Austria

26th Oct-2 Nov 2007
Initially Austria hadn’t really featured too largely on our itinerary. However the beauty of having few plans is that nobody notices when you change them. We have decided to go a little further south through Austria before we head further east to Hungary and possibly Romania We were both keen to check out Slovenia (our next entry) so we have headed there now.

One of the reasons we hadn’t planned too much time in Austria is that we had both been here before. The guide books however managed to lure us with some places neither of us had been to yet so what were we to do.

One of those places was a small town called Hallstatt. Now some may think a little joint on the side of a lake in the middle of Austria – what’s so special. Well this place is so special that there is a whole epoch named after this place (the Hallstatt period 1200 – 500 BC). The main reason is that the place is home to a very old salt mine.

Well salt was the main attraction then and it was for us too. Hallstatt is cut off for three months of the year by snow and it has already started falling which the kids were once again quite happy with. The camp ground had already closed for the winter so off the beaten track we went. While we found a reasonable place to camp we were going to be in trouble if it snowed over night. Of course this meant nothing to the kids and making and destroying snow men was far higher on the agenda (knew those fireworks would be fun).

Fortunately we weren’t snowed in and the next day was spent in the salt mine and exploring the town of Hallstatt. The kids were each given a piece of natural rock salt as a parting gift which was to become the science lesson for the next day. Rock salt and the stuff that comes out of the shaker look nothing alike so the kids and I replicated the process we had learned about the previous day (dissolving the salt, filtering and then evaporating the water off). Amazing what you can do with a fork, a bowl, some coffee filter paper and a pot!!!

Next stop was Salzburg (ever wondered were the name comes from…) that’s right salt, the home of The Sound of Music, oh, and that bloke Mozart. Found a campsite with a wonderful view and a few days to explore the city. Concert at the cathedral (Dom), where Mozart once played (they have had his organ touched up since) and a day to explore and walk the city which I was able to do alone as Bronwen and the kids had ventured off to the Haus der Natur (House of Nature - museum) for the day. I got to explore the castle, the palace the Mozart museum, the city squares, watch a couple of games of chess, checked out a couple of cemeteries a fist full of churches and finished off with a beer hall and brewery – no wonder I was tired.

From Salzburg our journey took us down to the Hohe Tauen National Park which is the largest national park in the alps and home of the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain. In my earlier years there would have been only one thing on my mind whilst in such close proximity to all these mountains but this time we were just here to look. We waited a few days in the park for the weather to clear a little as our route took us over a very high pass. The wait was well worth it!

I mentioned in an earlier piece that one of the joys of travel are the people you just happen upon along the way. Austria has been particularly friendly in that regard, with Breanna making some English friends in Salzburg (who live in Germany) and our meeting a wonderful German family while camped at Hohe Tauen. It just so happened that they went up the mountain the day we waited and popped into our home on wheels for a coffee on the way home. Well you’ve all heard about the loaves and the fishes story, well we created the people and the campervan story, squeezing ten people in the van. While it was pretty crowded it will remain as one of the highlights of the trip as we had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company. Hope we get to meet up again in the future!