End of summer

  Hard, Austria
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

They were talking on radio here about our 'late' summer - the first sign that my summer odyssey is drawing to a close.

As we took our daily walk on the shores of Lake Constance here in the small town of Hard, we noticed lake shore swimming baths were closed for the summer and there was a slightly cold nip in the air, seeping down from the mountains - their mountaintops will soon show the first snow.

Chris, my sister in law...in my brother's garden

Children back from holidays, getting ready for school, are enjoying their last days of freedom on the bicycle-skateboard range here or finding other places to swim by the lake.

The last of the tourists are boating or sailing on the lake if they are not walking, biking, picnicking or fishing on the lake shores.

Fishing here is a sedentary affair - friends getting together, bringing their sun chairs and umbrellas, picnics and fishing rods which are mounted on stands while the fishermen (or ladies) sit nearby talking - I have yet to see someone catching anything.

But every week at the market in Bregenz - a 10-minute drive away - there are stalls selling locally caught fish such as river trout, pike, freshwater perch, roach and white fish beside farmed salmon and other fish flown in from the Atlantic such as halibut, turbot and bass.

About 1000 tons of fish are caught by the 150 or so professional fishermen of Lake Constance. Pollution in the lake almost eradicated the Lake Constance trout in the 1980, but the introduction of protective measures has saved it and it has now made a significant return.

Lake Constance, 63 km long, and at its widest point, almost 14 km, is central Europe's third biggest inland sea after Lake Balaton in Hungary and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. It shores borders Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Car ferries link Romanshorn, Switzerland to Friedrichshafen, in Germany; and Konstanz to Meersburg in Germany.

The Rhine flows into the lake in the southeast, through the Obersee, the city of Konstanz and the Untersee and flows out near the Swiss town of Stein am Rhein in the west of the lake.

waiting for my laptop to warm up.,

As I sit here on the shores of Lake Constance, outside in my brother's garden, I try to eke out the last remnants of summer. Checking my emails I find an eagerly awaited confirmation of my hotel accommodation in Alghero, Sardinia.

'It's all OK...see you on the 07.09.08, Frank,' it says reassuringly. I am staying at a converted monastery - the San Francesco Hotel - situated in the old part of Alghero, where I am planning to grab the last days of the European summer before I return to Sydney and its beautiful spring weather of soft northerlies, cerulean skies and outdoor living.

I visited Alghero about the same time last year and fell in love with it. It is a town on Sardinia's less fashionable north-west coast - but a place full of local character and atmosphere.

I have booked my flight with Ryanair and managed to get fairly cheap seats at GP19.99 although my departure is only a week away, which tells me the credit crunch must have taken its toll on the travel industry.

But in true Ryanair style, the discount airline has ramped up its charges and the check-in baggage fees have doubled.

Even if all you have is cabin luggage and you want to check in online, those who do not have UK or EU passport, are forced to check-in at the airport at the cost of an extra GBP8 return.

Could this be the end of discount air travel as we know it? - Watch out for carbon footprint charges next.