Week 3: Full Moon
The full moon was still behind Kleinberg mountain and Hallstätt’s glittering reflection over Hallstätter See was the brightest thing in the night. The cool mountain air hasn’t dropped down to the lake yet and the evening was humid and warm. A calm lake made no sound apart from the occasional few splashes created by the wake of a mutzen boat ferrying people to and from town. From over the lake local artist Hubert von Goisern was singing his neo-folk tunes and although it was over two kilometres away and on the other side of the lake, it sounded as clear as if we were right there. The lake and the mountains formed a perfect natural amphitheater with awe-inspiring acoustics.
This week was all about Austria and Bavaria. Beer. Brötchens. Apfeltasche. Sausage and Landjäger. We started in the Vorarlberg region of Austria, moving on to the outskirts of Innsbruck, before hopping over the border to Berchtesgaden for a quick visit. A short drive south brought us to sleepy Hallstätt and we ended our Austrian stay next to Lake Worthersee. At the moment we’re in Slovenia and the late summer / early autumn sunshine we’ve had all week, is a blessing after the rain earlier on in the trip.
Highlights:
Austria
Campsites in Austria are well managed, orderly places. They don’t have the gazillion little signs, warnings and notices (or campingordnung) as the German campsites, but there is an unspoken expectation that you keep things very neat. In Austria people were also very interested in our little camping car and we even gave a short tour to a fellow camper.
The first couple of nights we spent at Sonnenberg Camping where we wandered around the small farming town of Nüziders and restocked our food supplies. In search of a more rural, tourist-free Austria, we made a short detour to the mountain village of Schönenbach.
From here we headed to Pettnau near Innsbruck. We stayed at a small and friendly campsite, Camping Tiefental. On arrival we met another Kiwi and his bicycle. He was at the end of his trip, but over the last 30 years he’s done all the high mountain passes around Europe – some even a several times. Our small camper is luxury compared to the limited amount of equipment he could take with him on his bike and we left Pettnau in awe of his spirit for adventure.
The big surprise this week was the tiny town of Hallstätt – a World Heritage site for having the first recorded salt mine on earth. Due to its position wedged right in between the mountain side and the lake, the town’s remained small and narrow for hundreds of years. Until the Fifties it wasn’t even possible to reach the town by car and despite major opposition from townsfolk, they completed a tunnel in the 1960’s making it possible to visit Hallstätt by car. There is only one small campsite in town and it is impossible to get a pitch without prior booking – perhaps due to Von Goisern’s sold out gig in town. A better option is the eclectic and unique Camping am See about three kilometres out of Hallstätt. It is expensive, but the setting across the lake from town is near-perfect for a campsite.
Our last stop in Austria was Klagenfurt, a convenient location for a stopover down to Slovenia.
Germany
Berchtesgaden in Upper Bavaria got famous for all the wrong reasons, but one can’t deny it’s beauty. You can see why they chose the location. From Kehlsteinhaus (better known by it’s English name, The Eagles’ Nest) you can see all the way down to Königssee to the south and also across the border into Austria. Adolf Hitler got the mountain hut as a fiftieth birthday gift, but it was mainly used as a place to entertain guests. He preferred Berghof as a residence – directly below Kehlsteinhaus. We were a bit uncomfortable with the place, especially when we learned it’s colloquially known as ‘Hitler’s Biergarten’. There is no museum here and nothing to encourage a shrine and Mr H isn’t even mentioned anywhere on site or in the brochures, but it is clear that his connotation with the place is why most people make the bus-trip up the mountain. One can also see the hut wherever you are in the valley, even at night when two lights instead of one, like two eyes are watching you. Perhaps there’s nothing to it, but the omnipresence of Kehlsteinhaus felt a bit strange. If it was up to me, I would raise it to the ground and allow nature to take it back.
Berchtesgaden, and Königssee in particular, is a breathtakingly beautiful place. The tranquil crystal clear waters of the lake makes for a refreshing swim after a hot boat ride to St Bartholomä. Taking a nap on the grass behind the chapel and taking in the mountain views all around is something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives – the perfect place for a lazy Sunday and we envy the people who can do it often. Unfortunately though, the lasting memory will be the creepy little hut on Kehlstein looking down on you wherever you are in the valley.
We’ve just arrived in Slovenia and when we were in Switzerland someone recommended Bled Camping – our current location. We made camp in the dappled shade of a small cluster of beech trees. The cool water of Lake Bled is a right at the edge of the campsite with a beach bar in between. We might just have to stay here for a little while…
Trip stats (Wk1 – Wk3):
- Current location: Lake Bled, Slovenia
- Days on the road: 21
- Distance travelled: 1854.2 miles / 2 984.0 km
- Countries visited: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Slovenia
- Cups of coffee: 47
- Pitched the tent 1 times.
- Camper awning pitched 8 times.
- Number of campsites: 15
- Number of hotels: 0
- Euros spent on fuel: 150.88
