Austria 2010 Holiday ... 6 ... Sky Walk and Home

Date & Time: Monday 31st May 2010.

Location : Winzendorf to Vienna and home.

Places visited : Skywalk on Hohe Wand then a drive to Vienna.

Walk and drive details : A final walk then it's a scenic drive back to the Vienna.

With : Helmut ( to start) and Ann.

Weather : Overcast and breezy on Skywalk.

Our last full day in Austria

so Helmut joins us to see a final attraction of the Winzendorf area.

It is a viewing platform that cantilevers out high above the cliffs of Hohe Wand

and has featured in Helmut's web Landschaftsfotos on several occasions.

Today was our chance to see it for real.

A final goodbye to Weikersdorf and chance to photograph the field poppies as we drive to meet Helmut.

A strong breeze makes them dance in the wind.	Photographed from the other side in all their beauty.

At Helmut's home we meet up with Sheila the golden retriever.

She is eleven now and has not been able to join us on the longer walks such as Schneeberg.

A final photo call in front of Helmut's new outdoor barbecue.

It still needs a stone work top and rendering but will be an excellent addition to his garden.

( A photo of the finished article has been promised )

( . . . and now arrived ! )

Chance for Sheila to join us on today's shorter walk.

We drive through the Prossett Gap and across to Hohe Wand.

The Skywalk structure can just be seen as a metal structure high on the edge of the cliffs above the yellow house.

Surprise, surprise . . .

The road suddenly reaches the cliff and instead of finding a gentle valley route

it climbs on a series of bends and cut out ledges up the face of the escarpment.

We stop to enjoy the view . . .	. . . and the technical work being done below.

The concrete structure is a new protective tunnel for the roadway as it passes under the high cliffs.

We park up and head that way.	Verboten during ice, snow and lightening storms !

Skywalk is a cantilevered steel structure perched on the very edge of the Hohe Wand escarpment

Helmut leads the way.

Boy's technical talk !

A girl's technical talk too ?

Mmmm . . . it's a long way down . . .	. . . as you can see.

These two guys were climbing up for the view the hard way.

The views from here took in many of the regions that we had explored over the last few days . . .

. . . and we could look directly across to Prossett Gap.

We could make out the ruined Emmerberg Castle, Winzendorf through the gap and Weikersdorf in the fields beyond.

One last view of the Skywalk as we continue our walk a short way along the escarpment.

Flowers of the open limestone region . . . a geranium species called “Bloody cranesbill”	. . . and near the woodland behind Erysimum sylvestre

Time to sit and relax for a few moments . . .	. . . and look over the edge !

This is a favourite site for hang gliders and para gliders. The local club has erected a wind sock

and placed a few notices to give advice and warnings about flying in different wind conditions.

Chance of a late morning coffee . . . but this nice looking guest house and cafe was closed.

Limestone means lime kilns . . . Austrian style.	Raw materials from the forest.

We did find the main Gasthaus open and we enjoyed a light lunch and said our goodbyes to Helmut.

It was time to head back to Vienna for our flight home tomorrow.

It's been an interesting few days here in the eastern Austria . . . in no small measure due to Helmut, Susan and their family.

Time to make our way back down the hairpin bends . . .	. . . and take a last view back at the high escarpment.

A drive across country brought us ever closer to Vienna

but before we reached the airport we passed through the town of Maria Lanzendorf and a last chance to see classic Austrian village architecture.

The impressive church and it's unusual side chapel . . .	. . . famous for its “ Way of the Cross ” climb to the top.

- - - o o o - - -

Ancient to modern as we book in for our last night at Vienna Airport Hotel.

Next morning finds us flying out over the city on a rather grey day.

The Danube is laid out before us and we catch a distant view of the Donauturm Tower

where we joined Helmut and Susan on our meal the first night.

Zurich Airport.

Unfortunately we had a ticket mix up on the way back.

Flying on our Lufthansa tickets with the associated airlines of Edelweiss and Swiss Air was a real nightmare due to confusions with names and inter-flight transfers. We made each aircraft with minutes to spare, but only after lengthy discussions, furious computer tapping and phone calls by the representatives on each ticket desk in turn.

Still we made it back to Manchester ok !

All we had to do was find a way to get the trolley out through the terminal area and back to the car

and we were on our way home.

- - - 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 . . . . correct tickets for the flight home !

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Click here for more photos of the region - Landschaftsfotos - regularly updated by Helmut.