ABroad

Wednesday, 7 September 2016

The back end of Austria and into Switzerland.

13:32:00 No comments

The battle to swim in Lake Fuschlee, the home of Red Bull's head office was an adventure. To swim at a lake beach it was going to cost us 5euro each. We only wanted to duck in and out to say we've swam here (as it was meant to be some really cold water) so we eventually found a restaurant next to a little private dingy moaring site. Discreetly parked the camper (as discreetly as you can park that big white lump) and rushed out in our togs, into the water snapped a couple of beauties and were out of there with two shakes of a lamb's tail.

Photos of the travels out of Austria and into Switzerland. It included a small stop over in Germany at Bad Reichenhall. Bad Reichenhall is in a part of Germany which 'juts' into Austria. It was quicker and more direct to pop through on our way across to Switzerland.

out on a recky from our campsite in Germany for one night.

Jake admiring a dream running track. Photos do not do this place justice. The sports complex was so nice and surrounded by hills - spectacular

Innsbruck

Noted as quite a beautiful town surrounded by mountains, Innsbruck once held the winter olympics....

A lot of schnapps on offer in Innsbruck - we tried traditional Pine Schnapps. Tasted like pure gasoline. The caramel one was amazing!

Innsbruck was pumping!!

The gold roof in Innsbruck - not sure the relevance but it made for an interesting visit.

Innsbruck

"On the road again"

Feeling like James Bond driving thru these tunnels.

Our last night in Austria - Dornbirn a stones throw from Lake Constance

Amy's power to weight allows her to 'dash' up the mountains. Lake Constance.

The summit of hill pfander

We dodged ice creams, lollies and other delicious goods after we were all starving at the top of the climb. Travel tip, always carry food- ALWAYS

Standing in Austria looking over Lake Constance, Germany to our right, Switzerland to our left.

That hat though - Appenzell Switzerland

Appenzell main street, coffee bound

calm before the storm, first rains we'd seen for a few weeks were about to open up on us.

Tuesday, 6 September 2016

Don't Miss Hallstatt - Austria

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Want to know where some magic is??...

Straight out of a movie, we roll into Hallstatt about an hour before dark and we snag an affordable caravan park and the most amazing surroundings we've ever experienced.

One of the oldest settlements in Europe thanks to its salt deposits, the small village of Hallstatt sits on the side of a mountain, against a beautiful lake and is one of the most spectacular place's you'll ever encounter. The remote and unique location ensures the village has an authentic Austrian local vibe. It isn't over ran with tourists. And I finally found 'the hat' i've been looking for since we arrived in London!!!!

There is no parking or public vehicle access to the town centre, access is via foot or bike. All the village houses and shops are authentic. Tourist boat hire, paddle boats etc. are kept to a minimum.

Hallstatt fun facts:

Hallstatt is home to the oldest salt mine in the world (7000 years of activity), salt soap and unique salt merchandise can be purchased locally.
Home of the oldest and still active pipeline in the world.
In the 1700's a prehistoric miner's body was uncovered (mummified by the salt), estimated to have dated back to 350BC.

Our stay in Hallstatt only lasted one night because we were on the move, but we ventured into the old town centre a couple of times to have a look around.

At night, the village buzzes with people out for meals at several little restaurants, exploring the city etc.
By day the town sees tourists coming through on bus tours and road trips. There are plenty of authentic little shops offering local nick nacks as opposed to cheap imported goods.

Pear tree running up the front of zee house.

Old town centre

Amy's favourite car

Legends

Need. This. Setup!!!

Monday, 5 September 2016

Gmunden & Bad Ischl - Austria

03:23:00 No comments

On the motorway heading toward Switzerland, the country side is bloody nice, rolling hills slowly start to turn into mountains, its green, the suns shining and we're having a great time! A couple of hours from Vienna we turn off the motorway and headed for Hallstatt with a stop over at a couple of little notable gems in between.

Gmunden - this was a sight for sore eyes after really only seeing the motorway for the majority of the day. The rolling hills are beautiful, carpets of grass and crops of corn, sun flowers etc. but when a snow caped mountain meets a clear lake its something unlike anything you see in Australia.

When we were discussing this road trip with Jake and Trelawny a while ago, Jake's recommendation was we either hire a car, or camper to drive through Austria and Switzerland because, from their experience, a couple of years back it was some of the most beautiful scenery they'd experience, we were really starting to see the fruits from this decision. Photos do not give this area of the world any justice....

Lake Traun

I've never appreciated or eaten so much ice cream as i have this trip.

Clear water

Couple of legends working hard for a euro.

If anything people were avoiding getting in the water - saaaa cold.

I'm loving the Landy's

Dipped the toe in, it was bloody cold. Nobody was swimming.

Interesting, put a lift on the outside of a house.

Bad Ischl - a spa town and a short stop over for us after Gmunden for merely a look around... But, it was like taking a step back in time, the whole bloody town were all wearing those Lederhosens! The only time i've seen this gear is on the internet for Oktoberfest...

Turns out the town was having some sort of market, or mini festival and we stumbled into it. Pretty interesting experience, the market stalls were selling locally made leather goods, knives etc. The local town band was singing Frank Sanatra songs in English (speaking in German in between songs), and just having a ripping time. We got a German style sausage, some fried potato chips and took it all in.