On the last few days in Switzerland, we had a lazy day because it was raining, but was good to catch up on our strength after our massive mountain hikes. But on the second last day, as it was such a gorgeous day, we decided to go off to do our High Ropes Course. So we set off with our hired bikes to a place called Interlaken Adventure Seil Park, and we barely made 20 metres down the road, and I couldn’t change gears, and before I knew it, the bike chain broke – snapped into pieces! Now, in Lauterbrunnen it’s a very small town with no more than about 20 shops, mainly hiking stores, and absolutely everything is closed between 12pm and 4pm, and we hired our bikes at about 11:45am. And bare in mind, our bikes cost us 30 Swiss Francs each. And when the bike broke, we got back and reception was closed. So we had to wait until someone turned up – we didn’t want to take the blame for the bike as it was not our fault. But when we spoke to the guy we rented the bikes from, he was very understanding and said we could hire the bikes tomorrow – I prayed the day was just as good and not raining.
(Our bikes - that broke)And it was such a gorgeous day! The weather was fine, sunny and not a cloud in the sky! So we got up bright and early and set off on our bike ride to Interlaken. Little did we know just how far Interlaken was from Lauterbrunnen – a good 3 hour bike ride – and not all flat. I was so buggered. I think I have a long way to go in getting my fitness back from nearly 10 years of smoking (biggest mistake of my life). But we finally made it! It was an awesome bike ride – riding along the white water rapids, with killer views you just cannot get anywhere else. But we knew there was no time for rest just yet.
(all geared up in my harness!)
We got to the Seil Park, and we were so excited. It was such a huge ropes course! We got all decked out in our harnesses and were given a safety lesson – then we were free to climb trees! The first course was easy peasy! Of course. And just a lot of fun. But the courses just got harder and harder! And higher and higher. Adam was a little too confident and said we should go straight for the ‘eagle’ course (the hardest one) but luckily I could convince him to try the other ones first. By the third course, we were absolutely exhausted. This was not easy. It required so much strength and balance, and definitely coordination. There were thin wire tight-ropes, flying foxes (which sounds easy, but not when its at least 40 metres long and 20n metres high) and some of the most difficult obstacles. We soon realised where me and Adam differ. I have a ridiculous amount of stamina and could just keep going and going – Adam on the other hand had massive amounts of strength so he could fly through most of the strength obstacles – I flew through all the balance and coordination.
(the ropes courses)
But when we finally got to the fifth course – the black eagle course – nothing would have changed how hard it was – perhaps if we had done it first and were less exhausted it would have been easier, but none the less, so bloody hard! I managed to fall off - don’t worry, I had a harness, which I probably should have used instead of my armpits to hold myself up! The skin on the underside of my upper arms were ripped to pieces and bruised – ouch! Adam really struggled with one of the balance obstacles – and was close to giving up. And I froze on probably the easiest one – the jump sling. You put your foot in a little hole and have to jump over to the net on the other side, about 3 metres away and 20 metres up. I froze cold. I just couldn’t do it. I sat there for about 10 minutes trying to force myself to do it – and I did. But the hardest wasn’t over yet, well, for me anyways – Adam was fine.
(one of the easier obstacles)
The last part of the eagle course was a massive flying fox – absolutely massive – probably about 40 to 50 metres long – and nothing slowing you down. I was like a dart in the wind – and there was noting to stop me except for the tree at the end and a 2cm padding – Adam could hear the massive ‘thud’ from the other side! I was relieved to have finished in nearly one piece.
(Adam on the Flying Fox!)
Then we had to ride back – but we thought bugger that – and caught the train. But it was really because it started raining. Then when we got on the train, the ticket inspector asked for our tickets, and we asked to pay for them then – and he said ‘that’s 20 francs please’ – 20 francs!!! Would you pay $20 for a bloody train ride – 2 stops away? I think not. So we didn’t either. We told him we’d pay when we got off at Lauterbrunnen – and rode off. We really have to stop doing this!
But Switzerland was amazing! We had such a blast! And would love to go back, it was just such a spectacular place. Next was Naughty Nice!
See you then!
Ash and Adam in Interlaken.x
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