By the time we arrived in Vienna (our first stop in Vienna: we got there by bus), we were ready for a bit of a break. We found ourselves a great hostel (the annex of Hostel Ruthenstein). Very nice to get there. Courtney and Thomas were great hosts. We asked if they needed a hand with the cleaning or something. They said they didn't so we made ourselves at home anyway, and whiled away the days taking in the sights and the atmosphere of Vienna. A couple of days later, Courney asked if we were still looking for a job, and we spent the next few days paying for our rent by vacuuming and making beds. It was great to have a place we could call "home" for a while, and we had a great time with everyone else at the hostel.

Sharon loved Vienna, and here are just two reasons why. They have really cool horses that do amazing things, and they have a NZ native in the middle of the city. Go the cabbage tree!!

Here we all are, hanging out in the courtyard at the hostel.

The highlights of Vienna was the relaxed life, sitting under the umbrella drinking beer and enjoying a barbeque at the hostel. But we saw plenty of other things in Vienna. They have amazing architecture there, and the museum is BIG. We spent half a day there, and there was lots more to see. It was interesting to see that they had a number of New Zealand birds (stuffed) there, including the kiwi, the kea and the albatross.
We did spend a lot of time just wandering the streets, enjoying the fact that a) we knew what the currency was worth, b) most people we meet knew a bit of English, and my very broken German (ie, Dutch with a funny accent) could be understood. The coffee shops were also a highlight of our visit.

One memory I have I want to mention. It really is silly, but I remember so well.... The first night there, we went to a money machine to get some Euros out. We asked for 100. That would last a couple of days. So what did we get? 100 Euros. But in one note. That's about NZ$200. Not very handy since the first thing we wanted to buy was a worst (sausage) for dinner.

The other outstanding memory of Vienna was the Danube Island Festival. The Danube river flows through Vienna, and there is a long island in the middle of the river. The festival is held there every year, and someone told us it was the biggest free concert in Europe. I can confirm that it was big. There were at least 20 stages, with something going on at most of them. The big name last year was Shaggy. A great performer to go see, 'cos everyone knows the words to Mr. Bombastic, and It Wasn't Me. It was great to see the sort of entertainment they get there. And I must say that I am jealous. The closest thing to this that New Zealand gets is the Big Day Out, but you have to pay. And it is in Auckland.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get that close :)

Enough about Vienna though. There is a lot more to Austria then Vienna. We followed the Danube for a while. I think it was a couple of days. The great thing about Austria is it is perfect for cycle touring. Not only is the scenery great, but the bike paths go everywhere. There are a number of recommended touring routes, but an extensive network of cyclepaths join them all up, so you can ride everywhere safely. After a few towns and cities and train rides, we found ourselves in Salzkamergut, in the Austrian Alps. This area is beautiful. I don't think I can do justice, so I won't try.

Lots of lakes, and of course, the summer of 2003 was a bit of a heat wave, so we frequently found ourselves in a swimming hole beside the road. Or we just joined all the locals at the lake. It gets really hot on the bike! The rivers up near the passes are all glacial fed rivers though, so our swims in them didn't last too long :)

The last thing I think I'll mention about Austria is to do with the skifields. In New Zealand, skifields are in the mountains, and the towns are not in the mountains. In Austria, the skifields are in the mountains, but so are the towns. We saw lots of hotels which had skilifts coming out the back of them. It was all a bit weird though, since there wasn't any snow at all on the mountains.

Vital Statistics:
Local language; German
Days spent here; 19
Kilometres biked; 380
Days with no biking; 9
km/day: 38.0
Cost (euro/day); 25.75
But before you look at that figure, and thinking that Austria is cheap to travel through, remember, we worked for our bed for a week, so saved a lot of money. How much?? I’ve got no idea. But I would guess our cost would be more like 50 euro/day.

Anyway, that will do for now. The next page hasn't really been done either, but you can go to Liechtenstien if you want.....

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