County International Trip to Austria 2011
8th August - 18th August
Journey Out
On August 8th we began our journey to Austria. We had all been excited for many months. The coach started at 4pm from Brighton. After 35 minutes on the Euro tunnel we were already in France and everybody's nerves had disappeared. Everyone was a little hyper, we watched a few films and ate a lot of sweets. Later I woke up, and was very exremely hungry and so I ate a packet of biscuits. The night went quickly and soon we awoke to find ourselves in Germany at a service station where we ducked under the barrier when the attendant looked away. The rest of the journey went quickly and we soon arrived at the hotel. The owners of the hotel are very friendly and the rooms are great
Wednesday 10th August
This morning we woke at 7am for a busy day in Innsbruck. On the way we stopped off at a beautiful castle. We were given an interesting tour of the rooms that were open. The tour lasted an hour. Innsbruck is a large town, like Brighton, it has lots of shops in the old town and many interesting shops where we spent most of our time. When we arrived back in the hotel it was dinner time, we were served with soup, a mixture of meats and salads and a pancake dessert. So far the meals have been great and the hotel staff are helpful. We are all having a great time.
Daisy and Alice from St Leonards Division
Friday 12th August
Quotes from their day at the Ice Caves included:
"The blast of air when you enter the caves literally takes your breath away." "The view from here is awesome." "I can't believe we have walked up a mountain. I need to take a photo or my family will never believe it!" "The Downs will seem like molehills after this."
Today we went to the ice caves, it took 2 hours on the coach and we watched 'over the hedge' and 'Mama Mia'. It was a coach journey up a slippery slope, but don't panic everyone is safe. That took us to 1000m, then we walked 20 minutes up a steep slope, then took a 3 minute gondola and a further 20 minute walk and we got in the ice caves, they were fantastic. We walked 700 steps up and 700 steps down, then we had to travel back down the mountain and we were very tired.
Kathryn, Bonnie and Beth from Weald Division
Monday 15th August
This morning we spent two hours on the coach journey going to Salzburg. We had already waited for two hours for the coach to come back from the garage. Where the turbo was being repaired. Whilst we were in Salzburg we visited the salt mines. It was very interesting and we learned a lot about the local area. Everybody enjoyed the long wooden slides that led us to the lower parts of the mine. Afterwards we travelled a further twenty minutes into central Salzburg. The high street has a variety of expensive fashion shops and souvenir shops all housed in ornate buildings. Whilst there we visited the park where parts of the sound of music were filmed. Overall we all enjoyed our visit to the mine and the town.
Daisy from St Leonards Division
Tuesday 16th August
We rose bright and early (as always) and ate our usual hearty breakfast. We made out packed lunches and bundled into the coach. We then rumbled towards the high ropes centre. After arriving we got a Gondola to the mountain top and waited at the activity centre, then we waited, and we waited some more before finally being safety checked. After rigerous training we embarked upon our high ropes journey, attaching ourselves as we went through the high ropes course (health and safety in Austria is tight, I'm sure you can tell; thankfully we are on a guiding trip!)
Throughout the activity we had tears, rescues, fears and shouts, but all were overcome and everyone enjoyed the day immensley. Not only did we enjoy the high ropes, but also loved the 'flying fox' zip wire courses which went 22m high over a huge lake.
Afterwards we went on to a summer tobboggan centre where we took our very last Gonodola ride of the entire Austrian Adventure. We then whizzed down tracks and had collisions, bumps and screams as well as amazing fun. For our final meal we had salad starter, spaghetti bolognaise, and chocolate pancake with ice cream.
In the evening we had a nigh time walk where we had to decide the direction by answering questions. We got a little lost at one point, but were soon well our way again.
After and evening presentation for thank yous to Jo (our Leader in Charge), Alison and Peter (Owners of the hotel), and the rest of the amazing team, we have a long day of travelling to look forward to; resulting in family, hugs and a nice soft bed.
Thursday 18th August
Everyone arrived back safely after so many fun-filled days.