CRUISING THE WOLFGANGSEE - Phil & Jill

After a cheerful breakfast outdoors at St Gilgen this morning, we said goodbye to Shanka and Adrienne promising to the back. So far I think we are going to do this entire trip again as our itinerary has worked so well and we have simply adored so many places we have stayed. I wish!!!!

20190723_080501

20190723_101448

It was going to be another scorcher today so we made our way to the ticket station to buy a ticket for the 10.00am ferry service. We sailed the Wolfgangsee for 45 minutes on the vessel called the Salzkammergut captained by Michaep Eisl on the emerald green water, calm and backed by the grey crag mountains on one side and steep, green meadows on the other. The picture postcard scenery was made more beautiful by the glorious sunny day. How The trip from St Gilgen to St Wolfgang cost 16 euros for the two of us.

I restrained myself to about one thousand photos like this. lt was all so wonderful. I was reading in a magazine (so these are not my words) that the locals because of the beauty in the surrounds, call this Lake Wolfgangsee 'the lake of emotions', because here feelngs are activated all the time and the mind gets to take a break. I can understand why they say this. It is sheer beauty all around. They also say a Lake of Joy and quote a Japanese that 'A moment of joy dispels a hundred worries". That's how the locals view this marvellous area. Phil has been reading about this area for years and is now fulfilling his dreams of actually being here.

Some facts on the lake. It stands at an elevation of 548 m above sea level. It is 11m long (equivalent of 10 cricket pitches back to back long). The lake is said to have some of the purest water as evidenced by the number of fish and the European Union has confirmed that by acknowledging the Wolfgangsee as its reference body of water. For the residents of the region and guests, the lake is a fountain of youth. Already in the Middle Ages, pilgrims took the water from the Wolfgangsee well back home for healing purposes and until today, 500 years later. The temperature of the lake sits at around 24 degrees on average during the summer. Several streams ensure a steady supply of fresh drinking water from the surrounding mountains.

I was up on the top deck with my eyes going everywhere. What a sight. Everyone around me was in awe. The colour of the emeral green water, the deep blues of the mountains and the lush green of the meadows. Then interspersed with a couple of tiny villages all denoted by the church steeple as the reference point. Awesome!!

On the fourth stop we were at St Wolfgangsee Markt stop. There are two ferry stops for this town one for the cog railway at Schafbergbahn and the other the market place. The first impression is the steep, narrow lane up the markt - not long but narrow. We were to learn later that the mountain cuts the town in two and cars and buses go through a tunnel to get to the other parts. Phil went ahead and found our apartment opposite the Town Hall. It is a traditional wooden chalet type building. Our apartment (like a small house) was on the 3rd floor overlooking the main street. The way most of the chalets are orientated lake views are at a premium but we look up on a sloping meadow with the sound of clip clopping of horse drawn carriages padding underneath. Fortunately there is a lift - which actually caused quite a laugh on the first go because Phil couldn't get it to go. When we asked help from the receptionist Sylvia, she said that you had to glide your finger over the number, not stab at it as Phil was doing. She slyly says to me, it's a difference between a man or a woman!! Technique!! It won't seem much to any readers, but it is something for us to remember as after all the complex planning we have been doing, a lift shouldn't be that hard.

20190724_154412

20190723_113603

20190723_113737

We leisurely had lunch and a rest then decided to go for a walk around the lake to see how far it is to the Schafbergbahn for the cog railway as we would like to do that tomorrow. We stopped at a lakeside bar and met two Germans, Heinz and Marita. They were camping in their new caravan for 10 days as a trial for their imminent retirement when they hoped to do lots of road trips. They had reasonable English so we had a good discussion re their impression of the area; the differences in dialect between the Germans and Austrians. Their son had spent 11 months in Perth so they had a great affection for Australia.

The bar also operated a water based sport hire. Lots of families having fun on stand up paddles, water skiing, children's tow behind, yachting and small boat hire. It was activity plus. What fun!! I know a couple of families close to my heart at home who would love this place.

20190723_181025

20190723_190644

20190723_191525

20190723_182451

20190723_195643

20190723_175445

Reluctantly we left at 8.30pm for a salad dinner in the apartment. We had fortunately booked our provisionscat the only supermarket in the village right next to our appartment building. When I went shopping the queue was the length of the shop as it only has one cashier.

We are getting spoilt with these balmy nights.