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Scudamores On Tour

April - August 2019
With our eldest starting school in September, we are following our hearts for one more big adventure before term times begin. We hope to explore as much of Europe as we can taking in mountains, lakes, rivers, beaches & islands across 8 countries... Read more
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  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 13

    Snow day Zall Am See

    April 13, 2019 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 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...    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 14

    Alternmarkt for the Therme!

    April 14, 2019 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 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!!    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 16

    Halstatt to Wolfgangsee - lakes!!

    April 16, 2019 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 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...    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    1
    Day 17

    Cycle to St Wolfgang

    April 17, 2019 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 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!    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 18

    Farewell Austria

    April 18, 2019 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 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).    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 19

    Welcome to Slovenia, hairpin bends ahoy!

    April 19, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 20

    Slovenia, you beauty - Bled and Bohinj

    April 20, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 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...    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 21

    Waterfall walks on the Soca River

    April 21, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 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...    Read more

  • Scudamores On Tour
    Day 22

    Following the Soca

    April 22, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 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...    Read more

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