Our favourite was Fuchs

Itinerary

• It was raining, it was pouring, the family was snoring. All woke up after nine which is still much earlier than the late mornings of the first few weeks where we would get out sometime after midday.
• Interlaken

A stroll

A spaz attack

Seilpark for the BEST FUN EVER

Interlaken
After getting off the train, we crossed a street in the rain. Drew jumped the final curb, landed in a puddle and both scared and wet an old lady. After his lovely and gorgeous parents asked him to consider apologizing, he had a full on spaz attack about how awful we were and proceeded to walk at snails pace and be a cheeky little s?!?,? For a good hour as we strolled the Interlaken streets. Sigh.
The girl at the tourist information office gave us a funny look when we told her we thought we would go to the outdoor ropes / obstacle course that is Seilpark. "There is an indoor ropes course in Bern" she said. She told us about some other options including a large outdoor rural Switzerland museum or a chocolate making demonstration in a few hours across the road.
Then she said the magic words to Ree, " For the best coffee go to the café Paris just next to the markets. So off we went, Rain God against us, for some warmth, a snack and good coffee.

Inside AND warm....YES

Off to the Seil Park - Wear the Fox hat

So we calmly and rationally discussed the pros and cons (silliness) of going to an outdoor activity with sections high off the ground which requires significant balance skill on now wet and slippery equipment. The answer was obvious: Zoe and Drew threatened mutiny should we not at least attempt to see if the Seilpark was safe in the rain.
The full weight of parental reason was greeted with shrugs of derision from the aggressive little mutineers and so, unable to diminish their resolve, off we trudged. No buses go there so it was a 20 minute rainy walk of which for most of it, we didn't see another soul.
Movin right along, we turned left at the fork in the road and after a brief uphill turned into the forest as directed by the ever present Swiss signs.

I saw the sign, and it opens up my yes, I saw the sign

Walking into the forrest....what are those breadcrumbs on the floor

Then we arrived. There were a few people on the course and the owner promised us it was safe. The rain had just stopped, so we signed up and were ready for action. Unfortunately Drew is just under the 140cm height limit so was not allowed to do the high courses. He was allowed to do the training courses and the first two other courses which had very similar elements of difficulty - balance, strength, flying foxes but not more than say 10m off the ground. The other levels reached up into the tall trees but in truth, jumping or balancing at 10m was not much different than at 40m.

Missed it by that much

So ready for action

The various courses

Ice like slipperiness on a beam that moves whilst balance high enough above the ground for all sorts of fractures on "accidental dismount". Remind me how this is fun?

Took Drew about a minute to get across this section. Took me about 5mins

Tis was on the practice course

Its hard to see but, the reason you are safe is because of the magnetic safety lines you wear. Once you connect yourself at the start of each course, it isn't possible to disconnect more than one of the two connectors at any time. As you move between obstacles, you disconnect one end of your safety line over a small magnet, then reconnect it to the next line before the second connector can be undone and also moved to the next line. OK so that's probably gibberish but what it means is that once you pass your safety course, and move onto the actual apparatus - you're on your own. No safety dudes standing up high telling you what to do or explaining rules. Imagine this in Australia or Canada - everyone would be in a helmet with rules and guidelines and...you get the drift.
Hooking yourself in, high in the trees then ziplining by jumping off the narrow platform is so much more exhilarating when there is no attendant helping guide checking your straps and making sure you are safe. Maybe this is also good advice for Australia and also for parents? Personal responsibility - who would have thunk it?

Zozo on a rope bridge

These planks moved like a turning skateboard as well as a see-saw. Did I mention that the rain had made them banana skin slippery?

Leaping off a flying fox

Photo shmoto - here is an edited conglomerate of a bunch of small videos I made at Seilpark. Long, redundant and boring but a quick edit is a good edit.

This tunnel is unstable and high enough

Ree and Zoe - the Foxes

So thanks to the militant children, we had a sensational afternoon of fun. The rain started again just as we finished so thanks also to the Rain God.
Another evening of laundromat action as tomorrow we leave Lauterbrunnen.




Enough

Every morning you greet me

 

Falling water

 

 

We awoke to a beautiful day. The clouds were there but got a bit lazy and drifted away to leave a sunny, crisp morning.

 

Itinerary

• Walk to Trummelbach falls
• Return and then Cable car to Grutchalp (the "u" as in hoot, the "ch" is as in chalk). Now above the snowline so snowing gently.
• Train Murren for lunch
• Walk the 4km back to Grutchalp (by then it was snowing)
• Back to warm up and hit the laundromat of Lauterbrunnen. No more of this except to say that it was spotless, the machines all in working order and with clear instructions.

 

 

Walking to the falls

The walk to Trummelbach falls is through the Lauterbrunnen valley for about 3kms. As you leave the town the sounds of cowbells and bright green fields of Adelweis greet you. Soft and (greyish) white, clean and bright.

The downside to all this freshness is that the cowbells signify cows and cows poo a lot. Unfortunately, althou Switzerland remains neurtal, the cow poo does not. So it's also a tad vershtoonkena (pongy). The cold temp takes the edge of the smell but summer must be a similar olfactory experience to camping outside the public toilets at the Indian buffet on specials night.

 

 

It's just down the street (applies to everything in Lauterbrunnen)

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhhh cow dung

 

 

 

Running through the fields

 

 

 

Soon after the cow bit we met a lady walking her dog and pushing a pram. Lena is Portugese and is married to a Scottish guy. She has lived in Perth for a while and had a cracker of an accent as she speaks Potugese, French, English, German and Spanish. We chatted as we strolled and the kids played with Ted the dog - a 2yr Labrador who, as with most animals, loved Drew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over a bridge, and after checking out the stream, we are at the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the distance, we could hear and then see the rescue helicopters practising (never remember when to use and "s" or a 'c' or single vs double quotation marks).

 

 

2 choppers practising

 

 

 

 

Trummelbach Falls

 

 

 

 

Trummelbach falls are a wonder of nature. The water and rocky detritus pushed by (the interestingly named) "Galcier Defiles", has tunneled through rock to create a series of 10 falls that between them output 20,000 liters of water per second.

 

 

 

 

Normally I would walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, but in this case, the elevator is straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It goes up on an angle. Stairs shmairs, I wanna go on the anglevator. Because its Switzerland, they prepare you with a sign or in this case, a sign and a model.

 

 

Angled elevator

 

 

 

Starting the walk in

 

 

 

Inside the mountain

 

 

Turn the volume up for the next one...it was REALLY loud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like the Cuban shower head in one of the Seinfeld episodes

 

 

 

Blowing water vapor - cold and 99% humid = perfect conditions

 

 

 

Time to leave

 

 

 

Photo clearly produced by Ree

 

 

 

But first a little more running

 

 

 

Next stop the cable car to Grutchalp.

Took the bus back to the trainstation at other end of the valley. The funicular leaves from here to go from Lauterbrunnen (800m) to Grutchalp (1600m). Another way to think of the height difference is that Lauterbrunnen was a bit cloudy, Grutchalp was a bit snowy. We were going to walk to Murren but decided to take the train there and walk back after a bite to eat.

 

Snow time

 

 

 

Giving high fives (and missing)

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, it was a Sunday so some things were closed in Murren so my head and sacrum remain in their pre therapy state.

 

 

 

Lunch was one of those surprise treats. At the end of the little road that is Mürren was a cheap looking Chinese "restaurant". Really it looked more like a deli with plastic tablecloths but, a bit sick of food with cheese, in we went.

We were the only people there (and seemingly the only people in Mürren). Turns out the owner was a Singaporean guy who had been in Mürren for 9 years. Before that he had worked as a chef in a 5 star Zurich hotel for 19 years.

The food was amazing. Both kids ordered duck as they are firmly convinced that they are royalty and that we their servant parents have pockets full of gold. We ate like kings and pigs.

Full and happy we began our walk back to Grutchalp.

 

 

Icicle fighter - Zoe

 

 

 

Icicle unicorn - Zoe

 

 

 

Icicle yummy - Zoe

 

 

 

Innocent snowman falls prey to passing (had enough of icicle) Zoe . May need a bit of cranio sacral therapy

 

 

 

Aussies in borrowed jackets

 

 

 

Would have gone in but Winteregg was shut and it seems a silly name.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you think the water is cold?

 

 

 

Little video of our time walking in the snow;

Watch this one if you are scared easily. (i.e. kid safe)

 

 

 

 

 

Watch this if you aren't scared easily or like silly endings.

 

 

 

 

 

The kids loved the snow. Snowballs flew, gloves got soaked, little bodies has goosebumps but they would have walked another walk or two to three is they could have stayed out longer.

 

 

Enough.

 

Picture perfect

Ok, lets just get this out of the way right now, Lauterbrunnen is unbelievably beautiful. Everywhere you look is a postcard and quite out of the capability of our iphone cameras to capture the surroundings.

So check out the photos and then in your head try and sharpen the images (air is so clear and still), then add brightness and colour depth and then, this is the hard part, add sheer scope - the mountains are huge.

To get there we took the train to Basel and got off between the lakes at Interlaken. Interlaken is kind of the base for most of the adrenaline junky sports of the area - paragliding, canyoning etc. Its still a small town but not as small as the (essentially single street) town of Lauterbrunnen.

The Interlaken train schedule told us that the Lauterbrunnen train left at 3 minutes and 33 minutes past the hour. And it did. And so did we.

Lauterbrunnen is in a valley and gives access to a number of close by towns, connected by railway and trails (a bit like Cinque Terre except the railways and buses always run on time to the second, all are signposted in a way that is both easy to see and clear to understand and above all are spotless - no trash anywhere to be seen.

 

 

 

 

 

The clock that apple copied

 

 

Arriving in Lauterbrunnen

 

 

 

OK so i lightened the photo above up a bit. It was raining when we arrived but in a gentle Swiss way - soft drops plopping onto the road. Not too cold either - at least 3 degrees.

 

 

The clouds come into the valley. Walking the 500m from the station to our hotel

 

 

 

And there is a swimming pool that opens on the day we get there! Season opening - perfect.

 

 

Looks good

 

But because the weather hasn't been great, even in light of the sign above, the sign below held sway. Geschlossen is a great word isnt it? Get sloshing.

 

 

All those going for a swim step forward.....not so fast Lozza

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lost cloud

 

 

 

We hired some waterproof hiking boots from the sports store across the road, got some loan winter jackets and woolens from the hotel and were set for the next few days. We were so lucky in that the hotel had four loan jackets, and three of them were perfect fits. Drew missed out but he has a good jacket so not a problem.

The tourist office and the hotel thought the weather would be cloudy for the next few days which is a real problem as we were hoping to go up the Jungfrau to the highest easily accessible viewpoint in Europe, but NO point if you cant see anything.

We were quietly confident that we would be able to get up though - the weather Gods have not let us down so far.

 

 

Enough