Austria 2010 Holiday ... 4 ... Myrafalle and Limestone

Date & Time: Saturday 29th May 2010.

Location : Winzendorf in Lower Austria.

Places visited : Markt Peisting, Pernitz, Muggendorf, Klosterdal, and back via Gloggnitz.

Walk and drive details : 2 hrs walk at Myrafalle and an 8o mile drive round.

With : Myself and Ann.

Weather : Generally sunny and warm .

Hohe Wand with Schneeberg in the distance to the left.

The escarpment has a Skywalk structure we wish to visit but we'll leave that for our last day.

In the valley below, the classic Church in the village of Gaaden.

On the way through the hills we came across a traffic queue.	No fences on the railway as I went to investigate.

We had been stuck for over half an hour and guys in harnesses and climbing gear had been passing walking back and fore.

It turns out they had been climbing the rocks and knocking off the loose ones.

The road had been closed by a guy and a hand signal . . . so refreshing.

[ Over in UK they would probably spent days just putting up signs and traffic lights before they even started the job ! ]

The road swept clean, we were on our way again.

Turning at Pernitz, we made our way up the valley a short way to Myrafalle

described as a " Hiking and Water World around the Myra Cascades"

Starting at the "you are here" red dot we walked up the river (from 1 to 2) returning via the Hausstein Rocks and the red zig-zag woodland walk.

Water World started at the children's water play area

but I gave it a miss today in favour of more grown up pursuits.

The Waterfalls at Myrafalle in Austria have been a tourist attraction for well over a century.

We headed for the boardwalks and bought our ticket to the cascades

The area has been important for water power and the small model nicely depicted an old riverside water mill.

What a surprise, the river was criss-crossed with bridges . . .	. . . Ann on the last one and a picture of me on another.

The 19 bridges take you to the heart of the cascades

artificial, but in its own way it brought a new appreciation of this mountain torrent.

Bridge upon bridge as we work our way up.	Ann noticed a seal (rock) by the falls !

The top waterfall flows out between two massive boulders.

A long exposure on the camera makes the water flow like a shower.   [ Hold your cursor over the photo to freeze the action ]

At the head of the path we find a small weir and a lake alongside the valley road.

This is the head water for hydro electric plant that was built around the falls.

The pipeline led back, underground through the hill, to the bottom of the falls. I understand it may not now be in use.

From here we followed the red path markers up towards the top of the woods.

A large blue woodland orchid . . .	. . . and delicate flowers on the meadow pastures above.

Such lovely detail amongst the wayside plants.

The top of the woods and we get a view of Hausstein Rock.

The path forked and offered a way up so we headed for the top.

Ann sits amongst the pines on the summit . . . within feet of the edge.

Relaxing at the summit with views of Schneeberg in the distance.

Views down to the village of Muggendorf below and Pernitz beyond.

Re-tracing our steps we walk back below the rock face . . .	. . . where the path meets the cascades and bridges again.

The wall on the side was part of an old water mill

and a signboard below gave a brief history of water power in the valley.

Back at the bottom of the cascades next to our starting point was this rather nice looking Guesthouse offering to make us lunch !   A light lunch or tea, coffee and Topfenstrudel a sort of apple strudel but with sweet, soft quark cheese . . . rather nice when covered in vanilla custard !   Gasthaus Myra Stubu

A last view of Hausstein Rock as we return to the car.

This cheerful gentleman was just passing after taking visitors down to the falls.

Back to Pernitz and off to Gutenstein

passing through traditional and modern small towns and villages along the way.

We also passed these goats . . . so just had to stop and reverse back !

So cute . . . what a big kid.	There was even a Llama sitting in the dry stream bed !

We passed some large modern sawmills . . .	. . . and several older ones too.

From here we enter the limestone gorges that wind their way around the back of the mountains.

Deep valleys and high limestone cliffs . . . very dramatic.

A short tunnel to protect from rock falls.	A biker enjoys the open road.

We stopped to admire one of the many road bridges . . .	. . . and end up going down to the river beneath it.

A large umbrella for what was the briefest of rain showers and the only one we had all day.

" Banana rama "

All too soon we were heading out of the valley and leaving the high cliffs behind.

The Rax Seilbahn or Ski Lift.

The Rax is another high mountain, with a plateau a lot like Schneeberg, and suitable for winter skiing.

Out of the valley and back into town architecture at Reichenau.

I may be driving on the 'wrong' side of the road but green lights are green lights in any country . . . time to go.

From here we completed the circle and found ourselves back at Weikersdorf once again.

- - - o o o - - -

To Winzendorf in the evening . . .	. . . for a lovely meal for two at the Gasthaus Puchegger.

An excellent meal again and an a nice place to stay had we not already booked in to the Dorfmeister.

[ These two pics were taken the previous day or scanned from their brochure, hence the different coloured skies ]

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon 75 or my Canon G10 digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . . our own car and a desire for exploration

Go to Top - Go to page 1 2 3 4 5 6 - Go to Next

© RmH.2010 # Email me here # Guest book (on the front page)