Return to Austria

Meandering up and down, and through, hills

Left Budapest and drove towards Graz, Austria, via Lake Balaton, Hungary, as we almost had a home exchange there for a couple of nights. We had cancelled the exchange last week as the other party informed us they were no longer coming to Arrowtown and although we were welcome to stay we decided to add the couple of days to the Dolomite's part of our trip as a more time efficient option….

Balaton is a huge lake surrounded to the north with huge vineyards as well as National Park in the hills to the west. From what we saw most of the lake was paid access through resorts, campgrounds or car parks. We couldn’t get very close, so turned off to go to a cute village, Tihany, located on a peninsula with thatched roofed houses etc. But it was a Saturday so hundreds of other people had also decided to visit. Hence all that happened was we were in a traffic jam to get in, and then get out, with no parking available. So a slow queue out of there and onwards we went.

Coming back out past the lake there was a small amount of lake access but paid parking. In these spots the ‘shore’ was concrete pads with everyone sunbathing on that. When the Soviets had control of the country the citizens were not allowed to travel externally so resort areas such as this were quite well developed. Additionally the lake side towns had large villas which ‘belonged’ to those in higher power positions.

It was nice rolling country, vineyards then back to cereals. We appeared to wind our way out of the country rather than in the direction we thought we should be going. The GPS took us the fastest route but not necessarily the most direct (another trick learnt!). We left Hungary through an abandoned, derelict looking but very large border crossing complex then through the Austrian border which did have a couple of soldiers manning a stop-go sign. Not sure what they were stopping but it wasn’t us. A lasting impression of Hungarian drivers is that the centre line appears to be more of a guide for them…. they either drive with it firmly in the centre of their vehicle or alternatively weave from one side to the other (particularly on corners) so that on average it appears they are on the correct side. Made for attentive driving on our part particularly on winding roads…

Immediately in Austria the houses looked tidier, again cereal crops and hay being baled, and fast motorways and tunnels, all immaculately maintained, on our way to Graz. There were thunderstorms and heavy rain so the journey was slowed by that and a couple of resulting accidents, not us (both accidents involved vehicles that had lost control on the very wet road and flipped at speed). Arrived at Graz around 5 pm, no rain there, to a chain road-side hotel… the first 'standardised' hotel since Auckland on departure.

Went into the city for dinner, a lovely medieval town, town plaza with town hall and main street with old buildings and tram track running through. After our meal we wound our way up the steep street to the Schlossberg which means castle hill. It is a tree clad hill and site with remains of a 10^th century fortress. Mid 16^th century a 400 m long fortress was constructed, it was never conquered but was largely demolished by Napoleonic forces under a treaty settlement of 1809. The clock tower and bell tower were saved. In 1839 the grounds became a public park. Now there are cafes, gardens, an open air theatre in one of the cellars of a ruined bastion, a funicular railway to get up the hill and a tunnel system through the hill built as air raid shelters for WWII.

 As per usual, when studying statues the devil is in the detail....

This was a nice and busy place to walk on Saturday night with lots of families, couples and tourists out walking, picnicking etc. We wound our way down very steep steps to our car and back to the hotel thinking we would explore a little more in the morning.

Next morning it was pouring with rain so we left town. As it was a Sunday there is not much open so it was breakfast at a highway service station and just carried on, fast roads and lots of tunnels as we wound our way towards Lienz which is to be our base for a few nights.

We stopped beside Lake Klugenfurt, at a ritzy holiday town of Velden am Worthersee. The Lake had the tiniest bit of free public access… all of 30 metres… the rest all seemed to be shut off by resorts etc. Lots of flash cars, flash people, flash dogs (some being towed around in little trailers behind bikes), etc…we grabbed an ice cream and carried on to Lienz.

 Caro checks out the valued piece of public access

 Noel checks out the local car sales

Both agreeing with the seat in the car sales office....

Arrived an hour early in Lienz so wandered around the small pretty town centre which was all hikers, cyclists and motor-biker's. Really a ski resort town but popular summer destination.

Found our accommodation, a lovely apartment in a Pension (Guest house) on the hill overlooking the town with the Alps in the background. Owned by a friendly British couple. We walked down the hill 10 minutes to a bar/restaurant (read pub) for dinner. With the bar being located in a chairlift carpark we were entertained by a large brass band as they practiced their marching/playing routine…. Ideal welcome!!

The impressive view from our Pension balcony... not bad.....

The weather is great and looking good for the next couple of days.

Zig-zagging away

Headed off after breakfast to travel over the GrossGlockner High Alpine Road. Found with a bit of research when planning our route the pass is the highest surfaced alpine pass road in Austria reaching just over 2500 m, and is named after Austria’s highest peak which is visible from the road.

The road was constructed post the US stock market crash of 1929, when an already impoverished Austrian economy went into free fall. With unemployment close to 30% the government put 3500 people to work on construction of the highway with a view (pun intended) that the increased tourism of the rising car tourism industry would stimulate earnings. The cost was to be recovered by tolls, which are still charged today for maintenance.

It soon became obvious that the toll road pass is very popular with petrol heads of all descriptions. Hundreds of motorcyclists, all sorts of exotic cars from new Audi/Porsche/Ferrari etc through to American muscle cars and even a couple of 1950/60's MG’s during the period we drove. Plus, surprisingly, heaps of cyclists... Austria and Italy must have potential as really strong cycle teams, perhaps they are?

Pug’s transmission was put in sport mode and off we went…. No, we didn’t race but it was an enjoyable drive with spectacular vista’s. Although some were treating it as a race, as had to watch the rear view mirror constantly as Porsche's etc were liable to suddenly be there! A few high performance car drivers were getting thrills from stopping at the start of tunnels and accelerating through the gears to get the engine echo. However, all drivers were well behaved and very courteous.... the more we travel Europe the more we realise how appalling NZ, and particularly Queenstown area, drivers are!

The length of the road is around 50 km and includes 36 hairpin turns which keeps the gradient reasonably light although you definitely know you are climbing/descending. Due to the altitude the pass is only open over the summer months, and during our visit many of the hiking trails off the side of the road are still closed due to snow.

Most curious thing was that there is mountain Marmot's present, a cute cat sized native alpine animal, scampering about that you could spot. All fine, until you wander into a gift shop and see jars of Marmot Sauce (not Marmite, Marmot!).... wtf.... is it made out of Marmot's, and if so how.... are they farmed, chased with foxes or dogs, shot from a distance?, or rather is it just a sauce to spread on your Marmot sandwich?? A mystery to be solved....

Did a google search... it is a traditional ointment remedy for joint pain,  made from the oil of Marmot fat.... still leaves a few questions unanswered though....

Once we had completed the pass, we had some lunch in Zell am See, then returned back to Lienz via a loop utilising the Felbertauern Tunnel. This 5 km long toll tunnel constructed in 1967 to give a low altitude link is also spectacular. A couple of the town names sounded familiar and we worked out that the very north part of our day's loop, 30 km between Zell am See and Mittersill, we had travelled back in ’88 en-route from Salzburg to Switzerland.

An enjoyable day, and since we had kitchen facilities at our apartment Caro whipped up dinner… a nice change from eating out. After dinner we enjoyed a walk along some of the trails near our pension, crossing alpine fields and weaving between forest, housing and farm buildings. Past some very happy and very healthy looking cows out of their shed for their evening graze… worked out the herd size, total, was 14!

The previous evening we had seen a different farmer returning 4 cows from grazing to his shed on a trailer behind his small tractor…. The cows happily chewing their cuds as the tractor chugged up the steep road.

Right.... time for some exercise

Away this morning to find the mountain we can see from our accommodation. Our destination was Karlsbader Hut, at Laserzsee, 2260 m in the Lienz Dolomites. Dolomitehutte at 1616 m was just beyond the carpark and perched quite precariously on a cliff!

Too early for a cuppa, we opted to walk first. We had choices, a 2 hour or an alternative 3 hour 'off road' trails, so we chose the 3 hour option up hill through meadows and forest and when we thought we got to the high point... we had Queenstown Remarkables type scree slopes in front of us. Another choice; scrambling or via ferrata (via ferrata definitely higher and scarier looking!).

We tried scrambling and with fixed wire rope in places we made it up to the highest point. Stunning views!

We then angled across, some snow in places, and finally we could see the Karlsbader Hut in the distance.

"Hut" is not the most accurate description as these huttes or Refugios can sleep large numbers (up to 90 guests in this case), have table service and serve wine, beer, meals of spaghetti, meat, schnitzels, chips etc. We opted for Apple Strudel and Vanilla Cream (custard). Sitting on the deck in 30 C temps... heaven really...

There were 6 4WD Police vehicles at the Hut, obviously staying there. The policemen all turned up in groups as we ate, returning from high alpine rescue training... and grabbing a beer, so presuming they must have been finished for the day.

There is still a lot of snow on the tops, the lake by the hut was still covered in snow although it was all melting quickly.

We walked down the quicker option which mainly followed the road. Must mention the keen mountain bikers that peddle up all these hills... amazing.

Got back to the Dolomitte Hutte and just had to have a beer (small) then back to our apartment via a detour to look at a nearby lake. Euro 2.50 for a swim or access, a nice campground and adjoining path, but it was too hot and we opted to continue homeward.

All in all a lovely stay in the Lienz area, a fantastic and highly scenic area.

Noel's eagle eyes spotted a couple of VW's just out cruising