11 May

Today has been a revelation in many ways.
I arose and was ready for breakfast by 7 and down immediately after. I started, having now met the father (he does breakfast) and within a few minutes four girls came down. They are here for a dance seminar, over three days. Two tried vegemite, but weren’t enamoured of it. Then a family came down and they tries some – the parents liked it but the children didn’t. Next came a family from New Zealand – not far south of where mum was born in Waihi. We chatted, and then a few minutes later a family from Prospect, SA, came in. It was like old-home week, with familiar accents flying around. The New Zealanders left this morning, but the Australians (she’s a doctor who has a practice in Windsor Gardens, amongst other places) will be in tomorrow morning.
I prepared to go out and walked down to the town. As a leisurely stroll, it’s about twenty minutes. I went to get more information on exactly where the old town is and heard another familiar accent, this time from a Nancy from Wollongong. She was looking (unsuccessfully) for cheap accommodation so I put her onto my system and also got her the details of where I am (at €31 a night including breakfast). She got my number to message me if she wanted anything further, then she went to catch a bus and I walked to the old town where … I heard a lot of familiar voices. A Trafalgar tour came in this morning and there are forty-three Australians on the bus. I had a caht with some (from Warragul and McLeod) and then went off and got some souvenirs – “We don’t have kangaroos in Austria” T-shirts. Hopefully they will be well received. I had a good look around, took a few photos and then walked back into the new town to get lunch (the places with old-style charm have new-style prices).
I walked back to where I was staying (these shoes definitely are not made for walking), tried to ring Fran (she was on the phone already! and after numerous attempts I said I would ring back in twenty minutes) and wrote up a little of today’s blog. I finally got through, but the VOIP method of connection leaves a lot to be desired.
Then I headed off to the zoo. It’s only about a six hundred metre walk, but it’s all uphill. The day was warm and I got hotter as the climb progressed. However, finally I arrived and paid my €7 to go in, even though I was asked if it was an adult ticket I wanted (I complemented the ticket seller n thinking I was younger, but on reflection she may have been politely asking if I qualified for a pensioner discount).
I looked around and it looked a good zoo for such a small city (it’s not that much larger than Geelong). I kept running into a grandmother, mother and two small children, so when it rained I was surprised to see I was sheltering with them. We struck up a sort of conversation and were talking about Australia when I heard another voice behind me and it was Nancy from this morning. We started talking in English and she said something in Italian and the grandmother joined in. They then conversed in Italian and I think the gist of part of the conversation was grandmother wanted to know if there was a tie between Nancy and me (obviously the Italian heritage here stretches to trying to pair everyone up). Eventually the rain eased up and Nancy went off souvenir shopping and I gave grandmother a kangaroo pin. As I was leaving I caught up with Nancy again and we chatted until the sightseeing bus arrived, and then left. I walked down the hill back to pension Paula and met up with grandmother and the family again, so gave a koala pin to the grand-daughter.
Then it was back to my room, finish writing this up, have a rest, just move around and see if the other Australians are back and then settle for an early night. It’s off to Vienna tomorrow and Inspector Rex country!

As I entered Innsbruck yesterday, at one roundabout was a turnoff to Mutter and Natters, two interesting suburbs of Innsbruck. I wonder how many people who drive past think about the significance of the two names?