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Carinthia 2017

Created: 09 Aug 2017
Aug 09

Well this tour area certainly lived up to its reputation for being the sunniest part of Austria.

For those who are wondering where Carinthia is, it refers to an area in the South of Austria bordering Italy and Slovenia this making it possible to tour in all three areas. It was an area we have passed through many times on our way to and from Croatia and so was keen to tour in greater detail. For that reason we chose a 4 star hotel for 4 nights and toured out from there.

Our journey started with an overnight ferry to Zeebrugge then a further stop in Nancy. Cutting through the Vosges Mountains we spent our 3rd night just inside the Austrian Border, arriving in time to enjoy various impromptu street entertainers.

The next day turned out to be a rather frustrating in that we were faced by two detours; the first was due to the B31 being closed. As seems to be the norm in Germany, you are diverted then left to your own devices. We managed to fiddle our way through and found some cracking roads, but it does eat up time.

The second was that the Alborg tunnel is still closed for refurbishment, meaning a trip over the Alborg pass. Not that we minded that, as it was a beautiful day and the traffic was not too bad, but of course it takes a lot longer.

We actually reached the Timmelsjoch in reasonable time, this was a very ‘together’ group, spoilt only by the numbers which made food and petrol stops rather long.  I think the reason for the large group was that once again satnavs are letting people down and they lose confidence in them.  Is it really beyond manufacturers like Garmin and Tom Tom to provide software that just works, without you having to be a computer whizz kid.

Anyway I digress; we had a great ride over the Timmelsjoch in beautiful weather to drop down into Italy. There I am afraid we were frustrated again by lines of holiday traffic and the usual farce of getting petrol in Italy on a Sunday. However, we all rolled up safely at our hotel in time for a beer or two before sitting down to an excellent dinner.

The next three days were spent touring the area, our hosts who are motorcyclists took us out one day, and we had another checking out some the Carinthia passes and a final one in Italy and Slovenia.  All the time we were blessed with excellent weather, if at times a little warm and rather humid.

During our stay, word came back of people being fined for returning back into Austria from touring Slovenia and not having their passports with them – however for the fee of €100 - they mysteriously became part of the European Union again and were allowed entry – call me cynical – but sounds like a way of obtaining money to me. Couple of people were fined for clipping a single white line – fair enough I guess, we all know the score.

We also had a couple of incidents,  thankfully neither  serious,  Jersey Geoff met a car on a corner in one of the many tunnels and was forced against the tunnel wall – fortunately his engine bars did the job and prevented major damage. Geoff was fine, and the bike was soon repaired at the local BMW dealership. Speaking of dealerships, the ones in Villach are great and helped several people out with little minor faults on their bikes that had developed during the tour.

Unfortunately Geoff’s incident was reported on Facebook, which caused his wife a great deal of distress as Geoff had not told her purposely so as not to upset her. Social media is great, but it is not real, and people should think before they post.

Our journey returned back through Germany and onto Rotterdam to catch the ferry home, whilst others made for the Eurotunnel. To keep Geoff’s ‘rain man’ title safe, we did have a heavy shower on our way, but soon the sun was out again and we enjoyed a quiet crossing.

As I said, a very together group, we enjoyed great scenery, excellent food and accommodation, and for me some new roads.  I think it will be an area we will visit again.

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