Got going by half six. The fire extinguisher was lying the corridor when i set out. Obviously the other room of walkers had more of a party than I did.
The weather was cool and the sun not as hot as yesterday. It was mostly one road for half the distance, then another for the second half. Thank god for the sausage and cake because nothing was open, not even cafes that had their door open until you went up to it and they said they were shut. Beautiful alpine scenery all day though.
Got to Leoben which seemed like an industrial dysopia from my angle of approach. More ugliness from voestalpine (cool fact: Josef Fritzl once worked for them). Came to an open garage/cafe. First words through the door: “we’ve no food”. I had a beer and rested my legs.
Then walked the final 5 km to the campsite, down the steepest hill in the world. How they cope in winter I’ve no idea. One slip and you would be at the bottom at high speed.
From the heights I seemed to be looking down on a residential estate, an unlikely place for a campsite. Even as i got 500 metres from its proposed location, nothing.
Then a woman cycled past. “Where are you going to?” she asked with a friendly smile. “The campsite?” I said, expecting her to say, “What campsite?” Instead she said, you need some food then. She handed me a bag of sweets, chocolate coconut things. Nice. “The campsite’s just up there.”
And it was. And it was fine. It had a honesty box system for beers but no food. I finished the sausages.
Distance today (km): 43, total 2386
Day 134: Mon 1 May 2023
