Contiki Austria

Today we are going mountain biking, or so we think.We eat our breakfast, get dressed, get our bikes, and helmets, and then, we are told the rainy conditions are too dangerous for us to go right now.I die a little on the inside because it’s a repeat of my cancelled white water rafting in New Zealand a few weeks earlier

We head back in the hotel, watch “There’s Something About Mary”, and then head into town for food and adventure.I find both my food and my adventure in this giant canned beer they had in the local supermarket.After spending the last of my Swiss Francs buying it, we head back into the hotel and are told we’re going biking, just not in the Alps. Biking around the tiny, charming, town of Hoftgarden turns out to be another unbelievable experience.We travel through every alley and every street and made some great stops along the way.Our first stop is at a local restaurant where we are served ice cream sundaes or any choice of cake.After eating, we head back to our bikes when it begins to sprinkle.We don’t let that stop us and we press on to Contiki’s ski resort.We are given a tour of the facility: it is cozy, serene, and includes its own bars!

After a good number of hours bike riding, we are given the option to head back to the hotel or to explore on our own for another hour before dinner.Emily and I decide to stop at the trout lake we passed on our bike riding for some fishing.

This place turns out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my trip.Emily and I, along with Contiki chums Jaime and Jessica, head to the lake and get the combo.The combo includes a fishing pole, a bucket, a paddle to beat the fish with, bait, a beer, and a ticket to cook the caught fish along with potato and vegetable.All for 7 Euros!Best Deal Ever!

We all hit the lake, cast our reels, and cross our fingers.After fifteen minutes of quietness, the owner comes over and helps us out by upgrading our corn bait to live worm bait.A minute later Jessica catches her first fish.After taking it off the hook, she puts it on the ground and the owner takes the fish out with one swift stroke of the paddle.I am impressed and hope to be like him someday.About five minute later, I catch a fish and throw it on the ground.I take the paddle and deliver one swift stroke.It’s still squirming.I deliver another.And another.And another.And finally, it stops moving.I guess I didn’t have the golden touch.Emily catches a fish soon after me but Jaime take forever!Seriously, about half an hour later than Emily and we’re almost late to dinner because of her!We don’t really care but we enjoy teasing her.

We give our tickets to the cook and they soon come out with delicious trout and several sides.We eat it quickly, and I’m happy to say, it was probably the best tasting fish of my life, probably because I caught it.

We enjoy another delicious dinner and some post-dinner drinking at the hotel bar.After pre-drinking, we head down the street to “The Silver Bullet”, a bar in Hoftgarden that’s owned and operated by Australians.Everyone has a really good time that night, dancing and drinking the night away.They even have something called the sperm shot there, uh yea

I wake up and change into my boardshorts because we’re going white water rafting!!!I pray that it doesn’t get cancelled like it did a couple weeks before in New Zealand.We hop on the coach, departing Hotel Lucas and Hoftgarden.

The drive to the river isn’t long and we’re in Tyrol, Austria in no time.We are given funny-looking rafting gear consisting of wetsuits and helmets.Luckily I grab one of the ultra-cool yellow ones, not the lame and trendy red outfits.We then split into groups of seven.Molly, Liz, Monica, Luke, Jeffery, Kelly, and I form one raft with our leader being a twenty-something Englishman.I’m thankful for having Jeffery on my raft as soon as I see him shoving the other groups in the cold water.

Our raft gets in the water and we make our way through a nice quiet area where we are taught the correct way to paddle and all that jazz.We then have to jump out of the raft and get back in, a feat that is hard for some and not-so-hard for others, including me.Finally, we hit some rapids.The rapids are Level 3, fun but not scary, at least not for a swimmer of my caliber.Throughout the rafting experience I jump in a number of time attempting to flip and cannonball, and screwdrive.

Jeffery also attacks the other rafts, taking over their vessels and throwing their members off board.The best part happens near the end when we all move to the back of the raft and lift the front up with a rope, performing the ultimate wheelie.The experience lasts around 2 hours, though it goes by so quickly it feels like a half hour.We change out of our gear and I grab a beer (hefeweizen) at the local store.Exhausted from the rafting, I crash on the coach and wake up several hours later in Italy!

h, I tried it and it wasn’t that bad.