Salzburg

Disappointed at leaving Garmisch, we head to Innsbruck and are pleased to see plenty of snow still in the mountains.

Our first time at the wiggly mountain roads brings us to a quiet little campsite with no one else to be seen. And then every 15 minutes, we find out why there may not be any other guests...sitting next to a church, the enormous bells ring every 1/4 hour and at 7pm we are treated to what sounds like a drunken bell ringers celebration...smugly thinking that must be him going home for the night, imagine our dismay when 15 mins later, they carry on their cycle. This went on until 10pm, and began again at 6am, and the ‘drunken bell ringer’ as he is now known, gave us a reprise at 7am...time to move on briskly!!!!

Although Nic has never heard of The Sound of Music, we make Salzburg our next stop in order to figure a plan to find snow.

A bus ride into the city makes the trip worthwhile, beautiful architecture, a city full of art and music. Lovely little alleys lined with boutique shops, cafes and restaurants, colourful buildings and the old town bearing the castle walls and palatial roofs popping up through gaps.

Another win here..we find some English people to ask about snow conditions of various resorts. Now armed with snow info, we find a very helpful Tourist Info lady who gives us a few more tips of things to do and see, and head back to route plan.

Looking at the map, we realise we have to double-back on ourselves, but time is not an issue, so we make the call - hopefully a salt mine and then ski resort, will we see any snow though?

Learnings from another city...the Japanese tourists seem to think our children are local tourist attractions and take pictures of them at their will!! Amelia is starting to learn to smile and wave as they stare wide-grinned at her freckles.Read more