Sporthotel Royer Schladming

... focusing lens :-( We took it to a shop later and they said it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new one. Oh well that camera has been through a lot and was due for retirement, and what better excuse to buy a new one!!

Anyway.... The finals were brilliant. We got the gondola to the top of the mountain and walked down the track watching the riders come down. First up ...

... 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!!!!

... a church and through some trails in the woods. We spent a lot of time along the river - beautiful, totally clear water coming straight from the mountains. We enjoyed a couple of beers in the park and tried to go see this afternoon concert that kept being advertising. It was supposed to be free but it was inside a really fancy restaurant and I'm sure you had to buy something - I mean 5 Euros for a bite of chocolate! So we passed on that and spent more time on our awesome balcony.

... funicular compared to the others I’d been on. It was very steep and long. And the views from the top were worth it, even though it was still cloudy and I couldn’t see the tops of the mountains. Instead of taking the funicular back down, I decided to walk down through the woods. It was nice, but I had to go really slowly because it was steep and I had my big backpack on.

When I got back to town I was hungry and decided to ...

... on, and it was the track directly opposite where I got off. Except that the display board for that track was displaying a destination of Vienna, and I think it said something underneath about it being 10 minutes late (in German, of course). A few minutes later I heard an announcement in German and all I could understand was “regional express.” I knew that was probably referring to my train, and I assumed they were announcing a track change for the ...

We arrived in Hallstatt in the Austrian Alps on Monday. Its so
beautiful! Reminded me a lot of NZ in one way but also very different
at the same time. Its one of the top UNESCO world sites. We got there
in time for a sunbake and swim but by god the water was FREEZING!!!!!
Took your breath away! You could tell we were in the ...

8/19 Austria, Salzburg. This morning we drove to town and parked in a parking lot next to a Chrysler minivan of all things, who was driven by a guy from Utah and his large family. He is civil service of some sort, and wanted to know all about our most excellent luge experience, as that is high on his family's list as well. We walked the old town, toured the Hohensalzburg Fortress, marveled at the primitive decadence those in medieval power seemed to enjoy ...

... family (his favorite activity when travelling in Europe). He told them he was (originally) from Tata... they said they were also from Tata; he said he was from Szomod (a subdivision of Tata)... they said they were also from Szomod! They asked his family name... they said they not only knew his family, but they bought his grandfather's house!!!! Now what are the odds of that?!

The Ice Cave ...

... road actually took us all the way back the way we'd come in from Italy (well obviously not ALL the way!) But what it did do ALL THE WAY, was RAIN! When we arrived it was still raining, so we decided to throw up the pop-up tent as it was quicker. So we had a very cosy night (coz it's smaller). We got up next morning and it wasn't much better, although the rain had subsided a little. All the cool things to see & do here - the mountains, the riding, the gondolas ...

... s boss Martin, presents (a T shirt, two books a nice card, Jabu's CD-Rom with South African music and Champaign. Martin shared with the staff how useful my debriefing with him had been. It is nice to experience that Mvula staff appreciated my contributions and enthusiasm. On my last day I had a final hand over meeting with Kerry and Jabu, in which I handed over all my documents. I am very pleased with the lists of achievement of my 11 weeks ...