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| Marg outside the old town gate to Peschiera del Garda, Italy |
We’ve just been in Austria, and wanted to escape the unexpectedly
cold weather there. So, we drove from Austria down to Lake Garda in Italy,
hoping to find warmer temperatures.
Arriving at the top end of the lake, we travelled south along the
lake edge, and found the town of Peschiera del Garda.
The town is encircled by a massive Venetian-style ancient wall. The
entry gates and walls are very impressive, and we couldn’t wait to see the town
inside.
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| Rainy day view of
Lake Garda from Vanni |
But first we needed a campsite. We found a great camp called Camping
Belle Italia, less than 1 km from the town.
We managed to get a lovely parking
spot right on the shore of Lake Garda and had great views of the Lake. So, we
relaxed for several days, and did nothing!
It was much warmer than Austria, but unfortunately it rained a lot.
The camp is very large and well-laid out, and not overfull - unlike
the other Italian campsites we experienced in the peak of summer.
On the first day without rain, we headed into Peschiera del Garda
township.
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| Lunch time at Peschiera del Garda waterfront |
We discovered that it was an old town, with a port right on Lake
Guarda. The town is pedestrian-only and very lovely.
After a wander around, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a local
restaurant overlooking the port.
The owner was a very colourful character who specialized in the
sweets menu, which we tried and loved.
Then we wandered around a bit more, enjoying the town.
The next day, we visited the Museo della Pesca e delle
Tradizioni Lacustri (the Museum of Fishing and Lake Traditions). It’s a great
museum, and we found the history of the Lake and river to be very interesting.
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| Street in Peschiera
del Garda, Italy |
When not in the township, we spent time at the campsite. It had
everything we needed including events, such as a wine and olive oil tasting
day. We loved it, and bought some local
wine and cheese. We wanted to also buy local olives but they were sold out.
A highlight at the camp, was watching the New Zealand All Blacks
versus France, rugby world cup final. It was showing on the big screen in the camp’s bar and commentated in Italian. New Zealand won…yaay!
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| Back in Salzburg, Austria |
Eventually it was time to leave Italy. The date for our flight back
to New Zealand was drawing closer, and we had to get to the Czech Republic
where we store out campervan, Vanni,
So, we headed back north to Austria. Arriving in Salzburg, we were feeling very pleased with ourselves,
as we knew how to find our way to the Salzburg campsite we had used before.
Imagine our dismay as we pulled up at the gate to find it closed for the
season!
We scanned our camping books and could only find a couple of sites
that were a long way out of town. Our hearts sank as it was getting dark, and
we were tired from travelling all day.
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| Klara, Leigh, Marg, Dominic, Adam in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia |
After a couple of wrong turns and back-tracking, we spotted a camp
sign which lead us to a very attractive site around 5 minutes from the original
one. What a relief to find it!
The next day, we travelled on through Austria into the Czech
Republic and to our friend Klara’s place in Ceske Budejovice, where we were to
leave our van for the winter.
It was lovely to catch up with Klara, husband Vasek, and their boys
Adam and Dominic (and not forgetting Max, their dog), for a lovely meal
prepared by Klara.
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| Leigh in Passau, Germany |
Soon we were on a train to Linz in Austria. Unfortunately,
we had to do part of the journey by bus as they were working on the train
track. We were a bit anxious on the bus and not sure whether we would get to
the train on time. But the bus driver somehow managed to arrive ahead of time,
and all was well.
Before long, the train arrived in Passau, Germany. We found our hotel right across the road from the railway station so it
was an easy walk to get there.
Passau is a gorgeous 13th century town, and a great place for a break in the trip. We had the chance
to explore the town the next day, before catching the ICE fast train on to Frankfurt,
our city of departure for our flight home.
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| Marg outside Raffles in Singapore |
Our biggest problem on boarding our next train, was finding the
right seat as we had great difficulty working out which was the correct car.
Finally, after lots of searching, we found the right one. The seats were very
comfortable, and we had a great view of the passing countryside.
The train took us right to Frankfurt airport to catch our plane to
Singapore. We had a one-night stopover there, before flying home to New Zealand.
We had a wander around Singapore, including a drink at the famous
Raffles Hotel the next day, and then headed out to the airport again to
continue our trip.
Unfortunately, after waiting for some time in a queue, we were told
that Qantas staff were on strike, our flight was cancelled, and that we would
be put up in a hotel until they resumed work.
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| Callum, Luke and Grandma Marg at home |
However, Leigh managed to get us onto a Jetstar flight that day, and we were on our way home.
Finally, we arrived in
Wellington, and seeing Mike, Andrea, Callum and Luke waiting for us in the
arrivals area was a fabulous surprise.
They had bought our car to the airport for us. Driving our low-slung Audi felt strange after travelling for over 7
months high up in Vanni.
Driving on the left side of the road was a little strange too, as was
working out which way to go around roundabouts and corners.
However, we made it to the supermarket and then on to Tawa to catch
up with the family, as it was Callum’s 8th birthday.
It was great to be home, but the weather was not as warm as we thought it would be,
so we are waiting for summer to arrive.
It’s been a fabulous 7 months in Vanni and we aim to return to Europe next year.