peterC2S

Bit OT but just got back from 3 weeks driving round southern Germany, Austria and Italy. For a noob to euro driving, man were those autobahns a blast!! I come from a country where the top motorway limit is 100kmh so just cruising around 140 in the rental Volvo was a blast.

Have to say that the quality and courtesy of driving was a real eye opener - we could certainly learn a thing or two down here! Not only do the Germans make great cars, they know how to drive them. Some seriously beautiful country and great driving roads!!

Highlight was a day driving the high alpine road up to the Grossglockner glacier - saw a convoy lead by a CGT, GT3 and 3 or 4 997 TTs - too fast to take pics unfortunately.

Only saw a single 964 in 3 full weeks though - where have they all gone??

And the bonus was getting home after 3 weeks, turning the key and hearing that rumble first time. The new CTEK did its job perfectly - thanks Macca for the heads up! Today is clear, cold and perfect for a drive....

Pete

Vandit

Yup, driving on German autobahns is great, even though the rental I'm stuck with is usually trash.

IXLR8

Same here, but I only use the Autobahns, Autostradas and Autoroutes in Europe to get me quickly to where the great roads are...in the Alps.

Spot on! But not only down there, but up here as well. Driver's here seem to get their licences as if it were a prize out of a box of Cracker Jacks.

Their driver's education manual makes ours look like a comic book. I just browsed through its 352 pages a couple of weeks ago.

This should bring back memories...taken from the Edelweiss Spitze...

peterC2S

Yup - an amazing road and view. My kids still can't work out how it can be 30deg C and still be snow on the ground!

IXLR8

OK, I'm a bit puzzled now. I've never been there yet, but New Zealand is supposed to be motorcycle heaven just like the Alps. Is there a difference between the north and south island; is one better?

How about June 24th. That is 3 days into summer on the Col d'Iseran in France. I'm 6' 2". That is a wall of snow just over 15 feet high.

peterC2S

Don't get me wrong - NZ does have some amazing scenery, roads and views. I'm not a biker but I'm pretty sure there are some fantastic biking roads. The most spectacular scenery though is a fair way from Auckland. Closest would be the volcanic plateau in central North Island but for alpine views more so in the lower South Island. Plenty of interesting coastal roads as well. And everyone will have their favourites!

I guess we just had such a spectacular trip that it reminded me there is so much more out there - and its great to celebrate it. Added to which there are all the people we met, places we stayed and the food and drink we were lucky to sample!!

And the only possible way it could have been better would have been to do it in the 964!

Bertrand

> I only use the Autobahns, Autostradas and Autoroutes in Europe to get me quickly to where the great roads are...in the Alps.

Funnily enough, I do just the reverse. Living in southern Bavaria, I always try to find small roads to drive from A to B...

IXLR8

You can afford to; you live there permanently and aren't limited time-wise by a five-week vacation. I hope you enjoy your Augustiner Edelstoff. I did! Now that is beer!

Bertrand

The 'Augustiner' beer garden is actually 300 m away from where I'm sitting right now!
But for the summer holidays, I'm actually going to drive a er... Renault Espace in the UK. Things I do for the kids...

IXLR8

Lucky you! I have been meaning to stop in there since I have relatives there and drive by on the A99 every year.

koenig_roland

but the edelstoff stuff is a headache - fluid...

Did you test the 'tegernseer hell'? :-)

IXLR8

It didn't give me a headache. The 993 Club invited me for a BBQ last year where Hans supplied the Augustiner. I turned in by midnight (had to ride the next day)...they were still going at it at 6 in the morning...amazing!

Nope, but then one could never cover them all. There are so many to try. I did drive by Tegernsee a long time ago.