DAY 2/3: SUNDAY 31 July / 1 August 2011

Camping Costs: Camping Breithorn 54.80 CHF – 2 nights

Nice easy drive today. We decided to stop in Interlaken for lunch. we managed to find parking and off we went for a wonder.

Switzerland is expensive!! We knew this from the start, but this was a little more than we imagined. We finally decided to stop and eat, but at great expense.

Wendy’s Aunt, Uncle and Cousins were currently over from New Zealand. We had had a brief visit with them at Wendy’s Parent’s house a few weeks earlier. They were currently travelling Europe in a Motor home and our paths looked set to cross in Switzerland. We decided to meet up and spend a day together.

We found the campsite they told us they were staying at and managed to get a spot of grass. The owner said she was fully booked, but if we didn’t mind camping on her overflow field, we could stay. So there we set up our tents in the corner. The Thornes arrived and they very kindly cooked us a dinner. We had a great catch up and a wonderful meal. We made plans to go for a walk in the morning.

We spent the whole night listening to fireworks. The locals were celebrating a national holiday.

DAY 3: MONDAY 1 AUGUST 2011

It turns out that we have arrived in Switzerland during a celebration, Switzerland Day. Swiss flags hang everywhere and fireworks going off at all times of the day…and night!

Today we decided to pack lunch and go for a leisurely walk with the Thornes. We walked along the river by the campsite towards the cable car to catch the cable up to Gimmelwald. From there we walked up to Mȕrren where we ate our picnic lunch. Cassie needed a wee, so I ended up buying her a juice so she could use the restaurant toilet. 3CHF for a wee!! From Mȕrren we walked down to Lauterbrunnen. We walked a total of 17km!

We were all now tired and poor Cassie was starting to fade, so we caught the bus home from Lauterbrunnen. We tried to go to the supermarket to get supplies, but it was closed. We ended up buying sausages from the camp shop and putting together a mishmash of a dinner.

There were firework displays in the near-by towns of Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg. By the time we got there (another walk), the display was over, so back to camp we walked. Cas was bombing, so we put her to bed, she slept straight through all the firework banging, only to wake in the middle of the night to tell me that the river next to the camp was far to noisy!

The Thorne gang were leaving early in the morning, so we said our goodbyes. We were heading for Austria in the morning, looks like another long drive.