Hiking 'Holiday' - Austrians cant keep track of time.

So, school holidays are almost finished now but as I mentioned in my previous update I was infact for a good deal of that time in Austria on a 'holiday' - I say 'holiday', as staggering up a mountain in over 30 degrees every second day or so is not exactly what I imagine when I hear the word holiday. 

Julia and I caught a train to my host Mum's sister and her husband's house, as there isn't enough room in the car for all of us as a family, and Eutah and Alex were coming to Austria with us and we were staying in their holiday house there. After a 6 hour train ride we arrived in Kaiserslauten where Alex picked us up, and we stayed the night at their house before setting off on our 6 hour drive the next morning.

Alex and Eutah have no kids - they have Max. Max is a very spoilt Cocker Spaniel that eats raw steak, seasoned with carrot, zucchini, fresh herbs from the garden and all drizzled with light olive oil twice a day. He has his ears tied back with a hairtie while he eats so his ears don't get messy, and then when he is finished he has his face wiped with a warm cloth. Max adores me. IF any of you have seen Pepper with me, Max is exactly the same. He followed me everywhere, even waiting for me outside the toilet and always had to sit on me. He loves giving me kisses, and lucky for me he has the worst dog breath I have ever experienced.

Day One: Woke up at 6am to leave at 6.30. Eventually after 6 hours we arrived in Austria. We unpacked and settled in, and did some groceries before going out to dinner - I ordered what everyone told me was delicious, and described as 'thick pasta with cheese' - in conclusion, this turned out to be Macaroni. Typical Austrian dish, pah!

Day Two: Another luxurious sleep in - woke up at 3.30 to go and catch two gondolas to the top of a mountain to watch the sun rise. It was freezing cold but magical. When we got to the top, we had a while to wait before the sun decided to get out of bed - he could sleep in, unlike some of us. At the top of the mountain stood a group of old men dressed in traditional costume who played thrumpets as the sun rose. There was also a priest that gave a reading. Yet again, truly a magical experience. Eventually the sun decided to stop being a lazy sod and get up, and we went and had breakfast e restaurant at the top of the mountain. As we were eating, a woman came over and asked if we were interested in doing a short one hour hike - we thought about it, said why not and set off on our hike. Fourty five minutes into our one hour hike, I asked the woman how much longer we had to go as we only had 15 minutes to go and there were no buildings in sight. Her response? "Just an hour". An hour later, we were 'finished' with our tour, and were all standing in the middle of nowhere (still with no buildings in sight). The woman asked us where we wanted to go, and we told her the middle gondola station half way down the mountain - she then pointed us to a track that was promised to take us there. The amount of time it stated on the sign that it would take to reach the end? Just an hour.

Three hours after we began our one hour tour, we reached our destination. And it was only 9.30 in the morning. The adults all went back to bed, and us kids entertained ourselves for a while before we all drove to Kitzbuhel for icecream and a wander around.

Day Three: Finally, sleep in. After breakfast we went shopping for last minute hiking gear before doing a 3.5 hour tour along a  river valley. After our hike the previous day, we were already under the impression that Austrians have no accurate sense of time. This was then confirmed on our river hike, when every hour or so along the track, the sign would state that we had just an hour and fifteen minutes left to walk - not helpful, and this did not help raise our spirits at all. I also came face to face with my new fear - Bremsen, or Horseflies. These little demons not only swarm around you and try anything to bite/sting you, but they can also bite/sting through clothing. For someone that stands on her bed every night hunting down mosquitos as she has a strong fear of them, this was not comforting news. After about two hours into our one hour fifteen minute hike, we came across a restaurant. In Austria, hiking involves walking along a track for a while before you come across the restaurant/hutt that the track is usually named after. Here, one can order a nice big meal (cut up pancakes with apple sauce, and goulash soup are always on the menu, as is schnitzel), a nice cold drink and a sit down before heading on your way again. Kiwis would laugh. In New Zealand, this is NOT what hiking in the wild involves. I kept thinking I was being healthy and sporty by going hiking, but thinking about it now, I think any exercise would be cancelled out by the amount of pancakes I ate along the way. Bother.

Day Four: In the morning we all went swimming at the local swimming pool. In the afternoon, we went canyoning. It was truly amazing. For starters. our tour guide, Tim, was from Canada and spoke even worse German than me. Then, when he asked me where I was from, his entire face lit up and he gave me a huge hug - turns out that he lived on Riccarton Road across the road from the McDonalds for over ten years. Unfortunately, this meant I was his new favourite and his new play toy, meaning that I was ducked, forced to go first when everyone was reluctant and generally picked on and teased for the whole afternoon. We absailed down a 20m waterfall in freezing water, and slid down rock faces on our backs as the water carried us - the whole experience was amazing and very, very cold! The whole time, Tim had a camera attached to his helmet, and we got a video and photos when we were finished. Then, when we returned to the base we had a cold drink to cool down, and a schnapps to warm up - personally, it tasted like nail polish remover to me! That night, we had a BBQ, and as I had mentioned that we always have heaps of meat at BBQs in NZ and that I miss lamb, Alex had bought lamb chops just for me! They were delicious and I was really touched that he thought off me like that.

Day Five: The problem with Summer is that is it ridiculously hot by about 10am. Unfortunately this means starting our hikes at about 8am. Today, we did a particularly steep hike that led us to an incredible view - a bright, deep blue crystal clear lake at the top of a mountain, with a mountain range behind it. The water was like glass, and reflected the mountain range like a mirror. The sky was bright blue, and the entire scene was magical. We then of course stopped at the restaurant at the peak of the walk, where I ordered something that resembled a bread roll filled with blended Prune marmalade, and swimming in a bowl of custard sauce and grounded poppy seeds - it didn't tickle my tastebuds to say the least. On our way back, we had our first man down. Max, Alex and my host Dad, Stefan, were way at the back and I was at the very front. I stopped to wait for them, and eventually they came around the corner, Alex carrying Max, looking very sorry for himself, in his arms. Apparently he started walking slower, slower and slower until he eventually just stopped. He refused to walk any further. This meant that Alex and Stefan had to take turns carrying the pitiful baby all the way down the mountain. To be honest, Max looked rather pleased with himself. That evening, we drove to the Schwarzsee, where we listened to a Horn concert. This consisted of a small group of men in traditional costume, sitting on a free floating pontoon in the middle of the lake playing their horns. They also had about three crates of beer to keep them going for the evening. The evening was beautiful - orange, blue and deep pink sky reflected once again on a glass lake. We all sat on a wharf, dangling our legs over the water and enjoying the view and the seemingly appropriate music and minus the mosquitoes, it was absolutely magical.

Day Six: We started off nice and quiet - I bought postcards in the village in the morning, and in the afternoon we all drove to a lake to go swimming. I found out I don't really like swimming of lakes - the water is brown and yucky and there were ducks and fish in the water and creepy plants that wrapped around your legs. Therefore, I spent most of the afternoon lying on the bank enjoying the sun and trying not to get stung by horseflies. We had a nice quiet evening too, staying home and having homemade pizza for tea.

Day Seven: Day seven was a big day.We started off by getting up early and driving to Salzburg, where we went to an animal sanctuary for abandoned, abused and disabled animals. The whole atmosphere was gorgeous, because most of the animals were free to wander around the farm by themselves. There was a cavalry of donkeys that marched in a long line around the farm the whole time, never stopping and always walking like they were on a mission (I don't know where they thought they were heading, they just ended up walking all over the place). We had lunch there, where our eating company was Shetland ponies and donkeys that were keeping the diners company, and I saw my first fox! Then the boring boy stuff came - we drove to the Red Bull exhibition, where on display were all of the race cars, aeroplanes and motorbikes that were ever sponsored by Red Bull - the boys were in Heaven. I was dying of heat in a giant glass sauna. In the evening, they boys must have felt like they had REALLY died and gone to heaven, as we drove to Kitzbuhel to a Harley Davidson meet up. This consisted of a very colourful mixture of bikers clad in leather and spikes, and older German couples (often with the men in traditional Lederhosen)  all sitting around on massive demon motorbikes drinking beer, and revving their engines. It also then consisted of Emma going home early with a migraine due to the intense noise and rubber fumes.

Day Eight: Yet again, we had a slow beginning to the day. My host parents and brothers moved in with us as they had been staying in a rented house, meaning that the place was full with plenty going on. We went for a hike in the afternoon, our last hike to prepare us for our two day one on the Monday. I had Apple Struedel at the cheating hikers restaurant about half way through the walk. I also trod on Max's paws a lot, as he really took the word 'heel' to heart meaning that I had a doggy ear tickling my ankle the entire walk. In the evening I wrote postcards and let my body recover from a rather strenuous hike.

Day Nine: The calm before the storm. In the morning I biked with Christine to collect the breadrolls for breakfast. We then spent the day at the pool lying in the sun (and taking advantage of the pools free WiFi. We had frozen yoghurt for lunch, and all got dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant for dinner - I ordered a child portion of Schnitzel, and it was the size of both of my hands together with fingers splayed out. It didn't fit on the plate it was so big.

Day Ten, D-Day: I didn't have to worry about putting on weight from the monster I ate the previous day - I think I can safely say I burnt it off. Today we started our two day hike. When we arrived at the place where we parked the car, far in the distance was a mountain range. Alex pointed to it and said to look at the tiny white dot right at the very top - that was where we were having lunch apparently. If I had to choose one word to describe the first two hours of the hike it would be this: Bremsen. (Horseflies in German). Not only do they sting through clothing, but the mark you, as in it does not matter how many times you hit it away or run and dodge, it will continue coming back to you and only you - they say the only thing you can do with a Bremse is kill it straight away, and it is true. And there were swarms of the demons. For two hours I looked insane, hitting myself and spinning and slapping myself all over, and giving myself red welts from hitting myself so hard trying to kill the nightmares. It wasn't enjoyable. The word I would then use to describe the next hour and a half of the walk before we reached our lunch destination is Death. The restaurant sat directly on top of the mountain range, meaning that if we were going to get lunch, we had to get there first. It was scorching hot and the sun was blazing down on us, and the track was curved and twisted like a slithering snake. It was torture. Eventually I staggered up the death track to the restaurant, where I had something I have not had since New Zealand - a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. It was heaven. After we all drank about 2l water, we set off on our way again (bad idea, no bathrooms in the wild mountains) and two hours later we arrived at our stop overnight - a beautiful wooden 'hut' that was like a hut, cabin and a hotel all combined into one. We had a huge four course homemade meal for dinner of chicken and noodle soup, salad, pork and knodel (a ball of stuffing, YUM! and home made yoghurt with fresh grated apple at cinnamon added to it. Julia and I shared a room with our brothers, who made a barrier for me out of coat hangers as I was sleeping on the top bunk and they were worried I might fall of in the night (cute but rather inconvenient as I couldn't actually get onto my bed very easily!). In the evening two men pulled out a guitar and yodelled to the setting sun.

Day Eleven: We woke up early and had another delicious homemade breakfast of fresh baked bread with homemade cheese and jam, and made our own muesli (heaven for Emma!). We then set off for our three hour hike to a city where we were to catch a train home. We hiked through a very 'The Sound of Music' meadow, and climbed down over 500 steps until we finally reached the end. Today, if we were in New Zealand it was one of those days that we would then drive to a bakery and buy pies and slices and maybe a milkshake, but unfortunately those luxuries and slices of paradise don't exist here. Instead in the afternoon Julia and I wrote postcards, and we had a BBQ for dinner.

Day Twelve: We drove to Kitzbuhel, where Julia, Christine and I all tried on Durndls (traditional German dresses). They were truly beautiful and looked amazing on all of us. I fell in love with mine, but was very torn on whether I should buy it or not as I wasn't sure how often I would wear it in NZ and it was not cheap. We then spent the afternoon at the pool, and I kept thinking about my Durndl. We were left home alone for the evening as the adults went out for dinner, so we just relaxed and watched TV.
Day Thirteen: If I thought the hiking was over, I was wrong. Yet again, more hiking. This time though, the restaurant half way turned out to be burnt to the ground and we had no choice but to turn around and go back to the car without a refreshing drink. In the afternoon I wrote yet more postcards and read my book. That night we were also home alone, but my host dad Stefan was with us too. We ordered pizza (I ordered an Italian salad) for dinner and watched Indiana Jones.

Day Fourteen: My mind was made. I talked to mum, and I was to buy my Durndl. In the morning we first drove to another village where we wandered around a market for a while before buying my Durndl. Even now I am thrilled with it. I will never regret buying it, it is such a special reminder for me of my time in Germany. Then, we drove to a cheese factory where Stefan got a bit carried away with all the cheese and bought over 70 Euros worth of cheese - we STILL have cheese in the fridge to eat! In the evening we went again to the fancy restaurant for dinner, as Christine wanted to have their schnitzel for dinner. Once again my child portion was the size of an A4 sheet of paper.

The next morning, at 4.30 we got up and drove home. This holiday was purely incredible for me, and was such an extraordinary experience. I cannot believe how truly lucky I am with my new family. They truly are a family, and I am truly part of it. Not once did I feel like an outsider or a stranger, and I simply cannot believe how lucky I am. I experienced so much over these two weeks, and will never ever forget it.

Thank you, Klein Family.