Return of Autumn Sunshine

This will be our last blog before leaving for our return trip to the UK, but we could not leave here without just one more opportunity to show you the beauty of our valley in the Autumn. After a week and a bit of unseasonal coldness, the sun has returned - temps are up to high teens, low twenties again and the sky is the purest form of blue imaginable. For walkers this is the perfect time to be here - the air quality is so amazingly clear that the views are unsurpassed. The photos speak for themselves, we think.

On Saturday we set off - stopping for 2 nights with friends in Germany and arriving back at our home in GB late on Monday/early Tuesday. It will be a bit like camping, as we have very little furniture there, but the kids will have turned on the heating and put the essentials of life (wine and beer) in the fridge at least! Then we have 3 weeks in which to sort out all the jobs on the house, catch up with friends and relations and get prepared for the start of the Motorbike Show. Sounds like loads of time but I bet we end up running round like headless chickens nonetheless. We are hoping that by the time we leave on Dec 9th, Andi & Mandy and the kids will be on the verge of moving into the house, so that the building and garden do not have time to deteriorate again!

By virtue of a clever little gadget called (apparently) a dongle (!!) we will have access to the internet throughout our stay, so plan to keep up-to-date with blogs, tweets and facebook entries as much as possible, so you will still have some instalments of this little soap to keep up with. Hope to catch up with as many people, - friends, relations and all UK biking contacts, - as poss, but meanwhile watch this space for news of the Bike Show events and plans for Christmas, New Year and the winter months - skiing season has started early here and Ryanair have put on extra flights - so we would love to see you all out on the slopes! Take care - see you on the other side of the Channel! Ros & John

See us at the Bike Show

Just in case you are one of the minority of our readers and followers who I haven't managed to contact another way - John and I are really excited to be going to exhibit at the 2009 NEC Carole Nash Motorbike and Scooter Show (to give it its VERY long full name!) Hall 1, Stand 14, right on the edge of the Touring and Adventure Zone is where you will find us representing Gasthof Hochalmspitze and the Malta Valley from November 26th to Dec 6th. We have lots of information, brochures and photos, copies of our Maltahochalmstraße video plus some other videos of the delights of Carinthia, some giveaways and a chance to win 5 nights free accommodation with us next summer - we must be worth a visit! Looking forward to seeing all friends old and new and to being able to demonstrate why a trip on a motorbike to our valley will be next year's perfect holiday treat. See you there!
http://www.motorcycleshow.co.uk/mci2009/exhibitor-details.html?exhibitor_id=4503

Only 2 days later...

Look at the difference in the weather! Snow arrived in the valley just 24 hours after we had been up the trees in glorious sunshine and by Tuesday there was enough snow on the mountain for there to be much talk about an early start to the ski season. It took everybody a bit by surprise but now everyone has their winter woollies on!













In the meantime we have made great progress with our building and renovation work and have managed to move back into our little studio flat at last. There are still a few bits and pieces in the main room to sort out (aren't there always?) but basically we are no longer homeless and the work on the other areas of the basement level has also started, so that eventually - thanks to our wonderful insurance company - we will be in far more comfortable surroundings and should have added considerable value to our investment, we hope!

Because of the sudden change in the weather our next major task will be the bringing in of the plants and terrace furniture, as well as putting the winter tyres on the car. By next week we should be in full winter mode and looking forward to seeing our first wintersports guests when we get back from the UK in mid December. We will be trying to keep the blog up while we are in Britain and will hopefully have some news about our plans for the trip shortly.

Apple Picking Time

Happily the weather defied the forecasters today and we have had another dose of Carinthian Autumn sunshine instead of the promised rain. However, the luck may be about to run out as temperatures are due to fall from a very pleasant 20 to a rather less exciting 12 over the next week - so today had to be the day to pick the apples. The exercise is always a bit daunting as neither of us are particularly good with heights - but as the pictures will tell you, we were brave little soldiers (and had moral support from the cat who was quite happy up the tree!) and the results, although not a patch on last year's bumper harvest, will nevertheless keep us in Apple Crumble for a good few months!

Meanwhile the rcreation of our living space has continued, with the floor in there just about complete and all the additional heating, painting, re-organising also well underway. With luck our next blog will include photos of us no longer homeless! Our plans for our Autumn trip back to the UK are also just about sorted and we should be able to spend about 5 weeks catching up with friends and family before returning here for the Christmas/New Year party season. This time we are driving and will be able to stop overnight with friends in Stuttgart on the way which is an added bonus and something we are really looking forward to. While we are away the remainder of the renovation work will take place, so coming back will also be exciting. We are also waiting to hear about some possible grant support for small businesses which will allow us to update some of our equipment as well as potentially expanding our Wi-Fi coverage to the guesthouse. We will keep you posted of course!

This is scary but if you would like to see me 'live' click on this link! http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2279411 This brief interview was recorded today at the Trebesing Harvest Festival event - carnival processions (and silly dressing up) are clearly not just the preserve of British seaside towns!

Time is still flying

We can't believe a whole fortnight has gone by since the last posting! Our last Onka group (more dancing and a celebration of Arthur's Day!) and the school group from Vienna (lots of noise, shoes everywhere and an Austrian convert to HP sauce) have come and gone, the Almcamp proved a great success (see www.soisses.at for all the details), our insurance agent turned out to be an angel in disguise (yes I did say that!) and the repairs to our flat are finally underway. The weather has been really wonderful with almost every day seeing afternoon temperatures in the low to mid 20's and Autumn is slowly turning the valley from green to gold.


October is a quiet month here - although we can never understand why as it is perfect weather for walking and cycling. We have a date with our mayor next week to discuss marketing strategies (more of this in a minute) and we shall be raising with him again the importance of getting the message out to potential visitors that the season does NOT have to end on September 1st!



Our biggest effort though will be to seek the support of the Gemeinde to generate enough materials to take to the NEC Motorbike and Scooter Show at the end of November. To our amazement the cost of a stand there for small businesses is subsidised, which means with some practical support from some of our colleagues in tourism and the business world, we could actually be there! The chance of raising awareness of the merits of biking in Carithia to 130,000 British bikers is rather too good to miss! We already have the first contributions so watch this space.