After a rather unsettling night of desertification of the core and a lack of sefonsifying sustenance we headed for a number of small places with an abundance of school children ranging in age from 7-15. All were intensely excited about seeing the electric vehicles we were all driving and the nano presentations each team gave informing the kids about their own particular mode of transportation. One town blended into the next with such speed it spun ones mind into a circus of navigational sagacity, the likes of which have never been seen before.

Making a bead for the next town within this run of towns an Audi pulled out of its house with its owner at the wheel right in front of us. The Audi was colored gold and this proved to be the first clue that its driver was a colossal psychopathic barf brain. He drove slowly and we needed to pass him. At the moment we were next to him he hit the accelerator. We saw an oncoming car and darted back behind him. At that very instant the jerk hit the brakes which led to Gordon hitting the brakes which, by the way, work better than any brakes I have ever encountered. We tried to pass again and apparently this moth eaten ding-a-ling liked summer repeats and did the same thing. This happened a total of four times, the last one being when he suddenly decided to hit his brakes 15 meters before the green light. An elderly man on the sidewalk looked at the gold Audi with utter confusion. Thankfully he turned off to some side street and we could continue. We eventually came to a town called Rorschach which is most likely where that particular test was developed. It seemed this was the best place for our gold Audi fortzengorgle to be tested for vehicular homicidal tendencies. It was time to head for the hills and the hills turned out to be a youth hostel…more tomorrow, the day has been long, the terrain beautiful and the kids were a lot of fun.

After the epitome of a short night compromised by the blogification of the former two days we awoke blathering about snoring, disappearing socks, a diversity of plugged in technology enjoying a long drink and all four of us giggling and laughing. I say the four of us for we were sharing the room with Andreas and Angela of team Twike our equals in Cleesian nuttery quantified and totally lovable!!! One by one the shower was the choice of occupation and then the mad rush for breakfast, guzzling coffee, searching for the well hidden muesli in plain sight and settling in for the eggs and what have you on a plate of snowy white matching the glacier of the previous day.
The road had to be hit by 07:00 Jack and we were ready to hammer that sucker. Gps’ing the mountain road and we were stopped dead in our tracks by a road block weighted down making clear the gravity of the situation, the road chewed and effectively made rabid we made for the proverbial hills and the aid of a local. Zell Am Ziller  was now in our sights. The goal reached we charged the batteries including our own with lattes under dark green umbrellas baking in the sun. Thankfully there was a reticent breeze but we had to keep moving and get to Innsbruck in the middle of town in a stone square and nary a tree big enough to provide shade. Frankly this shocks me every single solitary time!!! Those stone covered city squares reach a colossal 65*C and there is no one who can tell me they find this delightful. Trees would cool those city squares and, in fact, the cities themselves. The human over heated grump n drop factor would decline dramatically in city dwellers!!!! And then one must take into consideration that on a world wide scale this planet would no longer be suffering an ultimately deadly fever if we would simply replenish our rain forests around the world. In fact, the Growing Air Foundation is busy with this and the more people, corporations, banks etc join in we can cool our planet down.

Landek was our next stop of the day and another small square covered in cement/stone with umbrellas providing the shade…….how wearisome this is….I don’t wish to harp but trees would provide not only shade they would also provide a pleasant cooling affect. Our cement, stone, tarred, glass, bricked cities have become death traps and that includes the fossil fuel guzzlers dumping their heat, fine particulates, and let’s face it poison into the air. Trees, the replanting of our rain forests and sustainable vehicles are the present and future for a healthy planet!
The battery was finally charged and we could leave Landek for Tsent and we would be taking Louis with us. The back seat was reorganized in record time and looked very respectable although some things threatened to attack anyone attempting to sit next to the tidy pile of suitcases, bags, and other paraphernalia. Louis stepped inside, closed the door, I moved my seat forward to accommodate  his long legs and Gordon began to drive to Tsent. Louis hardly had a moment to breathe
 As we came into the town the band began to play and we all disembarked. Louis headed for the Mayor, Gordon headed for the plug box and I headed for what ever might be headed for completely headless from lack of sleep causing me to be heady. However one must look towards the future and head for the next hill which in this case was the next mountain, namely La Punt. We were given a fabulously informative verbal tour of the beautiful areas we passed as well as information of the protected forest visible from the road in all its majesty. Again upon arrival and on our last juice bar of electricity Louis disembarked, Gordon began the pluggers progress and I wondered how bunkers could be above ground and came to the conclusion that the only way to enter them in order to bunk for the night was…..the bunkers must be hydraulically lifted, a monumental feat of Swiss engineering and then lowered again. We entered the building turned the corner and there in a large room was a long table decked out with the most wonderful buffet in the world pretty much most of it vegetarian! A dream come true and I stood there gobsmacked and slack jawed at this delight for the eyes and stomach. It was absolutely scrumptious and I will add many many thanks to our hostess for this phenomenal meal.

After our WAVE photo on the bridge in Weissensee we headed out for Heilingenblut…..yes….that silly angst about vampires since it still means holy blood or could actually mean blood of the saints. Considering the altitude to which we were being elevated and the literally dizzying affect it had one begins to understand the full meaning of those words.

The air becomes thinner the higher you go and so you become dizzy because of the low oxygen level in your blood. Well, since this writer hails from Amsterdam which is below sea level offering one the inevitable idea that the Dutch have truly overly oxygenated blood climbing ever higher to reach this berg has made me, for the first time, oops another first, an extremist. Heilingenblut welcomed us with a speech, ladies in traditional dress, sandwiches off various wild meats and others with cheese and tomato. The vehicles were being charged and a beeline was made to a small supermarket for a few very needed things. Gordon bought a typical Austrian hat which happened to suit him as well as a handful, of various flower seeds from the area. I searched for a baseball cap style hat in white to shield my brain from the baking sun. Within a couple of hours we began the climb to the Großglokner Pass/ Franz Jozef Glacier. This was going to be a climb of immense proportions and Gordon’s advice to eat sweets and drink water certainly helped  and even if it hadn’t the task of doing both kept me so busy that I might not have noticed the altitude sickness gripping my brain. However the altitude also produced positive eye popping views the likes of which I had never seen. Oh dear, there we go again, another first. I have never been up that high in the open air and it was majestic. And that dear reader is a limp description of what was witnessed. Majestic begins to tickle the edge of the proper description for it was far more.

To stand up there and look upon the glacier and know in your gut that the glacier has grown smaller and the negative affect we, mankind, have had on this blue planet is mind boggling. It is a physical pain that brings one to tears seeing what every member of the WAVE has witnessed today on that glacier is something that every single member of mankind must witness. To ignore it or hide from it and not speak up and act is a crime against life, all life and only condones the crimes against nature. The criminals must be stopped, punished and as far as this writer is concerned forced to see the damage they have done and be made to pay to repair it, to bring forward the cure in the form of the Double Edged Sword Against Climate Change. Our blue planet, our home must have the prescription filled immediately for reforestation of our rain forests and the implementation of sustainable energy in the form of solar and wind now!

We were in Aibl and needed to drive to Torborgen in Aibl where we could have a lunch and leave according to a schedule whereby teams left in an alternative order of appearance. Cars were being charged, speeches were being made, people milling about photographing the cars, asking for autographs. Another first for me….was I now what I call a famousy? An odd experience what with a paper WAVE flag stuck in my hair which as time rolled on looked more and more like a birds nest. The flag would surely attract a tenant now. Before that happened, however, we had mounted our trust steed and we were off and driving to the next destination, 60 kilometers down the road  Völkermarkt on the Hauptplatz where we would recharge all the cars and enjoy a stupendous vegetarian lunch of of Käse Nudeln (cheese noodles) that are the local specialty. They look similar to Italian ravioli and the herbs, the sauce the texture the…the.the, they were awesomely delicious and a delight like angels dancing on your tongue. The salad was equally delightful and refreshing.

The time came to leave this amazing establishment/structure which Gaudi would certainly have approved of. The town square where all the vehicles were parked and being loaded was all stone, high temperatures and sun so bright sunglasses needed sunglasses. Finally loaded and not in the traditional way, the vehicles were drunk on electricity and completely compliant in ignitionary locomotion.

This brought us to Feistritz an der Drau with a non-fountaining fountain and completely memorable in the initiation of a memorable case of amnesia. That being said….now where was I? Um…..oh yes…..we left!

Weissensee appeared on the horizon after a drive of 64 kilometers through some beautiful landscapes. We arrived by the skin of our teeth. Having heard this term many times the revelation that teeth could even have skin was truly amazing. There they were bare to the world and our eyes were filled with a most beautiful town. Stupendously green, staggering skies of rarely seen stars and the Milky Way baring down in gentle folds of gossamer in the night sky. The lake shimmered sneaking up on the ducks taking a lazy midnight stroll on the water as someone stood fishing on a small wharf. It was there that in a large hall an astounding presentation was given by Raphael Domjan  about Planet Solar and his story of how this magnificent ship was built and sailed around the world.

 

Afterwards there were prizes awarded and we, Team 20, won the prize for best design. Our day was further made by the night sky as described above. The following morning we all gathered on the bridge for a WAVE photo and then we were off to Heilingenblut which means holy blood leaving one with a vague angst about vampires which we would discover to be totally unfounded. Read the next blog to find out why!

 

 

 

 

 

After a night of searching for wifi in the room while attempting to write this and yesterday’s blog my eyes packed it in and closed shop leaving me in a state of bewilderment. They refused to open and after about three and half hours sleep they suddenly popped open at the sound of my alarm clock chirruping their cricketly sound. We had to leave at 07:40 for the next stop on our journey for the day was to be filled with a number of destinations. The first on the agenda was a trip of 126 kilometers to

Güssing which kept us guessing as to the how far, how many bars of energy to how many kilometers and the eventual charge at a gas station where with only 8 minutes left we were told we couldn’t charge. After explaining what we were doing and why the young lady decided all was good and we could finish. Shortly after that we were on our way and arrived in Güssing where all cars were charged and lunch was served.

Our next stop would be another first for me but not for Gordon who is seriously experienced in the automotive world of four firm wheels on a Tarmac whizzing by beneath eager tires. We hit the starting line, waited that chilling moment before take off and off we went  biting into the asphalt we danced thought the slalom and cut a slice of cake through the first big turn. We bore down like a hot knife through butter then took a couple of curves out of left field and headed straight for the finish line. The whole time I was navigating and it all took only 56.5 seconds, quicker then one of the Teslas and the Twike. This was especially cool since I always considered myself a nagivator and as it turns out I am a navigator. Even more impressive I can actually look down, write, read and do the numbers without feeling like I am going toss my cookies. It would in the long term be a pity to lose all those cookies. We hung about and watched as the other teams took their turns and then it was time to move onto the next thing on the agenda, namely wash the car, write the blog, and get to the Deutschlandsberg, our hotel/hostel for the night. The cars would be parked down the hill within an enclosed area amongst trees with a stream pulsating over the rocks. Team Strombolli was having a problem and out of curiosity I went to have a look and bent over the hood. It seemed there was a problem with a fuse that had blown, a very little tiny fuse and their car would not load or move or anything. The tool department was suffering a dire lack of toolage and the many rough hands in the arena were rather cacophonous in their engagement. I began to get a picture of the problem and then thought, hey, Gordon might have a solution. So I gave him a shout and he came, bent over, peered around, asked questions and said, “Yeah, I can do that” and walked to our car and began digging around. I walked after him,was handed a SEC LED any-where light and a bag of boiled English sweets to offer to the Strombolli team and the Brusa man. Gordon followed with a handful of toolish goodies including the nord lock bottle openers with their respective wing nuts. Yes, wings have nuts which means that nuts fly and this could get worse before it gets better. The anatomical lesson over, between Gordon and a couple of good pointers from yours truly the problem was quickly solved and all cheered. This didn’t help the blog placement much but Team Strombolli could now continue with the WAVE and that was awesomeness quantified!!!! Gordon and I headed for the hotel/hostel which wasn’t hostile at all and got online to blog the blog as blogs want. The wifi dropped us like a rock, we logged on again, the wifi took a leave of absence, we logged on again, the wifi arrogantly took off for a quieter field of work leaving us high and dry and bewildered. Now we were stuck and decided at 02:30 a.m. to throw in the proverbial towel which the wifi probably wanted in the first place so it could take a shower after a long day at the office in cyberspace.

 

 

We, yours truly, Leora Rosner of the Growing Air Foundation and Gordon Foat of Green MotorSport are Team 20 of the WAVE 2013. An interesting number considering the numerological value of 20 or rather 2 which is cooperation, team work, a force to be reckoned with, we are the GMS/GAF team.

On the 23rd day of June we left Woking and began the first leg of the WAVE, namely, getting there. Our ferry would leave at 13:55 and we needed to be there, in Dover, half an hour before departure. Fear not, our timing was impeccable, our boarding was impeccable and our eventual sea legs returned impeccably insuring us a gait of wide legged locomotion to accommodate the rocking of the boat. Doors slid shut one by one on the parking decks as we climbed the numerous levels to one of the top decks. There we stepped outside with a notion of sipping coffee while watching the waves and the gulls wheeling in the breeze. All this motion, all these waves are mere previews of the WAVE on the near horizon. The wind blew my hair into a veritable birds nest but the gulls must have known they would not be allowed entrance into the ferries eatery leaving the top of my head with the empty nest syndrome. Gravity played with Gordon’s feet as the channel gently bounced our mode of transportation. Thoughts of jumping up as the ferry dipped enhancing the height of the leap of faith coursed through his veins but hunger drew us both nearer to the cafeteria and its’ goodies. Before we knew it we were docking as a group of gesticulating deaf bikers pulled on their boots, jackets, kidney belts and backpacks. They looked like pirates from bygone days as they headed for their particular parking deck. As Gordon and I walked down to our parking level I silently wondered where the parrot had gone.
We began driving making a heading towards Salzburg. The French highways brought us to the Belgian highway as night closed in on us. Seeking an alternative form of entertainment we commenced to count the potholes. Long ones, short ones, shallow and deep pot holes and quite a few that were simply cauldron holes, fit to make enough soup for an entire platoon.
As we deftly avoided the pots and pans that make up the Belgian highway system I gazed up into the clouded sky and beheld a gray chefs hat with a majestic top slowly beginning to turn. Below it a small trunk began to develop small digits ready to pluck up chickens, cattle and cars, the three c’s of this black ribbon of road on which we drove.

The turning chefs hat grew more timid with every minute that passed and finally gave up its quest to scare the hee bee jee bees out of us as well as leaving the three c’s in a mood of disgruntlement for all had expected an unexpected joy ride the likes of which had never been recorded.
Striped roads of yellow and white, broken and solid create lanes, which looked as though they were designed for a child’s tricycle and not for the many trucks that loomed up behind us with headlights ablaze in the night sky. They bore down on us like modern prehistoric monsters then passed us looking for better pickings. The Toyota hi-lux forerunner, our beast of burden, bravely hauled the trailer carrying the Peugeot iOn, a stickered exhibition of the sponsors supporting this epic journey leading us to the WAVE and the delivery of our message of the double edged sword against climate change. We, the intrepid knights astride the sat-nav steed drove a path straight as an arrow thru the rolling landscapes that make up Germany and Austria.
Our stomachs became kindred spirits growling their discontent while on a lower level the bladders of change sought comfort on the strangest experience of roadside toiletry ever witnessed. One must produce €0.70 cents to be deposited into a machine that spits out a brightly colored holographic imaged receipt returning €0.50 cents to be spent on a wild spree in the munchies department of the gas station. You enter the cubicle, do your business and then pass you hand in front of the tank, a robotic arm, like the last remnant of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role in the Terminator begins to vomit a clear liquid when suddenly the toilet seat begins to spin and morph as it moves around the toilet rim leaving one gawking and hoping the door to the cubicle will set you free before all hell breaks loose.
The road awaits us as the night creeps into the arms of the rising sun, our eyes demanding to close shop regardless of all that is at stake. Our brains are preparing protest signs clubbing our bodies as we drop into fetal positions of twitch and snore when the hotel appears on a myopic horizon and we have arrived in Salzburg.