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217 lines
13 KiB
HTML
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<title>CUCC Expedition Handbook</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../css/main2.css" />
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<h2 id="tophead">CUCC Expedition Handbook</h2>
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<h1>Base camp operations</h1>
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<p>Base camp - the potato hut - is where the expo as a whole is organised from.
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We do not have a centre of operations in the UK during expo.
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<p>Shopping for food and equipment during expo is centered at base camp,
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not least because this is where we have the beer fridge.
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<h2>Records kept at Base Camp</h2>
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<p>Obviously it is vital for safety that we know where everyone is and to ensure that
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callout times are set and cancelled for every caving trip.
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<p>We also have to keep formal, legal records of who is staying at the Staudnwirt Gasthof campsite and when
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because (a) we pay the Gasthof for every person-night and (b) it is a legal requirement
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because of tourist tax payments.
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<p>These records are kept in <a href="bierbook.html">two bound paper books</a> which are pre-printed and bound
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(including the names of all expoers) before the expo begins.
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<p>Your next of kin, insurance and emergency contact details (and <b>your own phone number</b>)
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will need to be manually written onto your page of one of these
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(<a href="bierbook.html">the bierbook</a>) on first arrival at base camp
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as a double-check that we have the latest correct information.
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<h3>Base camp logbook</h3>
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<p>We have a hard-cover book where we record every caving or surface exploration trip that has departed or returned to base camp. This includes
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sketched SRT rigging guides and some cave survey notes - in addition to those recorded in the waterproof underground surveying notebooks.
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<p>The text in the logbook is typed up trip by trip as the expo progresses (e.g. see the
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<a href="../years/2017/logbook.html">2017 logbook</a>). The sketches are scanned on the scanner in the potato hut.
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<h3>Base camp callout book</h3>
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<p>We have a hardcover book recording who has left base camp to go directly on a caving or surface trip, when they are expected back
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and the callout time: the time at which rescue preparations will begin if they have not returned.
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<h2>Preparing base camp at the beginning of expo</h2>
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<p>
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<figure>
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<img src="i/base-tarp2017.jpg" width=50% hspace=5px alt="Tarp on the end in 2017">
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<figcaption><em>Tarp at the end of the hut in 2017.</em></figcaption>
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</figure>
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We have the use of the new potato hut, its loft, and a cupboard - externally accessed - in the old potato hut.
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At the beginning of expo the cupboard and the loft are rammed full of stuff from last year and need to be emptied.
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<p>One of the first things to do is to put down the floor covering and gaffer-tape table-cloths to the tables in the potato hut.
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But the absolutely first thing to do is to turn on the fridge and to put some beer in it.
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<p>The bier tent (mess tent) has to be erected - a complex job for 2 people as it has a steel-tube frame and very stiff waterproofed canvas.
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READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! They are here: <a href="/expofiles/documents/bier-tent-instructions.pdf">bier-tent-instructions.pdf</a>.
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Then the bier tent kitchen (tables, cookers, gas cylinders, pans and plates, and all the stored food) needs to be set up. The "kitchen" in the potato hut is just a sink and an electric kettle - and we deploy our bread-making machine there.
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<p>
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<figure>
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<img src="i/base-tarp.jpg" width=50% hspace=5px alt="Tarp on the side in 2018">
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<figcaption><em>Tarp at the side of the hut in 2018.</em></figcaption>
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</figure>
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The tarp needs to be erected which extends from the end or, from 2018 the side, of the potato hut to provide a shaded
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and rain-free area for piles of expo stuff and for people to lurk.
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<p>Part of the area next to the hut is the winter curling "rink" - a lower area of gravel which we can't use for
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pitching tents as it floods in heavy rain.
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<p>Another big job is connecting and configuring the WiFi router, the networking netbook,
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the expo laptop (and extra screen and extra keyboard), the WiFi antenna, the printer, and the scanner.
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These are installed on top of the wood burning stove which we don't use. We also install mains power extension cables with UK-style
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sockets everywhere in the hut.
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<p>Every year we bring out A0 and A1 printed posters of the cave surveys of the caves which will be the focus of exploration.
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These are stuck up on the walls of the hut.
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<h2>Communications with top camp</h2>
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<p>
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Base camp and top camp both have phones using highly-reliable, low-bandwidth Austrian phone company SIMs.
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We use phone calls and text messages to coordinate callout times for
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caving trips. See <a href="phone.htm">these instructions</a> for using these and for renewing the SIM each year.
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<h3>Whiteboards<a href="http://expo.survex.com/years/2017/ukcaving/index.html#msg_282612"><img src="../years/2017/ukcaving/36547905301_986fc71f08_c.jpg" align="right" width=50% hspace=5px></a></h3>
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<p>There is a whiteboard in the potato hut and another in the Steinbrückhöhle top camp.
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<p>
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These show current important and urgent information: what needs to be brought up to top camp from base, what we have run out of and needs buying
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(hangers, custard powder, drill batteries...), what has broken and needs fixing, who is planning to come down the mountain.
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The top camp board also records who is out on which caving trips and when they are expected back; and also promising leads to be checked out
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in the coming days.
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<h2>Other stuff</h2>
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<h3>Washing machine</h3>
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<p>The Gasthof has an A+++ "<a href="constructa-cwf14b21.pdf">Constructa energy</a>" washing machine
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in the lobby of the gents toilet/washroom area (down the side of the building).
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<p>You pay €3 (2018) cash at the reception (access from the front of the building)
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to get the key. The key turns on the power to the machine.
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Return key to reception when you are done.
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<p>Expo buys washing liquid (for washing things by hand) and Ariel washing-balls (for machine washing). These are kept in the potato hut.
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<p>The washing machine has many complicated options and is labelled almost entirely in German.
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<p>
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Each programme has a different combination of time, temperature, spin etc. which is
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described in the display panel on the right as you turn the knob to select the programme:
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<img src="i/aa22408_01.jpeg" align=right width=20%>
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<ul>
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<li>Mischwäsche-Programm</li>
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<li>Pflegeleicht-Programm</li>
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<li>Fein-Programm</li>
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<li>Handwasch-Programm für Wolle</li>
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<li>Outdoor-/ Sport-Programm</li>
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<li>Kurz-Programm</li>
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<li>Blusen/Hemden-Programm</li>
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<li>Hygiene-Programm</li>
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<li>Kaltwaschen-Programm</li>
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</ul>
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<p>You probably want "Kurz" (30 minutes) wash or the "Hygiene" (2 hours 40 minutes) wash.
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<h3>Base camp bike</h3>
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<p>We also have <a href=bike.html>a bike</a> which we use for shopping when all the cars are up the toll road and there are only
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a handful of people at base.
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<h2>Shopping: Gaz cylinders</h2>
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<p>We have 5kg and 11kg cylinders which we "own" and which we swap when empty with full ones.
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<ul>
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<li>Do not stick stickers or tape over the official labels!
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<li>Get them refilled at "Haas Holz" about 500m away on the road to Grundlesee (Grundleseer Strasse 11):
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a side track off the road towards the river. Mostly a timber yard.
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<li>The Lagerhaus in Bad Aussee <i>only does one make: Primagaz</i> which is only one or two of our cylinders.
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</ul>
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<h2>Buses and local travel, hitching to/from the plateau</h2>
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<p>See the <a href="travel.html#lastbit">How to get to Expo</a> page for details of travel
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around Grundlsee and Bad Aussee.
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<p>Also relevant for expoers is how to get from base camp up to the plateau and back.
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The Loser Panorama Strasse toll road leaves from the "Losermaut Skiarena" close to Bla Alm,
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which is up a dead-end road from Alt Aussee. This is relevant because if you hitch and get a lift
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from the Loser Alm car park at the top of the toll road, you will almost certainly be going through Alt Aussee.
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<p>There are buses between Alt Aussee and Bad Aussee: route 955. See the <a href="684400_NEU.pdf">955 timetable here</a>.
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Note that some of these are anonymous minibuses not full-sized Post buses with "955" on the front.
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While frequent over lunchtime, there is a 2-hour gap in the late afternoon.
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<p>Here is <a href="684000_NEU.pdf">the timetable for bus 956</a> which goes to base camp and then on to Grundlesee.
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This also may be replaced by an anonymous
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white minibus with a taxi company logo. Don't get caught out by not getting onto it.
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<h3>Other buses from Bad Aussee</h3>
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<p>Here is the link
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<a href="https://www.postbus.at/de/Fahrplanauskunft/Fahrplandownload/index.jsp?search=true&land=STEIERMARK&fahrplanabfrage=bad+aussee">
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to all the bus services and timetables for buses from Bad Aussee</a>.
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If you want to go to Salzburg, you will change at Bad Ischl.
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<h2>Recycling</h2>
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<h3>Glass and glass bottles</h3>
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<p>At the back of the campsite, behind the potato huts, on the side-road,
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are two glass collecting containers: one for white, clear glass and the other for coloured glass.
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These are for the odd-shaped bottles, not the Gosser bottles (and similar) which we give back to the shop
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and get a deposit back on them.
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<p>We generally leave the odd bottles (port in recent years, also schnapps) beside the old potto hut until the pile gets
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in the way and then someone takes the lot to the glass containers about 20m away.
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<h3>Plastic bottles</h3>
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<p>This is <b>not</b> the same as is the UK.
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<p><em>Some</em> of Austria is covered by <a href="https://www.ara.at/en/circular-economy/packaging-recycling/">
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the "yellow bin" scheme</a>, but apparently <b>not</b> the area we are in.
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There are <a href="https://deutsch.info/en/essentials/austria">regional differences</a> in waste separation laws: <em>
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"Following consultations with the respective municipal governments,
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Vienna, Lower Austria, <b>Salzburg</b>, and Carinthia focus on the separate collection
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of plastic bottles (in some regions together with metal packaging), as plastic bottles
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can be sent for recycling. Other types of light-weight packaging are collected
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together with municipal solid waste"</em>, i.e. into the black bin bag.
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<p>In Bad Aussee, Austrians recycle plastic bottles, but <b>no other forms of plastic</b>:
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<ul>
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<li>no egg cartons, <li>no plastic bags, <li>no film food packaging,
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<li>no polythene milk bottles, <li>no PVC shampoo biottles, <li>no yoghurt pots, <li>no plastic cups; nothing.
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</ul>
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<p>The plastic bottles must be PET bottles: the normal fizzy drink type.
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<p>There is a bin bag for PET bottles (no caps) between the new and old potato huts.
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<h3>Metal cans</h3>
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<p>There is a bin bag for aluminium and steel food and drink cans between the new and old potato huts.
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We also put the bottle caps from Gosser beer in there.
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<h3>Batteries</h3>
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<p>There is a cardboard collection box for old batteries by the tills of most supermarkets.
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There is certainly a collection point in the big Unimarkt in Bad Aussee.
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<h3>"Biomüll" - food waste</h3>
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<p>There is a bin bag for food waste - putrescible waste - between the new and old potato huts.
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This goes to composting or digestion, so no non-food items should go in here.
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The Biomüll bin truck drives past every Thursday morning, but you need to catch his attention to get them to take it away.
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Twice a week you need to re-bag the food waste , double-bagging if necessary to keep the flies out.
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<p>Flies, and wasps later in the expo, are a big problem.
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They lay eggs in the food waste and it can be crawling with maggots: which hatch into new flies.
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<p>
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There is spray bleach in the bier tent (mess tent) which should be liberally applied around all the bins
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between the old and new potato huts to keep the flies dead. If this runs out be sure to buy some more.
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<h2><img src="i/elaine-in-river.jpg" align=right hspace=5px alt="Of course my survey drawings are up to date.">The river</h2>
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<p>Behind the Gasthof, following a path from the toilets, is the river which comes from Grundlesee and goes to Bad Aussee.
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There is a small dam making a swimming pool and a raft to sit on with your feet in the water while drinking Gosser.
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The river (Grundlseer Traun) is not only a cool festering spot and excellent swimming location, but also provides
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us with some turbulence from a weir which is an ideal
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place <a href="../piclinks/washit.htm">for washing ropes</a> and other gear at the end of each expedition. See
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<a href="../fester.htm">the festering guide</a> for other non-caving activities to do from base camp.
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<p>
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In July 2018 the Gasthof nearly ran out of water because so many tourists were visiting for a music festival,
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and Hilda asked us to use river water if possible.
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<h2>Computer, printer and scanner</h2>
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<p>We have a complex installation of internet-connected computer hardware and WiFi in the potato hut - all running on donated or loaned gear.
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This is primarily for recording the surveys of the cave we discover during expo. See <a href="computer.html">base camp computers</a> for more details.
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<h2>History of base camps</h2>
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<p>See our <a href="../bcamps.htm">photo gallery</a> of base camp through the years. We have been
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at Staudnwirt Gasthof since 1983.
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<hr />
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</body>
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</html>
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