Friday 09.08.2019: Neukirchen am Großvenediger - Krimml waterfalls - Hopffeldbogen (alt 1084 m): 23 km, sunny  29ºC

We drove from our aire at Gasthof Friedburg to the beautiful Krimml waterfalls (9 km). Walk up to Veitn Alm where we had a first drink then Sölln Alm, our lunch and back on the other side of the river (15,5 km, 630 m ascent, 5h50). Drive to Hopffeldboden, overnight near the loud river. N47º12'23" E12º15'7".

Saturday 10.08.2019: Hopfeldbogen - Habachtal (alt 1080 m): 14 km - nice and warm 26ºC

Volker hiked up to the where he stopped at the Seebachalm (1995 m) then walked up to Seebachsee (2083 m)  (960 m ascent, 1490 m descent, 6 hours, 14,1 km). Drive to Habachtal where we stay overnight. N47º14'53" E12º19'3"

Sunday 11.08.2019: Habachtal: first cloudy and misty, in the afternoon sunny 25ºC

Volker took the shuttle "Smaragd Express" up to Alpenrose- Gasthof (1410 m) to walk further up to the Neue Thüringer Hütte (2240 m) (830 m ascent, 5 hours, 19,8 km). Julia met him at the beautiful old Alte Moar Alm at 14:10, taking the shuttle at 13:30 (14€ return, but we didn't use the return). We then both had lunch then walked down to Habachtal (7 km, 540 m descent, 1:40 hour).

Monday 12.08.2019: Habachtal - Großglockner Hochalpenstraße - Döllach/Großkirchheim (alt 1.017 m): 115 km, first cloudy and windy, then terrible gusts with rain, in Dölllach beautiful weather

Drive to Bruck where we entered the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße (36,50 €/car) and drove up to the Franz-Josef-Hütte (alt 2451 m) to see the Pasterzen-Kees Glacier under the the Großglockner, the highest mountain in Austria, and the second highest after Mont Blanc (alt 4810 m). We were lucky to be able to see almost everything, except the Großglockner itself. Lunch at the Panorama-Restaurant (30 €). When we decided to go back to our camper, weather was the worst you can think of! We were lucky that the shuttle bus, which takes people from the bus parking was so nice to take us up to the door of our camper! We drove down to Heiligenblut, then further to Döllach where there is an aire at the hotel restaurant Gasthof Schlosswirt (10 € with electricity and garbage + 1,90 € tax/pax). Dinner at the restaurant ( €) N46º58'28" E12º53'31"

Tuesday 13.08.2019: Döllach - Bad Gastein CG (860 m): 65 km (without the train), rainy all the time 18,5ºC

Drive to Mallnitz-Obervellach and we took the train "Autoschleuse Tauernbahn" that goes through a tunnel to Böckstein. This was a nice experience, especially that we didn’t know if we would be able to get on and how much it would cost (17 € for motorbikes, cars and our camper!). After leaving the train we drove to the Camping Erlengrund north of Bad Gastein. After we got our guest card we walked to the Gasteiner waterfall, followed it up to the centre -the waterfall goes through the whole town! We bought a new rain hat for Julia (31 € to replace the one she lost in Kufstein, then took the elevator of the parking building up to highest floor (about 11 floors). Julia went to the Felsentherme Bad Gastein (from 18:00 to 21:45 (18,50€ with the guest card). Back with taxi (18,45 €). Camping Erlengrund ( €) N47º8'4" E13º7'46"

Wednesday 14.08.2019: Bad Gastein

Laundry with only 1 machine for the whole camping; this led to some confusion but we made it. In the meantime Volker went up almost to Böckstein, then down to Bad Hofgastein (2,5 hours, 380 m ascent, 31 km). In the afternoon we took the bus 555 to Bad Hofgastein (1,50€/pax with the guest card). It is a cosy little town with many Arabs. we had a coffee at the Piccolo Café. Back with the last bus at 18:30 (1,50€/pax).

Thursday 15.08.2019: Hof Gastein - Hallein (alt 443 m) (near Salzburg): 75 km, sunny in the morning in Werfen, cloudy and little rain in Hallein

Drive to Werfen where we parked down in the valley to visit the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves, which are concealed in the Tennengebirge. First we took a shuttle bus (7 €/pax) that drove us to the ticket counter. Entrance fee including the cable car: 24€ (22€ for members of the DAV, Deutscher Alpen-Verein). The hike is strenuous but beautiful. We had a tour for almost 1,5 hours in the very cold caves. Warm soup at home before driving to Hallein where we settled at the Gasthof Auwirt. We took the bus to Hallein centre and walked around the nice old town. Unfortunately, all the shops were closed, and there are not many cafés there. At 18:00 we went to the cinema and watched "Leberkäs Junkie", a German-Bavarian comedy based on a book written by Rita Falk. Back home walking along the river, because we didn't manage to hall a taxi (4 km, 45 minutes). N47º42'36" E 13º4'12"