Fully vaccinated. Masks in place. When our Swiss housesit friends asked us to care for their three cats in August 2021, we didn’t hesitate.
To extend our time there, we did a short five-day bike trip before the housesit started. To stay as safe as we could, we headed for a more remote area of the country for our bike ride. The Graubünden canton borders Italy where the Romansch language, which dates from the 11th century, is still spoken.
Switzerland is a country best appreciated visually so we’ll stick with photos and hopefully, only a few words.
Our bike route. We rode the orange parts and took the train on the hilly, dangerous parts in green.
Even from our least expensive room, the view is spectacular.
Shaggy, cute and close enough to touch.
Why we love Swiss trains! Places for bikes (notice the hooks overhead), clean, and on time.
Switzerland is a Rubik’s cube of valleys connected by trains and dotted with small villages.
So much of the land is used for raising cows for beef and milk or growing hay to feed the cows. The women (it’s usually the women) who rake the fields are fit and buff.
When we get riding, sometimes it’s a quiet road meandering through the hills.
Or down a wooded trail.
Or over a bridge – that’s probably hundreds of years old.
Sometimes we maneuver through a construction zone.
Always slowing down when we bike through old (hundreds of years) villages.
Sometimes we climb passes in freezing weather. There is snow behind that mist.
But it’s always worth the effort.
Even from inside our room, the views inspire!
And the breakfasts delight!
Even in the middle of nowhere, the convenience store is full of perfect fruit and veggies.
On this section of the railroad, the trains enter a mountainside at one level, circle around INSIDE the mountain, and exit at a higher level. You gotta love that Swiss engineering!
Higher in the Alps, we were constantly treated to incredible views.
Or incredible people like Bakul who was riding his monster of a bike – non-electric, and fully-loaded – around Switzerland. We loved his infectious positive energy.
The buildings were old. Built in 1689!!
But the ruins were older!! The 13th Century!
We had our pictures taken. Notice who is carrying more gear. Jim…. gentleman that he is.
Cows are everywhere! There have to be… since there are over 450 types of cheese in Switzerland. And then there’s the milk for the Swiss chocolate!
Frisky goats!! You have to have some goat cheese, too.
And of course, places to buy raw milk from a machine 24 hours a day!!
We poked around odd places.
And discovered well-designed “little free libraries” in the middle of the forest.
And tiny cars!!
We tried other modes of transportation.
And sometimes we walked.
We realized there are more bike routes and hiking paths in Switzerland than you could do in a lifetime.
We marveled at the natural beauty.
And the history.
And knew we’d be back.
On the return train to Interlaken, the bike symbol on the carriage window let us know we were in the right train car and the lake let us know ……
That is where Jim and I were headed when we biked the West Coast Wilderness Trail, one of New Zealand’s 22 Great Rides. The 22 trails differ in difficulty and scenery but they all have a few things in common – off-road when possible, accommodations and food along the way, and plenty of info and support services.
The West Coast Wilderness Trail is on the west (a.k.a. wet) coast of the South Island of NZ. Normally a 4-day ride, it hugs the coastal highway on the first and last day. We were more interested in the middle two days. The trail leaves the coast and quickly heads uphill through wetlands, into a dense rainforest, past glacial rivers and lakes, and back down again. For us, these two days were the fun part!
The track – New Zealand speak for trail – was originally created by miners
during the West Coast Gold Rush in the 1860s. Now, tourism supports the
constant need for repairing the ruts and wash-outs on the trail. No doubt,
since the area gets roughly 118” of rain annually.
Jim and I
avoided the rain but not the effort, going uphill for the entire first day. The
grade wasn’t too steep and it gave us a chance to enjoy the scenery.
Our destination, Cowboy Paradise, is the culmination of one man’s dream.
It is a dirt “street” in the middle of a forest that is straight out of the
American Wild West, complete with saloon/restaurant with swinging doors and a
shooting gallery. Considering there were only 4 guests including Jim and
myself, it seems like the bad guys had already run everyone else out of town
After a good night’s sleep, we were rewarded with a day of downhill riding. Now this part WAS paradise! After careening (ok, maybe moderately maneuvering) down the forested trail, the vista opened up onto Arahura River valley.
We were immersed in sunshine and nature until we hit the town of Hokitika on the Tasman Sea, riding a total of 72 km over the two days. We were staying in Hokitika for the night, so Jim, ever the gentleman, rode another 28 km to bring the car back so we could continue our journey south in the morning. And while we may have skipped the flat half of the 132-km trail, we did go to Paradise and back!
