Internet on the move part 3 (6 years on!)

A big challenge in 2013 was maintaining an internet connection. My master plan this time was to buy an Aldi SIM card in Germany. It should work throughout Europe and give as affordable connectivity. So we did a big shop in Aldi Süd in München and bought a sim. They needed my passport to register and assured me it would take 12 hours to be active. I also bought a 10 euro top up so 30 Euro total. But despite repeated attempts to top or activate it would not work. The owner of campsite in Berstesgarten tried but nothing worked. So 30 Euro wasted.

What we really needed was GPS to navigate around. I discovered that google maps cached (rememberers) the route and maps really well. So as long as you could find a wifi connection at the start that was enough to get to our destination.

If I needed to change destination I briefly switched on mobile data roaming on my Australian Aldi sim. This was $0.50 but as long as only used for maps it did not work too bad.

In summary maintaining an affordable connection on the move is still challenging. And Aldi Germany owe 30 Euro!!!

Kinderfest, Oberreitnau, Germany

We went to meet our friends Chrissi, Daniel and Lilly (14 months) who lived in Melbourne for 3 years and have now returned home to Lindau, Germany. Had a swim in Bodensee (Lake Constance) in the morning then went to Chrissi's village where she grew up for the Kinderfest (Children's Festival)

This was a fantastic community run event which everyone in the village had the afternoon off work to enjoy. It started with cannons firing and a parade of the local marching band and all the children carrying flags and flowers. Chrissi's Mum had made Charlie and Samantha traditional flower headbands to wear for the occasion.

Then there was a multitude of games in the field behind the swimming pool, including: climbing a pole, egg and spoon races over a see-saw, sawing wood, hammering nails, wheelbarrow races, throwing balls and many more. The local school kids were all taking part and were scoring points for individual and class prizes. There was a huge sausage sizzle and large mugs of beer on tap. All these events were free and the kids were having a ball, finishing off by jumping in the pool.

It was great seeing such a lovely community event which the whole village took part in. The fundraising part had taken place prior to the event with door-knocking and local business involvement.

With Chrissi, Daniel and Lilly at Lake Constance

Children doing their Maypole Dance

Sawing race

Nail hammering race

Double ski walking race

Cow milking race

Samantha and Lilly

Sausage sizzle!

Chrissi and Charlie with a ball-maze game

Four Countries in One Day

Today we left the stunning Soca Valley in Slovenia. We headed to Camp Grubhoff near Salzberg in Austria. Due to my advanced navigational skills we ended up traveling through 4 countries in one day. Slovenia, Italy, Germany and Austria. It's a good job there are no border posts left.

Note the Crazy Woman at the Wheel of the Car