My Last Entry

If you wanna catch up on what I've done for the last few days then just ask me in person. I'm home. Good night.

The Birthday Day

Today was a fairly chilled out and relaxed day which was good. We were all prepping for the big party tonight. We were celebrating 3 birthdays. 1 was mine which will be on the 8th, 1 was Florian's and his is on the 7th and the other one was his cousin but I don't know what exact day his birthday is, I just know it just happened or is about to happen. The party was very fun! Probably one of the best birthday parties I've ever been too. There wasn't anything super special that happened but it just seemed to be so much fun! Florian and I had gift ideas for each other. I get him a 6 pack of beer and he gets me a bottle of Jagermeister, sounds fair to me. Unfortunately, I will not be able to bring this home with me once I come home because I'm not old enough. But, it may be brought to me in October and the first trip it's making is to Monday night dinner as a souvenir for the PEP Boys. I had to come back from the party early unfortunately because I was so tired I was about to pass out and that wouldn't have looked to good on me. But I was still there for 4 hours so I still got in enough laughs for the evening. That's all for know. The internet is getting fixed tomorrow and will be down all day so I won't post tomorrow but I'll just do a double post on Monday. Good night.

I'm going to start this post with the good news. My 2 new room mates were also leaving the same morning as me so I had no troubles getting to the train station. It's now about 9:30 in the morning and I had originally planned on taking the 12:09 train back but I didn't want to stick around that long so instead I took the 10:09 train. Finding the right train was no problem... it was the connections that had me worried. It never told me at which station I needed to get off at so I was getting very nervous. But I had to get on the train now unless I wanted to wait another 2 hours. I remembered that on the way to Vienna I connected in Salzburg and Salazburg was one of the stops that my current train was making so I was 95% sure that I needed to get off at Salzburg. But, I still needed to figure out which train I took from there. So I looked in the travel itinerary of the train I was taking from Innsbruck to Salzburg (I'm going to call that Train A to make it quicker to type) and I was able to find that I was getting off in Salzburg and it gave me the name of the train I needed to take and what time it left. The one thing it left out was the platform and that was very important to me. I got to Salzburg and immediately looked for a train schedule. It was platform 34 and I luckily had walked there by accident and the train was already there so that was a huge relief! Train B was a fairly nice ride until some kids got on. 6 of them, 3 boys, 3 girls all about 15 years old and more than enough booze to go around. They got loud and annoying fast. I got spilled on twice, the first time wasn't so bad. It was just a few drops that landed on the side of my shorts but I didn't really mind that. The second time I got half a cooler spilled on me if not more and that was all over my right leg. Not a very comfortable feeling to have sticky legs on a train. But, oh well, my stop eventually came and Silke picked me up to bring me back to their house. Fast forward to tonight. We went back to Huttn Wirt to hang out for a little while. Sure, Jeremy and his friends ran with the bulls but I rode them! Except it was mechanical, so Jeremy and friends, you've still got me beat. But on another note from that night I was able to ride that bull for 35 seconds! Plus I finished my first ever beer! It wasn't just beer though, it was grapefruit flavoured but it's a start. I didn't end up staying there for too long but that was fine with me. There is no bad news, I just thought that it'd be a good attention grabber. Gotcha!! That's all for today. Good night.

Innsbruck Day 2It

This morning I woke up and looked up what there was to see here in Innsbruck and I found quite a few things but the problem was getting there. I couldn't find bus routes or schedules online and no big attraction was within walking distance. But I was close to a bunch of stores here so I figured that I'd stay close and check out the surrounding area around the hostel. I was hoping to find the last few souvenirs at one of these stores but I couldn't find the right thing so after a few hours and checking every store (I mean every store, I even checked grocery stores with great desperation) I had given up and called it a day. I came back to the hostel and downloaded some movies for my train ride tomorrow and also figured out what time my train would be leaving at. It was a relatively relaxing day but I have a bad feeling about the train station tomorrow. Just getting there is the problem. But, don't worry, I'm sure I'll figure it out Mom. Good night.

Innsbruck Day 1

Today was a very long day. I had to check out of my hostel by 10 and my train didn't leave till 11:45. So, I spent almost 2 hours at the train station on my laptop watching movies that I've seen several times before, but, oh well, it still helped the time pass. Once I got on the train it wasn't too interesting unfortunately and because of the sun there was a bad glare on the screen so I could barely watch my movie. I didn't take any pictures because  all you could see were construction sites and once I got to the mountains there was a storm so visibility was limited. Once I got to Innsbruck I looked at the given directions for how to get to my hostel which seemed fairly simple. It told me to take a certain bus and what stop to get off at. This would've been fine if the bus was near the train station. I looked all over for this bus stop but couldn't find it. There was a map that showed where all of the buses drove but it was a terrible map. There was only 1 of them and it didn't have names or a thing saying "you are here" it was terrible! So after pondering this map for way too long trying to figure out where I was, I decided to give this bus station one last look around and still found nothing so my frustration got to me so I gave up and took a taxi. It only costed 8 euros so it wasn't too bad. Once I got to the hostel and I checked in I was pleased to find out that I have english speaking room mates! They're a newlywed couple from New Zealand so it was so nice to have a consistent conversation and not need to worry about how fast I talked or how I said it. We were talking for a little while and then they decided that they were going to go down to the kitchen to make themselves supper and have a few drinks so they invited me to join them which I did. After they'd eaten we had noticed that there were 2 girls from Great Britain sitting at the table behind us. So we got to talking with them and we ended up spending 4 hours maybe a little more just talking about our backgrounds and where we've been and where we're going. It was very interesting and there's way too much to type because the 2 British girls had the travel bug and the newlyweds had been vacationing for months in Europe already. Unfortunately I have 2 nights here and everybody else only have tonight left here but hopefully some more english speaking people take their places tomorrow. That's all for now. Good night.

I forgot the pictures of the church

Vienna Day 3

Today I made my trip out to see the inside of Schloss Shonbrunn and the Stephansdom Church. I was woken up at 615 this morning to the sounds of my room mates packing their bags. It didn't really bother me at all so I just tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. That didn't work so at around 850 I was all set for the day and walked out the door to go to the subway. It wasn't until I got to the Schonbrunn stop that I remembered that I was going to go see the inside of the palace so I quickly got off the train so I could make my quick stop there. I got there bright and early so to avoid big line ups. As I walked to where you start the tour inside I noticed that it said no backpacks and I quickly looked around to see if there was any spot that I could store my backpack which I didn't see. I wasn't going to toss my bag into a bush and hope that no one could find it because based on the size of this palace I don't know if I would even be able to find it again. So, I had quickly given up and started my walk back outside the palace. It was there that I spotted an area where you can store your bags so I did. I walked back to the start of the tour and then remembered that I forgot my camera so I went back to the storage place to find out that you can't take pictures inside anyways. So I again walked back to the line which I thought you could just buy your tickets there...  I was wrong. Thankfully I noticed this before making a fool out of myself when the man asked for my ticket. So I again walked back and then bought my ticket. Apparently I'm still a kid there, perfect! Saved me about 8 euros! I then walked back to the line and I was all set for this tour. Well it wasn't really a tour, I walked by myself through it but it's just easier to call it a tour. So anyways I was walking through this palace and wow it was a very nice house! But not going to lie.. I'd hate to live there! Everything is either glassed in or roped off so I wouldn't be able to get anywhere near it (obvious joke). Unfortunately no pictures allowed so I don't have anything to show everybody what it looks like. After I did my walk through I headed back to the subway and started my trip to  the Stephansdom Church. I got off the subway and the church was right there, how convienent! I right away pulled out my camera and snapped a couple pictures. I then found an entrance to what I thought was the front where I could leisurely walk through and look at stuff. It was far from that. I climbed up the tower on spiral stairs and man was it tight! If I walked straight with it then I took up almost the whole walkway so I stuck close to the side so that there was almost 2 lanes, typical Europe. Once I finally made it up to the top I realized how high I actually just climbed because there were only very small windows on the way up the tower. I had an amazing view once I got up to the top and once I had taken a couple pictures and caught my breath it was time to head back down. I walked down and once I finally go to the bottom (I timed it and it was about 5 minutes of me quickly going down steep spiral stairs) I started walking around the church and saw the real front entrance. So I went in there to take a look, and wow! What a nice church! I'll post the pictures below and you'll be able to see what I mean. After I finished walking around in the church I figured that I'd stick around and look around the city a little bit. I walked around for a while, checking out stores and doing some souvenir shopping. It was getting close to 1 and I was starting to get a little hungry. I saw some street meat being sold and they also sold beer there so I was going to have some sausage and attempt beer for lunch. While walking there I bumped into the 2 dutch girls that I had met on the train a few days ago. We were talking for a bit and it turned out that we were both about to go have lunch but they were planning to eat at a restaurant. They hadn't picked one yet but they ended up picking the one right beside us. We sat down and the waitress said that they only serve drinks not food where we were sitting but she said that there's a restaurant on the top floor of the building about 10m from us. We took the elevator to the 7th floor and sat outside for lunch. It was a good lunch, I wasn't too hungry so I just got a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. After lunch they wanted to look at shoes and I wasn't too interested in that nor did I know if they wanted me to stick around for longer than lunch or not. So we parted ways. I walked around a little bit more and bought some more stuff then I realized that I need to watch my spending so to lessen the urge I came back to my hostel. I got back shortly before 3 and had a necessary shower. But, before I could do that I needed to get towels so before I walked all the way to my hostel I went to Spar hoping that they'd have some towels today (I checked yesterday for towels so I could shower but was unsuccessful). I looked and didn't see any.... so, I improvised. I bought a pack of 10 dish towels and hoped that it'd be enough. It turned out to be more than enough and I only needed 2 so I'm set for the next 4 nights if need be. That's all for now. Good night.

sorry about that post but for some reason the font style and size changed and i couldn't get it back to normal so it may be harder to read.

Vienna Day 2

Today I went to the Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace). It was a very nice place, I had difficulties getting there but that's fine because once I figured it out then it was as easy as crossing the street (just an expression, it wasn't actually just across the street). This morning I woke up and went to google maps and got the walking directions to this place (I emailed them to myself and got them on my iPod) and some other church. There were some other museums and stuff on the way so I had my day figured out and everything seemed to be going perfectly. I walked down the street to Spar and got myself some sandwiches and Nestea so I have lunch, snacks and drinks for the day and don't need to be worried about high prices at these attractions or having to go to McDonald's or something gross like that. So I walked out of Spar, plugged in my headphones, pressed play and started walking. I got lost very quickly because of false directions. It had perfect directions that led right to Spar and from there it made no sense. It said turn right, walk 20m on Autofstr. which I did and then turn onto Heizing hauptstr. which turned out to be nowhere near where I was. I was slightly confused by this but thought that maybe I screwed up somewhere. It was then that I also realized that I forgot the camera so I went back to the hostel to get it. I then started from step 1 and I turned down this street that was apparently Heizing haputstr. and attempted to follow directions from there. That didn't work so instead I wend back to Autofstr. and walked straight hoping that I'd get to the right street. I walked about 1400m and realized that I was nowhere near where I should be. So I say down at looked at a map. After spending about 10 minutes trying to find where I am on the map and how I'm going to get to this place. I still knew how to get back the hostel so I wasn't very worried. I finally found the U4 (Underground Railway 4) on the map. I followed that on the map to hopefully find out where I am because I saw that the U4 was across the street from me. I found that The Schloss Schönbrunn was just off of the U4 railway and that was good enough for me. I walked to the subway and found the Schönbrunn stop and that I was about 4 stops away from it so I was all set. I got on the train, got off at the proper stop walked out and I could see the Palace. So I walked there and wow, it's a very nice place. Beautiful landscape and building plus it was free. I walked around for about 2 hours and saw everything then sat down and had lunch on a bench. I walked around a little bit more to see if I missed anything interesting. I was going to go inside and check it all out but there was a big line so I decided that I can do that tomorrow quickly in the morning when there's no line. I had directions from this palace to a church named Stephansdom. I walked out of the palace and I was going to go see this church. I got out there and saw a sign for a technology museum so that caught my eye and I walked there. That was a big disappointment, oh well I'm under 19 so I got in free so I don't really mind. The most interesting thing that I saw near this museum was a Ferrari 599 GTB  that was parked outside of the museum. I took one picture while in the museum and was able to walk through and see everything within an hour. So I started my walk back to the subway so I could go back to my hostel, plan out my tomorrow and blog about my day. I'm also tired from all the walking today and it was raining so coming back seemed like a good idea before it got too bad. Here are the pictures from the palace.

The Museum of Technology

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

The beauty parked outside of the museum.

I took a picture of a train because I thought it was cool and thought it'd be significant.
It wasn't, there were many trains in here. 

Vienna Day 1

This morning I woke up, got ready for the day and then finished off my last minute packing.  I left with Silke and Katrin to the train station in Mallnitz. Katrin and I took a train from Mallnitz to Salzburg (I didn't take any train pictures because I was either in a tunnel or passing a train station so really nothing to see) and then we connected in Salzburg onto a different train which took us to Vienna. While Katrin and I were looking for seats we saw 2 open ones that just had purses on them with 2 girls sitting across from them. Katrin asked if the seats were open and luckily they were. We got to talking with the girls sitting across from us and they were from Holland, cousins and both 22. Everybody spoke English so I lucked out again! They were also going to Vienna and didn't have any specific plans just like me but unfortunately not the same hostel but oh well I'm okay with that. Katrin has 2 friends in Vienna and they said that they'd meet us there, take us to a restaurant for supper and help me to my hostel so everything just seems to be going my way. Clearly somebody's been praying for me, and for that, I thank you. So Katrin and I got to the train station and her friends were going to be there in about 20 minutes so we put our stuff into a locker and went for a walk. We walked down the main shopping street in Vienna it reminded me of New York but much smaller, quieter, and not as bright. We walked down this street a little while then turned around to walk back and meet up with Katrin's friends. We walked back down the street and we were starting to get hungry for supper so we were thinking of where to go eat while we're walking down this street. McDonald's was out of the question so they were looking for other restaurants. Long story short we got lost! I knew how we could get back without a problem but we kept walking anyways, we agreed that we'd now settle for any restaurant that we saw. We ended up stumbling into a McDonald's ironically and it was on the main shopping street too (which we found out later). We made it back to the train station and then Katrin and I grabbed our bags and we all took the subway to get to my hostel. We got to the hostel problem free and we said bye and I thanked them for their help and I guess they want to meet up again and go out for a day either tomorrow or the day after that. Anyways, that's all for today. I'm super tired! Good night.

Huttn Wirt

I had the best night ever tonight! It'd be way too long for me to type out so if you ask me once I get home I'd be happy to tell you. I did get to shoot some pucks! I repped Canada shooting 120 km/h which wasn't my best but good enough to win me a prize! I won a Stiegl hat (Austrian beer company), a 6 pack of Stiegl beer (which the handles ripped and they all broke when I got out of the taxi) and a medal. I tried to post last night but the internet wasn't working when I got home so I had to do it this morning. Anyways, I had a fantastic night and can't wait to tell everybody my stories from that night. Oh, Huttn Wirt is the name of the bar.

I got to sleep in today!!! So I was up at late hour of 7:30am... gotta love my body alarm! I tried to go back to sleep for a little while but then gave up because it was too bright and I was too awake. I got ready for the day and left at 9 with Silke to go to Spittal and get my train pass. Also while picking up Mike from his driving school.  Once this was all done Mike and I went to a store so that he could buy some new shoes. The sign said that it opened at 10 and it was a few minutes before that so instead of being "that customer" we walked around the mall a little bit. We came back about 20 minutes later and it was still closed (it's about 10:15 now). We sat on the benches beside it for another 20 minutes while we waited for the worker to come in for their shift. Still nothing. So Mike went to go ask someone from a different store what was going on. Apparently it doesn't open till 11, would've been nice to know that earlier on. But, instead of just sitting there we drove to Mike's workers insurance place and they talked over his insurance a little bit. It was now shortly after 11 and Mike and I were getting a little hungry. So we waltzed down the street to the Golden Arches (McDonald's). It was SO different! Sure, I expected it to have a few changes but it was really different. The menu was about half the size and only 1 meal kept it's name, combo #1 Big Mac. A quarter pounder was called a Royal Burger (if that's true then I'd hate to be royalty here). So, I got the Royal Burger. We got our food.. sort of. We got 1 sandwich, 2 drinks, 2 fries (the other sandwich had yet to be pre-made) instead of that other sandwich we got a number sign that is often used for events like Turkey Supper. Once it was ready it was brought to us which was kind of neat, oh! I almost forgot, the drinks.. Mom beware because they didn't have lids! They gave us our drinks and there were no lids nor did they give us straws or ketchup, so I just assumed that there'd be a station for that and there was ... kind of. There was a straw dispenser and that's all, I guess you have to ask for ketchup at the counter or something. But, it was really no big deal just kind of confusing. It was good, again, very different. The fries weren't very good but the burger was amazing! About twice the size, so it was the opposite of McDonald's in Canada. It was a good lunch, very filling (well then again I really can't eat much). 1 more thing that was different from Canada is that it had a McCafe inside with fruit salads and stuff, I can't quite remember because I didn't give it much of a look. Once lunch was over we drove back to the store and Mike got his shoes. After that we came home and I knew that I had to pack. So, I got to it and boy do I love being a guy! 5 nights worth of stuff in a backpack! Shortly after I finished packing I went to the store to buy myself some drinks and snacks for the train rides so I am all set. After that I went to the skate park with Mike and friends and hung out for a little while. That's all for today and my train leaves Sunday!! Can't wait! Good night

Last day of work

So today was my last day working for the camp. Nothing special or unusual happened, just an ordinary day. It was kind of disappointing (I didn't want something special for me, just something exciting to happen or have a fun job to do). Today my jobs consisted of weed whacking, cleaning wet suits, jamming garbage into the bin with a paddle, and putting away the wet suits once they were dry. But, it was okay, I didn't mind. I'm going back there soon for a few hours of the night so maybe something will happen then. Again, who knows?? I'll keep you guys posted if something does happen and if not then, good night!

2nd last day of work

Today I did lots more weed whacking and some heavy lifting. Just the usual. I got a new nickname today. When I first got there I was known as "The Canadian Bear" but now also known as "The Canadian Grass Cutter" so I think I got demoted. Well anyways... Once I finished weed whacking I helped hang all of the wet suits that came in from the rafting tour. After lunch I went with Pauly, Patrick and some other guy to the mini putt course where we picked up the benches (I think we're done with going there now). I think that the original owner was crazy for cement because the benches were cement too! Well except for the part that you sit on, that was wood. We brought the benches back to the camp and dropped them off which was easy enough. After we did that Patrick and I cleaned out a room for Pauly. We took everything out, swept it, sorted everything and put it back in. So, as you can see today wasn't too eventful or exciting BUT tomorrow is my last day so maybe they have something planned. Who knows? Marco said that tomorrow morning we're gonna finish cutting the grass in the big field that we had started yesterday. There's a group of 200 coming and staying so we need to clear an area the size of a football field. You can tell that nobody has done it for a while. It's been about 5 years, some of the weeds are about my height. Thankfully it's only along the sides that it's really bad. To give you guys an idea it's like weed whacking along the outside of a football field, and not just a skinny line. There's an extra 1.5m around it (end zone included). Anyways, that's what my morning will be tomorrow and Marco didn't say what the afternoon included so hopefully something fun for my last day. I'm pooched, good night.

pictures of the camp

This is the front of the camp, the road on the side is how you get in.

That's the entrance

That's where people with RV's, trailers and tents will all stay

The rafting tent, and you can see some of the boats on the left

Canada House

This is where the campers stay, that's the kitchen on the right

Same place, just a different angle so you could see the other cabins

This is the restaurant at the camp

This is the mini putt course I had to help move 

Today I had 1 job, cut grass. That's all that went on and I have more to do tomorrow. Anyways I'd post the pictures of the camp but the internet here is terrible and barely working right now so it'd take too long for me to post them now but i'll do it in the morning because the internet works better then. Anyways, I'm tired and kinda sore so good night.

Today was another long day of work. Not tiring or exhausting, just long. I was there from 8 till 8. In the morning I did my usual garbage run and then had breakfast. After breakfast we were on a cleaning mission! I had to do a little more weed whacking and lawn mowing (only took about 30 minutes) and then after that I had to help clean the insides of the cars such as vacuuming and cleaning the windows. Once this was all done it was time for lunch. After lunch I went on a canyoning expedition with the new group of kids that got here today. It was just the typical canyoning adventure so nothing exciting to report unfortunately. The rest of the day was cleaning the wet suits, supper and some hanging out. Nothing eventful or exciting to report today but hopefully tomorrow there will be something. Good night.

more stuff that i forgot

Today was a very relaxing day off which I quite enjoyed. It's not the greatest weather because the mountains all have snow on them now so it's cold yet beautiful and everything is closed today because it's a Sunday. This morning when I went to work I brought my camera but didn't think of taking pictures. But, it's still 1 step closer everyday so hopefully I'll remember to bring the camera and take pictures tomorrow.

This morning I woke up for a usual day of work. I got there, did the garbage and went to have breakfast. I thought that I was just really early when I went for breakfast because only Pauly and the boss (his wife) were there. But, I sat down anyways and had breakfast with them. It was kind of awkward so once I finished eating I got up put my stuff away and went to see if I could prepare anything for the day. I still didn't see anybody so I was getting even more confused now. I figured "well, at least I can have the rafting boats set up for when they get here". So I went to do that. I opened the rafting tent and then realized that I have no clue how many boats they need ready and which ones they're using. So I went back to Pauly and asked if he knew how many tours there were today. He told me that there was only 1 and that there was nothing to do today so I was free. So I went and closed up the rafting tent and came home. Easiest day of work ever lol.

I forgot to mention that yesterday after the BBQ there was a double rainbow but I had no camera on me. Also this morning I woke up a little late and rushed and forgot the camera so I couldn't get pictures of the camp but I'll do my best for tomorrow.

Today was a very short day at work. I got there and did my usual garbage run, had breakfast and then after that was told that I have some weed whacking and lawn mowing in my very near future. It was raining a little bit but it wasn't that big of a deal. About halfway into weed whacking it starts coming down a lot harder. Long story short I cut the grass for 2 hours today at work and once I finished Marco had said that I could go home. He also said that he thought it was gonna rain a little bit for 20 minutes and then stop, which it didn't. But oh well it wasn't too bad. I'm off early and now hopefully I can try and go to Spittal for a little bit.

Today I had another long and physically exhausting day. It was good though I liked it. I worked for a total of 10 hours and within that I had done more than enough heavy lifting for a while. Today Pauly had his mind set that we were going to finish moving the mini putt course over to the camp. We struggled with 3 holes and 6 people. Today we had 6 holes and 4 people. Luckily Marco and Pauly had gone earlier on in the week to unscrew and take apart the courses a little bit so we can take it in pieces which helped BUT it was still SO heavy because we had less people lifting it. I don't know what the owner was thinking when he originally made this course because everything is cement! I'm gonna take a picture tomorrow of all the things I had to help lift and post it as well as some pictures around the camp. Once we were done moving all of the courses I helped move some tables onto the trailer because they'll be needed tomorrow. After this was all done I got to go home for 2 hours and return for 5 so I could help set up the tents for BBQ night. I then helped out with BBQ night, not cooking, but stuff like bringing the food to the grill and setting up the tables and once it was all over I helped take everything down. So, it's pretty self explanatory when I say that I am exhausted! I can't wait to go to sleep which I need to do soon because tomorrow is probably going to be another long one. Oh, one last thing, the garbage man finally came! I haven't been telling you guys but it was so full that many times i had to go on top of it with a sledgehammer and crush it until the lid could close. That went on for about 4 days and then for 2 days it was too full so there was just a big mountain of garbage and it was pretty gross. BUT, the garbage man came and it's now empty which made my morning once I finished my garbage run. So today was a good day, it keeps getting better and better and hopefully this streak continues. Guten nacht!

my day off

So today I had my first and probably last day off. I used it to go shopping and buy some souvenirs also to let my boss know that the 28th will be my last day working. The 31st my train leaves to Innsbruck. I'll fill you guys in on what else is going on my trip while it's all happening. So other than some shopping and planning my trip I didn't have a chance to do anything else which I am happy with because it gave me a relaxing day off. I'll update you guys tomorrow about how work went but that's all for now.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday but I was so tired by the end of the day that I got home, had supper and fell asleep. Yesterday I didn't do too much but it was a long day still. In the morning all of the rafting boats were too full so I couldn't go along so instead I helped Pauly clean fish. Well, I didn't have to do any cleaning I just passed the fish to him and he would cut it (there were 3 other people, 2 gutting and 1 cutting off the meat). Once the rafters got back I cleaned all of the wet suits, shoes and jackets. I've never had to clean so many before, it took me forever to do them all. After that I had lunch and after lunch I can't remember what I did other than wait for the wet suits to dry so I could put them away. By the time they finished drying and I put them away it was supper time and it was pizza night so I figured I'd stay for supper that day. After I had supper I came home and that was all for yesterday. Today I had 2 jobs. 1 the usual garbage run and 2 cut/mow the grass. I cut grass today for 7 hours!!! Most of which was weed whacking. By the end of the day I was covered in grass! But good thing it was a little bit colder today. Most people were wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, but no, not me, I had flip flops, a bathing suit and a t-shirt. It was perfect! I never got cold and never got hot, just really tired. But good thing I slept so long last night and more good news, I have tomorrow off. Finally, after 8 days in a row. I better make it count.

Day 18

So today was really busy and nothing but big ups and big downs, no in betweens. Today there was a big friendly competition with lots of people and lots of beer. People started getting to the camp around 9 and by 930 everybody was there and had a beer or two already. It started off with the captains from each team doing a timed event to see who would get the lead for the beginning of the race, which consisted of running in flippers and a little bit of swimming. After that there was a few games of tug of war. Once those were done everybody got into their groups and went to their boat. After they were given the basic instructions of what to do and where to sit we were off for a ride. The race hadn't started yet, the beginning part was just for fun. Now, here comes the ups and downs. We got to the bridge that people jump off of which normally wouldn't be a big deal but you could tell that there were a couple people that had a few too many to drink already (it was about 10:30 *AM* at this time). They weren't too much of a hassle they just stumbled around a little more than the others but were well behaved... except for 1. After he jumped off the bridge he decided that it was not a good idea to put effort into swimming to the shore. So even though everybody reached for him and tried to grab him he would just shove us off and keep going with the current. Thankfully he was close enough to the side that he got to some rocks and decided to pop a squat which isn't allowed so they told him to go to the shore which he then did. There was him and then there were people that were just plain idiots. A man and his son jumped off of the bridge together which is fine but then he started doing the back stroke with the current instead of to shore so I had to go a little more than what I should to reach for them. The dad grabbed onto my paddle and pulled while the son grabbed my other arm to stand up. When he pulled the paddle because of all the loose rocks and fast water I lost my footing and many times had to try and regain it while trying to pull this man in. This all happened AFTER people were screaming at him to swim to the side and ropes were thrown to them. Those were the only over the top things that I've seen so far from the bridge jumping so far. After everybody had jumped once or twice we got back in our boats and started heading towards the starting line. The boat that had all of the people who drank a few too many also had a case of beer in it and every 5 minutes you'd hear them doing some sort of chant (not the one that the PEP boys did in Florida). Once we got to the starting line everybody had to do a shot of Jagermeister and there was also more beer there (brought by cars from the camp). Once everybody had a little break and another beer we got ready for the race (while this is going on the workers are setting up the boats in order from first to last based on results from the timed event). I was still fairly relaxed and calm by this point but now is where it starts to get funny for everybody BUT me. So the race started and everybody rushed to their boats, got in and started paddling. The guide that was steering my boat isn't very good at it I found out. Right off the bat he took us over some really shallow water which took away a lot of our momentum but this was at the very beginning so everybody was still in a cluster and we quickly regained speed and took second place (1st place was way ahead already). The race was going pretty well, we were maintaining 2nd place until some bad steering allowed the 3rd place boat to pass us with ease. I'm still fairly calm up until this point knowing that this is just for fun. But, now the guide's constant yelling of "FORWARDS!!!" is still to get a little bit annoying especially because he's not doing much paddling, his steering is also starting to fade at this point (were about 5 minutes into this race). We were constantly faced slightly to the right which ironic enough I was on the left side (so, I wonder how this was happening) <- sarcasm. Once we started getting really close to the boat that was in second place the guide decided to try and make a pass which was NOT a good time for that. We were in a strong current at the moment and then he steered us to the right where there was almost no current so we right away lost speed and had to give that much more effort to try and get back in after hitting a few rocks. That's where it starts to go a little more down hill. Once we get back into the current and slowly start to gain a little bit of ground on 2nd place but we just lost so much so it didn't make much of a difference. We were still in 3rd because 4th and the rest were that far behind. So anyways, we've made up a little ground and now the guy from Germany across from me decides to try and tell me how to paddle better. 1. that means he stopped paddling 2. he said it in german and knew that I only spoke English 3. I'm Canadian, does he really think that he can improve a Canadian's paddling? (It's the same kind of paddling like if we were in a canoe). Although this annoyed me a lot I figured I'd give it a shot to see if it actually does help, which it didn't one bit. He showed me to hold it lower but then my paddle doesn't get in the water as much so sure my strokes are faster but, then they'd be faster than everybody else's stroke plus I didn't get as much out of it. So I went back to my method which is how to paddle properly. He then yells again for me to do it, so I said that it doesn't work for me, I guess he understood because then he did what he should've done in the first place which is shut up. You can tell that I'm starting to get a little more annoyed now. Remember that there is the constant "forwards!!!" from the guide and the slightly angled to the right during this whole shenanigan. The race continues on and later on in the race the same guy yells at me again because I guess I wasn't giving it my 200% even though I was just keeping pace with the person in front of me while I was paddling MUCH harder (I could just tell that he was tired, but I don't blame him he was 50 or over and so was the other guy yelling at me). Just after he yelled at me I kind of looked at him like "really?!?!" and in that instant the guide decided to take his side and give it to me in English. And I know that I was giving an effort and it looked like it too. It was then that I started to really lose my cool, I was just 1 yell away from dropping my paddle and the person that yelled. There were other annoying things going on too. Such as, the person in front of me not being able to keep a constant stroke so I kept hitting his paddle with mine. As I went forward and he finished his stroke so I was the one constantly trying to adjust my speed but whenever I did that the person behind me would hit my paddle with theirs. The race continued on and by this point it was obvious that we wouldn't be able to do any better than 3rd and if we kept an easy steady pace we'd finish 3rd. Well, to me it was obvious. We got near the end and there was about 200m left in the race then everybody in the boat decided that now would be a good time to start yelling and going all out which was pointless, our speed barely increased because they spent all their energy on yelling and screaming. So, we ended up finishing 3rd which I was surprised and impressed considering who we had in our boat. There were 3 people above the age of 50, a kid about 9, the guide, some out of shape 21 year old guy, and a girl about the same age without any better of a fitness level and than me. I'm not trying to sound mean about that but I'm just saying why I was impressed, all of the other boats were younger, but drank too many beers before and during the race so we had that on them. Now, to skip ahead to lunch which was a big up. There was french fries which I haven't had in such a long time, and while walking through the buffet I smelt beef which I was right and made sure to grab a piece. I also had some sausage and that was good too. There were a few other minor things throughout the day but I'm having troubles remembering them and it'd take too long to type. So, anyways I hope that you guys enjoyed this, cause I sure didn't. I don't think I'll be posting tomorrow because I was told that I have lots of weed whacking to do tomorrow. Fun.

Day 15

Today I had a short day at work. I only had to help out with white water rafting and then help clean it up after we went for the ride. Later on today I have to go back to put all of the rafting stuff away and other than that I haven't done anything. It's been raining for the past hour so it's not very busy.

Day 13 and 14

Sorry for not posting last night but I was SO tired after work! I was worked to the bone yesterday and today was pretty tiring too. So I'll start with yesterday. My first job was to do the garbage (which will be my first job every morning), then continued on to help set up the rafts for the day to go white water rafting. Little did I know that I was going to be on one of those boats helping guide it. It wasn't as good as I thought it was gonna be not gonna lie, the first 2 km were calm and after that it was choppy and got rough a few times but never enough to scare me in the least. A little ways down the river we stopped all of the boats so that we could jump into the water from the bridge. It was about 10 feet so not a very big fall unfortunately. But, it was a neat experience so I'll give it that much. After I got back from rafting Patrick and I were given the job of weed whacking and raking up the grass. Patrick said that it hurts him too much so I did practically all of the weed whacking and he raked up behind me. About an hour and a half later we finished... sort of, our boss said that it was enough for today and we'll finish the rest tomorrow once we get the chance. He said this because we had to help the owner with some VERY heavy lifting. We drove about 5 minutes to an abandoned mini putt course that the owner didn't want anymore and was giving away for free. So me and 5 other guys had to pick up these mini putt holes (yes the whole thing, all cement) and carry it up-hill, to the trailer. Once we got it to the trailer we had to try and slide it on which was very hard to do because cement doesn't slide. We ended up doing about 3 holes (1 hole per trip) and that was it for the day because everyone was too tired from the lifting and a long day of work. Once we unloaded the trailer for the 3rd time that was it for the day. I went for a quick swim with Patrick and quick is all you can do when the water is about 60F and then I went home for a little while. About an hour later I went back there to help serve pizzas for their special pizza night. After that then I was done for the day so I went home. That was a long day. Now on to today. Nobody was up for breakfast yet when I got there (8 am) and breakfast wan't out yet either so I figured that I'd go do my garbage run which didn't take too long but just long enough. Once I finished everybody was just sitting down to eat so it worked out really well. We all had breakfast and then I had to help prepare for white water rafting again. Except today I didn't go white water rafting I went canyoning! It's pretty much a hike down a mountain river (which is very cold but we have full body we suits so it's not that bad). It was more fun than white water rafting but it was much more exhausting because it was a 6 km walk down a stream that had a pretty decent current. Again, I was one of the guides (but I was the one that followed behind to make sure that everybody kept pace). Once that was over I had to help unload everything and wash it and hang it from both the group that I had gone canyoning with and the group that had just gone white water rafting. So there were about 50 wet suits and then there were the jackets, life jackets, and shoes that needed to be washed and hung. After that I had lunch and after lunch Patrick and I finished the weed whacking which took another 45 minutes. Once I finished I was done until 5 when I have to go back and help serve food and clean up so that's all for now. I'll try and post tomorrow.

Day 12/ first day of work

So today was my first day of work. I started my day by waking up at 730 so I could shower then bike to the camp to join the crew for breakfast at 8. I got there at 8 and I didn't see anybody there at all!I thought that they'd be outside eating their breakfast on the patio of the camp's restaurant. I stood and walked around for about 20 minutes before finally seeing the 1 person that I recognized. He didn't see me though, so when he got off of his bike he went IN to the restaurant so then it clicked. The restaurant looked closed to me but I guess it wasn't. So, I joined some workers for breakfast and there were about 5 or 6 including me so I didn't meet everyone right away. After breakfast they told Patrick that he had to take me around the camp to show me everything and also change all of the garbages. As we were cleaning we were talking and got onto talking about licensing in Canada for driving and stuff. He told me that maybe I could drive the rafters back to the camp after they've gone for their trips. Which I quickly replied that I can't drive stick. I tried it, but failed hard (I found out why I did so bad though). He told me that it isn't too hard which I strongly disagreed (in my head). Once we finished the noble deed of garbage duty/clean up the camp fire places he asked Marco or Marcus (the boss) if we could take one of the camp's vehicles quickly to teach me how to drive standard. The boss said yes so off we went. First, Patrick showed me how to do it which helped me greatly and then I gave it a shot. I was terrified that I was going to make a fool of myself on my first day here and be the laughing stock of the camp. But, I was well guided this time around and only managed to stall it a few times (due to stupid mistakes and having to go from a stand still up-hill (which I got on my 2nd try)). After diving around for a little while we stopped which was fine because my confidence level for standard is much higher now. After that I got to help someone out with the high ropes course. I had to put my fear of heights aside and just do it (apparently I need to learn it well because I'll be running it in 2 weeks). After nailing the course twice and helping people out and cleaning up it was time for lunch. Once I finished lunch I helped Marco out with unloading some grilling stuff from a trailer. Today wasn't a very busy day which was fine by me cause I got a better chance to learn everything. So, I was done work today by 2pm which you guys were just getting out of bed around that time. But, I do have to go back at 6 to help put away the rafting stuff which will take about 1-2 hours but then I'm officially done my first day of work here in Austria. That's all for now, tomorrow is supposed to be busier so I'll let you guys know what all goes down.

Day 11

Well today I got up bright and early at 7 to get ready to go onto another mountain to look for crystals and stuff. It was a much easier way up this time because we took a train up. This train goes up 27 degrees to a restaurant located at 3150m I got a few pictures from there because I didn't know that we were going any higher. I didn't think that we were going any higher because THE CLOUDS were BELOW us! Once I noticed that, it had quickly answered my question of "Was the sky this clear when we left?". Another thing that I had noticed is that not only was there snow but there was a ski run open or maybe two but regardless, they were open and there were people skiing in July. Then from the restaurant we took a ski lift up to as high as you can go without walking any higher. From there we started our venture down the mountain on our quest to find crystals. It was really hard to find them, we had to dig, move big rocks and sift through the dirt and other small rocks. Finding something that's actually worth selling is VERY difficult because people have been doing this for at least 30 years  I've been told and some people do it like it's their job. I was able to find some good ones but not good enough to be sold (which I wouldn't have done anyways). It was definitely a neat experience and I had a good time, digging, moving rocks and snowball fights. I did manage to find a very small amount of gold but when I put it aside and dug for more I couldn't find it nor did I find anymore. But all in all a great experience. It took us about 5 hours to do all of this. It was exhausting! So here are some of the pictures that I got, but again, the pictures are nothing compared to the real thing. It's like me giving you a piece of a snack sized Kit Kat as I chow down on the box of King sized beside me. (bad analogy but I gave it a shot). 

 That's me, with the mountains and some clouds in the background.

 Just another shot of the clouds

 That's Christian there in the blue, and I liked

 the look of the mountain in the very back.

 That little building is where we caught the ski lift.

 Some more mountains

 More mountains..

 That's Mike and I striking the "Captain Morgan" 

pose while showing off the Ski run behind us.

That is Mike, Silke's brother (I don't know his name) and I looking for crystals
in a hole that you can not see due to Silke's brothers body

That's the hole.

I don't know why this picture was taken because I didn't take it.

That's me packing a snowball while scoping out my target. I know
it looks like I'm on flat ground but that was fairly steep.

More Mountains. Some of these pictures I didn't take so they have
 no significance  to me other than showing you what I saw.

That lake that you see is dammed up which you can see on the very left.
 But, I was told that it's used for hydro somehow.

That's Mike, Silke's brothers daughter Selena and I.
You can't see it but I'm holding some crystals.

It's too small for you to see but on one of
 the mountains there is a weather station.

Boring picture of me.

BAM!! Look at that pose! Now THAT'S a good picture! Nobody wants to mess with that  guy.
 Oh yeah there's also some mountains and stuff behind me.

Mike and I walking (I'm holding a crowbar for those that are wondering).

Those are the things I was able to find. Nothing too
special but it was really hard to find  those.