Ciao Austria: Hello Solvenia

We have had a couple of good days flying in Griefenburg now which is great. The cloudbase has only been around 2500m which is small by Griefenburg standards but still great for us to get up and have a look around. I can only imagine how good this place will be when it is really on.

After 4 days in Griefenburg, we thought it was time to move on. We had two choices; up towards Switzerland or down towards Solvenia. We wanted to get an update from Olli on the general European weather pattern before making our decision but couldn't get through. The plan was to launch from Griefenburg and start flying towards our destination to see how far we could get. At 11am, we still hadn't made contact and we were ready to launch. The phone then rang. It was Olli. The timing. We talked about heading towards Switzerland as the weather across all of Europe was looking pretty poor. Then someone mentioned that if we went to Solvenia we could pass through Venice on the way to France. That was enough to swing the decision. So 10mins later we launched and turned towards Solvenia. The freedom to make such decisions on the fly is liberating. I glad Sam and Sarah have the same sense of adventure.

We had a great fly down the ridges towards Solvenia. The thermals were good and plentiful and the clouds were friendly - to begin with. Half way down the main ridge between Spittal and Villach the ground was heavily shaded and the lift was weak. We could see the rain approaching fast from the North. The day had called for overdevelopment and thunderstorms in the afternoon. I suggested we go and land. Sam wanted to keep flying. Then god sent us a signal in the form of a very loud thunderclap. We turned tail and landed. 15mins later, the wind turned from a mild 5kt southerly to a 20kt northerly with the approach of the rain fronts. It soon pelted down.

So here we are in Solvenia. It is a total change from the perfect fairytale land of Austria. It is a lot more run down but also a lot more natural. We think it was the right decision to head down here. The water here is emerald.

The mountains are steep. Olli recommended a great little camping ground right beside the river. Vili, the camp owner cooked us the best fish and polenta ever (ever). We even came across an original hobbit hole.

We probably wont stay long. We are thinking about leaving today for France via Italy.