Mauterndorf Austria - Haus König

If you were asked the question, where is your dream destination? Where is the one location in the world that you would love to flee to? Would you have an answer? I can 100% answer this question; Mauterndorf.

The new year brought about the hype, the excitement, the possibility of a new start 'New Year, New Me' jazz, the one goal I set myself this year was to be completely happy, I put myself through somewhat of a nightmare for several months, the standard graduation pressure of find a job, throw yourself into a career and meet all the expectations that everyone has set on you and for several months I did do that to myself, I worked and worked, I hunted and searched and made myself sick with the idea that I wasn't doing what every other young person my age out there was. So the goal of happiness came about, I started to focus on my own personal design; I spent more time doing photography and on Wednesday 4th January I decided to organise a family ski holiday back to our favourite town high in the Austrian mountains, this place holds many fond childhood memories of ski holidays that my dad organised, a huge group of us both our family and friends. We were there three years in a row 2006, 2007 & 2008. For me to book and organise our trip this time round was exciting since I was too young in previous years to care about those details, all I wanted to do was go skiing with my cousins and build snowmen (not much has changed I suppose). What made this trip just that little extra exciting, we were leaving in less than two weeks.

Previous years we stayed with our friend Rosie in her beautiful rented apartment but she was fully booked the week we were planning to go and thankfully her friend Maria was glad to let us stay in her top floor apartment, we stayed for six nights in 'Haus-Konig' we could not have asked for a nicer spot, it was everything we needed and wanted for a last minute get away, we were spoilt with a balcony and gorgeous mountain views; two bedrooms that slept two and a sofa bed in the living room. Maria was very accommodating and we woke to a basket of fresh bread rolls from the local bakery every morning, it's the little touches that matter.

If you are wondering what brought us to this secluded haven, it was the yearly hot-air balloon festival that runs for one week in January that brought mum and dad here back in 2005, we flew out as a group to ski mostly but our excuse was that we were going to help our friends set up their balloons in this picturesque valley. This year it was running from the 14th-21st January. This year we decided to go just the five of us for old time sake and without actually realising that the festival was back on we were pleasantly surprised that some of our ballooning friends from England were committing to the long drive to get their floating owl out to Austria.

Some '4D' rep Gerard

A little GoPro ballooning time lapse as I struggle through the two feet of snow.

2400m

My stunning Mum

A break from skiing for hot chocolate (can you tell how excited Gerard is) and hot lemon drinks before our last run of the day, we stopped in the restaurant at the top of our ski resort; with our thighs burning and the sun setting, temperature between -3c and -9c I think we deserved those beautiful views.

The balloon festival night glow in the town centre was a stunning sight to see; the road was closed for a small town party, with Austrian music and hot mulled wine, a random hot air balloon and some sick jiving moves, it could not have been more random but it was such a laugh. The town of Mauterndorf has no traffic lights, zebra crossings and narrow streets fit for one vehicle to pass at any time, so you can just imagine the type of town it is, quint, small with a strong community spirit. When the town was closed for this celebratory occasion it was welcomed by the locals with open arms. We tried our best to bust our best jiving moves (Cathy and Tanya you should be so proud).

Last day on the slopes

This was a week in paradise, a week of fun, laughter, excitement, freezing temperatures, speed and stunning sights. A fresh start to the new year and a chance to explore a blast to the past. This year I am making a promise to myself to travel more, explore new countries, work harder, focus on my Photography and don't get bogged down with trying to satisfy peoples expectations of me. I was hammering down the slopes at a fierce speed and could feel my skis skidding out from underneath me as I flew over the icy slope and I could feel my heart rate picking up, trying to stay calm and not do anything ridiculous for the person on my tail to completely freak out, this slogan popped into my head;

'Commit don't Quit, Commit don't Quit, Commit don't Quit'.

Yes I like the sound of this and quickly it has become a statement that I say on a daily basis; I have no idea where I'm going or what's next but I have faith that I'll end up where I need to be. Here's to a new year.

Thanks to Shane for snapping some photos for me.

Osprey - Backpack

Trespass - Helmet

Bolle - Goggles