Hotel Rohrmooser Schloessl Schladming

... the women then the men to follow. Got to the bottom of the track just in time for the final few riders. Sam Hill won for Australia by 3 seconds with Fairclough of Great Britain in 5th. Great day. The riders partied through the night so we put our ear plugs in and got some sleep ready to move on to Salzburg the next day.<br><br>Here's some pics before the camera broke....<br><br>

... room.... but it got the thumbs up as it was clean, tidy and modern. The view from the room was amazing, perfect view of the Planai mountain slope, so good we could have sat there and watched the biking from our room!! Dropped our bags and went for our first meal out since leaving home, chilli fahitas and chicken burgers went down a treat, god bless Papa Joes!!!!

... was really cool, and I think a good change from all the castles, at least for my boyfriend. The tour takes you through various sections of a working salt mine and at the end we were given a small shaker of salt from Hallstatt. The funnest part was definitely the slides. They are quite long and we could go in groups of three so of course we did. On the last slide the tour group had a speed ...

... parts out (head and leg bones). They wash and bleach them, then paint the skulls as a way to show respect and stack them all together in this building. The building is basically full and the last one was added in 1984 I think. It is a very important place to the community and it was a huge honor to get buried in there. As my dad would say, "People are dying to get in there"!<br><br>After that we went on a long hike up to a lookout and the salt mine. Really nice ...

... br>So tomorrow morning Derek arrives at the Salzburg airport about 9:30 am, and we&#8217;re meeting by the Mozart statue in Mozartplatz (the main square of Salzburg). We&#8217;ll have two days in Salzburg before heading up to Germany. We&#8217;ll have three days in Munich, one day in Nuremburg, and one day in Rothenburg. Then Derek will return home from Nuremburg, and I will continue my travels up the Rhine Valley in Germany.<br><br>Auf Wiedersehen!

... I normally would have done. But I just didn&#8217;t feel like it, so I stayed in my room and ate leftover munchies.<br><br>I almost didn&#8217;t want to go to bed, because I didn&#8217;t want to have to leave my room in the morning. But eventually I got really tired and couldn&#8217;t concentrate on my book anymore, so I went to sleep.<br><br>Tomorrow I&#8217;ll leave Hallstatt and go to Salzburg, where my brother Derek will join me on Sunday!<br><br>Auf Wiedersehen!

... as when<br>the sunset it got instantly cold....hmm this wasnt in the emma and<br>kathleen brochure! Tuesday morning we got up and went for a walk - well<br>mini hike really. I looked totally out of place... everyone had their<br>hiking boots and poles etc... then here I come, shorts and cardi,<br>converse sneakers and long pink ...

... and then hit the road for areas less populated. Destination: Hallstatt in the salzkammergut area of Austria.<br><br>An hour and a half out of Salzburg, the little village of Hallstatt sits perched on the edge of a lake. It is built on a hill, has really only one street suitable for cars, and is in a gorgeous mountainous setting. The camping is half a kilometer out of town, and across the road from the main city park with swimming area in the lake. Wahoo ...

... we promised ourselves was that before we left Austria we'd try some traditional apple strudel. So we did - with vanilla sauce! Naturally, I didn't like the fruit mince - type flavour, but I loved the sauce! And Ian, well he didn't mind the fact that I didn't like it, cause he got to eat the second half of mine! Next stop ... Switzerland!!! (ps. sorry there are no photos from this section - we took heaps with the big camera, but still can't get the photos onto the laptop)

... who lived in exile for 30 years. He is a good performer and really got everybody on their feet and dancing. I knew most of his songs from my touring with Jabu, I have three CDs from him. Originally the concert was three hours, but we left at 00.30 when Masekela had finished and there was still a set to come by Malaika, a lady singer. Surprise party Monday afternoon Jabu organised a surprise farewell party for me in the office, with a speech from ...