Tag: travelling

Queenstown and around – Christmas week 2018

Arriving in Queenstown on a wet and wild evening, for Christmas week in the New Zealand summer, we were then exceptionally lucky and blessed with a week of sunshine.

Queenstown

Queenstown itself doesn’t have a huge waterfront, but it’s bustling with plenty do to, including a fantastic play area. To me, it is like the New Zealand Windermere of the Lake District – everything a tourist could possibly want, from shops to cafes & restaurants to fun galore.

Mini golf

For a bit of fun we had gone to play the indoor mini golf as it is awesome – a must if you have a couple of spare hours. Sadly it was closed so instead we played the outdoor mini golf. Still fun but standard. I discovered it is hard to play with a mini in a front sling!

So in the end we let Evie romp and she made the course even more difficult!

These are both located at the bottom of the gondola.

The Gondola

Easily walkable from the centre of town, this takes you up the mountain for a great view, and if you choose, paragliding, bungi jumping and riding the luge. For us though, it knocked an hours walk off each end of our bigger walk up Ben Lomond.

Ben Lomond

You may think this mountain is in Scotland, but it also exists in Queenstown! This must be one of the most popular walks given the number of people doing it. But it is obvious why once on it.

From the top of the gondola the path winds through the woods a short way before starting an unremitting ascent to the top.

It was a 1&1/2 hrs walk to the saddle. It’s unusual that we take as long as walking signs suggest, but on this walk we did! The saddle is a good place to stop at for turkey sandwiches round 1, for it has great views of the next mountain range across.

From here it got more rocky underfoot and was a harder steeper ascent, and Evie started to few super heavy! I have to admit (and this is unusual for me), that I nearly suggested that our view was good enough and we could turn back. However, so long as you can see the summit, it’s worth it.

The view from the top was nothing short of remarkable.

It is definitely Evie’s highest peak at 1,748m and we therefore woke her up to appreciate the view! She told us later how much she loved it.

Taking special care on the first part of the descent, and stopping for Turkey sandwiches round 2 back on the saddle, we then made our way back down. Although expensive, I was by this point super pleased of the lift down as both our feet were super painful.

At the gondola cafe we treated ourselves to smoothies and fries before heading back down for the evening.

Glenorchy

Again, the New Zealand version of this Scottish sounding place. It was about a 40 minute drive from Queenstown and a beautiful spot. We liked the sound of the lagoons and thought they would be a great place to hang out and swim. Reality was that although they had their own prettiness, they were very shallow and silty.

Despite Finley repeatedly asking if we were going in, after I watched Tim wade and get not deeper than his shins, kicking up silt with every step, even as someone who swims whenever possible, here did not inspire me to get wet!

So after a hot picnic on a small jetty, we headed back to the head of the Lake Wakatipu and there we did swim. Jumping off the jetty and in and off the swimming platform, into the gorgeous blue water. Evie had a little paddle but was not hugely amused at the cold temperature of the water! So she hung out with Granny & Granded.

The Remarkables walks

Just out of Queenstown past the airport, you can drive up the steep hairpin road to The Remarkables ski area.

From this car park two walks are signposted.

Tim, Evie, Granny & Grandad went to the lake, which took about an hour to walk to. It looks a pretty special place.

Nick, Cath, Joseph, Finley and myself went on a slightly longer walk to the Lookout, as the terrain wasn’t suitable for all. We even managed a snowball fight and some bum sledging in the patches of snow left still in December. From here was a spectacular view over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.

Kelvin Heights Peninsula

This is a nice sheltered bay that looks across to Queenstown but is very easy to get to by car. With a golf course in the middle but woods around the outside, you can walk or cycle around the peninsula, walking for about an hour. The water is a beautiful blue which just makes you want to jump in. It’s also where the locals seem to hangout with all their water toys.

Queenstown trail

Back on the bike, the Kelvin Heights Peninsula is a section of the Queenstown Trail that is nice to cycle. When you have biked around the peninsula and through a small housing estate you can then continue along the Queenstown trail to Jacks point. This is a gorgeous section of trail looking down on Lake Wakatipu. However, still being new to having Evie on the back of my bike rather than in a trailer, and with the path a bit loose under wheel, I pushed up the steeper hills but we enjoyed whizzing down. From previous experience you can continue doing a bit of mountain biking around Jacks Point. Not for us on this day though.

Swimming in the lake

We were incredibly lucky to be staying in a family house that looked onto and had access to Lake Wakatipu.

Although super cold (far too cold for Evie), it was great fun to jump into and enjoy a refreshing cool off after a hot summers day.

Even Grandad couldn’t resist the tempting waters and braved the cold for a swim.

A warm Christmas Day

Christmas doesn’t seem to be a big thing in New Zealand, but Santa and his reindeer still got left their drink, mince pie and carrot to ensure that we were not forgotten out here.

He thoughtfully left some very small gifts that Joseph and Finley helped Evie to open.

A nice walk around the Kelvin Peninsula, a turkey dinner and then (apparently) a New Zealand style pudding, a pavlova.

Merry Christmas one and all – time to move on in our trip.

Tekapo

When we passed through Tekapo three years ago we were super lucky as it looked like this and we jumped straight into the lake for a swim!

No such luck on this occasion despite visiting it on three successive days, they have been pretty cloudy. On the upside, it didn’t rain much! And the water still looked a beautiful vivid blue.

Known for the Church of the Good Shepherd, a tiny little church that sits on the shores with a window that has the most fabulous view that looks on to Lake Tekapo, it is an idyllic spot and great stopping point.

At this time of year the lupins are in full bloom and add another element of beauty to this region of New Zealand.

You can go down the road towards the observatory and walk in fields full of lupins, of all different colours. Or if you are a crawling baby you can play hide and seek amongst the lupins!

For a spot of luxury, at $27 per adult, head to the Tekapo springs, a great place to chill out. It has adult only pools and a kids pool and fun area. Or for Evie the best part was lots of time being able to practice her walking in the water! Quite happy going back and forth and chasing small balls!

And if you fancy a short walk, there is a 1hr walk up Mt John, to the observatory and cafe on top (you can also drive up to it). Easy enough for the whole family to manage. On a good day I’d imagine that you would get splendid views for miles around. For us we watched a storm roll in whilst the thunder was booming…. didn’t bother Evie though!

No swimming here on this visit, but still a gorgeous place and one not to be missed.

Cave stream / Broken river cave

Our friends Mary & Andy treated us to a day out from Christchurch to go cave-river walking. 40km from Arthur’s Pass, this cave sits just off the road side. We had driven away from drizzle in Christchurch and after going over Porters Pass via a pie shop, we landed in glorious sunshine.

Having Evie with us (who we clearly could not take caving), we split into two and took turns.

The boys went first whilst the girls had a picnic and took in the view.

We then went to meet them coming out, and they had had a great time.

Before swapping over.

At 594m long, it took a good about 45 minutes to get through. A bit scrambley in places getting up small waterfalls inside the cave. For us the water was surprisingly warm which made it a ‘pleasant exciting’ rather than ‘cold exciting’. A good quality head torch is required, without one you wouldn’t get further than the first corner as you can’t see you hand in front of your face with the lights out.

Climbing a ladder to exit the cave Mary & me had a nice welcome party!

From here we whizzed to the top of Arthur’s Pass to make the most of the weather and amazing views before returning back to Christchurch.

Thanks Mary & Andy for a day with a difference and heaps of fun and showing us a place we will hopefully return to.

The end of the trip – a day in Vienna

Vienna – the city of amazing buildings. Not just a few, but streets and streets of them in every direction.

First port of call is working out the U-bahn. Not tricky unless the ticket machine doesn’t work! But we got it sussed and got to the main Bahnhof to get our tickets back to Munich airport. A ticket for €8 a day did us well, works on trains, trams and busses and lasts for 24hrs.

Tomorrow’s train sorted, onto sightseeing. First stop was St Stephan cathedral. What a sight to behold both inside and out. None of the gold of places but instead finely carved stonework and the detail was something else.

Outside there were people selling tickets for an intimate evening concert, in the room in which Mozart first gave a concert at 6 year old. After some contemplation, we decided to get some tickets.

Just walking around Vienna is amazing without looking at anything in particular, but just looking up.

The buildings are enormous

The archways are intricately decorated

And the courtyards inside are something else at times

One now shopping centre was just so beautiful, you can only imagine that at some point the wealth of each individual residence to be decorated such.

A lunch and my final ‘Gespritz’.

After packing up the bags we headed out into the late afternoon. Via the incredibly impressive Rathaus, where there was a 2018 film festival going on.

We went onwards to Votivkirche, which was towards the end of its process of being cleaned up on the outside. Beautiful again.

The inside was mostly behind curtains and being turned into a temporary art gallery.

We walked in via impressive building after impressive building….

…… to an innocuous doorway.

Once inside though we were in Palais Schönborn-Batthyany, the place for the concert. Quite relieved the tickets were not a con, we took our seats.

The musicians were said to be from the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Opera, certainly they were good enough to be so. Playing and singing all the well known pieces, the first half went well.

In the second half Evie started rubbing her eyes and getting very wriggly…. then crotchety…. and finally loud shouts. Mid-piece, there endeth the concert for me & her. She had done very well to this point though and you can’t really reason with a 4 month old!

But as soon as I walked her around outside the door she calmed right down, so I could at least dance on the stairway to the final pieces, which in itself was quite nice. Whether for me or not, they kept the door partly open once I walked out.

A final meal in a very local pub, The Centimetre, just round the corner from our hotel. Popular and with good reason.

A really enjoyable evening and way to finish our trip.

Tulln to Klosterneuburg – 27km into the wind

Our last day of cycling, a short day in distance but a big day in effort as the headwind got ever stronger.

First exciting thing. We trialled Evie in a high chair and she was great in it! Less frustrating for her and a whole lot easier for me!

Clearly I made sure she was dressed in her most appropriate romper for our final day!

And finally we were set for off!

We visited the ossuary / charnel house in Tulln first thing as the door in the amazing doorway was now open. Was intricately painted inside.

Then past the front of our youth hostel from last night. We never did find out what the building was in the past …. speculated on it being a hospital

And we were on our way. It was just big open river for practically the whole way

Mum wanted a go at towing Evie , so we swapped bikes, which made me suddenly feel like I was riding an e-bike (not that I’ve ever tried but how I’d imagine it to be).

Battling into the wind became quite energy sapping. We eventually got to Korneuburg, which had a tale of a rat catcher almost identical to the pied piper of Hamlin.

We had planned to go in to see the Rat Catchers fountain, but it looked a busy town and I didn’t fancy navigating it towing Evie, and due to the wind it was getting later than planned.

So instead we got our final river ferry of the trip across to Klosterneuburg, which Evie slept through. Back on the south side, we finally enjoyed a drink

And a swim / paddle / play with stones!

There is a huge monastery in Klosterneuburg which is massively impressive from the outside.

We decided to make this our final call and cycled there to discover you couldn’t go inside unless on a tour (which was in an hours time – too long to wait). But you could go and see the church, which was pretty impressive from the outside. Check out even the roof!

…. and just so beautifully painted inside.

And then that was it!

Bikes to be unloaded here in Klosterneuburg as our rental company wouldn’t collect from Vienna. Sad times.

Loaded the panniers back into bags, un strapped the car seat. It was hot and despite having used up nappies and milk powder, the bags were still heavy!

We lugged them to the train station to find out there actually isn’t a direct train. Then we lugged them to the bus stop. A change also required….. so we got a taxi! So much easier and to the hotel door…. stress evaporated!

Our hotel, Station Graf, has a bonkers lift!

Evie was exhausted!

And Vienna looks beautiful…. we have a day here tomorrow to enjoy, before it’s all change and onto adventures new.

Grein to Melk – 47km 26/08/18

Having listened to pouring rain all night, we were a bit ambivalent to how today may go. But it’s fair to say, we lucked out!

Leaving our accommodation (surprise surprise) later than planned, knowing we had a reasonable ride ahead of us, we decided against visiting the castle in Grein.

So straight down to the ferry landing past a famous sundial (no sun in the sky though) and onto the boat, Evie already asleep!

One last view of Grein before we headed down the south bank, because it was the quieter of the sides.

It was a lovely small road through beautiful trees and back to wooded sides to the river, turning autumnal.

First stop for us was Ybbs, where we specifically went to go to the Radfahre museum (history of bikes). Small but worth a visit.

We went on the penny farthing….

Saw the fire engine bike….

The first inflatable rubber tyres (made by Dunlop)

The army bikes with sword attachments!

A bike with a waterproof cover (we need these back home!)

And a candle lamp (how did they stay alight? And how did they really guide the way?)

Ybbs itself was small but nice, although for a small place it had some massive buildings!

We crossed the hydroelectric bridge to Persenbeug, on top of which was a good view of one of these boat locks

And continued on our was along the north bank. Back through villages and agricultural land, until we found a nice lunch spot at Metzling, on the opposite side side of the river to the Theresien Chapel, a former Cistercian monastery. Looked nice but you can’t be on both sides of the river at once!!

We woke Evie for playtime and wiggle time. She chomped on more cucumber and tomato and then it was time to move onwards. Leaving Metzling, we passed these fun little stick men

We twiddled through the bumpy backstreets of villages because the cycle path was being replaced (will be super nice and smooth for whoever gets to ride on it soon!) until we came to a super curly bridge bike ramp!

The clouds were gathering so I feared they may unleash their worst

But as I said at he beginning, we lucked out and the sky got bluer.

Only 4 km to go to get to Melk, and our goal of reaching the Benedictine Abbey for getting our tickets before 4.30pm, the latest they let people in.

Impressive from a distance and ever bigger as you get nearer, this is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

However, despite its obvious popularity with tourists, there were no signs of how to get there by bike, which was odd considering it must be one of the major attractions on the cycle route. Anyway, we went up through the town (note the up, with the trailer, with a time pressure, equalled hard work!), and mum rushed in to get our tickets just in time whilst I did a much needed nappy change!

You enter through into a very impressive couple of courtyards and We then had 1&1/2 hours to scoot round the buildings and gardens. A well done exhibition of all things church related and super old (artefacts dating back many centuries), then through the library

Down some super fancy stairs

And into a highly ornate church with so much gold and colour

And a very impressive done

Back outside, the views from the balcony show us our route tomorrow

And we see a very old clock, that until recent times was made entirely of wood

Back out into the courtyard

Leaving 30 mins to see the gardens (don’t be late, you’ll be locked in behind massive metal gates!)

I rather likes this (amongst a set)

By going

By feeling

By speaking

By loving

By seeing

By thinking

By questioning

You are

(At least I think that’s how it translates)

And then it was time to leave, bump down the cobbled streets of Melk, and find our accommodation for the night.

Never easy, the owner had to search for somewhere suitable to store the trailer (I think it’s in his own living room!).

Au an der Donau to Grein – 29km

Only 14 degrees today! When we arrived at Au an der Donau at gone 7pm two days ago it was 27 degrees. A shorter day by far, that started after breakfast in the campsite ‘pool’, another lovely natural pool, but which must have had its source from elsewhere. It was so refreshing it left me tingling with cold. Too cold and deep for Evie, she practiced her sitting!

We set off in the rain, but it didn’t last too long, nor was it too heavy.

First thing of interest was at Machland; a fish ladder, considered Europe’s largest. They’ve even built an impressive viewing tower to look down on it.

…. and a massive man-eating fish!

After a while the cycle path left the Danube and headed inland. We were thirsty and in Mitterkirchen, a small little village, was an amazing restaurant called Radlerbauerhof, Familie Moser. I thoroughly recommend a visit if you are passing through this village.

Evie got to play in the pumpkins!

We got to drink homemade award winning cider and wine! And eat very tasty homemade soup.

It turned out they had a shop and were also a hotel. Somewhere I would happily return to stay. And that they made a large number of different wines, schnapps, brandies and even a whiskey!

Sadly it was time to leave again. So we cycled off through now very agricultural land, fields filled with corn and sugarbeet.

Before we knew it we were back by the Danube and in woods

Then the scenery changed again and the river got narrower, we were definitely going downhill (it’s the hardest gear I’ve needed to use yet!). It’s has also become more woody again. Sadly no sun to bring out the colour in the trees but pretty nonetheless.

Then suddenly…. we turned a corner and there was Grein in front of us. Even from a distance you could see it was a pretty town.

But it did have a short sharp hill just to get into it!

Having struggled up the hill to our lovely guesthouse, a lady who speaks no English welcomed us into her home. I was glad of my (somewhat terrible) German. I think she would have played with Evie all evening if we had hung around!

It wasn’t till we went to walk back into Grein I realised that the hill up really was quite steep, so I needn’t have berated myself for not being able to cycle up it!

We went up to the Schloss, but were to late to look around. The view was good though!

I knew Grein was old, but not quite how old. First documented in 1147, with major renovations in 1642, after a great fire had consumed most of the city.

We had an interesting hour looking around, in part because we accidentally visited two places at the same time as an American tour group off a Danube cruise was being shown around.

The Old Rathaus, from 1563, converted into a Municipal Theatre in 1791 was very interesting.

It was very quaint inside

Bit of particular interest were its original ‘locking seats’ – you owned a seat and locked it up so no-one else could use it

A loo with a view, so if you needed the toilet during a performance you could peep through the curtain to continue watching!!

And the fact that there was a prison cell attached to the theatre, but there was a peephole through, so the prisoners could watch the performances!! It is even said that folk brought them brandy and food to keep them quiet!

And the theatre is still in use today, but we didn’t get the chance to see a performance.

On into Grein church, with beautiful vaulted ceilings

We were lucky in that the American group, and therefore us to, got a short organ recital, which was very nice to listen to.

Then out for dinner, which is becoming ever more entertaining with Evie!

Tonight, she was after my wine big style!!

From there an amble back up the hill, in the rain. I had not taken out the bundle bean as I wasn’t expecting rain again, so ended up in mums waterproof worn backwards!

And the all essential evening play!

Enns – Austria’s oldest town – 24/08/18

When organising this trip I spotted that we would be passing close to Austria’s oldest town, Enns. We were not going to pass through it directly from the North bank, but I did want to visit it.

From the north bank you can catch a little ferry from Mauthausen that runs back and forth all day long. From the far bank it is only 6km to Enns, and beats cycling along a road with traffic.

Unfortunately I was expecting too much. Don’t get me wrong, the buildings were very impressive and well maintained. And it had a massive clock tower in the middle. But for me it was ruined by the number of cars driving through and parked in the square and the number of advertising flags hanging from buildings.

We enjoyed a late lunch anyway in the square. Evie enjoyed a play on a little rocking horse in a bank (random!), and then we had a wander around the back streets to make sure we weren’t missing something more special.

With very dark clouds appearing in the sky, we cycled the 6km back to the ferry and enjoyed a ride back over. Which just left time for an ice-cream on the front in Mauthausen and a bike back to our accommodation for the night.

Mauthausen – 24/08/18

So from a postcard we saw in an exhibit today, Mauthausen used to be a holiday destination from which people sent postcards.

It has a beautiful front running along the river bank and a gorgeous old town to match. But it has a darker side to, up a slight hill (or a massive hill when towing a trailer and a baby), is the site of a concentration camp. This was in operation at the same time that people were sending their postcards, in which they complained about the nearby smell.

Some 190,000 people were ‘processed’ through the camp. It was a ‘working’ camp, where the prisoners were put to work in a quarry or in nearby factories, but most died within 4-6 weeks of arrival. The conditions there were brutal and appalling. You first come across many memorials, put there by the countries whose people ended their lives at Mauthausen.

There was a lot, but not all, of the buildings left, and some of the sites are now mass graves.

It was a sombering experience, walking through not only the huts where prisoners slept, but through the crematoriums and gas chamber. A room with a very modern exhibit displaying 81,000 known names of people that died there and in satellite camps.

If you go, definitely pay the €3 for the audio guide, as it was very informative. It took about two hours to absorb, and I was glad that Evie slept through most of it.

Feeling a bit subdued, we cycled back down the shorter but steeper route into the town of Mauthausen. We headed to the river to catch a little ferry for the next part of our day…

Passau – cruising down the river on a sunny afternoon

Another amazing breakfast to start the day, although this morning Evie is more interested to practice her standing than she is to try food.

We headed out to the head of Passau peninsula, to see where the rivers Inns, a glacial river, and Danube (not glacial) converge. Quite a stark contrast when looking down on it.

We then boarded another boat, as we had decided that the best way to avoid the heat but still see things was to go on a 5 hr river cruise. This was really reasonable at €18 and it was a beautiful boat journey, passing through woodland and agricultural areas and past small villages. Have us an idea of what is to come when we start cycling.

Leaving Passau we saw the convergence more clearly. Another interesting point was a big lock that the boat entered, due to a change in river heights due, I think, to a hydropower station.

Took quite a while to get through…. twice.

We took a picnic with us, but when we saw other people’s food come out and saw the prices (cheaper than most land restaurants), we decided to save the picnic for later and treat ourselves to food on the boat.

Evie’s interest in food continued, and today she discovered strongly flavoured courgette and red pepper! Can’t say I blame her, it was scrummy.

We took in some more gorgeous views….

Before treating ourselves to ice-chocolates…. must not make a habit of this! Enjoyed this as we headed back towards Passau.

The boat trip over, but as well as being relaxing and enjoyable in its own right, it served its important purpose of keeping Evie Bean out of the heat of the day (because it certainly is hot here in the afternoons).

So we decided that by now a leg stretch was in order and ascended the many steps up to the castle, to gain a view over Passau.

Even with Evie in a front sling, keeping a steady pace, this was fine. And it was worth it. The views from the top were spectacular. So many different coloured building and roofs. And the cathedral just towers high above the rest (the the other buildings are not small!).

The descent was pretty special to.

And probably one of the best nappy change spots yet…

We also caught the sun setting making it all very pretty, and turning us into golden girls!

Back to the peninsula park for our picnic.

I had to test the waters with my toes. And I’m not sure if I was surprised or not, but the Inns was notably more refreshing (cold) than the Danube. I would say there are degrees in difference.

From there, a stroll back in the beautiful light and past time to get Evie to bed. What an amazing day we have all had…. and, thankfully, no toilet incidences tonight to finish the story!