Day 17: Venice to St. Johann

Gearing Up for Rafting in Austria
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It's raining in the morning, so we attempt to stay under shelter as we eat breakfast, and we're on the road by 8. Jill is awarded the donkey of the day for going into someone else's trailer and using the toilet before noticing the strangers in the bed. Oops, those numbers must look the same after a long night! I am kind of grumpy this morning - I'm feeling a bit homesick, it's raining, and I'm getting tired of the people on the bus. As usual, I nap most of the morning. Lunch is at a road stop in Austria - after a week in Italy it's nice that no money is expected for using the toilet!

Hot!
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It's still drizzling when we get to our rafting launch point around 2, where we get suited up in wetsuits, spray jackets and other rafting gear. We sign our lives away on the waivers and then get split into boats. I'm with Ting, Darren, Lana, Laura, Tori, Jess and Allie. Before getting on the river, our guide tells us to go "check out the water" - yep it's frickin cold! Once on our way, he has all jump out and swim back to practice getting back in. Ting, not being a very good swimmer, has some trouble and the guide reprimands him for ignoring the "must be a strong swimmer" clause of the waiver. He tells him to sit in the middle of the front and just hold on during big waves.

...but having been in the water for a bit we are all very cold, with white fingers and blue lips

Fun at Bunny's
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We never get tossed from the boat, but do "go for a swim" a few times when the water is calm - that'll wake ya up! The rafting is hard work as we have to paddle pretty hard at points, but the rapids are pretty intense and awesome. Near the end of the trip, we intentionally flip the boat...I actually end up under it briefly, which causes a bit of distress, but I survive :) The guide gets our boat flipped back over and we manage to get back in, but having been in the water for a bit we are all very cold, with white fingers and blue lips. At the pull out point, we get hot showers and a drink to warm us up, and we're back on the bus around 4:30.

We love Bunny's!
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It's a couple more hours on to St. Johann and on the way we get a bit of a lecture on behaving at the hotel, as previous groups had messed it up a bit, not impressing the owner! Rentato, Ting, Jeff and I get a room...it's quite nice and roomy but has some oddities - a big open window in the bathroom, no shower curtain, and a urinal seperate from the toilet? (at least that's what we thought it was...) We shower and get dressed for dinner at Bunny's Pub around 8. We are told we can leave our room keys in a bowl at reception...seems a bit insecure but everyone else there does it so why not - seems like a nice quiet town.

Pool Sharks at Bunny's
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At Bunny's (an Australian bar very much geared to tourists), we are told about the optional activities we can do tomorrow, including skydiving, paragliding, canyoning, and biking. Jeff and I are convinced by the video to do paragliding, while Ting signs up for the bike trip. The local beer, Egger, is good and we enjoy happy hour from 830-930. We finally sit down to eat at 9, and then proceed to wait a bit longer. When we finally do get our grub, it's good - BBQ steak and sausage, with plenty of salads and sides. During dinner Michelle is "killed" by choking on her food but it's a little too convincing, and Suzie jumps to do the heimlich. All of us at the table were a bit freaked out and Suzie was especially upset afterwards. Too good of acting on Michelle's part!

Smile!
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Back in the pub after dinner, we play some pool...Jeff tells people I'm some sort of pool champion (due to my t-shirt from an 8 ball tournament earlier in the year), but it quickly becomes apparent that I'm not! 2 Brits from another TopDeck tour own the table for a while, all the while being quite the jackasses, so we really want to beat them. Ting and I almost do, but come up short. It's all cuz they play a silly rule where you get 2 free shots on a scratch - bah!

Ting and I head back to the hotel around 1, and Jeff and Renato follow soon after. Some of the others went to a disco bar next door to the hotel until about 3 AM, but I'm quite content passing out in the very comfortable bed.