#8: [10-Jul-23]

#7: [28-Dec-18]

#6: [04-Jul-17]

#5: [14-Aug-16]

#3: [08-Jul-06]

#1: [04-Sep-01]

#2: [08-Aug-02] (incomplete)

30-Apr-2007 -- Having just visited N47 E16 we again re-programmed the autopilot (car navigation system) and followed the instructions East towards Hungary. We had every confidence in our trusty navigation system, the one that had taken us to N47 E15 and N47 E16 without a hiccup. We knew that the Hungarian maps were inferior to those for Austria but the main roads were known. We were directed to the border crossing near Heligenkreuz in Lafnitztal. A quick wave of our passports and we were in Hungary. This is when it started to go wrong.

As we drove past passport control into Hungary we got the instructions 'Drive 200 metres and turn around'. Maybe we had programmed the wrong location. A quick check showed all to be ok so we ignored the instructions and carried on along the E66 guided by the GPS and the map printouts we had. The navigation system was telling us every few minutes that it had found a better route and that we should turn around. Again we ignored it. When we turned off the E66 to head South towards Csehi and then Zalaber it went beserk. First it showed us driving across country parallel to a non existent road and then it started to repeat the 'Drive 200 metres and turn around message' so often we thought it had got into a software loop. Since we know a bit about computers and software we powered the device off/on (a.k.a. executive reset). As soon as it rebooted it went straight into the loop again. We turned the volume down.

So we relied on the GPS and the printouts. We soon arrived at a spot near the CP as described by other visitors and proceeded to walk the 1 km or so the the CP. First walking along the side of a corn field we hit a rough track about 500 metres from the CP, somewhere in a Rape (Raps) field. We decided to traverse the edge of the field and turn right along it at some trees we could see in the distance. It turned out that there was a track there too. We followed this in the hope that it might turn towards the CP or we would find a path through the crop that led there as previous visitors had found.

But sadly this was not the case. The navigation system had been right after all. The closest we could get was 197 metres without wading though the Rape field and destroying some of the crop. So we admitted defeat took the usual photos and headed back to the car. We returned to the E66 where soon after the navigation system seemed to get its bearings again and directed us North-West back to Vienna. Arriving back about 4 p.m, after being on the road for 11 hours, we were able to open a cold bottle of Sekt and finally celebrate my 12th and last Austrian CP.