Numbers, Places and Conclusions

Well we are now back in Australia after over six months away.

The last week in europe was very hectic we shipped the caravan back to Australia (it should arrive in November). We sold the car with two days to spare. It was on the market for eight days. 

People have asked us "how was the trip?" The answer was it was fantastic it exceeded all our expectations. Every country we visited was full of surprises and virtually without exception all the people we met were lovely. 

The other question people ask is what was the best place you visited? A tricky question they were all so good. 

However I have nominated two, one city and one area of outstanding natural beauty. 

1. The City: Paris 

We actually visited paris twice it was so good. The first time was in mid August. We had perfect weather and watched the sun set over the Seine and the moon rise over the Louvre. 

Moonrise in Paris

2. Nature: The Soca Gorge in Slovenia.  This place was magical. It had cold blue clear water full of wild fish. We must have jumped into the gorge 100 times between us it was wonderful. 

Alex jumping into the Soca Gorge

Here is a video of kayaking on the river that gives you an idea of what it was like. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4snc4sJvnhc

We drove 20,000 km's and flew 34,000 km's that's 54,000 km's in total. Our kids started off the trip at the ages of 8,5 and 1 and are now 9,6, and 2! They have had a world of experience in the last six months and hopefully we have fired their imaginations. Alex wants to be an environmentalist, Charlie wants to be a roman empress and Sam just wants to "play!"

As I write this Sarah is back at work at St. Vincent's and the kids are happily back at school and day care. I am unpacking and contemplating what to do next. 

Would we do it all over again? Of course! Would we do it differently? Probably not the trip was well planned and we did everything we set out to achieve.  Thanks for reading and posting all the comments :). Get travelling!

Roger. 

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

Lake Bled and Vrisic Pass

Today we drove over the Vrisic Pass (the pass I cycled up in 1986!). It's known as the 'Russian Road' as it was built by 10,000 Russian prisoners of war between 1916 and 1917 as the route was of great strategic importance to the Austro-Hungarian front. 300 prisoners and some Austrian guards died in an avalanche in the spring of 1916. The road is closed over winter and is on average open 7 months/year.

It was largely as I remembered at the top with fantastic views down the valley and to the surrounding peaks. There's a little restaurant selling goulash (which we were very grateful for after 25 hair-pin bends and a gradient of 14%). The main difference is there's now a parking attendant demanding 3 euros to park.

The cycling trip was run by a teacher from my school and involved 2 adults and 14 kids ranging in age from 10 to 21. We cycled from Calais to Yugoslavia and back again over 7 weeks during the summer of 1986. We did between 50 and 100km each day, carried all our own gear (including home made tents!) It seems quite a feat looking back at it now, especially for the teacher organising the route and logistics.

We then carried on to Lake Bled (Slovenia's number 1 tourist destination). It was very beautiful but we felt somewhat spoilt by inappropriate development and extortionate parking fees (flat rate of 5 euros). The lake water was warm as it's heated by thermal springs (tropical compared to the icey waters of the river Soca. We stopped by the rowing centre which had been home to a number of the former Yugoslavia and Slovenia's olympic medal winners. We did lots of jumping in and swimming.

Jumping in at Lake Bled

Lake Bled

View from top of Vrisic Pass

27 years on.....

Triglavski National Park, Slovenia

Ciao bella to Italia! We really had a wonderful time in Italy, probably a good job we've left as we were in danger of turning into a pizza and/ or gelati!

We're now in Slovenia in the Julian Alps camped in a beautiful site next to the Soca river.
I came here in 1986 on my first European cycling trip where the highlight was cycling up the Vrisic Pass (1611m) which is the highest mountain pass in the Julian Alps.

The Soca river is known for it's emerald green water, canyons and is a mecca for kayaking and rafting.

We've been doing some rafting as well as plenty of jumping into the freezing cold water in the gorges.

The emerald water of the Soca River

Mist on the Soca River

Charlie jumping into the gorge

Launching a Kayak

Camp Soca