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Sarah Scudamore
Sarah Scudamore

Sarah Scudamore

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  • Scudamores On Tour

    Dubrovnik

    13 de maio de 2019, Croácia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    So as we’ve arrived in good time, and found a parking spot, we get straight on with a walk into the old city. Our first error is taking the pushchair not realising how many hundreds or steps and cobbled streets there will be in an ‘old city’ (!!!). Second error is not bringing the rain cover for said pushchair, as the heavens open.

    It really is an amazing place, teaming with history, as we walk through the old streets, now filled with cafes, gelaterias, the odd Irish pub and fancy shops. We get some great views on day one, but decide to head on to find a place to stay. We see a sign for the ‘best view of the town’ so decide it would be a good idea to carry the pushchair up another hundred or so steps, to find what is definitely not the best view in town (error 3).

    It is only on return to our motorhome that our fourth and final error is revealed. Thinking we’ve bagged a bargain 10euro parking space, we find those couple of hours have just cost us 38euro, about 2 nights accommodation in other words! Obviously following some choice words from Nic, some begging from me to the parking man, we pay and get on our way.

    Luckily we find a lovely campsite, set just on the hillside south of Dubrovnik with a lovely walk down to a beach, and a little boat that takes you straight to the city walls and back throughout the day.

    We jump on the boat the following day, which in itself is excitement enough for the children (and luckily, as they don’t find the amazing buildings steeped with history quite as enthralling), and we pass by war torn resorts, before entering Dubrovnik with a great panoramic view.

    At this point, if either of us had ever watched Game or Thrones, we’d be writing about all the sets and locations that we saw, but as we’ve never seen an episode, we can just say that it is very beautiful, the views are amazing from all around the city walls, and with the backpack this time, we enjoy Dubrovnik in glorious sunshine (with only a few threats of rain!). We definitely see the Kings Landing, and must look the age of GOT fans as get asked where a few other locations are, but cannot help.

    We do stop and wait in the centre for slightly too long as a large group of school children gather and are arranged, for what we thought might be a concert or at least a little sing-song, we understand they are here to celebrate 600 years of Orlando, but after much faffing and gearing up by who we thought was the choir master, they all just disperse and we are left wondering why we stood there so long.

    We also get some stunning views down into the city walls from above as we climb a little further, and Amelia finds a wall she can use as a slide (and put holes in her best trousers!).

    We head back to site on the boat, find some orange and lime trees to collect some fruit from and on our final night in Croatia experience the gustiest and noisiest night in the van yet with wind and rain lashing down until the early hours.

    As it is now our final day, we had hoped to do three island tour on a bigger boat, but the weather didn’t look great for being on an island or a boat, so the friendly campsite owner recommended a lovely restaurant down the coast where they cook food under ashes so we head out for our last Croatian meal, and we’re not disappointed. The little place in the middle of nowhere has surprisingly more English customers than anywhere else we’d been, and as well as amazing food, a whole lot of meat and a delish chocolate soufflé, we are also treated to a car show as 50 Tesla’s arrive for lunch as part of their organised Tesla tour. They do however block the motorhome into the car park, so we kill time with a little walk while we wait for them to finish lunch and let us out! We had to wait about an hour and a half, which was fine as we were not in a massive hurry for the ferry. But Nic did not want to get stuck behind all 50 of them and as we usually had some sort of tail back (as a lot of Moho’s do) he decides he wants a “Tesla Tail”. We get out pretty much in the middle of the pack, much to Nic’s delight and the Tesla’s horror! They have plenty of horse power to overtake, but some pretty bad driving from some of them it must be said!

    We head back to the ferry, grab a takeaway pizza and board for our overnight sailing to Bari, Italy. Amelia made a little nest in her bed with her soft toys and helped Coen make his too, and was extremely excited to sleep in a cabin. The sailing, luckily, was smooth and the only disturbance was when Coen fell out of bed in the middle of the night with a big bangs and a yell!! Nic barely stirs, I jump out of my top bunk and try to find a screaming child in total pitch blackness like some kind of crystal maze challenge.

    So now, viva Italia....    Leia mais

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  • Scudamores On Tour

    Oberik...rain, rain go away!

    12 de maio de 2019, Croácia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Our European insurance does not cover us to drive mainland to Dubrovnik as there is stretch of about 10km of Bosnia that separates Croatia (which we didn’t even notice when we looked at the map at home!!). We decide to get a small ferry out to a little island and we really want to visit the sandy beach on a further out island just north of Dubrovnik but the grey and very wet weather means it will not be too enjoyable.

    We find a pretty little spot to camp but the rain is pretty relentless so we barely make it out of the Moho. A very quick pit stop here before the final drive down to Dubrovnik.

    As aways as we head south down this coast, the drive is picturesque with tall cliffs and mountains to the left and bright turquoise sea to the right, and then as we skirt around Bosnia, views of sea and islands on both sides, passing through little seaside and mountain side towns, views of Bosnia in the distance and some stunning panoramas.

    We need to check out which ferry to take to Italy so our first stop is the ferry port where we buy tickets to Bari, which allow us to spend 2-3 days in Dubrovnik itself.

    After a very stressful drive into the old town to finds car park, we find a spot and decide to take a walk straight away, the children are now besides themselves at having been contained in car seats for too long (we definitely didn’t make the right decision here, read on to find out why!!)....    Leia mais

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  • Scudamores On Tour

    Birthday celebrations at Sibernik

    9 de maio de 2019, Croácia ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    We make good time south, as always since we left the UK the drives are picturesque, with mountain views leading to sea views...and make it to a lovely campsite set on a beach that had been recommended.

    It’s a beautiful site, we can park just a few metres from the beach, the play park and the swimming pool. More crystal clear sea, rocky beaches and a promenade that runs around much of the ‘island’ (this part is still connected to land so is more of a peninsula).

    As the sun shines on our first morning, we find the beach littered with sea urchin shells, some still with their shiny black spikes on. At first, I’m a little nervous about the children touching them, until I see little girl walking along collecting them into piles with her bare hands!! Still I don’t want Coen to face plant into one, so we are a little wary.

    It is also Coens birthday on our 2nd day here, so we’re glad the sun is shining, and we celebrate with ice cream!! The children enjoy playing in the great play parks, and we meet some other English to swap travel tips and stories with.
    After lunch is ‘mussel time’. Nic has spotted some along the promenade and had promised Amelia after the earlier catch that we’d find and cook some for her. He has to avoid grabbing sea urchins disguised amongst the mussels, but gets a good batch, at least a starters-worth that we take back to prepare.

    We have a birthday BBQ for coen with mussels to start and more ice cream to finish, and watch a beautiful sunset (and get eaten by mossies!).

    The children test out the pool (in wetsuits), which some British H&S officers would have a field day in, and we take a nice (Amelia prob wouldn’t use nice..a bit of bribery just about got her there and back) walk along the promenade to see a huge pirate ship.

    Lots of fun had here, but time to move south as we weave our way towards Dubrovnik...    Leia mais

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  • Scudamores On Tour

    Rainy Plitvice NP

    9 de maio de 2019, Croácia ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    We arrive in the rain to the next National Park - these are the ones everyone talks about, but we can see it’s going to be a speedy tour through the park as the weather sets in for the day. The walks here typically are all stated to be longer than we’ve done before too, we choose the shortest 3- 4 hr walk and set off with everything waterproof that we’ve bought, and Coen in backpack.

    We get a couple of boat trips on this tour, extra excitement for the children and a welcome break from walking for Amelia. As soon as we leave the boat, Amelia asks if it’s time to get on the train..I don’t have the heart to tell her we’ve still got the entire 3 hour walk ahead, so the answer is ‘almost’!!

    As the path winds round the lake through some forest, we step onto the boardwalk and are thankful to have the backpack for Coen - a beautiful path but no railings - the path barely interrupts nature, but definitely adds an element of risk of a wet, slippery day. We walk over the wide falls, rivers and lakes for the rest of the walk until we climb back up to the cliff side. It starts with low falls that meander through the marshy grasses, and after following the sign for ‘the big waterfall’ we round the corner and are met with a breathtaking view of a giant waterfall - and thankfully an open space with no water below us where we can relax and not worry about anyone falling in the water for a minute. This fall is mammoth in height and makes us all feel quite small!!

    The path then climbs up high to give beautiful views over the many falls below, and Amelia now desperate to find the land train is pleased when we hear the sound of cars, meaning we must be close. We finish the walk, all soaked through to our underwear (except Nic who seems to be the only one who has bought a proper raincoat on our trip!) and ready for a rest...we bribe Amelia up the final hill with he promise of an ice cream, Coen and I get a bonus site of hundreds of tiny field mice as he takes a trip off the path and the ground literally comes alive with them.

    We decide to make some headway south as the weather is still rainy, so cook a quick pasta pot for kids and hit the road. As we almost have an empty fuel tank, we quickly head to the only fuel station only to find it closed! Lucky a local helps point us in the direction of the next town and we make it on fumes, and set off for an island due south.    Leia mais

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    Waterfalls aplenty - Krka NP

    8 de maio de 2019, Croácia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    First trip inland for Croatia - we pull up to the first National Park, check out the campsite and make a sharp exit (more of a building site with a kind of sewerage smell) but we’ll find somewhere else later...

    We head into the park, with short bus ride down the hill alongside the lake. We overhear the man explaining why we can’t swim in the falls today (like in all the pictures we’ve seen)...basically it’s too cold, but his explanation is a little more colourful...explaining if he is wearing a jumper AND a jacket, obviously it’s too cold, people will all warm in the sun and then jump in the cold water and die!!! OK then, no swimming today!

    A lovely boardwalk runs through the forest over the streams, lakes and falls and takes us on a journey through nature’s playground, we see frogs, the most beautiful teal dragonflies, birds and hundreds of fish basking in the sun.

    The waterfalls get more and more spectacular as the path unfolds and we are pleased to be here so early in the season to get uninterrupted views and pictures of this beauty.

    It’s a hot and sunny day so we are thrilled half way round when we realise Amelia has left the only water bottle we bought on the Shuttle bus! Luckily a little further on there are fountains from the natural springs.

    We were so pleasantly surprised by these falls, we didn’t even expect to come to this park thinking we’d just do Plitvice which everyone had told us about, but these falls are amazing.

    We jump back in the shuttle bus and manage to find the water bottle!! And head off to find a campsite for the night...and luckily we find one with animals for entertainment. This time giant rabbits and chickens...    Leia mais

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    Airport bound - Trogir

    2 de maio de 2019, Croácia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We arrive on this cliff-side site just along the road from historic Trogir and are greeted by beautiful views of the Adriatic, dotted with the many Croatian islands that this coast is famous for, and enjoy a lovely BBQ, as Coen is entertained by the planes that fly over a couple of times an hour. Amelia gets a peak at the pool (another cold one though as the forecast for this weekend is not looking good).

    At this point, Sarah needs to make a quick trip home to visit her mum, who has had an operation, so the only alarm of the trip is set to get her to the airport.

    Morning of the flight, we suddenly wake up very quickly when we hear what sounds like rain, but it is more like a waterfall...Amelia has woken up, fallen back to sleep and weeing in her sleep...and somehow has created a fountain that is landing just inches from her brother’s head on the bunk below!! So Nic not only has to entertain the children for the weekend but now also has added laundry to do too ;-)

    Luckily too, we’ve chosen a site on the side of a hill which means every hundred yards or so there are sheer drops to the next level (luckily some are more gentle slopes and there are mainly soft landings!).

    So Nic’s got the children, for a few days, with a cold pool, sheer cliff edges and not great weather, well at least he has Gin!

    Really not much to report - we got the hammock and slack line out a couple of times in between the rain. A brief walk with Amelia on her scooter and Coen in the pushchair to the next village which resulted in a very quick play in the park and a beer for Nic - but no ice cream to be found - still too early in the season to put ice cream in the freezer apparently!!

    Met quite a few other English people for one of the first times being away, funny as most had flown over for a week’s holiday and here we are not remembering what day it is. There are couple of other English full-time motor-homers - one couple had been away for 6 years living the dream!

    Of course the visit here wouldn’t be complete if Coen hadn’t taken Amelia’s scooter and casually glided off the edge of one of those sheer drops down a three foot drop into a lavender bush - a foot either side and the landing would not have been so nice...or smelt so good!

    When I return back to site (after the most expensive 8 minutes in a taxi I’ve ever had!) we decide to take the little taxi boat from the campsite to Trogir, Amelia even got to take control for a while - she loved it! Trogir is a lovely little town with worn cobbles stones which millions of people must have been over. Like many of the old towns we visit, there are so many beautiful churches packed inside the old city walls,

    As we return to the site, the other English motorhomes are planning to find and pick some mussels for the next days lunch, so Nic learns a little about how to do it and more importantly the preparation and then helps gather a small feast with them. So to avoid the sandy crunchiness the the key is, depending on exactly where you find them (no sand in Croatia) is to filter them in fresh water! To be tried later in our trip...

    The children don their wetsuits to test the pool - Coen’s still not convinced even with a wetsuit...’cold!!’. Amelia has finally met some actual English friends that she can talk, so enjoys playtime, another dodgy disco and actual 4 yr old conversation!

    As we leave, we see the site have just completed a new play park, that puts the rusty seesaw to shame, one of those new ones with all the trimmings...to Nic’s total disbelief after being stranded with no play area for 6 days!    Leia mais

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    The buffet to beat all others - Nin

    30 de abril de 2019, Croácia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Next stop is the biggest campsite yet, probably the largest that we’ll visit...and with two little pairs of legs, it takes an age to get aywhere on this site.

    We also have the largest aqua park we’ve see too...luckily some of the pools are heated so the kids have a whale of a time - Amelia going up and down the same water slide a million times, Coen running through (and into!) the water jets in the splash park.

    I’m excited that there’s an actual adult volleyball match...unfortunately as the site is so big we don’t make it to the pitch in time and miss it!!

    There is a lovely (man made) sandy beach stretching along the waterfront, although we find the sand is a little mud as suddenly the children’s clothes are no longer clean!!

    By far the best thing about our stop here (and the reason we stay another day) is the buffet!! (Not really the reason but was worth the extra night!). Now I’m not usually a fan, and when Nic spotted it, I was dubious. Luckily, however I didn’t need to worry about the usual buffet ‘dodgy’ food. This was 5-star buffet dining!

    Much to Nic’s joy, there was freshly cooked steaks, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fresh local fish, tuna, mussels, salad and a whole lot more, including wine and beer. Amelia, who loves mussels managed to tuck away 3 plates full which amused nearby tables. We all made the most of the feast to say the least and felt like we didn’t need to eat for a week by the time we left Nin!!    Leia mais

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    Krk Island...rainy but 5 star camp site!

    28 de abril de 2019, Croácia ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    We drove onto our first island - Krk Island. Croatia so far has surprised us with its scenery - lined with mountains, rolling hills, as beautiful rugged coasts, the most turquoise sea, and little villages lining the coast with pop up stalls selling roasted pigs, lavender oil and truffle oils.

    We choose a campsite with a pool, but as we arrive the weather sets in so we convince Amelia that we’ll swim tomorrow! Luckily making friends with some Slovenian girls distracted her, and both Amelia and Coen enjoying racing up and down on their scooters while we get to enjoy a glass of wine. We see a sign for the disco so head up to find an awkward, but enthusiastic young lad replicating some Euro pop moves to an audience of 6 that was less enthusiastic...Amelia is not impressed so heads back down to find her friends (or make some new ones) whilst we share travel tips with their parents.

    Next morning, we take a walk along the coast, find a bear cave and some beautiful little coves, and although the weather has not heated back up yet, we brave the pool - a lovely infinity pool which is again slightly on the chilly side - we start to gather that Croatia don’t heat their outdoor pools as by the time the season really kicks off, the sun has heated them!

    There’s also an amazing splash park for the children with some little flumes (which Coen seems to only be able to go down with 180 spins and so he plunges down each time head first into the pool!) and they don’t notice the water temp at all.

    Oh and somehow we took a grand total of 3 photos at this stop?!?!

    Heading south...    Leia mais

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    Croatia#1 - relaxing in Rovinj...

    24 de abril de 2019, Croácia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    By the time we reach Croatia, we are well and truly ready to stop and relax! We’ve been non-stop so far, there has been so much to do, so many places we wanted to see, but our aim was always to reach the coast and relax...

    First stop, we head to a lovely campsite on the coast at Rovinj, an historic old town with a beautiful and rugged coastline. The sea here is so crystal clear, and the campsite are readying themselves for the season so is deserted, our premium camp spot is practically on the beach and means the children an wander freely from the park to the beach.

    We spend a lovely few days roaming. A big run around the enromous campsite, some spring cleaning for the van, a sunset BBQ and we are feeling refreshed.

    We decide to cycle into the old town of Rovinj, after a few minutes we realise the cycle route is no good for Amelia so hook her bike to the croozer and follow the coastfor a short ride around to the town. Well worth the cycle, such a pretty town with a mix of history, tourism and fun for the kids...we watch a high school volleyball comp for a while, find some local food and find the BEST ice cream we have EVER had! Excited for Italy if this is what Croatia’s Italian influence has to offer!!!

    After a lovely visit we head out to find a supermarket...3km away apparently...unfortunately and for some bizarre reason we rely on my not so well acquired pigeon senses to get here rather than Nics, so what should take 10 mins turns into an hour long cycle in the now pouring rain...a few choice words from Nic, we make it to Lidl’s and head back to camp!

    Another couple of days relaxing, a chance for a SUP, some unsuccessful crabbing, plenty of park time for the kids and a dip in the (just opened) rather chilly pool and we head down the coast to the next stop. Although it would be lovely to travel down the coast stopping at every village and island, we only have 5 months!!    Leia mais

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    The giant cave - Postojna

    23 de abril de 2019, Eslovênia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We arrive at the caves - and realise that ‘popular’ is an understatement at these ones...a loooong queue (in the rain) to buy tickets, and we get one of the last spots of the day. There’s a little cave zoo to visit, showing us the animals that live inside caves, with an audio tour that would have probably been really interesting and informative if we didn’t have a 1 and 4yr old to chase around after. No bears to be seen but some very interesting species of water salamander with no eyes, that can survive up to 10 years until the next meal! Nic’s tummy is grumbling just at the thought! This takes half an hour of not having to wait in the rain, then we head into another queue (‘loose use of term’) and finally reach the train.

    The worst photo opportunity ever is found by the official cave photographers - apparently they are not allowed to take photos in the caves (although the public are) so the photographers are snapping pictures as unsuspecting visitors are coming though the turnstiles. The worst pics ever of the caves visitors in a big crowd not in the cave - which could be anywhere, - but we laugh at the end of the pictures of us and others that they are actually trying to sell.

    The train takes us far and deep into the cave system, and as we step off the train we realise that this isn’t just a little hole in the wall that you walk in and walk out...the sheer size alone make these caves spectacular, they are huge in depth and height, and as we walk along the path of the tour, each corner brings a new cave from stalocytes, stalagmytes, stacks 10s of thousands years old, curtains and sparkling ceilings, truly amazing!

    The tour finishes with the final train ride out of the caves, Coen is so enthralled by this that he falls asleep (he has walked for an hour by now though!), and we decide to park up at the motorhome spot in the car park to get an early night ready to leave Slovenia in the morning...    Leia mais

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    Following the Soca

    22 de abril de 2019, Eslovênia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Our final path along the Soca river takes us firstly up to find a picnic spot and some more gorges, and then back down to a wonderful campsite sitting above the white water of the Soca.

    The winding roads follow the river into and out of valleys, we get a little too close to a fellow Moho on the way 😱 and we land in the sunshine to find more wine for under a euro and yummy pizzas for 6e..Slovenia certainly does value for money!

    The campsite has a little (altho steep) path down to the river where we find a tiny white beach, and Nic gets another chance for a swim. Although we’re on the side of white water, the little beach has big rocks protected from the current where the kids can paddle (although it’s freezing and campsite lady tells us even in high summer, people don’t swim in the Soca!).

    The river is beautiful here, and now we’ve seen it, our journey takes us onto the first motorway (and a close call with a policeman with a pair of binoculars - lucky we bought the vignette after all!). We head off to the caves - apparently the popular ones have a train, we know Coen will love this...    Leia mais

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    Waterfall walks on the Soca River

    21 de abril de 2019, Eslovênia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Now we have to make the trip to the other side of this mountain to get to the Soca. After checking the route, and especially after meeting that other Moho on the mountain side last night, we decide that a quick dash into Italy is more sensible than the Vrsic mountain pass...we get the feeling that some roads are made for small cars rather than big Mohos!! A quick stop at Kranjska Gora (on Easter Sunday) confirms that not much is open, so we grab some food and head off, and although this route avoids the Vrsic, it still has some beautiful and also stomach-lurching bends and narrow winding roads to contend with.

    We met some Californians earlier who told us about an amazing waterfall walk, so we head to the spot (after another hairy meeting with a big van on the side of a very small road!!), and jump out to see what we can find.

    Nic is desperate for a swim in a waterfall so packs a towel, Coen is excited to go in the back carrier again and we find the first dodgy bridge and beautiful part of the river pretty quickly. This is really a very beautiful walk, lined with waterfalls, turquoise river pools and lush green trees. Amelia takes a few tumbles, but soldiers on, and we eventually find a pool that Nic can take a dip in. Obviously, I would have joined him but someone had to look after the children. And the water was glacial..so absolutely freezing. The walk is really stunning, showing off the best of this turquoise river’s tumbling falls, again the pictures don’t do it justice.

    We find yet another stunning campsite, right on the river, and with a delish restaurant menu and another park to keep the kids entertained, and set off in the morning to find some more gorges and riverside stops along the soca...    Leia mais

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    Slovenia, you beauty - Bled and Bohinj

    20 de abril de 2019, Eslovênia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    After tearing the kids away from the sheep, chickens, tractors and Californian friends, we make our way to the much talked about Lake Bled.

    As we pull into the road leading to Bled, we realise that Easter weekend is probably not the best planning to visit this popular destination...but we figure, we’ve got to be somewhere!

    After taking in the views of the lake, we find a parking spot and head down for a walk. The lake is pretty, with a lovely church placed upon a tiny island, a castle perched on the back edge and the backdrop of the Julian Alps. But it is also busy! And we still struggle to find somewhere to grab some food!? We do see an amazingly hilarious American attempt to jump into the freezing lake, filmed by his family...he bottles his dive at the last minute and the end result has us in tears, but amidst more calls of, ‘I’m hungry’ (we are honestly not starving them, it must be something in the air), we make a swift exit to our next (and quieter) lake Bohinje to find another waterfall, Savica, and hopefully somewhere to stay.

    After meanderings through the valley, we get some glimpses of the lake and head to the waterfall...not quite sure how far up we can drive, once more we take the ‘let’s just see how far the road goes’ approach. This gives us another heart stopping moment, as we meet another Moho on a very tight bend, but inch past and thankfully park up to start the walk. Mental note, we need to start carrying cash when we walk up waterfalls, after 5 minutes, we find a barrier where you have to pay to go up (signs at the bottom would be useful), but the very kind man on the barrier waves us through, and Amelia’s legs power on up the concrete steps towards Savica - about half way, at a bench, we hear a lady asking her husband ‘why didn’t you tell me there were that many steps?’, he replied ‘well I only counted them on the way down!’, so we ask how many...365 from this point up. I don’t think it did Amelia’s confidence much good hearing that, but she just about makes it to the top, Coen by this point desperate to get out of the back pack carrier and attempt to jump over an edge, any edge. We queue for a photo, Amelia then attempts a ‘man overboard’ manoeuvre and we quickly start back down the steps. It was a lovely waterfall. It’s just the sheer drops with a 2 and 4 yr old mean we can’t relax and enjoy the view!!

    As we head back down (and luckily meet no more oncoming vehicles) we spot lots of vans parked up by the side of the lake, so head over to find a lovely lakeside campsite. Perfect for a rest stop, a park for the children and great views of the Alps around us. Whether it’s the excitement of an Easter egg, or the multiple van-naps Amelia has had this week, she finally gets to sleep at 10.30(!!). This adventure malarkey is tiring!

    Easter Sunday brings Easter eggs (how they lasted this long in the van is beyond me!) and our 3rd day in a row of Slovenian waterfalls...    Leia mais

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    Welcome to Slovenia, hairpin bends ahoy!

    19 de abril de 2019, Eslovênia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    As we hit slovenia, we have some recommendations that we’ve bee given. The first - the Logar Valley. Apparently ‘Europe’s most beautiful Glacial valley’; we do have a slight wobble the following morning as we start the journey. The hairpin turns are so tight, the roads narrowing, the incline getting steeper...and then we find half the road has collapsed...willl Moho make it?? we remember those who recommended this were in a car, do we turn around? Can we make a 3 point turn on this edge??...no, it’s too late, we’ve committed - the only way is up!

    We cross the border into Slovenia, literally at the top of a mountain, and immediately start to wonder if all Slovenian roads will be like this - a mountainside road not wide enough for two vehicles with sheer drops, and we come across a piece of road that is missing...literally, half the road has fallen away; with just a few cones guiding us warily around the damage, luckily the rest seems in one piece (although we do have to come back this way later!!!).

    Luckily, and even with a few photo stops on the edge, we make it to the other side, and find the end of the valley for our first ‘waterfall walk’ of the trip at Logarska Dolina. We are treated to a glacier too, as we cross the dry riverbed and reach the bottom of the big icy path. Amelia’s little legs power through the walk up the mountain, the crumbly path, the very dodgy wooden steps, yet another rickety bridge, and we get to the very bottom of the beautiful waterfall, with a lovely cooling spray. Some more dodgy steps lead up to the most bizarre placed and tiny ‘cafe’ we’ve ever see on top of a stilted structure with a lovely view down. I’m not sure how many customers she gets (we have not walked up here with any money!), but the owner does have a great workplace view.

    We head back down to calls for ‘caaaake’ with two very worn out children, feed them some cake and prepare for the journey back out - which takes us back the way we came along the crazy mountain roads! Great views of the glacier, and we make it in one piece, and as the children start to demand more food, we find a sign for camping, although the road looks impassable in moho, a neighbour tells us of another route as we find a stunning farm placed between the mountains - to the kids delight, they have actual, proper farm animals, sheep for them to feed, chickens to chase, two huge dogs...and a John Deere which the owners are more than happy for Coen to sit in.

    Happy children, a great first day. Tomorrow, Lake Bled, the one everyone has told us about.    Leia mais

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    Farewell Austria

    18 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    As we left Austria, driving through the mountains once more, we were reminded that we have not been without a 360 view of the mountains since we arrived, and much of our journey has been along the valley, side by side with bumbling rivers, opening to views of the lush green fields...Austria makes all the colours seem brighter and the mountains seem bigger...we hadn’t anticipated how beautiful this place would be.

    So we leave with more wonderful views of Wolfgangsee..among more echos of ‘I’m huunngggrrryyy!!!’, yet another stop at Lidl for Milk and biscuits (!) and head for our final stop in Austria along the border with Slovenia. We find a lovely spot to camp...and a winner with the children...a pool!! The sun’s out, and we manage to get our first ‘relax’ in our new camp chairs! The pool is a tiny little heated underground pool as the children love having it all to themselves.

    Another indoor dinner but we’re hopeful with the lovely sunshine that we’ll soon be eating outside!

    By about 10pm we realise it is a full moon and this MUST explain why both children have been a bit mental this afternoon, and Coen’s usual 10min bedtime took about 2hrs...exhausted but ready to hit Slovenia, we plan our first stop to Logar Valley the next morning (after one more dip in the pool).    Leia mais

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    Cycle to St Wolfgang

    17 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We decide to stay another night on this pretty lake, so gear up for a cycle around to St Wolfgang. A lovely trip through some woods, into the lovely lakeside towns, with plenty of food pit stops/park play times/photo opps. Amelia cycled the first part, but a couple of miles in decided the croozer looked more comfy, so loaded up with two kids, a croozer and an extra bike, Nic hits the hills while I take in the views of the leisurely 20 mile round trip!!

    Arrive in St Wolfgang, expecting to find some nice little cafes or bakeries for lunch, but it seems this little town is taking the ‘off-season’ to the extreme, so although tour buses bring in more visitors, we don’t find much here, and after a walk around the town and lakeside, we leave hungry and hot!

    After only a minor detour along a farmers field/wrong turn, we finish the 20 mile cycle just in time for a splash in the lake and relaxing evening.

    This lake has really completed our Austrian adventure: we’ve seen so much of the beautiful colours and scenery here, and although there is still much of Austria we could have seen (Vienna, the north and east), we are super happy with the tour we’ve had. We’ll be back one day, I’m sure!    Leia mais

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    Halstatt to Wolfgangsee - lakes!!

    16 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Because we wanted to see snow before it all melted away, this is the part of our trip where we double back on ourselves towards Salzburg.

    Halstatt is our first destination, the journey is beautiful, we follow another bouldering river the whole way, in the valley of beautiful mountains, lush green fields, the remnants of snowy tracks everywhere. As we enter Halstatt through another long tunnel, the signs tell us it is a World Heritage Site.

    We soon realise this means 1) the tourist buses bringing thousands of travellers clog up the tiny streets and 2) there is only one place to park Moho to take a look around, which is slightly on the pricey range - but when we ask about the price to stay overnight, we find an ‘all inclusive’ rate of almost 50euros - tempted to ask if this all-inclusive includes dinner and breakfast, we decline, and the owner in his classic Austrian mountain get-up tells us with raised arms - and in his best AAUUSS-TRIAN accent - ‘dis iss Halstatt!’. Ok so WHS means expensive, we move through town (after a head-turning 8-point turn), and find a lovely picnic spot with great views of the lovely lake, town and mountains. We’re joined by a friendly, but hungry swan, which unnerves Amelia, but we get some great views, find one more spot and head back through the tunnel. We pull in at what we think is a little viewpoint in the tunnel. Quickly realise this is actually a short-cut to the actual centre of Halstatt, and have a stroll through the quaint centre, with cobbled streets (cue Coen taking numerous tumbles/face plants) and arty shops, peaks at little waterfalls and another view over the lake. Glad we made that stop.

    Now we head to the next alpine lake, Wolfgangsee, and take our pick of the several campsites lining one of the little villages. As we drive through, we can see what a picturesque lake this one is...lined with turquoise water and dotted with cute little villages. The campsite has a lovely (albeit tiny) little beach with jetty, and the kids love the shallow clear water to splash about in.

    Now that the sun is shining, we manage to get our first bbq of the season, and prepare for a day of cycling in the morning...    Leia mais

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    Alternmarkt for the Therme!

    14 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Apparently Alternmarkt has a good therme, can’t remember where we read this but we trust the ‘research’ and arrive. We luck out again with a spot to sleep, a lovely farm-style stopover - with a go-kart and sit-on toy tractor that the kids are allowed to use. Another mountain drop background. Fresh eggs, free WiFi and the lovely owner has a discount card for the Therme. The kids enjoy the freedom to run around and play, we take a walk into the little Austrian village for a traditional meal..of Mexican! And Amelia is too excited for the swimming to sleep, awake at 3am asking if we can go yet...mental note to never tell her about the exciting outings until the actual day.

    Now to see if it’s any good.

    We decide to spend the whole day here to give the kids a break from car seats. We were imagining a little pool with some kind of slide, and saunas that we wouldn’t be able to go in with the kids...so we were pretty impressed with what we found. A Centre Parcs style pool; kids area with mini flume, wave pool, outdoor salt water pool full of jets and the grown up sides...

    Nic heads for the big one first. The Anaconda. His face when he returns tells me that it’s gonna be scary. Hard to get a photo of this slide that does it justice! Nic wouldn’t tell me anything about it, so off I go a little nervous. So you enter a little capsule, stand with your back against a wall, and as the capsule closes, it becomes clear what’s about to happen...heart rate is sky high by this point (from the climb up, but mainly from adrenaline). The floor of the capsule disappears beneath your feet, and you get a breathtaking 8m freefall, before the slide shoots you upwards and around a loop.

    Amelia tests out the other slides too, she doesn’t even need to tell anyone she is 10, as there are no lifeguards on these ones, so she enjoys the Black Mamba on her own, a pretty standard flume and the funnel Python on our laps. ‘Again, again’. Definitely an adrenaline junkie like her daddy! Coen also gets to go on the Black Mumba on our laps, but is mainly taken by the buckets and spades in the kiddies pool which entertain him for hours.

    After a tiring but awesome day, we head back to the same campsite for another tractor and go-kart ride.

    We’ve enjoyed this little alpine village, next stop...more alpine villages!!    Leia mais

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    Snow day Zall Am See

    13 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    We promised Amelia we’d find somewhere she could sledge, so today is the day we need to find some white stuff (we’ve seen some muddy/icy stuff so far).

    We head up the valley and pull in besides a lovely white field, have a little snow ball fight and a roam, and then find a little learner slope for some proper sledging (on the bodyboard of course, no room for ski gear in the Moho this year!). Amelia has a whale of a time, Coen loves the sledge but struggles to find his feet in the very sinky snow (sinking up to my knees) and resembles and upside down tortoise for much of the morning, and then we make a quick exit when Amelia takes her snow gloves off to build a snowman (?!) and very quickly gets frozen fingers.

    Moho lunch on the road, a very cool obstacle course for Amelia while Coen kips and we finish the day with a visit to the ski lifts at Zell am See. We decide we DEFINITELY need to do a ski holiday in the Moho next year.....!!!!

    A 2nd night with the toads as we enjoyed this site so much, and in the morning, we skip the plan to cycle round the lake at Zell when we find the roads are a bit dodgy for Amelia, take a walk instead and narrowly avoid both children taking a swim in the freezing lake...on to Altenmarkt for the next stop - hopefully if our research is accurate a very fun swimming pool...    Leia mais

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    Salt and Snow!!! A hop back to Germany

    12 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ 🌫 8 °C

    Leaving Salzburg, we head off to find salt. Neither of us are sure why we’ve been recommended this, so we’re intrigued. We actually cut back into Germany for this part, as we’ve been told that this particular mine will allow Coen in (bit cruel to keep leaving him in the Moho! ;-) ), to a place called Berchtesgaden. So apparently the rock here is made up of 50% salt (in case you’re wondering why salt mines).

    When our time slot is called, we don our mining suits (the kids look adorable while we look ridiculous!) and hop onto a little mining train. Not quite sure how Coen will react, we’re pleasantly surprised that he doesn’t once try to jump off the train or dive down a lift hatch. We are taken deep into the mines, with a translated tour of every step of the process, a ride down two amazing miners slides, a salt cathedral, a grotto and then a boat across a salt mine lake, seeing how the process has evolved over 500 years (from digging 6cm a day with a hand axe, to 2m or 6m nowadays (depending on whether Nic or I heard that detail correctly!). The kids make it through the whole tour unscathed (ok, Coen did try to jump off the boat!) and we are super pleased we made that stop.

    Now to find some snow to dip our toes in...
    We’ve been told that if we head to Saalbach/Hinterglimm and ‘just drive as far as you can up the valley’ then we will be in snow. It’s getting late and we know we need to find a stopover but we can’t resist checking it out (just in case there’s a motorhome stop that no one else in the world has found) to make sure there is definitely snow.

    Yep, definitely snow, but locals confirm - definitely no where to park Moho! Head back down and find a lovely campsite, a gem in the mountains, free WiFi (blogs finally get released!), surrounded by snowy mountains and lake Waldsee - which to Amelia and Coens utter amazement is teeming with toads!! Thousands of them. This totally occupies Amelia for the two days and nights we are here, and although Coen does try to jump in the lake a few times, it’s worth it to see their faces. They see the toads spawn, dead ones, mating ones (piggy backs) - circle of life in one hit.

    So next, snow day...to be continued...    Leia mais

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    Beautiful Salzburg

    11 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Although Nic has never heard of The Sound of Music, we make Salzburg our next stop in order to figure a plan to find snow.

    A bus ride into the city makes the trip worthwhile, beautiful architecture, a city full of art and music. Lovely little alleys lined with boutique shops, cafes and restaurants, colourful buildings and the old town bearing the castle walls and palatial roofs popping up through gaps.

    Another win here..we find some English people to ask about snow conditions of various resorts. Now armed with snow info, we find a very helpful Tourist Info lady who gives us a few more tips of things to do and see, and head back to route plan.

    Looking at the map, we realise we have to double-back on ourselves, but time is not an issue, so we make the call - hopefully a salt mine and then ski resort, will we see any snow though?

    Learnings from another city...the Japanese tourists seem to think our children are local tourist attractions and take pictures of them at their will!! Amelia is starting to learn to smile and wave as they stare wide-grinned at her freckles.    Leia mais

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    A quick dash to Austria - Innsbruck

    10 de abril de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Disappointed at leaving Garmisch, we head to Innsbruck and are pleased to see plenty of snow still in the mountains.

    Our first time at the wiggly mountain roads brings us to a quiet little campsite with no one else to be seen. It is not yet camping season in Austria so it is eerily quiet and we only need an overnight stop before we head on. Not long after arriving and then every 15 minutes, we find out why there may not be any other guests...sitting next to a church, the enormous bells ring every 1/4 hour and at 7pm we are treated to what sounds like a drunken bell ringers celebration...smugly thinking that must be him going home for the night, imagine our dismay when 15 mins later, they carry on their cycle. This went on until 10pm, and began again at 6am, and the ‘drunken bell ringer’ as he is now known, gave us a reprise at 7am...time to move on briskly!!!!Leia mais

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    Princess castles at Fussen...

    7 de abril de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Some great views of the mountains as we drive across to Füssen, both kids excited by the sight of snow, and we find another great spot to pitch up.

    So the big attraction here is Germany’s most famous castle..the stuff fairytales are made of, Neuschwanstein, Walt Disney’s inspiration for his iconic castle. But of course, no stopover would be complete without finding a new skate park first. And this one is possibly the best we’ve seen, Nic is green with envy at not having his board/bike/scooter with us but Amelia makes the most of it for all of us!!

    Backpack on and it’s a 45min walk up to the castle, and this is really incredible, to think how they built this, and are still working on it, on the side of a mountain - apparently it was built for art not architecture, and it doesn’t disappoint.

    Amazing views; you can see why Mad King Ludwig II wanted his castle in this spot. Great views over to Hoeschwangu Castle, the lakes surrounding Füssen, gorges and waterfalls and a pretty hairy bridge...well worth it for the view of the castle but we both made sharp exits off the bridge with those wobbly planks, Amelia and Coen oblivious to the fear of it collapsing any minute!!

    Time to hit the road again, and for the 1st time, weather scuppers our plans. We arrive in Garmisch Partenkirschen in a haze of cloud, and drive around aimlessly wondering what we are looking for, and then remember it was the luge.

    Big sad faces though...the rain means it’s closed, and with our other plan of taking a lift up the mountain totally out the window due to low cloud, we check the forecast and make the call to move on. We’re gutted to miss this, especially after seeing the info board for the luge, it looks so much fun..maybe we’ll make it back there one day.

    We did manage to make Coen’s day though when the man driving the digger at the luge took him for a spin...    Leia mais

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    Lake Bodensee - Lindau

    6 de abril de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After finding a spot to park at a decent price, we get on the bikes to cycle along to Lindau and onto the island. Amelia surprised us both by managing to cycle the entire way there, around, via Lidl and back...15km for a 4yr old on actual roads is pretty good going!

    We take in the sights, add to the ice cream tally and get some good glimpses of the snow covered mountains through the clouds. There are a few hairy moments as we start the cycle around the little headland, the cycle paths disappear and the roads narrow, plus some roadworks thrown in, we are pleased to reach a lovely park and then find an off road cycle track for the rest of the tour.

    Found a lovely traditional restaurant for dinner, remember why we don’t eat out much with an almost 2 and 4yr old and hit the road for the mountains the next morning.    Leia mais

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