Two-Nannies On The Road Again: Mining

Salt mine caving - where's Zac when we need to check out the safety process

Yesterday we camped at the lovely Steinbach on Attersee lake. It had been another hot hot day and so we made the most of the clear waters and had 2 afternoon swims. Heather even swam out to the pontoon, but we both got the willies thinking about the big fish that lurk there, and the water was so clear and deep, you just may see them coming.

We drove to Saint Gilgen, a pretty old town on yet another lake in the Salzkammergut region. Had a fantastic lunch, look around. The church held some lovely early art, including a piece donated by Mozart's sister, as they used to come here, and Mozart had a house on the lake shore. Then off again.

Cold trout, on toast with fresh horseradish cream, and white asparagus with hollandaise and delicious potatoes

It was a Sunday, and there were beautiful fresh flowers in the church

Then we drove to the picturesque 4500 year old town of Hallstatt, perched on the lakeside. This place is famous for the salt mining that has been occurring on the mountain for the last 7000 years, and continues still today.

Heather had planned out the itinerary while I was busy job hunting, and so I blindly followed when we agreed to do the somewhat expensive salt mine tour (€28 for me but HG got a senior discount). First this involved a fun funicular (cable car) ride up the mountainside. I thought we might get to enter some mining cave entrances for 20 meters or so, and see a few displays, and didn't see any English brochures until the way out. So I was a tad alarmed when we were handed mine entry attire - heavy cotton pants and shirts, with picture explanations ensuring everything was covered. We looked a bit like eastern block Teletubbies, but I decided that since no hard hats were distributed it would probably be ok. The was no info, or explanations about what we were about to do, and the guide - speaking in German and English told our group to enter the tunnel, walking in single file along the centre of the narrow rail track. He called to a guy at the back and asked him to put the chain back across the entrance when he was the last to go through.

We'd seen on the interpretive display boards at the entry room that the tunnels took enormous pressure from the mountain, and steel and wood was used to secure the tunnels and frequently needed restructuring. Holly Heck! We really were in a mining tunnel. Sections of the tunnel were made from wood, with steel arched girders bracing the timber, and some sections were bare rock. We walked on in single file. There were video displays at places along the way that explained the history of the salt mine. The body of a prehistoric miner had been discovered here in 1734. He was well preserved due to the salt, and the miners of the day took his body down to the town, where the local priest was reluctant to bury him as he was not baptised.

At one point we were 150 meters below the surface of the mountain. I tried not to think about Pike River, but couldn't help wondering that we had had no safety briefing, and I wondered what Zac would make of this all.

At 2 points in the tour there were "miners slides" to get to lower sections - but I was too chicken and took the narrow stairs, but heather went down.

At the end of the tour, our guide announced that we got a train ride up to the surface. We sat straddled on carriages a bit like at kowhai park, but a larger scale, told to not touch the walls, and keep heads low. I was just about to take a picture when off we went, through a tiny tunnel,whizzing along in the dark, just seeing enough to know I wanted to keep my head down.