Thank goodness we have managed to get out of Austria. But first things first.

This morning I had a bit of a shock when I rang the campsite we were intending to stay on near Innsbruck, to enquire about their advertised free bus to the city, only to be told firstly that they were full and secondly their ACSI scheme ran out tomorrow anyway. So I started searching on the German side of the border only to find the first two campsites there also ended their ACSI scheme in early June.

When we’ve been using ACSI in Southern Europe the scheme usually continues until late June or even early July, but obviously Alpine campsites are popular earlier in the year.

This required a bit of a rethink. We would need to do more wildcamping and staying on Stellplatz’s (German Aire). I can’t remember whether I mentioned that earlier in the trip one of our two toilet cassettes broke, and an unbearable strain would be put on the one remaining cassette if we were not staying on campsites. So after much searching I found a motorhome dealer, with an accessories shop, on our route.

Entering the shop I found he had the complete range of Thetford cassette replacements except ours! Luckily when I explained to him, in my halting Italian, what we required, he went rummaging in his storeroom and hey presto we were the proud owners of a brand new Thetford 263 toilet cassette, complete with wheels (us old folk need a bit of assistance lugging around poo) and a new toilet seat! They always come with a new seat because they are designed for people buying a used motorhome who are a bit squeamish about whose bottom has been on the previous seat. Having now bought two additional cassettes over the years we are possess two more seats than we need.

We pushed onwards to the Austrian border, conscious that to use Austria’s motorways we would need an electronic Go Box, because we were over 3.5 tonnes in weight. I was undecided whether to avoid the motorways and thus obviate the need to pay for the box or to buy the box on the basis that it would make life easier when we visited Austria in future.

In the end I decided to go for the box. So after much trouble we finally found the place to buy the Go Box just inside the Austrian border. First of all their machine for issuing the boxes was broken and I had to wait twenty minutes while a technician fixed it. Then I handed over my registration documents and they told me I would have to pay a minimum of €85! €5 for the box and the rest would be some money put on the box for tolls, which we I could not reclaim, and an unspecified amount for administration.

I protested that I only wanted to use 20 miles of motorway to Innsbruck and €85 was a bit steep, but they said the computer said no. I made some uncalled for remarks about how ridiculous the system was for a tourist who just wanted to use 20 miles of his country’s motorways, but the man serving me pointed out that there was nothing he could do. I asked if it was still possible to get off the motorway, thinking I was trapped in a lose lose situation, and he surprisingly said I could, just 300 metres up the road.

So, seething, we pulled off the motorway and started on the non motorway route, which only takes an extra 30 minutes or so, only to find that there was a sign banning vehicles over 3.5 tonnes using the non motorway route! Catch 22. I hadn’t the energy to find my way back onto the motorway to get the Go box, so we crossed our fingers and proceeded to Innsbruck via the non motorway option.

The road was clogged going in the opposite direction with motorhomes and cars heading south for the weekend and avoiding tolls and when we glimpsed the motorway that was also at a standstill. €85 to sit in a traffic jam. That would have really capped it.

At some point near Innsbruck I spotted a Policeman pointing a gun at cars. I hope he was checking speeding rather than for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, otherwise I will have a fine waiting for me at home.

Feeling a little less than enamoured with the otherwise beautiful, sunny, alpine scenery of Austria, we decided to give Innsbruck a miss. I had mentioned to Sarah staying on a car park in Innsbruck overnight, but by then I just wanted to get to Germany with its free roads and its Stellplatzes.

Noticing fuel was fairly cheap in Austria I pulled in to fill up with diesel, only for Sarah to point out when I had nearly finished that I had chosen the more expensive diesel with the expensive additive, which my Chemical Engineer son, who works at an oil refinery, has told me is not worth the money. It was that kind of day.

Then, thinking things couldn’t get any worse, driving out of Innsbruck through some roadworks, I was pulled over by the police for speeding. They were lovely about it, but my first speeding fine in 20 or more years, €35 payable on the spot, just took the biscuit (as we say in England).

We drove a few more miles, with outstanding scenery, to the German border and then headed for the first Stellplatz in the little town of Mittenwald (47.438031, 11.264346) . It’s €14, so expensive for a Stellplatz, but the town is supposed to be very pretty and there are two other plus points: firstly it will sell lovely German beer to calm my shattered nerves and secondly its not in Austria!

Apologies for the lack of photographs today, but we’ve not stopped, except at the camping shop and briefly on the motorway, all day.