Post It from Camping Jodl, Alt-Ossiach, Carinthia, Austria. Sunday 10th May, 2015.

The best views of the Lienzer Dolomite mountains were seen just after leaving the campsite we had stayed at the night before. The long range of steep mountains was broken up by valleys running down their almost vertical sides making the full terrain look like gigantic fingers on a hand. Unfortunately there was nowhere to stop to get photographs and Sharon’s attempts to get good ones showing the topography with the small camera as we were driving was impossible. We stopped at an ALDI just after the end of the range and I managed to get a photograph from the car park but it does not reflect their beauty really. It is the first one shown.

Once we arrived in Carinthia we could see it was a popular tourist area and as we drove along the northern shore of the Ossiacher See towards camping Jodl, which was located on the southern side of the lake near the head of the waters, it was abundantly clear the area was a magnet for walkers and cyclists and those who used the lakes beautiful waters for pleasure.

We chose this camp site because DianneT, from the forum, and her husband John had been coming here every year for the past 12 years and we thought if someone had done that then it was worth us visiting as it must be something special. Dianne had also helped me out with some valuable information in our planning for this holiday and it would be good to meet up face to face and chat.

We arrived early afternoon to be greeted by Dianne and John who assisted us to choose a pitch on the terraced campsite which ran down to the shore of the lake. The views from the site were stunning and we could immediately see why they kept returning. Unfortunately the camp site will close for good at the end of the year so we are very pleased we made the trip here. We think the views from the pitch are probably the most beautiful we have ever seen on the sites we have stayed at so far in our relatively short time camping.

The site itself is owned by Andreus and Karin who keep it spotless and whilst it may be a little dated by todays modern standards it is bursting with beauty and tranquillity.

Dianne and John were very good hosts to us, offering to take us sightseeing, but we were keen to do some cycling as Sharon was actually missing the gym would you believe. Those who know us personally may get a shock to hear that. Having read Dianne’s blog I did have the cheek to then ask if they would accompany us to one of the farm house dining restaurants she had spoken about, because we would not have been able to get there our bikes, and they readily agreed. Having read about them in her story I so wanted to try the true Austrian farm hospitality and food myself so this was going to be a real treat for us.

There are many walks from the site which will take you along and up the heavily forested sides of the valley and cycle paths that are of the highest standard. I have never ridden on such well signposted pathways before, it would be almost impossible to get lost.

We rode for the first time this holiday and managed three mornings cycling. We rode along the lake’s length to Villach in the west then to the east, passing the small airport where gliders take off from with their tow planes, to the town of Feldkirchen where there were quite a good section of shops. Our final ride on the Saturday was fully around the lake along the northern shore then returning back along the southern shore, a distance of almost 18 miles. We had a good view of the camp site from the other side of the lake which showed its perfect location.

 The whole area was brimming with trees and meadows surrounding the lake itself. On the lake we saw many fishermen in small boats powered by almost silent small outboard motors. There were also ferry boat connections around the lake so you could take a trip, getting on and off as you please, with your cycles should you wish to. We spotted a black squirrel in Dr Wolf’s house at Bodensdorf. I managed to get some good photographs with the telephoto lens and we saw that its ears seemed to be more pointed than our grey ones at home and they had plumes of hair pointing upwards on their tips.

At night the skies were clear and black so star gazing was a pleasure, especially for an ex navigator like myself who once crossed the oceans by the stars long before GPS! The lights from the houses around the shore reflected on the almost still waters making for a very different view of the lake.

On the Saturday evening John and Dianne took us to eat at an Austrian Farmhouse called Kolblhof at Maltschach, a good drive away through small country lanes and higher up than the lake. From the farmhouse you had views of the Karawanken Mountains bordering Slovenia and then to our amazement in the distance through valleys of mountainsides we could actually see the Ossiacher See just in the V of two valley sides. John said the lake was in fact 500m above sea level and I think we may have been around 900m at that point. I wished I had taken my camera as the view of the lake was not what we would expect to see and looked like snow from this distance of 5.80 miles as the crow flies from the start of the lake.

The Farmhouses are only allowed to open at certain times so as not to take the customer’s way from the restaurants and can sell only the fare they produce on the farm. The whole menu was made up of cold meats, pate and cheeses with no vegetables or deserts except for half a tomato and a gherkin to dress the platter. Sharon and I had a mixed platter of cold meats called a Brettljause served on a wooden chopping board with dark bread, washed down with cider although Sharon had hers watered down with apple juice. The whole meal for the four of us was a staggeringly low price of 32€. The roast pork was the best I had ever tasted and like at Camping Prumtal I enjoyed having some pork dripping to spread on my bread.

On the Sunday we spent most of the day relaxing on the site and tidying away what we could before our departure. That afternoon John invited us to join them in a drive to another larger lake called the Worther See. It was very grand and as we promenaded along the lakeside of a place I cannot recall the name of we were entertained by a band playing on the bandstand, and very good they were too. On the way back John drove up and over the top of the forested valley, on track roads at times, and we dropped back into Ossiach near the camp site. We were very lucky to have such hosts and the opportunity to see things we would not have done otherwise. We were also lucky to be blessed with plenty of sun and very warm temperatures during our 5 night stay.

This was our final place to stay in Austria on our way south and we were both very impressed with the country. It was a very clean country, the camp sites were spotless even at the more basic ones and the people were helpful and friendly without exception. Shopping was a little different with credit cards not being accepted in supermarkets and at some my debit card could not be used either because it was a Visa card. The banks were a little different too when I discovered it was normal for ATM’s not to give receipts when withdrawing cash, at first I thought it must have been faulty. There was an abundance of all types of sweet pastries and cakes available but we could not find any savoury things but did enjoy the proper pretzels which are nothing like those little salty snacks we knew as pretzels. My favourites were from the Spar shop in Innsbruck town centre because they had a very unusual taste to the bread. I found the costs of things quite reasonable and some things much cheaper than the UK. What did surprise me was the tourist and environment taxes charged which amounted to almost 4 € a night. We shall certainly return again though.

Regards, Roy