Distance cycled: 61km
Distance hitch hiked: 11km

Today we travelled from Linz to Grein, and what an adventure it was. We cycled mostly along the North Bank of the Danube today, which was fairly flat, mostly paved and with great signage. Very different from our previous days on much more rugged trails.

The first few km out of Linz were fairly industrial – passing a quarry & the hydroelectric power station. About 10km out it became much more picturesque – lots of little villages & freshly ploughed fields ready for spring planting.

Visited the Mauthausen Memorial – the concentration camp where Austrians were interned during the Nazi regime. Incredibly sobering experience and very eerie.

Although we were proud of ourselves that we managed the 1km climb at 14 degree (very steep) incline up to the memorial without having to get off the bike!

The afternoon was somewhat more eventful. About 10 km from our hotel the front dereiller jammed – David applied his best mechanical skills to no avail – I gave him lots of encouragement but was otherwise generally useless. Just as we were about to face the long walk a lovely old man who knew a man with a trailer stopped for us. He set the jungle drums going and before we knew it we (and our bike) were crammed into a pick up on our way to a bike mechanic in Grein. The mechanic had NO English, but our general understanding after much gesticulation is that he knows what the problem is and will have the bike ready for us at 9am tomorrow morning. We have another 70 k ride tomorrow, so are really hoping we haven’t got our wires crossed.

Finally arriving at our hotel at 6pm with sore bottoms, sunburn and seriously damaged pride, there was no choice but to roll out the big guns!

Distance cycled: 38km

Woke up to a beautiful clear day today – no rain in sight thank goodness! Had managed to get all our clothes dry overnight by cranking up the heating to the max – our room was like a sauna, but it did the trick.

Today we cycled from Gmunden to Lambach following the River Traum Cycle Path – as you will see from the pics it was a gorgeous path, but had its challenges for a fully loaded tandem …

Once in Lambach we took the train to Linz – thereby avoiding traffic coming into the city. Linz is the capital of upper Austria. Quite a mix of old and new. Of course this was our first glimpse of the Danube – which we will be following all the way to Budapest. it is a huge river, moving at speed – lots of water traffic. walked the first bit of the track we will be riding tomorrow – very windy down near the river- we will need our winter woolies – but forecast is good 16 and sunny.

Have a 70km ride ahead of us tomorrow, so may not get to post until the following day – depending on Internet availability (and fatigue).

Distance: 26km (but it felt like 56)
Maximum temperature: 7 degrees C

Well we woke up this morning to teaming rain – gave us a great opportunity to test out our wet weather gear – we looked quite a pair….

Dressed to impress we set off on the path for Gmunden. The wet weather gear held up quite well (for the first couple of hours anyway) and it was actually quite fun riding in the rain. We were mostly riding along a river bank and the river was roaring, everything green and smelling great. It was 7 degrees, so had the scarf up like a balaclava to keep the face warm (yes quite a visual I know).

We made quick time and covered the 26km to Ebaness with over three hours before our ferry was to arrive which would take us over the lake. Where to go when you are saturated, cold, hungry and no pubs in the town? We managed to find a cute cafe and settled in – ordered numerous coffees and goulash soup trying to stay there as long as we could. Managed to change out of my by then saturated top (my rain jacket didn’t work as well as David’s) and find the perfect solution for future dryness..

All warmed up We headed down to the pier to wait for the ferry…. What is that saying about the best made plans? Despite having a valid ferry ticket, the next ferry was not due until May 15 – way too long to wait in the rain!

We are nothing if not resourceful… Managed to find a railway station and lo and behold Gmunden was on the line – and they had a bike carriage! One minor hiccup we bought two bike tickets rather than two people tickets from the machine – clearly our German not up to fullspeed yet. The conductor was very forgiving and let us stay on – I think he took pity on the pair of drowned rats.

Gmunden is more of a small city than a village. Very pretty, really ornate cobblestone patterns on the streets and beautiful old buildings. – set on the banks of the Traun River

Very glad of our hot shower and hearty dinner tonight!

Distance travelled: 58km

Number of times we had to stop for directions: 9

We set off at the respectable hour of 8.30am maps in hand and confident that we could find our way after our earlier trial run. hmmm…. The touring company had provided us with a very undetailed map and ‘translated’ written instructions as to how to navigate the more tricky sections of the route.

The first 15km took 3 hours!!! Once we worked out that ‘turn right’ sometimes meant ‘turn left’ and ‘underpass’ sometimes meant ‘overpass’ – we decided to ditch the instructions and go with our gut – at least until we found a village with an information centre, English speaking guide & new maps. From then on it was much more straight forward (well a bit).

The scenery was spectacular. Gorgeous green fields full of dandelions between Salzburg & The village of Eugendorf…..

the leg from Eugendorf to Thalgau took forever – many missed turns – ended up in the middle of someone’s paddock at one stage. But retained our sense of humour and tried not to panic at the thought of the remaining 50km of uncertainty.

Once we hit the Salzkammergut Cycle path we were able to relax and follow our noses & enjoy our surroundings more. And wow – this is spectacular countryside!

We arrived at our hotel at about 3pm. Right on the edge of the beautiful Attersee Lake

All in all a fabulous, albeit challenging day – we are SOOOOO glad that we gave this a go!

May Day in Salzberg heralded the post-winter opening of the Untersberg Mountain cable car, so we donned our winter woollies and headed up. The cable car trip up was eerie as the mountain was shrouded in clouds.

However with the promise of the fog clearing we holed up in the tavern and waited it out

David in his second favourite habitat[/caption]

We weren’t disappointed

After a quick trip back to old town to mingle with the masses in traditional dress celebrating May Day, we managed to talk a guy from a bike hire place into selling is two tyre tubes to replace spare we used on the flat from yesterday (as all the shops are closed today). So we are now set to head off early in the morning on the first leg of our ride, from Salzburg to Attersee – fingers crossed the weather is kind to us!

Flat tyres: 1

No pictures tonight. Just a quick entry to say we did our first test ride tonight with a minor hurdle to overcome first – a flat tyre. But a great opportunity to test out our bike maintenance skills before heading out into the wilderness – and we did it!

Rode the first 10km of the route we will be taking on Friday just to make sure we know our way out of the city (maps are in German). It’s actually really easy to get around by bike – only the first 50m is on roads and the rest on designated cycle paths or lanes – well at least for the first 10k anyway 🙂

As you can imagine we attract a bit of attention- lots of call outs as we go by – the words ‘tandem’ and ‘helmut’ seem to be part of the universal language. Not sure if they are calling out “she’s not pedalling on the back” or “you look like idiots in those helmets”.

Cyclists are everywhere and ride quite sedately here- no Lycra in sight (which is refreshing). All very friendly. One chap rode along side us for a couple of km chatting about the city and his visit to Oz. His parting advice was “Stop in the beer hall next to the church on your way home, and get rid of those helmets!”

hmmm – maybe if we put shower caps over the top of them people won’t realise we are wearing helmets???

Strudels consumed: 1 each
Outrageously funny tourist experiences: 1
Belly laughs: 100+

WARNING: If you are not a Sound of Music fan exit this post NOW.

We woke up bright and early today – David could hardly contain himself, as today was the day of the Sound of Music Tour!!! With the rain teaming down (yes it was the Sound of Music tour and not the Singing in the Rain tour) we skipped down to the bus singing about our favourite things – it kept raining.

So…let’s start at the very beginning…a very good place to start… (Collective groan)

Our tour guide Peter was hilarious – but also really knowledgable about Salzburg – so it was actually a great way to get to know the city. Although cloud cover obscured the mountain views in the Lakes district.

The route down to Mondsee (the town with the church where Maria & the Baron got married) was the same as we will be taking on the first day of our ride (or the bike track along side it) – so it gave us a sneak peek of what we will be in for.

We finished up at the Mirabell Palace (palace built by the Archbishop for his mistress with whom he had 14 children….go figure) where all the Do Rei Me scenes were filmed.

As luck would have it, it was the Mayor’s birthday, so we were treated to a traditional ceremony, complete with strapping (although aged) men in lederhosen and an armed salute.

From here we went to the Hohensalzburg Fortress stopping only for a quick tour of the Mozart residence on the way. The fortress was spectacular with incredible views of the city…

Finished the day with a traditional hearty pub meal of boiled beef and potatoes (for me) and sausages and sauerkraut (for David) with the inevitable stein of course.

Last job before bed was to assemble the bike (thank goodness that’s over!). Will test ride today – only 2 more days before the big ride starts!

Set off by train from Munich to Salzburg early this morning (well early somewhere in the world). Taxi driver nearly had a hernia picking up our 30kg bags – was quick to accept David’s offer of help for the second one.

Loaded our bags on the train, bought our coffees and we were good to go…..you know it’s a long time since you’ve had a good Melbourne coffee when Starbucks tastes OK.

Trip took two hours – I still can’t get used to the idea that a 2 hour train ride gets you to another country!

Hotel here very different to our cute little pension in Munich – not so homely – but brilliantly located – with a promise of a great night’s sleep!

Spent the afternoon roaming Old Salzburg town. Just like a picture book – pretty much preserved intact with original buildings & fabulous shops ranging from tourist kitch to incredibly elegant couture. Some glorious dirndl and lederhosen – Aaron and Caity, do we have a surprise for you!

Confucius says: “he who forsakes an umbrella for extra luggage space ends up with wet head”

A wet cold day today and being Sunday all shops were closed – meaning that our ‘buy anything we forget’ philosophy let us down in the umbrella department. So we opted for indoors (mostly).

We spent the morning at The Residenz – the incredibly opulent palace of the Bavarian Kings.

Of course all that exercise made us hungry so we headed off for a traditional Bavarian feed…..

We couldn’t believe how many Munichians spend their Sundays window shopping – even with the wet weather.

Now packing for Salzburg – booked on the 10am train.

A very relaxing day here in Munich. Started the day with a roof top bus ride to orient us to the city –

– then set off walking & exploring quaint streets, shops and the Viktualienmarkt- the biggest market in Munich.

A glorious sunny day so we finished up in the beer garden in the English Garden (along with half of the Munich population) – seats 7000 people! Fantastic atmosphere, brass band playing beer, pretzels (and size is everything when it comes to pretzels) and Bavarian sausages were the main fare.
As they say in the classics…”when in Rome……”

Note mine is a regular stein & David’s is the Gross (really really huge) stein.