Monday July 11
It was time to move over the border to Austria - we drove to Lake Wolfgang just over an hour away. It’s on the shore of a beautiful lake (Wolfgang See) surrounded by mountains - about 40 K's from Salzburg. After stopping for petrol and a bit of shopping we arrived at our studio apartment (See Moment) around mid-day. Our room had a perfect view over the lake and a terrace. Since it was only a studio it took a bit of jiggery-pokery to get everything unpacked and stored away. While compact it had a kitchenette and a huge bathroom.
BY 1 PM we were ready to checkout the town and have some lunch at a lake-side restaurant. Afterwards we drove about 6 K’s to a larger town to buy some more groceries; after 11 days of eating out we were ready for a simple meal at home. We settled on pasta and salad - a great holiday apartment standby.
Tuesday July 12
It started as a cloudy and cool day but eventually cleared to sunny and cool (20℃). After breakfast we drove up to Postalm, a plateau at 1500m where there are many hiking trails each with strategically positioned mountain pubs along the way. We opted for a 3 hour walk which took much less and ended with a pub lunch - not a 10 out of 10 but pretty good.
Back at the our studio we had a rest then took a big walking tour (1.5 hours) of the Lake Wolfgang village which is on a bit of a steep hill around a section of the lake. Back at home we stayed in for dinner of sambos made from the complimentary day one breakfast basket.
Wednesday July 13
It was an amazing sunny and hot day -
We drove via Hallstatt to Grippenstein where we took 2 cable cars to the summit. At mid-station we did a tour of the mammoth cave system - which was very impressive - it extends for 75 K’s but we only toured 1K with over 400 stairs. Then we took the second cable car to the summit and did some short walks to various lookouts - with one beautiful lookout towards the Dachstein, the highest mountain in Austria at 3000m. We tried to have lunch at the restaurant but left when we got frustrated with the slow service - we left in such a tizz that Dieter left his blue cap behind.
Back at mid-station we did have a nice lunch on a sunny terrace with excellent service We then hiked up to the ice cave for another cave tour - if you can manage the hike to the entrance you can also probably manage the over 500 stairs involved. This cave was quite amazing as it had large ice formations formed when the melting snow in spring seeps into the cave. This tour also had audio visual and light display which enhanced the amazing ice sculptures.
The it was time to head home - with a quick stop for more provisions. It was 6pm when we arrived back at our unit so we cancelled our dinner reservation and stayed home for sambos and Champagne - a great end to a BDO (Big Day Out) - we dropped into bed totally exhausted.
Thursday July 14
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It was another totally sunny and hot day - high of 30℃ - hottest so far but still pleasant due to the low humidity. We took the steam powered cog wheel train up to Schafberg (1800m) - which departs from the center of town. We disembarked at mid-station and hiked to the summit - an ascent of 400m in height - but a very steep and rugged trail - I hardly made it. At the top we had another mountain lunch on the sunny terrace with the most amazing vista of dozens of mountain peaks and lakes. The cog wheel train has been operating since 1893 and at 6 km in length and 1200m altitude it is the steepest in Austria.
Back at home we went for dinner at the casual dining See Terrace at the Wiesse Rossel hotel. We had an excellent dinner - the main course portion sizes meant we should have just shared one.
Friday July 15
We got up early to light drizzle but by the time we had brekkie it had started to clear - it was a cooler day - high of 24℃. We spent the day in Hallstatt a very picturesque village on the edge of a lake near Dachstein, the highest mountain in Austria. It is so picturesque that the Chinese built a replica in China - of course it was full of tourists but it was probably not as bad as usual as the Chinese and Japanese are not really travelling due to Covid restrictions in their countries. We walked and hiked up to a waterfall (2 hour round trip) then had a lovely lunch at a restaurant at the lake’s edge. Afterwards we hired an electric boat for an hour to tour around the lake and take photos - unfortunately at this stage it clouded over so the photo opts were not that great.
Saturday July 16 - my birthday
We got up and enjoyed our usual brekkie on the terrace - it was a cool but pretty clear day - high forecast to be 24℃. After deciding to have a bit of a lazy day we decided to drive to St Gilgen which is also on the shores of Lake Wolfgang and about a 20 minute drive away - there is also a ferry from Lake Wolfgang. We parked at the gondola station which is less than 2 years old and took the gondola to the top of Zwolferhorn Mountain at 1500m. There are many walks from the summit as well as the bottom - we elected for the ‘easy’ 2 hour circuit at the summit - you could see all of the lake and surrounding mountains. We had a lunch at a mountain restaurant then took the gondola down and walked through the old town of St Gilgen.
Back at home we took it easy for a bit then hired an e-boat for half an hour to take photos from the water before going out for my gala birthday dinner.