Tent trauma

The Tent. So far the tent has been a source not of sanctuary but of torment. Those who follow the Facebook page (and I have no idea why you wouldn’t cos all the brilliant people do) know of my joy at discovering that my expensive Northface Tent is less than water tight.

So I thought  I would do a quick blog on that adventure alone.

the Tent Nappy

As you all know, as soon as we encountered anything heavier than a slight mist the rain began to pour in through the roof and everything that had to stay drive had to be moved back into the car. The first night saw the design and testing of the Tent Nappy.

However, further field test proved that while it was successful in a small area the rain was able to get in around the sides of the Tent Nappy so in a bit of paniced desiging and improvision we have the Tent Toupee, courtesy of the folks at Newquay.

The Tent Toupee

There are design faults, and there are many I’m sure you could point out, but the main one is that while defending from the rain the Tent Toupee is powerless against that partner in crime of thunderstorms-wind. And just like its namesake in a slight breeze it will stand up and then float away.

The Tent-a-grad

Next we have the Tent-a-grad (the Tent Castle) inspired by the castle towering over Lake Bled in Slovenia and supplied up the Dutch. However, it lacks a certain style elelment don’t you think? To be honest it shares more with a drying wood pile than either a castle or a tent.

And that folks is how the situation stands. Northface have not bothered to reply to my email and therefore i have no choice but to never risk buying their stuff again.

Thankfully we've had some blue skies since then, but there's still the journey back....

Don’t forget there are loads of Galleries over at the Facebook page, just click like.
Have a good week folks
Cheers Matt

Austria Part two

Zell is a pretty town. And very much into its extreme sports. As I sat at the campsite a paragliding stunt contest (now I sound like a proper dad with that expression) was being held over the lake. It was a warm and relatively clear day, although slightly cloudy. Here I realised that there is a silver lining to all this rain. The cold and the storms had so far protected me from one of the most feared aspects of the European summer- the Euro-trunks, yes that’s right the dreaded speedos. And as I write this, a man is bent over searching for something in the boot of his car and …well let’s just leave it there. We have all suffered this awful experience and so let’s never talk about it again.

It was here whilst mum, dad and Jimmy were on their climbing holiday that dad was attacked by a swan and knocked off his lilo. Tough!

The journey through the Thurn Pass was beautiful and stunning. Austin tackled the loops and bends up through the pass with grace and aplomb. And we stopped for a stately photo at the top. We had a quick posing session and then made our way down. This is where things started to get a little serious. Did I say 'serious, I meant dangerous. Thankfully there were few other travellers on the road, at least behind me, but as we pulled out of the second view spot I noticed a smell of burning. Now several times I have smelt similar worrying odours but a little fortitude and patience have meant that everything had worked out fine. But as we made our way down through the alps on fifty year old breaks the smell began to increase. I had already dropped to third gear, taking it slow and only using the foot brake on the corners when I needed both hands for the wheel and couldn’t use the handbrake to aid our slowing. The smell of burning followed us both down the hill through each of the bends and corners like a comet's tail. Eventually a little rattled we pulled into a supermarket car park to cool and gather our nerves whilst the smell of fresh roasting chickens tormented my stomach.

Not nearly as cool.

After all that I was still to be distress further by the Euro-trunk!!


Our attempts to get though the Grossglockner Pass is a story for another day, and a fortifying beer.
I have been videoing bits and pieces and was going to make a video but they take too long to upload so I thought I might put in a few of the wobbly and unedited clips for your viewing pleasure. Have a laugh at this-

Don’t forget there are loads of Galleries over at the Facebook page, just click like.
Have a good week folks


Cheers Matt

The sun only shines on Tuesdays-Austria

As I sit here, in the playroom of the campsite, the rain is still going. The weather forecast for the next few days looks absolutely dire. Mum and Dad came here to go climbing with Jimmy, but if I had any desires to repeat their adventures the lightning and rain have put an end to it. Reading back through their diaries this was their first main port of call and they spent about a week here in Kufstein, and across the Alps in Zell-am-Zee, pretending to climb but really just lying about in the sunshine and going for a stroll here and there. They did do some climbs but there was a lot of chilling being done in the sun.

Dad somewhere in the Austrain Alps

The drive down from Offenbach was fairly pleasant but the estimations of the time it would take were right out. It was a Tuesday, the one week anniversary and seven days since I had seen the sun. The day was golden and reached the high thirties. Lovely to drive in, but a little too hot for Austin, but neither of us thought it would be a ten hour day. The longest we had done to this point was six hours and that had exhausted me.

 

The stop off in Germany had given me a moment to see the doctor. I thought I was being a wimp, but in the end common sense prevailed and I went. Long story short-got told off for not having my tonsils out as a child (apparently in adults they simply act as a sponge for bacteria and infection, great!) and was given a set of antibiotic. Somehow I had managed to sprain my foot as well and I was sent into town to buy some new walking boots.

Awaking the next morning in the sunshine was brilliant. Warm at last! I sorted out the mess I had made in Austin and did my laundry, before heading out into the Alps. The foot was feeling better but we have a long way to go so I took it carefully. 

Climbing up through the perfume of pines in the cool shade was lovely. I startled a family of jays who took off noisily and the forest resonated with their alarm calls. As I made my way towards the waterfalls above (I forget their name at the moment) thunder began to roll about the valley. By the time I reached the top lightning was getting a little too close for comfort so it was a dash back down.

I made it back just in time but then the heavens opened. And joy of joys, my tent was leaking in several places. Pools of recently invading rainwater had begun to form on the floor. Luckily the rain had only just started so I was able to rescue the sleeping bag and dry clothes. As the lightning flashed on and off and the thunder risked collapsing the tent altogether, I weighted up the possibility of getting into Austin dry.
 

It was looking likely I might well have to sleep in him until I created the Tent Nappy.  Although there was no guarantee that it would work, but once it's checked I'm off to the Dragons Den...

I give you the Tent Nappy.

The forecast for the rest of the week, for here and Zell-am-Zee, is thunderstorms and heavy rain. So depending on the danger level of taking Austin through the Alps in the thunderstorms vs. staying here wet, bored and fed up, tomorrow I might be here, in Zell-am-Zee or over the border in Slovenia. We’ll see....

Don't forget there are loads of photos, old and new at the facebook page The Escape Committee by Matthew Button

Have a good week folks, Cheers Matt