Cruising with Mr Blow

Autumn in the Briançonaise - gorgeous

 Colin duly arrive after a 15 hour epic drive from the Channel, though heavy rain most of the way, finally grounding his car by dropping it off a hidden a kerb in Briançon, a couple of miles from the pad. We went out to find him, the recovery truck was already in the act of lifting the car back onto the road - and relieving Colin of €150! 

Ailefroide granite

It rained for the first couple of days - how inevitable is that - we managed to squeeze in a damp trip up the Via Ferrata at the Rocher de Bez? 

Then things perked up nicely and we have since climbed on a whole variety of crags, in great conditions with very few people about. 

Just one week to go and the peace and quiet will descend again and we will have to make plans.

Back to Brianç0n

Mont Blanc from 60 miles away

After two weeks in Austria we crossed into Italy (via the Stevio Pass - that's another story) for a few days on the granite of Mello, then over the border again to the Maurienne Valley in France for a couple of weeks. It is an area we like a lot, quite high, so cool, some decent climbing and always so quiet.

The Maurienne, nice round here

There is lots going on in the area with road closures and works associated with the 58km tunnel under the area which is going to link Lyon and Turin in about 10 years - they have only been on with it since 2002!

Then it was time to head over the Galibier Pass - great views - and down to Briançon, another area we really like. Colin is coming out from the UK next week so climbing will be done - 50+ years since we first climbed together at Brimham rocks.

Austria almost Autumn

Climbing at Oberried - nice

 The drive from Rotterdam to Austria was as unpleasant as expected with horrendous traffic and pouring rain, but we made it after two days on the road. Ten days in and it has been as pleasant as we were hoping. We are stopping in the small hamlet of Burgstein on a jutting shoulder above the main Öetztal valley. The place is a busy working farm with lots of cattle (and kids) so a bit smelly and occasionally noisy but otherwise very pleasant.

Most places are still very warm but up at 4,500' the days have been warm (low/mid 20s) and the nights have been superbly cool at 10/12C - perfect sleeping conditions. Everywhere is still very busy - hopefully the start of September will see a change as Europeans push off back to work

We have climbed, hiked, explored and chilled - all in all, a great start to our extended trip. Another week here then onwards towards France and the autumn.

In the Starting Blocks

Mucky weather across Europe

It in nine weeks since we got back from Croatia and it has definitely felt like kicking out heels waiting for the autumn to come. We have had three trips away, a couple of weeks in the Yorkshire Dales, ten days at Rhyl on the North Wales coast and six days above Holmfirth, just sixteen miles from home. All were very pleasant, but it made us realise that the flat in Sheffield is certainly a quiet place to be - no tractors, seagulls, cows or sheep waking us at the crack of dawn.

 Anyway it is mid-August and we decided it is time to go - ferry Hull to Rotterdam this evening and onwards to Germany and then Austria. The forecast looks pretty poor for our travelling days but much better beyond 

Then we have our 180 day French Visa to look forward to - bring it on :-)

Biding Our Time

The road goes on - and we must follow if we can

 It must be approaching six weeks since we left Croatia to sit out the summer in the UK. We have had a couple of very pleasant trips away, a couple of weeks in the Yorkshire Dales and a nine day visit to North Wales. Colin came along for part of both trips so we manage to get a good amount of climbing done, often on crags new to me, which is always a plus.

Noggin (HVS 5a) at Noggarth - somewhere new

Perhaps the biggest development has been that we finally got round to submitting our application for a 180 day French Visa. We went over to Manchester to pass the paperwork over and two weeks later got the call to go back for our passports, we were pleased to see that they contained a big shiny visa covering the period from September to March - YES! 

In other news, the UK has just broken its all time temperature record (39.1C) as I write this in a rather steamy Rhyl.

We had hope to get up to Lofoten in August, but with Covid rampant yet again and utter chaos at UK airports we are not so sure if it is a good idea - time will tell.

Back to Croatia

Rovinj from across the bay

Two weeks in the UK was more enough for us - cheap flights to Pula in Croatia and Colin keen to travel clinched it - all booked and a few days later we were back in Rovinj. Colin only had one week, he had to be back for cat sitting, so we climbed seven days on the trot - that hasn't happened for a long time - it was great to be back in the groove.After dropping him back at the airport we kicked back, explored Pula and Rovinj and generally took it easy. 

While we have been away Eastern Grit Mk IV (530bpages) has been published - this is the book that started my relationship with Alan James 21 years ago - a life changing episode.

Turkish Delight

 As our time in Schengen approaches the 90 day limit (thanks once again to the Brexiteers) we had a choice, head back to the UK or pop across the 15 miles of water to Turkey for a few weeks - not really a choice at all tbh. From Kalymnos caught the catamaran to Kos, had a night in a nice (****) hotel then jumped on the early boat to Bodrum. 

Spring in Turkey

Initially we booked a week in Bodrum just to unwind and assess our options - we could fly back to the UK from here, Kos or Rhodes fairly easily.The town is always so busy, but the pad is central, well insulated against the noise and has superb air conditioning and wifi - all a man needs!

Lake Bafa - all mod cons

After a week we moved up the coast to the small town of Akbuk which gave us the chance to have a look at the ancient town of Heraklia on the shore of Lake Bafa  - truly astounding spot and with a huge mountain of granite right behind it with zero climbing on it.