Austria Newsletter

This page last updated 18/07/10

Yes, I made it back safely, the car though was not as perfect as I had hoped. The garage felt that we might get another year before the automatic gearbox, packs up! But we only replaced it 4 years ago!! Well, that is cars, stated the garage! How come I am always hearing from people who inform me that their car has been running perfect for the past 10 - 20 years with only a few squirts of oil...is it the way I drive? Can't be, the blinking thing is automatic, so no chance to crunch the gears!! Ah well, looks like we shall need to start checking out ebay motors. And another thing while I am in complaining mode...how come when I give the garage plenty of notice that I shall be back for check and they say ok, well do it this day...the day turns into 3/4 days because they are always so busy!

Had a good ferry crossing with Norfolkline..I cannot speak highly enough of this company...besides first class ships the staff are always helpful. Because of delays on the M25(Yes is'nt there always) I arrived at the check 10 minutes before the ferry was due to leave...no problem, they quickly routed me to the lorry lane, and got me on just in time before ailing...so Norfolkline, once again many thanks. If you try this route from Dover - Dunkerque, also book yourself the VIP lounge, it is worth it, you can relax before your long drive.

The drive back to Austria was very tiring as the temperatures were up in the high thirties and the vehicle does not have air con. So I was stopping every hour for a reak and to change my T shirt! There were also diversions at Karrlsruhe, because of tunnel repairs at Permisens, but I quite enjoyed the detour...stopped me getting bored with my normal route to Austria. So if anyone is taking the route across country through Permisens, be prepared to go onto Karrlsruhe and pick up the motorway south at that point.

22/06/10

I am off to England this weekend to get the car MOT'd. This is necessary...you are quite entitled as a UK citizen to drive in all the countries of the EU, but your vehicle must be legal according to the country of registration...so MOT time. This should give me a little more time to catch up on this newsletter...well I hope so!

It has been quite unusually cold this past few weeks...and we have even had snow on the mountain tops! It will be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring...but I think it is the same across Europe. Floods and still more rain!

WE took our young son for his first vaccinations last week...and as every parent will know, it is not the easiest thing to let a stranger stick a great needle in your child. But unlike our daughters vaccinations in UK, the doctor was extremely gentle and understanding of parental stress!! Our young daughter was not impressed in the least, she still has memories of her jabs....so we are dreading when we take her for the next necessary jab. This will be for TIC fever, she must have it to start Kindergarten in the Autumn. Yes, there are certain areas in Austria, particularly near to lakes, that you can easily get bitten by a Tic, whilst walking in the meadows...that is something Julie Andrews did not have to worry about. I am sure! Anyhow, do remember if you are walking in Austria, check with the local tourism office about the areas of Tic trouble, and wear long socks just in case.

Ok, have a good week, whatever you are doing.

13/06/10

Rain, Rain, and more rain...well it was until we collected the Parents fro the airport...that day it was 32 degrees!! One cannot say that Austria is boring as far as weather is concerned! We have had floods in Upper Austria with homes washed out! And now we have a heatwave! But we were pleased for the Parents point of view...not only dide they get to meet the new grandson, but they had perfect weather.....well, I thought it was perfect weather but then it became too hot for the Parents! That is the thing about Mother Nature, she just won't conform!!

But last night we had heavy thunderstorms...and guess what...yes, I had left all the garden furniture out!!! I had a call last night... from some guests arriving at Munich...it was midnight! My wife was not too pleased, but felt sorry for the guests. The car hire company refsed their credit card and they would have to stay at the airport until this morning when they could transfer money! Lesson for all....remember to check your credit card available spend balance before travelling!!!!

LETTER FROM AUSTRIA

Our weekly-ish newsletter from our man in the Salzkammergut.

28/05/10

WE have had our fair share of rain this month! but our guests do not seem to have minded...except our god friends Simon and Denise. You see... they live in the lovely south of France and to come from the sunny climes to cold and wet can be a shock to the system! Sorry Simon, I can do something about the wine but not the weather!

But I think it has been the same across Europe...sunshine and heavy shower. It will not stop the Famous 'Shake the Lake Jazz event form taking place on 2nd June for a few days. THis is always popular and already the hotels and guest houses are filling up rapidly! WE have to turn away so many enquiries for this period and also the Red Bulls air races over the lake in the beginning of July. Anyhow onto more mundane matters. I bumped into some other the other day and they nagged me that I was not updating the newsletter enough...OK, Peter and Christine, I shall not use the children and heavy workload as an excuse, and shall endeavour to be a bit more current! On that note I have manage to get my Carport finished at long last! This has been great because I have also added an enclosed hut at the end of the carport to be my tool shed!! Every man's dream, his ow little cave to put all his tools in!! My wife is now concerned that as I am spending so much time in it...is there some competition for her!!?

Today I am going to collect our spare Rotary Ironing machine. This is such a necessary item when you have so many holiday guests. Can you imagine trying to do the ironing for 6-8 apartments? Well it is hard work with a hand iron!! Many owners do not realise because they perhaps have a family wash to do each week and then catch up on the ironing..well apartment owners please give a thought to our lady who does your cleaning, laundry and apartment preparation for your guests? And if you are feeling generous at Christmas time, she likes Cadbury's milk tray!!?.

15/04/10

It is my Mother's birthday today!! Did I forget...well no I did not, but trying to find a suitable Birthday card presented a problem...she does not red German!! Ended up with a card showing cats.....she likes cats and as there was no text, it was safe to send. Believe it or not ...it only takes 48 hrs to get a letter to the UK. Many of my Friends seem to think that we are in the back of beyond,,,living in Austria! Well, I think that the postal service is as good as in UK and maybe a bit faster? A tip for you though...if you are on holiday in Austria...well in fact anywhere in Europe, put your postcard inside an envelope...it is then treated as normal mail and gets to it's destination quite quickly....don't just put a stamp on a postcard...I think it will take weeks to get anywhere and I also include the Uk for this one!!.

We have been affected quite badly by the volcanic ash problem all over Europe...many of our clients or property owners are phoning to say, they are stuck in UK and unable to get to Austria for the forseeable future??? I guess Mother nature is still able to show the human race who is boss!!

21/03/10

It was with some sadness, that I read the news last week of the attempted abduction of a young boy in the Salzburg region. (The story is on our home page) This is a pretty rare occurence, but it did bring home, that even in a country as tranquil and safe as Austria, there is still the nasty side of the society. It was apparently someone from outside the country..but this makes it even more worrying, the ease with which a youngster could be lifted and transport halfway across Europe in the same day! We have often talked about how nice it is that children walk to school..even on there own. But I am certain my wife will now think twice before letting our young ones, do the same when they become of school age.

Well Spring has truly sprung here in Austria, and we have gone from 1 or 2 degrees to 20 degrees!! After all these years it never ceases to amaze me, that come the last week of March, you can sense the immediate change of season, just as, in October, the Autumn arrives. One minutes there are summer temperatures, then the next week, the leaves are going and the temperature drops about 10 degrees. But that is the wonder and the beauty of the country. My neighbour was very pleased, she is quite elderly and now of an age were she hates the snow season. I guess, as one ages, the fun of snow goes

10/03/10

It now seems so long ago since I dashed back to the uk to collect the car, because I have not had a moment to relax...with the half term holidays and so many visitors wanting to book a last minute break for the apartments. One of our guest families were from Dublin, so I was interested to find out that they had been able to get to Salzburg direct from Dublin with Aer ingus. his is good news because now you can fly directly to Munich from Blfast and Salzburg from Dublin...extremely good news for our guests from Ireland.

We now have warm weather... well ....9c so it feels like a spring day, but don't worry we still have lots of snow on the mountains for ski-ing. Which reminds me...I went ski-ing at Dachstein west last week, after a few years using other areas...and was surprised how many lifts and choice of runs there were. I had simply forgotten...that is one of the things about living in Austria...there is so much choice when it comes to ski runs you can quite literally spend your whole life trying them out!!!

News and main topic of conversation at the moment is the number of people dying in Avalanches and ski accidents...I think it will soon become law for everyone to wear a ski helmut... am not sure what the answer is to the Avalanche danger..other than for people to be ensible....however human nature is not sensible at the best of times and people will take stupid chances.

We have had so many new property bargains becoming available, my wife and I are now tempted that we move instead of adding an extension... to house the growing family. The new baby..a boy will soon need his own room and his sister will certainly want to keep her own room. So, it can be a bit of a difficult decision, as buiolding osts can be more expensive than buying something similar already existing??...anyhow watch this space.

15/02/10

FASCHING....

No not a rude word, just Austrian for Carnival. It has been Fasching weekend which is mainly for the children to dress up and ave fun....and today is Fasching Montag...the day for ladies to go out on Hen parties and try and get guys to buy them drinks....also the possibility to ask a guy to get married. Most men stay at home on this night!!!! Tomorrow is Fascing Dienstag when it is party all day and maybe make it to work the next!

I have been back to UK a few times since my last update, so have had very little time to write much. the most recent was last week to pick up another car...it was a good flight back and I can certainly recommend Easy Jet as opposed to a certain Irish carrier!! The drive back was more interesting...as there was 6 inches of snow at Dover ferry port and I discovered the heater in the car only worked when I was actually stopped...then it would not work when I started to drive...no joke as I had almost 1,000 miles to drive! It was a cold journey and I needed to stop quite a few times to let the car warm up. The last time I drove a car with a coat around my legs for warmth was my old Triuph Spitfire back in the 80's!!

The drive across Europe was interesting as always..this time I gt caught up in the half term traffic from Holland...you would have thought that every Dutchman and his family were on the roads heading for Germany and Austria!!

Since the new year celebrations, the ski season started and most people have tried to make the most of what little snow we had...but thankfully the white stuff is here and there is go ski-ing to be had at most resorts.

January 2010

I guess everyone has had enough of turkey and tinsel by now and looking forward to some ski-ing...well I certainly am. The warm December weather has turned to nice crisp below zero temperatures. The mountains are filling up with snow and this coming days we are promised lots of the white stuff!! I am pleased that the weather stayed warm over Christmas..what I hear you say...are you mad? No....it is just that our baby was due around Christmas, and I was dreading being snowed in and having to call the Ambulance or emergency helicopter!!

As it turned out the baby decided to arrive on 26th December...just as we were in the middle of preparing the apartments for guests arriving that day!! My wife suddenly stood upright and announced...I think we had better get to the hospital, the first contraction had happened, then in 30 minutes another..right...what was our plan..oh yes, get the car packed with all the stuff for an over night stay..not as easy as you think, particularly as the car was full of items for preparig the apartments and also we have a toddler who wanted to take every christmas toy she had received!! Forget the apartments, I'll just have to leave an apology note with keys...contractions now 5 minutes apart...how the heck can it go from 30 minutes to 5 minutes? Oh no..baby might arrive on the way...in the car!!! Not a happy thought. Got my wife and toddler in the car with everything needed( I hope) and set of for hospital...gosh why did'nt I fill the tank last night...pulled into Garage to get fuel, hoping that baby would wait for a comfortable bed rather than the forecourt of a Petrol garage!!!

So glad it is not snowing!!...we make it to the hospital and park out side the front door..I help my wife into reception, were she thinks it is going to happen..the guy at reception must have seen it all before, because he calmly said, a maternity sister is on her way down...wow...now that is efficient, and I had not said anything yet. am just going to my car I tell him...NO, you must stay with your wife..I can't I tell him, but you must...I can't.. I insist...my little daughter is still in the car!!! Oh, sorry, yes go get her...I won't go into all the details but 2 hrs later the baby was born!! So approximately 4.5 hrs from start to finish!!

The staff were great...shall we organise a family room for you? Yes that would be nice...a relaxing overnight stay..well it was relaxing as is possible in the circumstances!! Next day we asked when we could go home? The doctors looked very concerned...Do you have a mid wife organised they asked? No do we need to? In England they normally want you out the next day and a mid wife calls. Here in Austria is is normal for the woman to stay in hospital for five days, they gently point out, incredulous that a hospital would send a woman home so soon after a birth. I won't start a great debate here about health systems...other than to say...I am pleased we were in Austria.

The family room included 3 meals a day and cost 65 euros...the food was a good as a 4 star hotel!!

So after 5 days, we came home to try and get things sorted...so I really do have an excuse if I don't keep this blog as up to date as it should be...Happy new year to you all and make it Austria if you are wanting to have a ski holiday.

24/12/09 - Christkind Austriasc

The past week has been extremely busy with the last of the Christmas shopping to get...in between seeing clients and meeting guests. And of course we had 20cm of snow arrive on Sunday, so I was back to digging out the car park spaces for our guests!! But this time of year is always enjoyable in Austria. I popped to the local shop today...hoping they would still be open...luckily they were. I got to speaking with a neighbour about how things are becoming more commercialised in Austria...yes even the American shopping influence is permeating into Austria!! We discssed how only 15 years ago, Christmas was all about the Christkind(the Christ Child) But now it seemed more and more it was about the guy in the red suit and black boots!!

In Austria 24th December is Christmas for Austrians and they like to get home to their families. Normally from midday onwards...when the firework bangs disturb the otherwise tranquillity. so mostly everything is closed.

Speaking of shops being closed, I went to meet with some guests arriving today for the Christmas period today Xmas eve to UK etc. They needed to get some food in for the weekend...no chance I'm afraid and also they had a bad experience with their rental car company Buchbinder..not the first time guests have complained about the company. They then got a taxi from Salzburg, calling to say they would be at the meeting point in about 25 minutes...impossible I thought, it takes me at least 45 minutes to Salzburg centre. But within 20 minutes they were calling to ask, were was I?? I was very interested to speak with this Taxi driver...perhaps he knew of a way to Salzburg that I do not?? On arriving at the chalet they had booked, I asked him, but he said...no special way...the roads were completely empty...of course...it's Christmas in Austria!

Happy Christmas to all my readers and thank you for your patience with the inconsistancy of my writings over the past year.

10/12/09

continued....some friends arrived from the South of France to enjoy a bit of festive cheer with snow...and the first thing he reminded me was that I had not finished my blog about my trip back from UK....I have been so busy since my return I had not only lack of time but had actually forgotten that the weeks were disappearing fast as we got further into the Advent season!! So here we go...after a call to my garage in Devon, it was decided I could drive back to Austria without power steering!!! I drove off the ferry with some trepidation and hoping that I would not break down in France...anywhere but France!! I was so pleased when I got into Belgium, I stopped for an early morning coffee to celebrate. It was certainly not easy without power steering and I cannot say I was looking forward to driving across Europe without it's help and I was constantly waiting for the last belt to break...stranding me in the middle of Europe at the weekend with no garages open.

But as I got further and then into Germany, I felt more confidsent, after all my Father's old cars never had the benefit of power steering, and I really started to understand why my father had such muscles in his arms!!! The trip was pretty straight forward except when stopping for a break, because as I reduced speed it became so difficult to manouver the vehicle, I stopped overnight in Germany and I made it back to Austria safely. My first stop was to the local garage, to make an appointment for the following day when Peter the owner was able to replace all the fan belts...and put my winter tyres on at the same time.

The vehicle is running ok for now, but we will need to replace it at some point...it is just such a useful family vehicle, it will be hard to find soas good, that can transport prams and kids besides furniture from England!!

10h Nov 2009

My trip back to return the hire car and collect my own...once again turned into a bit of a saga!! The drive back with the Hire car was fine, but on my return I found out that the wrong radiator had been supplied and my garage had to wait for a replacement...so back to re-scheduling ferries!!

After a few days delay it turned up and my garage were able to complete the repairs...great...quickly re-booked the ferry and headed of for Dover...except the fan belts broke again just outside Ashford!! I could not believe my luck...there had to be a reason for this. The breakdown service again came and sorted what they could..by now it was 2am and I was due on a ferry at 6am. The mechanic offered that I could park the car in his garage overnight and they would find replacement fa belts n the morning. What a position to be in...I needed to be in Austria not wet and windy Dover. I asked the mechanic if he could get some belts there and then, but he did not have access to the stores...ummh..the vehicle was still running ok, it was just that I had lost the air con and the power sterring..the air con I could live without but was the vehicle still safe to drive with no power steering?? To be continued

21st Oct 2009

OK, everyone, I am back from the UK...the trip turned into a bit of a nightmare. We broke down at Dunkerque, just outside the Ferry terminal. All 3 fan belts broke!! I called our Breakdown Insurance and luckily they had a mechanic on the way within 30 minutes. He arrived to look and then explain that it was not going anywhere!! And that as it was a Friday night all the garages were closed until Monay. Just what we needed...pouring rain a car full to the brim with suitcases, carry cot etc etc. I called the breakdown again and they offered to put us in a Hotel for the weekend.

So, after putting our car on his tow truck(not secured in anyway and also he smelled heavily of Alcohol) off we trundle with the French Mechanic to our hotel, with my wife clinging on to our toddler in the back of this truck for dear life. I was still trying to do up my seat belt when he suggested it was not necessary as the Police did not stop tow trucks!! I was desperate to put the seat belt on, now that he had reached 80mph belting down the E40 back to the centre of Dunkerque....we made it to the hotel, but then we had to get all our cases and baby bits out of the Car not easy as it was on top of his truck!

I still had to arrange to go back the next day in a taxi to get all bits needed for an enforced stay of 3/4 days. Well after the weekend, our breakdown cover called to say the car would be ready on the Tuesday and they would send a taxi to collect me and go to the garage. Arriving there...I paid them 208 euro and drove off in my car...I managed to get a few miles down the road and it overheated!!! I had to stop and wait for the engine to cool down. When I checked...they had not bothered to replace the wazter that had obviously been lost when it overheated first time after thye belts broke!! I was quite livid...as we had re- booked the ferry for 4 pm that afternoon!!!

Luckily I had 3 bottles of mineral water in the car...I used all in an attempt to replace the missing coolant for the engine!!

But when we got back to UK, that was not the end of it...we broke down again at Salisbury, the mechanic who came, said the repair in France had not been carried out properly! He could not fix and had to have the pick-up truck take us back. Another good reason to have European and UK breakdown cover. Our garage in Devon, needed time to order special parts so we rented a car to drive back to Austria...my plan being to return it the following week and collect our own! I will not even start to go into the costs of our trip!!

to be continued

27th Sept 2009

Autumn is certainly here...the leaves are turning a fantastic shades of gold, bronze and copper. But I am happy to say that the summer sun seems to be dragging on and on and on!! The days start of with a chill in the air but we still blue skies and temperatures in the low to middle twenties ...and some late holidaymakers are still swimming in the lake along with the die-hard locals....

I have tried to take advantage of dry weather to prepare the ground for the new winter hut, The trees I had lopped and chopped and made a bonfire of small pieces...the larger logs will become useful fuel for the log fire. My neighbour has been out with his electric chain saw lopping his trees also, so now I don't feel like such a vandal chopping my own!! The local council have also been out thinning out the old and dead trees to prepare the area for the winter snows. It know it was a year ago, but i t only seems like yesterday when they were doing the same thing!

This time of year we do get the chance to slow down a little as we tend to have short stay visitors, until the next rush of guests for the Advent season...which starts on 20th November this year!! But before then we have the Wolfgangsee lauf to look forward to...this is the marathon run around the lake...all 27 kms over road and mountain!!! IThe organisers are very fair and offer for us lesser mortals the chance to start at the other side of the lake...which is only 10km. It takes place 16-18th October and attracts runners from all over Europe. This means we get lots of last minute phone calls...'Do you have a room for the weekend' No sorry we're full...it is the same every year the last minute panic to find accommodation at Wolfgangsee'. It is not as if they don't know about it as most book after the previous year!!

Anyhow, I have been in a stress for the last few days as I cannot find my mobile phone or reading glasses...Ithe glasses I can replace, but the phone... have checked everywhere I can think off, every appointment or property viewing I have been too...but to no avail. I am sure readers will understand the feeling of panic at not having access to all your telephone contacts ....yes, I know one should always have them written down, but come on...how many people actually do this? So, any clients reading this who, I have promised to call or who have left me messages I have not replied to...I can only apologise as I have not got them!! And if you have my phone please can you drop it around...thanks.

17th Sept 2009

Spent last night sticking sheets of 3mm Cork to the stairs!! Did not get finished until the early hours, so I hope the carpet fitter appreciates my hard work? Got up early to welcome the carpet fitter...we have been waiting a year to get the carpet laying finished. Last year just prior to Xmas, they refused to lay the carpet because I had put the cork on the stairs! We were not at all pleased to have no carpet for the festive season, but thought hi ho...should be done in new yar....some hope!

It took me months to convince the company, that supplied the carpet, that I was no going to sue them if the carpet did not last, because of my cork laying! After months of back and forth and trying to convince them that I wanted cork under the carpet to make sure it was softer, should or toddler fall down the stairs...., they finally agreed to let their fitter install the carpet! He arrived but was still not to pleased and wanted me to sign a letter saying it was my fault if it all wore out!

So here we are, the carpet is almost finished and my wife hwo, did not want to hang around breathing in Glue fumes, took herself and baby of to the Animal park. That is another story and one of those lovely places where children can really enjoy the animals....but would send shivers through the health and safety Zsars in England. Why...the little baby goats, lams, piglets etc can wander with the children, lick them, poo on them etc etc...and not only that...the children can climb into the pens with the adult animals to fed them, get great dollops of poops stuck to their shoes and generally enjoy them selves!! Also, there is a small go-carting area for the children...and guess what...yes, exactly, no helmuts, no protective clothing!!...whatever next...eat your hearts out Health and Safety!!

And speaking of health and safety, I finally managed to lop out the trees, ready for the Shed to be delivered. It was a bit difficult I must say, halfway up a tree on a ladder that did not seem long enough, chopping and hacking at the branches..I had forgotten to wear Safety googles.... so as my contribution to health and safety...used my sunglasses!!

Catch up next week or thereabouts!!

9th Sept 2009

Ahhh.a little .time to relax! It has been such a hectic few months with clients and las minute bookings....but now it is starting to calm down. Also the muggy heat of August has given way to a more pleasant 22 degrees in the day. Our guests have appreciated this ,particularly the walkers...it is hard work walking a mountain in 30+ degrees. and perhaps 40 degrees in direct sun. And the wasp population seems much less. WE like the rest of Europe have had quite a lot of wasps this summer, with many people ending in hospital with a bad allergic reation to the stings of these little blighters.

Our guests from Nice in the South of France, enjoyed getting away to te cooler mountain air, from the heat in their own part of Europe. They unfortunately got caught up in the collapse of the Sky Europe airline and ended up paying an extra 600 euro to Swissair to get here. We talked about this and when I mention that many of our guests drive, from all parts of Europe, they decided that was it for future visits. Nice is only a 10 hour drive from Salzburg, and about 900 kilometers, so it would not cost that much in Fuel, plus you are more in control of your journey. They very kindly invited us to visit them in Nice, so we will try the trip and I shall let readers know how it went, cost of tolls etc.

This week, I am trying to prepare the round for the new Hutte(Shed!) as our old one is looking rather sad at the moment. First thing needed was to cut back the trees that would overhang...so, I borrowed a chain saw from our local English builder...and can I get it started...not a chance, I have spent the last hour pulling the starter cord until I was blue in the face!! So, as an excuse for a rest, I came in to write some news. I have asked for the shed to be delivered on Friday, but doubt, I shall get everything resdy before then!! But with it being electric overight heating, we could not figure out why after 2 showers all the water was gone? This morning I found out, the previous owner had left the valve open to the central eating system and all the water was circulating in that!!! At least he should be happy to have more than a few showrs each day!!

OK, back to this blinking chain saw!

Update...gave up on the chain saw, went and bought a new lopiping saw instead...it works great and does not need petrol either!!!

28th August 2009

With fewer flights from UK regional airports, many readers have asked about using different Airports to get to Salzkammergut. I had the opportunity to try a new route recently. This was the Aer Lingus cnnection between Munich and Ireland.

I checked out train and bus connections and... because it would have meant a 4am start I decided to go to Munich the night before. Driving everywhere, with our work, it was going to be very relaxing for me to get the bus...except for the rush to get fresh linen to an owners apartment arrivng that night!! I made it to the bus stop,out of breath and with droplets of perspiration dripping from my chin, with about 3 minutes to spare!! So, was looking forward to to the journey to Salzburg. The bus fare was 5.60 euro, and took 55 minutes. It was very nice for a change to be able to sit back and enjoy the country side plus the trip through Salzburg to the main rail station. The bus and rail station are beside each other...they tend to do this in Europe...joined up transport systems. I walked the short 50 mtrs to the rail station ticket office to enquire and buy a ticket to Muncih airport...22 euros said the lady at the desk..is it cheaper if I buy a return? No afraid not she said. The train was due to leave at 17.15..I can say thatitleft exactly on time. This was the local regional commuter train and the seats were not that soft...in fact they felt more like some of the old Spanish and Portuguese trains.. wooden seats!!

The journey to Munich Ost took a few hours and when I got offf. the train for the airport was directly across the platform...now that is joined up transport!!

22nd August

Early start today as I need to get to an owners meeting on the other side of the lake. These take place once a year and are the opportunity for apartment owners to