Granau was a home away from home... It was nesstled inbetween the most amazing mountains deep in the heart of the Austrian alps, the water that ran through the rivers was clearer than any i've ever seen it almost looked as though there was no water there at all, just rocks in a riverbed. 'The Treehouse' was a big country home convertered into a cosy hostel for curious travellers and i feel very blessed to have experienced its beauty.

We arrived on a foggy day and somehow the bus fitted through the tiny town streets and out the other side to the hostel, as i walked in it instantly felt like home and by the sad looks on everyones faces that were leaving i knew it was going to be an amazing 5 days!

After the busload of people were served a massive peice of homeade lasagne, they pilled onto the bus and all that was left were about 12 of us. We were introduced to Heidi and Gerherd, the owners of the treehouse, they had been running it for just over 20 years now and were experts at having their home over run by eager backpackers. They showed us our cosy rooms and explained the 'trust' policy that in over 20 years nothing had ever been stolen from anyone so everything is left open - bit different to a hostel where everything has to be padlocked and chained up!

Everyone quickly became aquainted and friendships formed - we were like a big family on a school camp. Archery was decided for our afternoon and we trecked up the dirt road to find a hidden cottage full of activities for hire. We spent the whole afternoon walking through windy bush tracks up a foggy Austrian mountain, shooting at fake animals in amoungst the massive pine trees, overlooking the valley. Of course it was full of rivaly and it quickly became a 'girls against boys' game but the guys came out on top - too competitive!

We ate another massive homecooked meal of chicken an honey mustard sauce and sat arround the table chatting and laughing for hours getting to know each other. It was such a nice change to all the big cities!

Next morning some of the girls went horse riding while the rest of us went to explore a waterfall. wE tackled small rapids, massive rocks, spiders, fallen trees, rivers and some rain while we wound our way for hours up a dried riverbed covered in debree from a recent flood - when we finally made it to the foot of the waterfall it was so worth it! It poured down from high up in the mountain an created a huge pool at the bottom so deep you would never touch the bottom of it, then poured over into many more pools and small waterfalls - it was so pretty! The water was about 5 degrees so only 3 of the guys were game enough to jump in an freeze, the rest of us splashed our faces an took a million photos :)

Another yummy homecooked dinner and a few drinks in the loungeroom together -we played pool and a few games of charades and celebrity heads and danced around like kids having a slumber party...

The next day we all hired bikes and set off for a day at 'the lake'. After stopping in the tiny town supermarket and stocking up on Austrian snacks that we really wernt too sure of what they were, we rode in a convoy through the most picturest streets, valleys and hills, admiring the lush green landscape and funny shaped houses that were dotted through the trees, the rivers ran everywhere, although you could barely see the water, just small ripples over the shiny polished pebbles - thats how clear it was no matter how deep.

After riding for around 4 hours we came around a corner and streched out in front of us was a massive clear blue lake at the foot of a thousand mountains - it was the most beautiful and breathtaking site ive ever seen, it looked like a fake painting, someones fantasy land - but it was real and it was right in front of me!

We parked our bikes and set up a massive picnic spread to share - after eating till we could burst we set off into the mountains to find some more waterfalls we had heard of. Once again it was a massive treck up a steep mountain through all kinds of terraine, mostly rocks and boulders, but we finally finally finally (after loosing half the group, who gave up and went back to the lake) made it to the sweetest little waterfall ive ever seen, it was a small skinny valley scattered with rockpools and dribbles of pure blue mountain water. We sat in the water and stood under the streams trying to cool down from about 3 hours of hiking in 35 degree heat! It was heaven..... Then the bright idea came out about another one that was ment to be just around the corner..... Which ment another 2 hours hiking, this time through long grass and spikey plants and fallen trees... But we never found it, everyone gave up an we decided on the long hike back to the lake to soak up the last bit of sunshine and have a refreshing swim - and thats just what it was! Amazing! We were all exausted an the looooong few hour ride home took it out of al of us, but we stopped in at the supermarket an filled our bags with some beers for the night.

We made it home and all pitched in to create an esky in the freezing river nad a mad fire spot next to the trickling water, stocked up with wood, tunes and marshmellows we danced around our campfire drinking icy drinks from the river and laughing till our bellys hurt an the sun came up - this was absolute blisssssss :)

It was finally time to leave my dream place in the Austrian Alps and head to Munich.. Most of the group opted to stay longer because they just couldnt part with the paradise of this place, but i was on a schedule an sadly had to move on......