22/12/2025
Days 946 - 947 of full time nomadic life on the road
Over coffee, we make a bit of a plan for the remainder of our time in Switzerland. We agree that despite the costs, it’s somewhere we want to explore more of in 2026. We leave our free park-up and make our way up and over the Juan Pass. Once again, the Swiss haven’t gotten the memo in regards to safety barriers along the route; the only thing between us and a 1500m drop is the odd kamikaze sheep and some clumps of grass. Nicola once again hangs her head out the passenger side window, ready to make the leap to safety should Nigel get a little too close to the edge. At the top of the pass, we admire the views; the scene in front of us painted by Julie Andrews herself - the clanging of cow bells fills the air. Nigel has a yearning for cheese.
We start to make our way down over the pass and soon are met with a wall of thick fog - visibility reduced to a couple of metres in front of us - not the conditions one would wish for with over 20 hairpin corners to navigate as we make our way down. We can still see the whites of the biker’s eyes as he emerged from the clag in the middle of the road, almost using the bonnet of our van as a stunt ramp.
Soon we are down and out of the murk and making our way towards Lauterbrunnen. I’m not sure our words and images can do this place justice, and only now, several weeks later, have our jaws recovered from spending several hours trailing along the floor. This place is spectacular, and as expected, spectacularly busy as well. The sky is filled with helicopters and hang gliders, the sides of the cliffs with rock climbers, and the floor of the valley teaming with hikers and bikers, all geared up with the latest multi-coloured spandex.
Today we are simply looking and not partaking, although Nicola has confirmed that when we return in 2026 she will be joining the crazy folks in the sky. Nigel has a flashback to the time we jumped off The Remarkables in New Zealand. The pilot, who we are sure was an extra in the Point Break movie, had asked him just before we started running down the hill if he had lied about his weight, as any miscalculation could lead to an untimely landing. Thankfully, the wings of our new transport held true, and for the next ten minutes, we soared like eagles above the New Zealand countryside. After landing Nigel went straight to the scales and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
After a few hours, we go in search of a park-up, and Nicola finds us a space outside a hotel — as expected, it’s not cheap, especially for the services you get, but the views are spectacular. The drive up, less so, with several steep hairpins again to be navigated. At one point, we both scream at Google Maps, ‘Are you crazy !!’
The following morning, as Nigel is outside the back of the van making a few images of the beautiful scenery, he smells the unmistakable odour of gas. A quick check-over of possible causes, and we reckon we have an issue with the regulator on the underslung LPG tank. With a few weeks to go until we return to the UK, it looks like we may have to make do with cold cuts.
And someone, please pray for Nigel… As Nicola will have to do without her morning cup of tea. He may contemplate heading back up to 1500m and taking his chances with the kamikaze sheep…
Next stop The Rhine Falls …
