Doug & Jodie

22nd of December

After a smooth flight from Stansted airport, Kris Gareth, Jodie and I landed in Salzburg. We almost lost Jodie’s skis’ but we did lose the car, before we had even taken possession of it! The car company couldn’t remember where they had left the car. We got my new Garmin 250W Sat. Nav. up and running (although it had some strange directions, due to me leaving it on pedestrian mode) which took us through the Kriskindle markets, on our way to the hotel.

The Dokorwirt Hotel was lovely, just outside the town itself. We spent the evening back in town, wandering around the markets (in the freezing cold), before taking in a traditional dinner of goulash, pork and strudel for dessert.

23rd of December

Kris booked us onto the 9:30am “Sound of Music” tour, which included a hotel pickup (not a return trip, as we found out at the end of the tour). The tour started with a visit to the site where the Von Trapp family fell into the lake (which was frozen), so we took some photos before heading to the Gazebo which the “I’m just 16 going on 17” scene was shot in.

The tour headed out of town, to view more sights of the movie. The last stop, before returning to Salzburg, was the town of Gilgen, where the movie Von Trapp’s were married in the cathedral. The town also has an small restaurant which has won award for its’ strudel (which we naturally sampled).

24th of December

We left Salzburg for St Wolfgang and the ski fields. We stopped in Gossau to see if we could find somewhere to ski. To Jodie’s delight, the ski lift was right next to the road. In a flash she was kitted up, and up the mountain. We’ve been in London for over a year, and Jodie has been dying to go skiing.

Gareth, Kris and I spent the morning learning the basics of snowboarding, and by the afternoon… we weren’t much better.  We had conquered the mountain (well half of it) which took 2 hours. Jodie in the mean time was wearing out the leather on the ski lift chairs, by the number of trips she had taken.

We left the ski field and headed to the quaint village of St Wolfgang. The Sat Nav thought we wanted to view the town from the goat tracks for some reason, but we found the hotel eventually. Jodie and I enjoyed a bath and some champagne, before dinner. We had a fantastic 5 course meal, before heading into town in the evening for Midnight Mass. The entire service was in German, but was lovely nonetheless.

25th December – Christmas !

We woke up and headed out of town for the ski fields again. Today, Gareth and I took on the entire mountain. Kris took the smart approach and changed the board for skis. After a great day of boarding, with mountain conquered, we headed back to the Furian hotel in St. Wolfgang. Once again, we had a fantastic dinner, before retiring to the rooms for some nightcaps.

26th of December

Sadly, we had to leave Austria. Jodie and I took a walk around the small town, to take some photos and enjoy the early morning light. The whole 5 days were filled with bright sunny skies, as the photos will show. We’ll have to go back one day, St Wolfgang is a fantastic place, with summer sports being dominated by water skiing. Thanks to Jode for organising the trip and to Gareth and Kris for being so easy going and great to travel with.

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Now that Scott is thousands of miles away I can pay him out freely – not that ever stops any of us! No seriously, it doesn’t seem like we are so far away from home when so many of our friends either live here or are passing through frequently. Last weekend we caught up again with our jetsetting friend, Scott. This is the second time he has been in town since we arrived (6mths ago) and it’s always a good excuse to get the UQ gang together. Saturday night while Doug was out playing golf and at a party with work mates, Scott, Alicia, Dana, Ian and Tamara came over to our London Bridge flat for wine and cheese. A few hours later we walked along the river to a pub for dinner. Mean Jodie didn’t warn the girls in their heals and a few blisters, a bit of posing in front of the bridge and some bandaids later we said good bye. As always it was great to catch up with old friends (girls we have been friends for over 15 years!!!)

Last night we headed off to my friend and colleagues housewarming party in their flat near Canary Wharf. The panoramic views of the city were stunning and it was nice to meet so many of her friends, very chic French people! Lots of drinks later we caught the DLR to Bank and then a cab home. Today is the first day of daylight savings, looking forward to summer! Better go, Debby and Darryl will be around soon for cheese and wine.

Moving to a country on the other side of the world is definitely easier when you have some ready made friends waiting for you! I am lucky to have Alicia, Dana and Tamara – friends from school who I have now known for 15 years!!! Doug and I managed to catch up with Dana, Tamara and Ian last Wednesday, when we met for dinner at ‘Friends’ in Putney – i’ve been there on past visits to London and feel like a regular now.  Then last Saturday I met Alicia at the London Bridge tube, we took a walk throught the Borough markets and along the river (stopping to take this photo in front of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge – ah yeah you can’t see them).  Then we met Alicia’s flat mate (shareen) at Harrods – here we checked out the amazing Christmas hall! We moved on to Oxford St. to see the Christmas lights, ending up in SoHo for dinner at a pub – downed a couple of bottles of wine – a great night and some great company! Meanwhile Doug was at his 10 year high school reunion …