Powder days

When you work 12 hours a night in a bar, any time you’re not too exhausted to get out of bed becomes an exciting day for searching for any powder that might be left on the mountain. My friend and I did just that two days ago. We were lucky enough to finish work the previous night by 3am, giving us plenty of time to sleep and still ski before we had to start work again at 6pm. It’s always an amazing feeling to get back onto my skis and dominate the mountainside. This time we decided that there were too many people on the slopes, so we would do a little exploring and find fresh untapped powder in the trees and forests where most gapers (tourists to the mountain who can’t really ski) would not dare to go. What luck that we decided that. We had some of the most amazing powder runs through the trees, a few forays near the river that were a bit too close for comfort and an epic bail!

I was flying through the forest and had just glided off a fallen tree covered in snow, making it the perfect jump and was absolutely delighted as I cruised towards the road to wait for my friend. Unseen to my elated eyes the drop from the forest onto the road was slightly larger than expected, about 3 feet larger! If, as a skier or snowboarder you have ever dropped something onto a completely flat landing you will understand the pain involved in an unexpected flat landing! Due to gravity and laws of falling bodies and Newton and all that stuff, the ground stopped my feet but gravity kept my face moving, straight into my knee! It was an extremely fast, powerful slam of my poor nose directly into my leg, leaving in my excruciating pain, blood squirting everywhere and a hysterically laughing friend! Guys…. Well the good thing about falling in the snow is that there really isn’t a problem icing the injury. I’d hate to think what my nose would look like if I hadn’t instantly iced it. At the moment it’s about twice the size it normally is and when you have a large nose to start with that’s the last thing you want! Especially when you have to work in 2 hours’ time!

However, the moral of this story is that when it is a powder day, and you get to make fresh tracks through a forest, explore new areas and generally roll around in the snow, the minor discomfort of a swollen nose is completely worth it. Any time the pain becomes too much I remember bursting through powder cushions that covered my waist… ah pain? What? No, it’s a minor scratch, all worth it!

The important things in life

Sometimes I find myself completely bogged down by the problems in life that I no longer see what is important. I think many of us have this problem where we forget that we only have one life, we only have one shot and we should take advantage of every moment. Life is not worth wasting on trivial problems, bullies who try to demean us and stressful jobs! There are always going to be reasons to be negative, to be worried, to be stressed. Then there comes that moment of clarity when you suddenly realise that all those feelings are not important. All the worry that's been needlessly eating you up inside is never going to solve anything, that in fact worrying is perhaps the most useless passtime of all. Anyone who has ever criticised someone about being a lazy layabout should look to themselves first and ask how much time they have spent worrying. I feel that I would rather waste an entire day being too high to do anything than waste 10 minutes worrying about something that cannot be changed. But I'm getting distracted here. The moment of clarity.

So as you know I'm now living in a tiny village in the Swiss alps called Lenk. I discovered just how tiny the other day when I went skiing on a powder day. It was one of those days where the visibility was next to nothing and it was dumping with snow. It was also my first day out on the mountain this season. We could barely see where we were going but it didn't matter at all. Every run we did felt like getting first tracks. As we rode the chairlift back up the snow covered all tracks and once again we had clean lines all the way down. The groomers had about a foot of snow on them and even more to the sides. The snow covered my knees and thighs with every turn. My skis glided over fluffy whiteness with absolute ease. No obstacles, no challenges. Buttery as snowboarders would say! As it was our first day up on the mountain with zero vis we stuck to groomers, but who can complain when you're skiing a foot of fresh snow on a mountain that had about 5 people skiing. Its one of those days most people look out and think, I'm going back to bed. For us it was one of those days where we thought thank goodness most people are pussies!!!!

The next day arrived with clear blue skies and the promise of new snow. Now if you've ever skied in Europe you will know Europeans have a very distinct "on piste" vs "off piste", for Americans that means groomers vs the rest of the mountain. Unlike in North America though, ski patrol only take care of the piste. Anything off piste is completely your own responsibility, which means that a lot of Europeans have this terrible fear of anything a snowcat hasn't mutilated. For me this means kilometres of untapped powder fields where every trip down gives me the opportunity to create a fresh line. This is the first time I've lived in a small resort. Think I've been sold on it! Sure the mountain is not as huge as the main resorts in the alps but then how many people in those resorts can say they get a fresh line every time they come down?

It is in days like that you realise that there are no problems, that nothing is insurmountable, anything is possible and that life is fan-fucking-fastic! We are not on earth to suffer, we're here to enjoy every day to the maximum. So whatever you do, do it with passion! We only have one life. That's it. LIVE IT!!

The deep end

I have survived my first two nights working in a German speaking bar. I have found that when Swiss people speak, I have no idea what they are saying. When I ask them to speak high German they look at me with contempt. When they hear me trying to speak high German they ask where I'm from. When I tell them South Africa they ask "How the hell did you end up in Lenk??" Suddenly I'm a topic of interest and any mistakes I might make are instantly forgiven. I can however brag that I'm getting better at this bartending thing. I only sort of want to have a panic attack when a huge group of people walk in, I now know what glasses to serve most drinks in and my manager forgives me when I screw up and takes over when I look terrified! Today is the first day I think I feel slightly normal again, working from 8pm until 4am takes some getting used to but tip for survival, keep busy! When you're constantly moving your body can't think about being tired. Then when bed time comes, well rest has never felt so good!

I have also found out that I will be working for a local festival when that opens. I have no idea who any of the acts are and somehow feel that they will all be quaint local Swiss acts but its in a massive tent (and called Das Zelt!) and I will be watching for free while doling out drinks to happy festival goers.

I have also today managed to find the gondola up the mountain. If you ever do come to Lenk, the gondola is not within walking distance! Taking the bus is strongly advised! I think this is the first ski resort I've worked at where its taken me nearly a week to actually locate the gondola. I will be heading up the mountain for the first time tomorrow. Hopefully it will be my first day off since I've been here. What a wonderful idea, no work for 2 whole days! Slightly more normal sleeping hours and the possibility of 2 full days of skiing!

My life as a movie? please?

You know when you sign up to do job you've never done before in a language you can’t speak? Welcome to my life!! Right now I am about to make a living as a bartender in the German speaking part of Switzerland. I don’t speak German, I don’t know the difference between cognac and whiskey and I couldn't tell you what glasses they are served in, in English or German! Why did these people hire me?? I have spent the last three days cleaning and stocking the bar that I am to work in. I have never seen some of the glasses I had to pack away! And as for green vodka? What’s wrong with the normal clear vodka? Why do we have to make green vodka? And what glass do you serve vodka in? The only time I drink vodka is when it’s well-disguised by some kind of mixer, then it doesn't matter what colour the bloody vodka is!

Even I realise that right now to anyone who has ever worked behind a bar I must sound like a complete idiot, an absolute novice, I should probably go back to my pints of beer drunk safely on the other side of the bar. Well this is where my dilemma comes in, I really am this ignorant and I really will be working in a bar for the next few months and it is all in German. I rather hope that all of this becomes some kind of Coyote Ugly story, where I am dreadful at first but somehow perform a feat of wonder and everything turns out fine and suddenly I’m flicking bottles around like a was born in a circus. Ah wouldn't it be wonderful if life was like a movie? Unfortunately this is real life, my life and it is about to get a little crazy!

Stay tuned for updates in this new crazy stupid adventure I'm embarking on, and if you are a seasoned bartender reading this, I can pour a beer… is that a redeeming fact?

Can someone invent Teleportation already!!

Its all very well to jet set and travel around the world, a different continent every few months and until they develop teleporting, many hours sitting crammed into flying cattle trucks! There are perhaps 50 odd people each flight who have the pleasure of flying business class, for the other 500 odd people on the flight breathing space is not an option! On a recent flight from durban, south africa to dubai (en route to switzerland) there was not a single empty seat in the whole of economy class. If you have ever spent 8 hours on a fully booked plane you will empathise with me. Now add to this 4 hours of continued turbulence and you begin to get a picture of the flight!

I have spent many hours on many planes and have still not come up with a way of making economy class over long distance bearable, but there are ways of making it tolerable. Firstly, choose a seat near the back, the back of the plane its always emptier than the front so the chances of getting a free seat next to you are much higher. If you're on a full plane though it doesn't matter much.

The next bit of advice, be friendly! The air stewards can make or break your flight! They have a lot of people to keep happy, in cramped conditions for many hours and a little bit of compassion and friendliness goes a long way to making sure they go out of their way to make sure your flight is pleasant.

I experienced this to the extreme on my horrid flight across africa. A little bit of joking and chatting to the air steward lead him to bringing me an extra business class dessert with a glass of champagne! I can assure you that business class have delicious dessert and a little bit of chocolate and champagne go a long way towards making an economy class flight not only tolerable but a little exciting too!!

Chicago Police Taxi Service

I was looking through old photos and came across some of them from my time in Chicago and thought that they had a story that had to be shared! After a 18 hour long, non stop drive through from Colorado to Chicago I couldn't justify wasting one of my few days in Chicago sleeping off the long drive, so my friend, Nate (a local) and I set off to see what the Windy City had to offer. In order to make things more interesting for him, the tour of Chicago became a tour of the great drinking spots Chicago has to offer, with a side line of seeing the sights. I can definitely recommend this way of seeing a city. It is, however, going to take some help from Google maps to piece together the walk we did through downtown Chicago. Our trip started with a walk down Michigan Ave towards Navy Pier where we enjoyed our first beer at the Billy Goat Tavern, a Chicago landmark for their burgers, which I don't eat... the beer was good though. It is also from this place that the alleged Curse of the Cubs originated. (Owner of the Tavern was asked to leave Wrigley Field during a World Series game because his goat's odor was offending fans. As he left he declared that the Cubs would never win another World Series, which as to date has not happened).

We then headed to Millennium Park to see the face fountain (a fountain that displays the faces of local Chicagoans), found another bar and of course stopped in for a drink, or two. We continued wandering through the streets of downtown Chicago, stopping for a beer whenever the need overtook us. Naturally this means the walk became a bit of a blur after a while. However, I feel that most people would agree when you are in a new city, sightseeing is the smallest part of visiting. You don't learn about a city through sightseeing, it's the experience, the feel of a city that leaves the lasting impression. Chicago is a city that is vibrant, clean and pulsing. The people love their city and you feel that wherever you walk.

Towards the end of the day we decided that one cannot come to the Windy City and not see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field so to Wrigley Field we headed where we met a few other friends, fortunately a lot more sober than we were!!!

We bargained for some cheap, yet pretty good seats in the stadium to go watch the trail end of the game. It was my first time watching a baseball game, and it was everything I was expecting. The Cubs killed their opponents and the stadium was full of drunk, happy supporters. I probably cannot explain a single baseball rule but it was still great fun and the atmosphere was enough to make anyone cheerful!

After the excitement of the game we headed across to the Cubby Bear for the after celebrations. What an atmosphere! They had a fantastic, cheesy band playing while serving cheap beer in plastic cups. The evening became a blur of dancing, drinking, celebrating that only ended when the bar closed and we were forced to call it a night. My friend and I literally stumbled out of there, very thankful to our slightly more sober friends for looking after us! About 5 meters outside the bar my friend passed out, right in front of the Chicago police! Backed up by a lot of drunk bravado, I entertained the police with tales of being an excited tourist from South Africa and how Chicago was the best city in the whole of the USA!!! This gave Nate's girlfriend enough time to rouse him from his stupor and convince him that it was time to get a train back home. It was a very eventful trip back home, though I don't remember it. The consequences however, are still very clear in my mind!!

I ended up getting angry with everyone and wanted to get away, pretty sure that I could find my way home if I got off at the right stop. So at the stop I charged off the train, leaving everyone behind. Well when I arrived on the street did anything look familiar? Of course not!! I'd been walking around Chicago in a sleep deprived state, now not only was I sleep deprived but rather drunk too! The following is guide on how to find your way back to your hotel when you are lost on the streets of a strange city at 3am.
Step One: locate a bus stop, when you determine that the buses are no longer running, look at the map they usually provide at the bus stop to determine your current location and the location of your hotel. When you realize that you are too drunk to make sense of the moving letters on the bus map, move to step two.

Step Two: wander into the middle of the street and look at all the buildings, landmarks and street signs to see if anything looks familiar and could possibly lead you back to your hotel. That this point you should also resign yourself to the fact that you may be walking for a few hours to find your way back home. If nothing looks familiar move to step three.

Step Three: look completely lost and confused while you are standing in the middle of the road, if you are in Chicago the chances are that a cop car will pull up within the next few minutes and ask if everything is ok. This is when you pull your best attempt at being a helpless, lost tourist (Which shouldn't be too tough because thats exactly what you are). The police will then ask where you need to be. If this happens you are pretty much guaranteed a ride, and a lecture, most of which you will have forgotten in the morning anyway.

This way you get a ride home from who knows where to your hotel, saving a significant amount on taxi fare, as the Chicago Police are not in the habit of charging drunk people for giving them a lift. And as Matercard would say, the look on your friends' faces when you ride up to the hotel yelling out the window of a cop car "those are my friends!!" is priceless.

I have to end this entry with a thank you to the Chicago Police who seem to do fantastic job of keeping the streets of Chicago safe! I never felt scared while in Chicago and I think the huge police presence has a lot to do with that.

Oasis in London

Everyone  has heard from Central Park in New York, its probably the only reason most people in that city can breathe. I have discovered London's far better counterpart, Richmond Park. Richmond Park used to be the hunting grounds of King Charles I who installed himself there to escape the plague in London. He was the monarch who walled in the park, but still allowed people to enter and use the park. 2360 acres in size this park has a bit of everything. When I visited it, it was in the throws of autumn and we were surrounded by a sea of gold, orange and brown leaves.

We enjoyed the view and watched people cycling, walking their dogs, fishing, drinking and generally just relaxing and having a nice time. That is what Richmond Park seems to encourage, being happy. Lakes are interspersed through the park, deer wander around freely and the ducks make themselves known to all. This is the kind of place where you can't help but want to go fly a kite. And when the weather is looking fantastic, the sun is shining it seems like a great idea. Well that's what we thought, so we packed up the kite, got ourselves in the mood by singing Mary Poppins' "lets go fly a kite" song and made our way back to Richmond. However, the most important thing to consider when going to fly a kite is that no matter how great the weather may be, how bright the sun may be shining, no kite will fly when there is no wind. We were determined that there might be some wind at some point (I think a green herb may have had an influencing factor on our determination...) so that kite was set up... and lay absolutely still on the grass while we sat next to it, feeling a bit foolish. Families wandered passed us with questioning looks on their faces and we grew slightly more self conscious and eventually gave up kite flying to go climb trees instead! Just goes to show that Richmond Park can never be boring!

The next day we were much more fortunate and a strong wind was blowing, we headed to Old Deer Park this time to finally test our kite flying skills.

On the move again!

Back on the move again and it feels fantastic, to be going new places, meeting new people and getting up to interesting adventures again. This time I headed to London to meet up with a very close friend of mine. And sometimes in life you are lucky enough that your very good friend’s parents happen to have a massive mansion in a beautiful part of London! You can also get very lucky when said friend likes the alternative side of the city and takes you on tours that most tourists never visit. Ah so many highlights, so much to remember it’s all overwhelming. So let’s start at the beginning. A walk along the Thames looking at all the famous sights hundreds of tourists flock to London to see; Parliament, Westminster, Trafalgar Square and Big Ben (and for those of you that don’t know, Big Ben is part of parliament and is not located on a massive white building, also with a huge clock, a few hundred metres down the Thames…). After the mandatory walk along the Thames we stopped in at a bar on a boat. What a fantastic idea, if you stumble after a couple of beers, you blame it on the movement of the boat. Alcohol had nothing to do with it at all!! So if walking along the Thames has left you parched Tamesis Dock is a must visit. They even lend you their lighters, knowing full well that it is very unlikely to be returned… that’s what you get for being a pub that can’t find matches to give to tipsy patrons who need to light up!!

Ooooh, I wanna dance with somebody!

I forget sometimes how great it feels to spontaneously start dancing like, well, no one is watching. It all started with a hankering for the Backstreet Boys' Larger Than Life and progressed from there. How can that song not make you want to move around and act like you're Nick Carter! There is something so exhilarating about waving your arms around like a crazy person to the beat of cheesy music. Thanks to Spotify the cheese just continued with the BSBs being followed by Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, Nsync, Pink, Witney Houston, Meredith Brooks and even the Spice Girls made an appearance. At the end of half an hour I had my hair tied up on top of my head; 80s style, my shirt tucked into my bra and sweat pouring down my face! And I felt AMAZING! There can be no worries in your life when you're livin la vida loca, saying Bye Bye Bye or belting out Wannabe!

Not only does dancing burn calories but dancing is a great form of expression. You can be whoever you want through dance, tell a story, release pent up tension and jump out negative feelings all while releasing endorphins, happy drugs! Endorphins are said to have the same effects as codeine and morphin, without the negative side effects. What could be bad about that? So get out that cheesy music you secretly pretend to scorn, find some open space and go wild!

“Dance, when you're broken open.

Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.

Dance in the middle of the fighting.

Dance in your blood.

Dance when you're perfectly free.”
― Rumi

Probably going overboard on the pumpkin thing now

I just made a Pumpkin Pie. Now I’m not gonna say it was from an old family recipe, handed down generation to generation with a secret ingredient that makes it just that much better than everyone else’s. That would be a blatant lie. No, my recipe was taken, very unglamourously from the BBC Foods website. It was chosen purely based on the fact that it was the only recipe I could find that I had all the ingredients for. However, if you want an amazingly awesome Pumpkin Pie like mine, go to BBC foods where Antony Worrall Thompson is more than happy to share his fantastic recipe.

The only alteration I can lay claim to, is the fact that I did not have all spice, so I tossed in more nutmeg, more cloves and cinnamon, loads of cinnamon, because everyone loves cinnamon. Actually I probably put way more of all the spices in, but I love spices and spices love pumpkin, so I didn’t think it would hurt. And it hasn’t. Love your spices! 

Night time!

So night finally arrived and I must stay the evil Jack-o'-Lantern  turned out better than the friendly one!

How to make a Jack-o'-Lantern

Today it was beyond necessary to go grocery shopping. During my grocery shopping I couldn’t help but notice all the lovely orange pumpkins on display everywhere I looked! Now this being my first real autumn it’s also my first real exposure to such tempting displays. Naturally I couldn’t resist! I would have to buy one and make my first jack-o’-lantern. I’d heard they were pretty tough to carve out so I thought I’d start small, and not be too ambitious. So I bought a little pumpkin that was destined to become my jack-o’-lantern.

After numerous referrals to youtube, I felt like I was ready to tackle my lantern. There are a lot of videos on youtube about carving out a pumpkin, some are great some leave much to be desired! Well if you are interested in making your own jack-o’-lantern (which is well worth it, because its enormous fun!) you’ll need a pumpkin, a knife, a bowl for seeds and newspaper to put the fibres and other such unwanted things.

1.       Start off by cutting the top of the pumpkin off. It’s important that you cut it at an angle so that when you put the lid back on it doesn’t fall into the pumpkin, so the top needs to be wider than the bottom.

2.       This is the fun part. You get to stick your hand into the guts of the pumpkin and yank them out! So much fun!! Separate the seeds from the fibres, keep the seeds for roasting and throw the fibres away (though if you’re anything like me, you might keep them and turn them into a soup later on).

3.       Smooth out the inside of the pumpkin with a spoon so it looks nice. This is actually easier than it sounds. The sides scrape away nicely (more soup fodder)

4.       Next best part, draw on the face! I used pencil, cos I’m not much of an artist and know I’ll have to change a few times.

5.       Once you’re happy with the face, time to carve it out. I only used straight lines, cos those are easier to carve and less likely to lead to a screw up. Push the pieces inside the pumpkin to remove them.

6.       Time for lighting!!!!! I, however, have to wait another 4 hours til its dark enough for me to light mine up. Oh waiting is the hardest part!!!

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Now for the intellectual stuff. Jack-o’-Lanterns are actually an Irish thing, coming from Samhein a festival celebrating the time when fairies and spirits are active. Originally they were carved out of turnips (not an easy feat I’m sure!). When Irish people arrived in America, they brought jack-o’-lanterns with them. In America, though, pumpkins were in better supply, and easier to carve so the lanterns were made from them instead. As Samhein is celebrated from the 31 October – 1 November it follows that they were adopted for Halloween.

Now go make your own Jack-o’-Lantern!!!

Crisis Averted

Today has been a pretty relaxed day. The weather outside has been horrendous and relegated me to purely indoor activities. This has been great for my German lessons but there is only so much German one non-German speaking person can handle in a day!!

Thankfully my boredom was alleviated for a few minutes by the sudden and abrupt entry of a bird through a door that was not open more than a couple of inches! Well a second later the cat was off the chair and after the poor, confused bird who flew into one window followed by another, and another. Fortunately the bird slipped down between the stairwell, giving me enough time to capture the cat and forcefully lock it in a room while I attempted to remove the deviant bird.

I grabbed a towel from the bathroom intending to bring it down mid flight, wrap it up and release it outside, unscathed and constantly indebted to me for saving its life. The reality was a little less heroic. The unfortunate bird had been dazed in all the confusion and merely sat on the step staring up at me as I approached it. I was able to cover it in the towel, slide it off the step and let it out outside. It a moment of beauty the bird looked up at me and our eyes locked for a second in which is can only be said that the bird displayed enormous gratitude before it took flight, escaping me, the house and the cat.

After having thoroughly searched the house and failing to find any sign of the bird, the cat is now sulking with me for spoiling her fun.

What is that stuff falling from the sky??

After to days of lazing around the house, doing nothing much but studying up on some German, I decided I need to get out and do something. That something was a hike up to the highest village in the surrounding mountains: St-Cergue. I'm not quite sure how far it is, or actually how to get there, I just knew I had to head up through the forest, so that's where I headed. It was also supposed to rain r snow today and I wanted to ensure that I was high enough for it to be snowing on me, rather than raining on me!!

It was a windy and rather frigid morning when I set off. The wind was whipping through the trees so much so that I was stopped by an elderly couple who were walking their dog. They were worried about me hiking in such weather warned me to watch out for falling trees! Something I'm rather grateful for as that hadn't even occurred to me. Swiss trees don't fall down, that just wouldn't sit well with Swiss order. I'd always imagined Swiss trees to rather gently place themselves on the ground when they were too tired to stand anymore. It seems only right. Fortunately I did not encounter any trees that were inclined to rip themselves from the ground onto my path. The wind, however, did make for beautiful autumn scenery as it gave any indecisive leaf the motivation to fall.

All around me was a rosy array of colour highlighting the path ahead of me. As I mentioned I was not quite sure exactly how to get to St Cergue, I just knew its general direction was up. So up I headed, come path or no path... If anyone ever tries to convince you that it is a better option to walk directly up a hill, instead of taking the path, do not listen to those crazy ramblings! There is no truth in it being easier to go straight up. That is why there are very few paths that go straight up a mountain. Take the long way round! 

Although the hike was long, and continuously uphill it was one of the most delightful hikes I've done. This is partly due to the beautiful autumn colours that surrounded me, but mostly to do with the "weird things falling from the sky". I kept noticing, out the corner of my eye, small little things that I initially thought were seeds falling from the trees. When my brain caught up and thought wait a minute, there no seeds falling from trees in autumn... I took a closer look at what turned out to be SNOWFLAKES!!!! I had left the rain behind and was now wandering though the forest, higher and higher, following the snowflakes as they got bigger and fluffier. What does it matter if you don't know where you are going when you are surrounded by the first white fluffy snowflakes of winter!

We only part to meet again

As a traveller one thing that is a certainty is having to say goodbye. Saying goodbye does get easier but is never easy. We often meet people who will have a lasting effect on our lives, only to have them make a quick stop and then disappear again. Some of the most life changing experiences I have had have been with people who were in my life for a brief but intense period. Other people have a permanent place in your heart and as John Gay says "we only part to meet again".

There are many romantic notions about saying goodbye, only to meet again in some happy time in the future. These notions do not take into consideration the heartbreak and loss felt when actually going separate ways from people who are special. Goodbyes fill the heart with sorrow and a feeling of loss and it is seldom that looking towards seeing each other again provides much comfort.

Today I said goodbye to my parents, who are returning to South Africa while I stay in Europe. We perhaps see each other once or twice a year and those times are precious and treasured. However, the joy of seeing each other again is clouded by the sadness involved in having to say goodbye. There are so many joys and wonders in travelling but parting from those you love is a sacrifice that only time can heal.

     Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like                                                      and then just stay together?  I guess that wouldn't work.  Someone would leave.  Someone always leaves.  Then we would have to say good-bye.  I hate good-byes.  I know what I need.  I need more hellos.  ~Charles M. Schulz

Snowy cycling

I often get bright ideas about adventures that seem dramatic and exciting but turn out to be a little bit ill thought out and perhaps rather impractical. That is what happens when you embark on a cycle trip through Switzerland, in autumn, without being fit and not having checked the weather! I thought I had planned well, I had actually consulted a map of the route. It seemed very doable, even in my dreadfully unfit state.

It turns out that you need slightly more planning in a cycle trip than just a consultation with a map. A puncture repair kit is a good start. Seems like its not a good idea to decide to cycle a couple of hundred kilometres without packing said repair kit. Once packed it is almost assured that you will not get a puncture the entire trip. If forgotten, you will receive a puncture in the most remote place on the route. Fortunately for me however, Murphy was not in his element and though I did get a puncture without having a repair kit, it happened within a mere two kilometres from the nearest train station. Yes, I gave in after my first puncture and took the train. Good thing I did! I arrived in Interlaken where I was going to meet up with a couple of friends and set up camp with them. The next day it rained almost non stop the entire time! Not great cycling weather to say the least.

When we went our separate ways I once again headed off on my bike, puncture successfully repaired. About 5km along I got another puncture. We had forgotten to check the tyre for the offensive object that punctured my tyre in the first place. As punishment said object punctured the tube again. This time I was prepared with my repair kit and solved the puncture problem right there on the side of the road.

I was heading to a small village called Lenk where I had a job interview at a hotel bar and club for the winter (I did get the job!). The first night I arrived there I barely had time to get some food, set up camp and cook before it got dark and then very very cold. That night happened to be the coldest night they'd had so far that autumn. I could tell! I woke up freezing a few times and only recovered as morning approached. When I peered out my tent the grass outside was frozen, as was my entire tent! I could actually snap off bits of the sheet of ice that covered my tent. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see the sun rise as I was that morning!

The next day was beautiful and sunny leading me to hope for a more successful night that night. After my interview I enjoyed the sun by hiking through the mountains that I hoped would soon be my home. It was not to be the case. Although that night was not as cold as the previous I did wake to pouring rain, not ideal for cycling. Hoping that I could wait it out I immersed myself in my kindle at a coffee shop. When I looked up again the rain had turned to snow and sleet. Things were definitely not looking up for this trip! My aim was to get lower down where it wouldn't be so bad. Cycling in snow and sleet is not fun! It tends towards leaving you wet and with very frozen fingers. I cycled in such weather for 14km before calling it a day and once more taking a train to my destination: this time a conveniently located friend who is adult enough to have a roof over her head and central heating!

Next time, better planning shall be involved and definite consultations with the weather report!