of bed feeling rested, and headed straight down to check on Sassy, let her have a run around, and check on the vehicles.

 

Sassy's backside

The tyre pressures were all good, and the oil looked at exactly the same level as previously so I thankfully climbed inside of Julian (it was quite fresh this morning) and let Sassy out to run around while I lay down first on the sofa and then on the bed to wait for the parents. Sassy did her usual hopping around and laying down but not before she went under the sofa to hide for a bit; she refused to show me more than her bum so I took a picture of that instead.

About 6.45 we were all set and ready and we hit the road driving along at our customary 50mph and regularly accumulating a convoy of truckers whenever it became illegal for them to overtake. A couple of times they got quite obviously frustrated with us and beeped as they drove past. Whatever. I’m emigrating!

 

Think this is the Danube

I have  a large number of blurring photographs of things we saw on the way, taken as we were driving (as there is no stopping for photographs on this trip) and this one is the best one. Suffice to say we did see some lovely things like the Blue Danube and other assorted rivers, and further examples of German Engineering

 

A tiny chapel by the side of the road

At one of our driver change breaks we had to dive down off the road into a little hamlet where there was a cafe with a toilet (obligatory wee stop, y’see) and while my mother was partaking of the facilities, my dad and I had to drive the vehicles around through the TINY tracks in a U to get back pointing the correct way. At the end of one of these lanes I spotted this church and broke my rules by jumping out of Julian and taking a picture. It seems that a lot of farms and large houses have their own small chapel on the land. Interesting.

Also at another refuelling / driver change stop we managed to get the vignettes for driving in Austria; this was before we crossed the border and was efficient for time as we didn’t have to make a special stop at the border. This border was reached just as it got to lunch time so we stopped at the first services and went in for some food.

 

Mmmm Lasagne

One thing we have decided is to stop having such a heavy dinner (it meant my dad didn’t sleep well last night, and all of us were still so full this morning that our breakfast stop consisted of some fruit!) so we had a cooked meal at about 1pm. I chose the Lasagne and it was really quite nice; a bit heavy maybe but tasty.

 

Rocking the shades

I had been suffering a bit from the glare of the sun on the concrete roads during the morning and so had started to look for sunglasses at each stop; it seems that no one buys them because not a single place has stocked them. Not to worry, as I remembered that J had left some in Thomas and dug them out. Don’t I look great. They really did help me out during the afternoon and I stopped squinting which was hurting my head.

 

The Austrians line all the scenic routes with this

And so; into Austria. Our sixth country so far on this journey. Austria was really beautiful in parts. Some absolutely stunning vistas and gorgeous scenery. When they allowed you to see it, that is. Almost every time my co pilot picked up the camera to take a picture all you could see was this boarding put up presumably to stop the noise of the road reaching the neighbours but also quite effectively  limiting all views from the road. Not very nice.

 

I think they're saying Europeans are cows?

Unfortunately all of the pictures of the scenery we tried to take when these barriers were absent did not really come out well enough to impose on you, apart from this one. A lovely show of European Solidarity from our brothers in Austria.

So about 5.30pm local time we got to a rest point and, after some hassle (in which reception wouldn’t let us park in the coach places, even though there were NO coaches there; semi-German efficiency in operation) my parents went to check in and came out a bit shocked at the price, but spending my money non the less. I am sat in Julian and wondering whether we shouldn’t move in a bit from this spot as I seem to be positioned right at the exit point for the truck park and Julian isn’t as soundproofed as I need.  Also, ear plugs may stop sound, but they don’t limit the feeling of vibration as one of those road monsters goes past.

The parents will be popping out soon for some dinner (we’re just gonna have some sandwiches I think, which we didn’t eat at lunch today) so I will probably talk to them about moving...

We have had a really good day, achieved our targets and only had one little hiccup, when the engine warning light came on in Thomas and he lost power; a quick stop on the hard shoulder (using the triangle, of course), turn the engine off leave it and back on again, and fingers crossed he has been fine ever since.

Tomorrow we aim for Szeged in the shortest day of the trip, and will be preparing for the big push across Romania.

 EDIT

I am uploading this sat on a deck chair in the corner of the carpark at this hotel, overlooking one of the main motorways through Austria; this trip sure is causing interesting times. We have just finished eating our dinner (I had some wraps with cheese, ham and the chipotle chutney I bought in the Lake District) and a cuppa each and the parents have gone to spend time together, and I will be going back to Julian in a minute to let Sassy run around, and read my book for an hour before getting an early night.

We did move Julian and Thomas out of the main exit route for the trucks so I'm hoping for a far more peaceful night also.

Later