Peelies travels

We’ve driven a lot of Alpine passes but never the Stelvio. Moving south to the Italian lakes gave us a great excuse to drive it on Tuesday. Stelvio has a very recognisable set of hairpins that feature in many photographs taken of those final bends, on the approach from the east. Leaving Prutz and heading south we soon hit a road closed sign. This was our way to the pass and as we hesitated in the middle of the carriageway, an Austrian guy assured us it was a ten minute detour into Switzerland. So we left the roadworks, where they were working to strengthen the tunnel / galleries along the side of the rockface and we made the detour which was certainly not ten minutes longer. Maybe Austria Man meant ten minutes driving in Switzerland and then you’ll be back into Italy. So it was up and over a small local pass. By the time we got down to the valley we were ready for a stop and came across this reservoir under which are the remains of several villages but with one landmark remaining, a be...

I’d forgotten just how well Austria does things. From the moment you get there, everything looks perfect. It’s like Switzerland but affordable. The roads are smooth, the verges and trees clipped and cut back so that visibility isn’t compromised. We want a taste of the mountains before the expected thunderstorms break out this week and we head for Prutz, where we stay for Sunday and Monday nights. Here we find the most highly organised all-season campsite, full of people just like us, as well as couples with preschool children. We marvel at the shower rooms that are spacious and heated. The modest campsite fee is subject to hefty local and tourist taxes but as a reward we get a two day bus pass. We walk across the wooden boarded bridge, over a rushing river and wander around the town, visiting the churchyard. It’s a beautiful place. The bells chime the quarters but stop after dark, at 9 o’clock. For some reason that I haven’t researched, just after the 6am chimes, they then ring two bel...

Our wish came true and we visited the fairytale Bavarian castle, Neuschwanstein. It’s worth the trip. From Peter’s, we used the autobahn and skirted Stuttgart, always aware that these two lane m-ways can quickly jam with an accident, roadworks or ‘the sheer volume of traffic’. I was kind to a Dutch driver of a VW Transporter, who had a rear wheel wobble. He was a little surprised to see me lean out of the window as I drove alongside in very slow traffic and called to him. I pulled off in full view at the next parking area. He came off too but not because he’d followed me. Anyway, I went to find him and he knew something was amiss. Now he knew it was a wheel and which one. We stopped overnight just off the motorway and then continued to the area of lakes near the castle. A warm Saturday obviously brings out the crowds and everywhere was busy  We headed for the chosen Camping Aichelberg ,  only to find it was full. However there was room in the car park. This proved to be the be...

  We returned to Peter Biroth on Thursday morning. He is at BA Automotive in Bieblesheim ( www.bs-automobile.com ) and as before, he was very helpful even though two mechanics were away. What’s really nice is that he didn’t push me out of the workshop; instead I got in the way and helped discuss the potential problems. As I thought, they suggested changing the ball joints in the steering, well three of four. I could only feel play at one. I really don’t think that ‘Alex’ (not his real name) or Slavo could feel play at the other two but they wanted to fire new parts at them. They did say that the hub bearings at the front right wheel might need changing because I’d had to adjust twice this year. It looked as though nothing would get done until Monday. Friday is booked up and t oday is out, as two cars have the TÜV inspections and there’s the two guys off. Maybe he took pity on us as he asked if we could get in for 08:00, to which we said yes but need to find a campsite. He then got ...