Sunday 10th & Monday 11th May - Dalaas Austria, then on to Switzerland.

Sunday we had to say goodbye to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  We have loved our time there and will very gladly go back.  The van was cleaned out, everything packed away, the final bill paid, and then we were off.

Our next stop was Camp Erne, in Dalaas Austria.  I'd picked it because of the fact it was on route and looked brilliant - green & grassy.  We had plenty of time so on the way we looked out for interesting stops.  We found a one with a view of the Zugspitze..... 

Looking back on the Zugspitze on our way to Dalaas, Austria

A zoomed in view - you can see the viewing station, restaurant etc at the top.

And a second which promised an interesting walk around some old mines.  Trouble was, after climbing up some narrow village streets in the van to reach the promised location, there was nowhere to park.

So we went back down to the motorway.  We were using Google as a satnav, and since Peter had already paid for a vignette which would allow him to drive on the motorways, we'd not told it to avoid tolls.  We didn't realise that would result in us ending up paying to use the Arlberg tunnel.  It's a magnificent tunnel - 8.7 ish miles long, but we could have gone around it.  It would have taken 4 minutes longer and saved €13

We reached Camp Erne at around 2pm, and sadly we were a little underwhelmed.  It was full of long seasonal caravans that had obviously been there a long time, they had small attached extension buildings and covers.  But they were all empty and the place felt unloved.  If it wasn't for the fact I had emailed ahead a booked a pitch, I think we would have left there and then.  Eventually the owner came out, she was chatty and like everyone else we've met on this trip, spoke very good English.  We decided to give the place a go, and as it turned out, it was a really good site, just empty.  The facilities were just about the best we've come across, absolutely immaculate, as if they'd only just been installed, and there was a massive Spar minutes away.

Camp Erne from a nearby bridge.  It's probably lovely when all the caravan owners are about.

We ate a late lunch, researched local walks, and then it started to rain, so we ended up having a very lazy day.  We decided there wasn't enough to keep us in Dalaas so we would move on in the morning.  I emailed ahead and booked us in to our site in Switzerland a day early.  All good then. 

Monday morning we set of for Lauterbrunnen. It was a horrible wet day, it rained most of it and we decided it was a good day for driving.  We drove first through Liechtenstein, which was a bit of a novelty.  We left before we knew it.  Once in Switzerland, we followed the Rhine for a little of the way as it followed the the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland.  I never realised the Rhine started this far south.

We were 20 mins into Switzerland when my phone data suddenly stopped.  I'd been using it to find out stuff (e.g. the Rhine) as we travelled, and I got a load of messages telling me I'd run out of data.  I was really confused, cos I had loads of data.  Turns out I should have checked the message I got as we crossed the border.

We've gotten so many as we've been driving around "Welcome to......  calls and minutes are included in your allowance..."  we'd stopped reading them.  And we both missed the message in Switzerland that said "not included", and essentially I had used up my bill cap of £20 on data in 20 minutes.   Peter was still online because his cap was higher, but he was using Google as a sat nav.  We needed to sort it out fast. We found a MacDonald's, bought a Swiss priced lunch and used the wifi there (after a struggle), to buy data for Switzerland.  If we had known to do this before we entered the country it would have saved us nearly £100 (£30 MacDonalds, £20 on my phone and £45 on Peter's). Lesson learnt. 

Once the data issue was sorted, we drove on,

enjoying the scenery, 

even in the terrible weather. eventually arriving at Jungfrau camping late afternoon.  The site looks really promising, but the rain has persisted, and the lad that had to find us a pitch (Sebastian), seemed to be struggling to find a suitable dry one.  He even lent us a couple of pallets to step out of the van onto.  Good job he did.  It was a very wet night. 

We did manage to get the awning up during a dry patch though, so we are settled in.  The weather forecast doesn't look brilliant for tomorrow, but we have worked out that we can walk up the valley towards a waterfall attraction, which would be fine for wet day.  The Swiss chapter of this adventure begins.

Saturday 9th May - A walk in the Losaich Valley

We like to walk, and where better to stretch the legs than a lovely stroll along the Losaich valley beneath the Jubilee Ridge - the line of mountains that lead up to the Zugspitz.  

We found the walk on Komoot, called "View of the Zugspitze - Bader Lake loop from Grainau"  I was worried it was going to be a bit boring.  Initially we had to walk along roads, but it wasn't too long before we turned into the woods and started going uphill.

And then it was absolutely lovely.  Flowers everywhere, little huts to shelter in along the way, cowbells in the air at one point.   Then there was a beautiful little chapel war memorial, fantastic views, meadows full of buttercups, even the little Badersee was gorgeous.  It really was a really lovely walk. Just brilliant

This is actually a red squirrel, just a dark grey version. 

But as the walk progressed, the showers started.  As we got to the Badersee, we heard the rumble of thunder. 

We walked into Obergrainau and then the rain came......

We sheltered in a tourist information stand - the rain got heavier. The thunder and lightening rumbled and flashed and we started to get cold. We didn't know whether we should stay or move on.

We eventually decided to move on, thinking we might be able to find a somewhere for a coffee or a beer - and of course we did.  I got cheesecake too.  Two beers later (for Peter), the rain had stopped.  We walked on through Obergrainau, admiring the attractive designs and paintings on the buildings.

Then it was back to the campsite, 6 miles total walk with a trip to Aldi included.  As soon as we got back, the sun came out.  It was so hot that we had to shelter under our canopy to avoid burning. 

Another brilliant day.  We are leaving tomorrow and I am going to miss this view.

We've decided we'd love to come back, perhaps when all the cable cars are working as they should. But for now, our adventure continues.  Tomorrow we drive on to an Austrian town called Dalaas.  I'm hoping we'll love it there as much as here.

Friday 8th May - Zugspitze and Eibsee

The cables for the car leading to the top of the Zugspitze, (red arrow).  Note: Just one pylon!

We have had the most fantastic day! 

If you are in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, you have to go to the top of the Zugspitze - it's Germany's highest mountain at 2962m, and you can see into Austria whilst you're up there.  It's expensive - €69 each, but normally you start at the station in Garmisch,  take the cog wheel train literally through the mountain in a tunnel to a glacier near the top, and then a cable car from the glacier to the actual top.  You then take different, much longer, steeper cable car down to Eibsee, and then a train back to Garmisch.

Sadly - due maintenance - that experience is not available whilst we're here, so Peter and I did the only thing that is available - the cable car from Eibsee to the top and then back down again.  I was really disappointed when I first found out that so much stuff was closed due to maintenance but I've accepted my lot and today we set off to reach the top of Germany.

Using our passes again, we caught a bus from outside the camp site to Eibsee.  It was a bit late when it arrived, and a bit full. Standing room only, and as it followed the route to the cable car station, it just kept adding passengers.  I felt like I was on the London Underground.

At Eibsee, we made straight for the cable car. Our timing was perfect,  we only waited just a couple of minutes before we were in a car going up.  The cable car has room for 100 passengers and it was full.  It takes 10 minutes to climb 2000 meters and weirdly there is only one pylon supporting the cable between the top and the bottom.  Engineering is amazing! 

Once out of the car, you walk up three more sets of stairs inside the visitor centre before you are out onto the open platform at the top of the mountain.  There are no words. Photographs and film just cannot do it justice.  The views are so massive, they overwhelm the senses.

On one side is Austria and the Upper Alpine range - formidable, impenetrable looking peaks covered in ice and snow extending beyond the horizon.

On the other is Germany and the Bavarian Alps - friendlier and gentler, covered in trees and greenery, just asking to be explored.

The golden cross on the actual summit of the Zugspitze can only really be accessed by experienced climbers at this time of the year.  The path is on a ridge, covered in a thick layer of snow and involves climbing a ladder amongst other things.  My head was going "No! No! No!" just looking at it. 

An unexpected treat whilst we were up there were the Alpine Choughs.  They flitted around the viewing platforms and the surrounding cliffs, unafraid of people, even taking chips from a child's hand.  I found out that they mate for life, and was lucky enough to catch a pair grooming each other.  

There was 5G up there too.  Not surprising when you see the antennae. There was  a massive amount of weather monitoring equipment too.

We watched a paraglider fly down, and climbers come up.  And we watched as the clouds moved in to cover the peaks - including us. 

Time for lunch then. There are plenty of places inside and outside to buy a drink, a snack or a full meal.  We went for a full meal in the restaurant inside.

We spent a little more time out on the platform after lunch, but the clouds were really closing in. Downstairs we looked around the exhibition.  The work involved in creating the tunnel for the cogwheel train was extraordinary, and watching a timelapse video of how the platforms and buildings at the top of the mountain have changed was also amazing.  They built cranes up there - there were two at one point!

Finally it was time to go down.  It was about 3 pm, and since the sun was shining again, decided to go and have a look at the Eibsee.  It was so lovely and warm in the sun, we sat on the shore for some time, just enjoying the scene. It really is a beautiful lake. 

Our day had been so good so far, I didn't want to go home, so we decided to try a pedal boat out onto the water.  Neither of us had been out on one before, so we thought it would be fun.  I tried to practice  German on the cashier, but he told me I didn't need to - he was Australian.  

After a bit of time trying to work out the awkward steering we settled into a very enjoyable sail? paddle? around the lake.  The water was so clear, huge fish could be seen.  It really was gorgeous. Another added bonus were several pairs of Great-crested Grebe who were completely unfazed us. 

Peter pedalling.  I'm not in the photo, cos I was gurning against the sun every picture I took. 

We had an hour on the water before it was time to get the bus.  Back at the van, we sat outside in the sun reflecting on a fantastic experience.  We'll not forget today for a while.