The view from the top is spectacular. As you can see the descent down the southern side of the Col du Rousset snakes down to the base some 800 metres below where the lavender fields thrive in the drier Mediterranean climate. Sometimes I wish I was a motor  bike.

Technically the day begins at 12:00 AM, but that’s at night, and it’s too dark for me to take pictures so I’ll settle for some time nearer to sunrise for my new year to start.

This year I’m not going to make any resolutions because I figure I could be just wasting my future time in advance.

And maybe that’s the best thing about time: the fact that it’s in the future, and it just waits there ready to be used.

It means my next year, next day, hour, minute is just ahead untouched, waiting for me to decide what I’ll do with it.

Perhaps what I’ll do this year is complete all the things I was unable to finish last year. That might be useful.

What I have decided is that I don’t want to achieve greatness. At my age I’m happy just being ordinary.

I’d be happy to be in love, just for the pleasure. I’d be happy planting seedlings and spending the time to nurture them to maturity. I’d be happy to work and play hard so I’m tired in the evening and sleep easy. I’d be happy doing a bit of caring, sharing, giving and loving.

I’d be happy just knowing I can enjoy deciding what to do with my life. So let the new day and the new year begin and hope that it is full of happiness for all of us.

Of course we don’t know exactly where we are but we know it’s somewhere in the Vercors regional natural park past St Agnan en Vercors but before Col de Rousset.

This is the life we love. All we have is the sky above and the road below.

We arrive at this small valley, a dell of wild-flowers, with trees and grass growing in it and decide to have a picnic in the park.

We rest for lunch by this small stream and watch the golden hue of the water pools fill and then overflow.

The stream runs off, bubbling and cool and soon is beyond my gaze tumbling down towards the valley and onwards to the lakes and ultimately the sea.

I see the sun light through the moving leaves, and now and then it touches and warms the river stones.

Time for the Volley boys to have a rest after lunch.

It was late May, we were somewhere on the edge of a wide expanse of alpine meadows that were flanked by sun-baked hills where the gentle slopes stretch up to cliffs and mountains of incredible beauty.

We pull over, jumped out of the car and meet with nature.

We lay down in the fields and it was here that the astonishing feeling of joy, happiness and freedom began to take hold.

We could breathe the fresh air, we could feel the warmth of the sun, we knew we were about to become enchanted by the Vercors regional natural park.

We arrive in Villard de Lans about 30km from Grenoble. It’s both a summer holiday resort and a winter sports center with magnificent views and great skiing.

But we are not here for the holiday, we are here for the beginning of our adventure drive through the western plateaus of the Vercors regional natural park.

Well we made it to Grenoble and are staying at the Novotel Nord Voreppe on the outskirts of Grenoble, between Vercors and Chartreuse.

The Novotel is a basic 3 star comfortable hotel but the funny thing is that when we were booking in a couple ahead of us with their pet dog asked for the best room rates. The attendant advised that it would be 90.00 € for the room for the couple and an extra 11.00 € for the dog (pets are allowed to stay in hotel rooms in France)

When it was our turn to book the room rate was also 90.00 € for the two girls and 11.00 € extra for the third person, (that’s me) the same rate as for the dog. I didn’t know how to take that and stayed up all night licking and scratching.

The view of the massif, as seen from the room, gives some sign of the mountains and plateaus that are in this area.

Our plan today is to drive from Wyler on through Switzerland and perhaps end up in France.

Light rain is falling as we set off from Wyler heading to Innertkirchen, Interlarken and on to Montreux, Lausanne then Geneva and into France.

I know it seems odd to describe the trip through Switzerland in one sentence but it’s a small country and the girls didn’t want to stop, mainly because they had no Swiss francs to spend.

To put it in perspective Switzerland is only about 350 km long and fits into Australia 186 times.

They say Australia has sheep and cattle stations that are thousands of square kilometres in area, with the nearest neighbour being hundreds of kilometres away.

In fact Anna Creek station, the world’s largest working cattle station is roughly 34,000 square kilometres, Switzerland has an area of 41,277 square kilometres.

So you can see Switzerland is a relatively small country. I’ve been to Switzerland many times and there is an awful lot to love about Switzerland and it’s just ridiculously beautiful. The Alps, the lakes, the forests, the incredibly neat fields and farms and the outdoors are just wonderful.

However the girls found something other than nature to seek out. They went on a unique shopping quest. The quest was to find the most effective anti-wrinkle cream on earth. According to their ‘back of the car’ conversation they knew what was the best anti-aging regiment they had ever tried and they knew there would be a fair chance that it would be in Switzerland.

I chose to believe them and for the record the cream is called Lacura Q10 anti-wrinkle day cream and its ingredients include Bioflavonoid and Coenzyme Q10 which, they say, is designed to suit all skin types. It is available at Aldi stores. In fact when it was marketed in Australia it was so popular it had to be rationed.

As we drove along Rue de Lausanne in Morges we spied an ALDI store. The search for the new miracle face cream was on in earnest.

Precious cream, precious cream they called as they ran into the store…..…the hunt was on.

The sad thing was that they couldn’t find the cream at the Morges Aldi store and in this part of Switzerland the girls’ broken Frencglish language was of no use. They came out with three bananas.

The rest of the trip from Switzerland to Grenoble, in France, was subdued but I understood the dark place the girls were in, for once you’ve used a product that you fall in love with, well, you just can’t go without it.

I had a great time, as usual, and I really enjoyed my meal. For the main I had Rotolo di pollo con spinaci e fetta which is slow cooked chicken breast roll.

It’s filled with spinach and fetta cheese and comes with rosemary sauce, roasted potatoes and vegetables. It was just yummy.

But what was really great was the desert.

I shared a Nutella Pizza. Yes a pizza.

It’s a pizza base topped with Nutella, fresh Strawberries & Vanilla Gelato. It was just beautiful.

I lifted up my first slice. The warm melted Nutella caressed my mouth. The soft white creamy rich vanilla gelato made my lips gleam and the red flesh of the plump heart-shaped strawberries filled my palate with a burst of sweet succulent flavour.

I joyously ate more than my fair share and it was to be one of the most delicious deserts I’ve ever had.

I’m now totally addicted. I’m going to try to make a Nutella and ice cream sandwich.

 “The Gong Ride”  is a one of a kind fundraising event. It’s a 90km bike ride from Sydney to Wollongong on the first Sunday of November.

With 10,000 fellow riders you pedal in support of people living with MS. This year’s ride has so far raised over $3.8 million.

I decided to do the short and scenic 58km course that starts at Cooper Street Reserve Engadine rather than the full 90k ride. The shorter ride takes in all the best bits of the ride including the Royal National Park and Seacliff Bridge so I’m more than happy with that.

My bike is a Trek 72 FX 2012 that I recently purchased from Fraser’s cycles just over the bridge at Taren Point. I’m happy with the FX as essentially I’m just a weekend rider who likes to use riding for fitness.

The power in the legs to push the pedals of the Fx was gained at the gym where I do RPM classes. It’s the All Sorts Fitness centre at Alexandria, South Sydney and James Sutherland, the General Manager, and his team were so helpful and supportive in putting the team together and working out all the logistics so the ride was fun and successful.

The idea was to raise much-needed funds for MS and for the record the Allsorts team raised over $15000, with a combined IPMG team effort of over $100,000.

I was together with 10,000 other riders but yet I felt I had escaped. That’s what bike riding is, it’s a joyful escape.

It is one of the best ways to experience the world that we live in. If you enjoy being outdoors and being part of the beauty of all that is around you then get your bike out of the garage, let the wind be in your face and the smell of springtime flowers be inhaled.

Fill your head with the sounds of fallen leaves being crushed beneath your tires and head off through a canopy of trees. I love a long bike ride on a beautiful day and today is a great day for riding.

I’ve been riding for a while now and have left all my cares some 8 kilometres back in the park at Engadine.

I’m confronted by the first of two major descents of the ride. I now prepare to glide down the descent from Waterfall at the entry to the Royal National Park.

A chap, named Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, came up next to me and said that riding was his special gift. In fact he declared that it was his chiefest sole delight.

He then smiled and turned his cycle down the hill and just like a silver streak he whistled down that awful slope. I didn’t see him again but I can just imagine how much he must have enjoyed his slice of joyful escape.

We have our lunch stop, in the Royal National Park where we relax in the shade at Red Cedar Flats. I had some energy bars, water and sausage on a roll to help keep the engine room filled with power.

The Royal National Park was established way back in 1879 and is the world’s second oldest national park – after Yellowstone in the USA.

The Park’s terrain rises from the coast to a series of  rocky ridges and plateaus. The sides of the valleys are also rocky and  are covered with ten metre (30 foot) eucalyptus trees. At their feet small silver streams run down to the valley floor.

Heading slowly away from the Red Cedar Flats lunch stop, the road now moves through denser bush and ferns, as it climbs, and climbs, and climbs some more, towards the Otford lookout which has great views over the sea.

Riding deep in the valley we feel the cool air which is a relief from the heat of the sun. We ride through the shade of 50 meter tall Australian cedar, eucalyptus and Morton Bay figs surrounded by ferns, wattles and small-sized bushes of all kinds.

Some parts of the Park look just like a rainforest with birds continually singing their chorus of welcome. No matter how intently I stare straight up through the hundreds of Cabbage Palms to the canopy and on into the sky above the songsters stay out of sight in the dense scrub.

Those who haven’t ridden to the Gong before, arrive at the Otford Lookout and feel they have conquered the ride  but unbeknown to them ahead are a few short sharp punishing hills that are like a jab to the stomach and in the heat of the day sap out valuable energy.

We now head on to our next water stop at  Bald Hill and there can’t be a better place to stop for a breather and a rest a while before the last scenic leg into Wollongong.

I was resting on the hill next to the Lawrence Hargrave statue when he caught me looking down at Stanwell Park Beach.

I’m sure I heard him say “Yes, it was a long time ago. In fact it will be 117 years next Saturday, the 12 November 1894.” I knew what he was talking about because when I see the A 380 Air Bus or a 747 I just wonder how they fly. And I knew he was fascinated with machines that fly in the air.

And it was down there on the beach below, at Stanwell Park beach, that Hargrave successfully lifted himself 16 feet off the ground under a train of four of his box kites.

Hargrave (seated) and Swain demonstrate the manlift kites (labelled A, B, D, & E), sling seat and spring balance in the parkland behind Stanwell Park beach, November 1894.(from Wikipedia)

This experiment and others with flying-machine motors and cellular kites proved to be the first stable aerial platform. The principle was then applied to gliders, and in October 1906 Santos Dumont made the first officially recorded flight in a box-kite aeroplane.

Hargraves once said “The flying machine of the future will not be born fully fledged and capable of a flight for 1000 miles or so. Like everything else it must be evolved gradually. The first difficulty is to get a thing that will fly at all.” And he was so right, just relax and things will evolve gradually.

Well my day is gradually evolving and I must get this body back on the Trek 72 FX and conquer the 28k to the finish line. Thankfully the next few Ks are downhill.

We gather at the top of Stanwell Park before undertaking the second of the major descents of the ride down Lawrence Hargrave Drive from  Bald Hill 28 km (17 mi) north of the finish line at Wollongong.

The descent is long, winding and fast and I control pedal all the way to make sure I make it comfortably to the Sea Cliff Bridge

This balanced cantilever bridge is 455.6 metres (1,495 ft.) long and is one of only seven off-shore parallel to coast bridges in the world. It was constructed in 2005 due to regular and dangerous rock falls that closed the old road in 2003.

The ride flattens out over the next 15 to 20 Ks as we pass the glorious sea-side towns and beaches of Coalcliff, Scarborough, Wombarra, Coledale, Austinmer, Thirroul and Bulli.

Stuart Park, North Wollongong is the finish site for the ride. A bike tent city had sprung up for the occasion.

IPMG provided food, drinks and a shaded resting place in the corporate tent which I
for one appreciated.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved.

A BLEND OF LARYNX AND LYCRA

This  weekend was the 28th annual Spring Cycle ride in Sydney. I chose to do the 55km ride from North Sydney to Olympic Park at Homebush.

This  year there was the added opportunity to take part in the “Largest Choir on Bicycles” Guinness World Record attempt. Wanting all the fame and public adulation I can get, without actually doing anything, I pulled  out all stops and went for it with my larynx and lycra.

We rode with renowned sopranos, mezzos, tenors and baritones from Opera Australia and the well known shower and bathroom baritone Steve “Motorbike’ Brown, as we sung and cycled our way across the Sydney Harbour  Bridge.

The  spring weather was just fantastic with buckets of sunshine, truckloads of fresh air and acres of sweaty backsides that made their way through the streets of Sydney’s suburbs along the Harbour and Parramatta River to the finish line  at the home of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

I’m  pleased to announce that once again I’ve made it into the Guinness Book of  World Records and expect my certificate of achievement to arrive in the email very soon.

Uhm what can I do next? What about a world record for forgetting my car keys the most number of times in a day, or is that just because I’m getting old.

I know that people do crazy things to get their bit of fame and so it is with a touch of awkwardness that I admit that I too crave fame. If Paris, if Sanjaya Malakar and if Kevin Federline can do it so can I.

To satisfy this longing for fame I decided to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Not shining at any particular sport, craft or skill you can imagine just how excited I was when I discovered that I could get into the record book by doing  something I like. Yes, and that was, downloading computer programs.

To my surprise Mozilla were arranging an attempt at a world record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours.

It’s history now but I was one of the total 8,002,530 million Region Downloads of Firefox 3 that day. Yes, I did it, and I’m in the record book.

United Kingdom 1,203,968 Israel 139,377 Italy 764,954 Iraq 1,763 Iran 535,970 India
491,690 Indonesia 145,097 Uganda 1,601 Ukraine 98,998 Uzbekistan 2,251 Uruguay
9,153 Ecuador 20,510 Egypt 62,779 Estonia 44,067 Ethiopia 1,239 Eritrea 50 El
Salvador 9,461 Australia 458,522 Austria 221,602 Aland Islands 652 Oman 3,806
Netherlands 444,104 Cape Verde 198 Kazakhstan 10,854 Qatar 12,488 Canada
801,822.

And here’s the certificate to prove it.

A few years have passed and I feel that yearning for fame has returned so I cast my
thoughts back to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Good fortune shines upon me and opportunity meets desire. I discover a chance to feature in the record book once again and as a result satisfy my need to gather more fame.

Early on Sunday morning the 16^th October 2011 I will be a participant in the attempt to set a World Record for the greatest number of singing cyclists ever recorded.

That’s right singing and riding at the same time for a full 5 minutes. I have now entered into an activity requiring a high level of skill and co-ordination.This is far beyond my wildest dreams.

The plan

• At 6.55am there will be a rehearsal on the stage GWR requirement.
• We do not go with any other group, the GWR singers will be sent off as a group and marshalled to the other side of the Harbour Bridge.
• We start to sing on the start line and continue singing for at the very least 5 minutes, then we start singing just before the Harbour Bridge and have to sing the full length of the bridge continuously for 5 mins, and this is also monitored, so we will  travel slow about 12km per hour, as it only takes a couple of minutes to cross the bridge.
• Yes it will still go ahead if it is raining – let’s hope not! (I have trained by singing in the shower so this won’t worry me).
• Waltzing Matilda is the song we will be tested on by GWR so please learn the words before the day – it’s pretty difficult to ride a bike and read lyrics at the same time and we don’t want any mishaps!

There are some GWR guidelines that must be followed to make the attempt valid:

•  3 singing performances – the first is the rehearsal and 2^nd on the start line and 3rd will start on the approach to the Harbour Bridge and must last for 5 minutes, finishing by the end of the bridge – so remember we will ride slowly!
•  both performances must last a minimum of five minutes, during which time the bicycles must be in constant forward motion if we are to get the World record! We have to sing the full length of the Harbour Bridge continuously for 5 mins, and this is monitored.
• The song is only 3 mins long we will do  repeats. (why didn’t we get a 5 min song, I guess that’s why I’m a participant not an organiser).
• This also applies to the start line; yes we all start singing just before we set of for a full 5 mins!

I am so excited at being part of this World Record attempt I can hardly sleep. I’ll report in tomorrow after the event but no doubt you’ll see it on television.

You must believe in spring and a time for ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth far from the regret and isolation of winter.

It is daylight savings here in Australia and I almost didn’t get out of bed. Clocks went forward and tomorrow came an hour earlier.

As I lay there in the warm bed I almost forgot how tomorrow is such a cheat and his trick is always so fresh. “Don’t do it now some day you’ll really start living.” he says.

Well tomorrow’s not good enough for me so I got up and went fishing at 6am really 5am.

As I watched the sun rise and tempted the fish on to my line I saw this little free bird fly off across the bay and thought, ‘what’s in my heart and mind is my freedom and I must let it take me somewhere.’

In the meantime the fact I have hope is enough happiness for me, so I’ll go somewhere tomorrow.

]]> http://seanfraser.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/the-freedom-of-tomorrow/feed/ 3 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 Sean Fraser the bird of freedom http://seanfraser.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/wyler-switzeralnd-population-increases-by-three/ http://seanfraser.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/wyler-switzeralnd-population-increases-by-three/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:45:16 +0000 Sean Fraser http://seanfraser.wordpress.com/?p=6725 Continue reading →]]>

It is a moment of magic as a rainbow narrowly misses hitting me as it strikes the nearby hillside. We are out on the terrace of the Landgasthof Tannler which, although a little overpriced, is a nice place to stay.

The interesting thing is that the owners of this family business are descendants of the climber Tannler. Way back in 1904 the  first ascent of the Mont Blanc on skis via the classic route , was by Ugo Mylius with Oberland guides: Tannler, Maurer and Zurfluh.

The family is very proud of this achievement  and we enjoyed great conversations about life generally and about living in the  mountains.

We make our way down the green jagged slopes of the Sustenpass and look back at the mountains that are still draped by the late spring snow.

Driving through the Gadmen Valley  and past the Stein Glacier, the road curves down, on the Bernese Oberland side of the Susten Pass, to the village of Gadmen.

We mingle with the cows as we glide through the Swiss countryside heading for Innertkirchen.

We continue on to the small village of Wyler population – not known – according to places in the world .com. It turns out places in the world . com is correct because no one in Wyler knew me either.

The B& B, Landgasthof Tannler  is where we chose to snuggle up for the night wrapped  in the  beautiful landscape that surrounds us.

“Inexpensive and built to stay that way.” What does that mean?

I heard Steve on the mobile say to his mechanic, “I’m not sure whether it’s a two door or a four door………come to think of it, it looks more like a no door………it’s a two seater now but I think it use to be a four seater………I know it’s yellow and the paint work’s original”

I found this honest review on the WWW

Summary:

You can’t beat the mileage, and usefulness

Faults:

Rust, rust, rust; had to replace rocker panels and repair quarter panels, as well as a shock tower on the rear. I also had to put a push pull cable on the choke and a used alternator.

Have had the exhaust gasket blow out at the head twice. The brakes are a little weak, but they do stop you eventually.

General Comments:

Very economical; I get around 42 mpg around town and driving in the mountains. It  gets in the low 30′s on the highway due to its low gear ratios and the absence of overdrive. It will go almost anywhere within reason. The 4wd system is excellent, and I have never gotten it stuck. The ground clearance is fairly low, so you need to watch  where you go.

It is an excellent vehicle to use around the farm, because of how much the little car can haul inside

And here’s another review picked up from the WWW

Summary:

Tough car mechanically, but resistance to rust questionable

Faults:

General maintenance items: tires, exhaust, plugs, wires, etc. More expensive items: radiator, alternator.

Rust, rust and more rust.

General Comments:

This car actually belonged to my parents. I had a chance to drive it when I was a teen/young adult and still living at home. Overall, mechanically I would give this car outstanding marks. It was still running on the original motor when we traded it in. The Subaru flat-4 motor seems very reliable.

The car’s weakest part was its ability to rust. Granted, it was in Ottawa, Canada where they generously salt the roads in the winter. By the end of its life (11 years) there were severe rust holes at the bottom of the doors, rocker panels, rear hatch, front hood, floors and rear quarters.

In fact, it was hard to say what wasn’t rusty! Even when my parents bought the car (6 years old), it was already starting to rust in the rocker panel area. There was also surface rust on the rear hatch. The used car dealer fixed that, but they did a poor job because the rust reappeared shortly thereafter.

The manual transmission often popped out of gear in reverse. It probably was a manufacturing defect, and as long you held the shifter when in reverse, you had no problem reversing. We actually never got that fixed. Because you only reverse for short
periods, it was a problem you could live with.

This car was by no means peppy; quite clunky in fact. It did, however, have a cool sounding “growly” exhaust. The car did seem pretty simple and I bet it would’ve been pretty easy to soup-up and get a lot more power out of it.

In fact, the modern rice-rocket Subaru (ie WRX, STi) have the same flat-four engine layout, albeit a bigger engine displacement and pimped out computer chips!

Fuel economy was decent: around 10 L /100 km city, 8 L / 100 km highway. A little  worse in the winter.

If you’re thinking of getting an older Subaru, I recommend looking for one that spent its life in a dry climate. Even then, I’d recommend rust proofing it regularly. Try Krown (www.krown.com).

It’s one of the best products out there (no, I don’t work for Krown; it’s just that good). My parents and I have used Krown on subsequent cars and the results are quite astonishing!

For the last couple of hours the Volley boys have been embracing the clutch, brake and accelerator to extract the most out of the 1461cc diesel motor of Renault Modus.

The race route began in Wassen on the Gotthard axis, where firstly we had to negotiate the boulders of the Meienreuss River gorge. And then it was onto the twistie and turning climb to the top of the pass.

We’ve passed cars and bikes and in turn we’ve been passed. We’ve taken tight curved turns and we‘ve shot in and out of dark tunnels. And at last we see characteristic peaks of the Fünffingerstock. (don’t laugh fun finger stock is a real word)

Ahead the road climbs again through more tight curves until we see a sweeping view extends over the vast basin of the Meien valley to the Sustenhorn. It’s time for a break.

We are somewhere around halfway up the Susten Pass on the edge of the snow line when the coldness of the alpine air begins to take hold. We come across a wonderful cafe, the Cafe Stustenbrueggli, and this is where we’ll have our break.

A motor bike affixed to the rock gives this place atmosphere and it’s a top spot for bikers and drivers to pull over, take a breather and watch the parade of motoring machinery race up and down the pass.

Noise glorious noise. It’s insane and I love it. It’s the sound of a Ferrari. I’m talking about the red speck you can see in the right hand side of the picture.

I hear a screaming come down the hill and for me there can be no better way to introduce a piece of motoring work like the Ferrari F430 Spider 2 door 2 seat convertible.

The acceleration and gear shifts are violent and one can only imagine what it is like to be a passenger heading down the Susten Pass.

I love the way it growls and screeches and from where we sit our ears take a hammering from the sound of the high revs. It is enough to scare grown men.

As it barks to a halt at the café you can hear every pebble crunch and succumb under
the 32.3 psi in the 225/35R19 tires. When the passengers get out you can sense the aroma of the tan leather and the gleam of the rossa corsa paintwork.

The Pass will take us up and over 2264 metres (that’s over 7000 feet)

Kevin told us that the views of the Stein Glacier are fantastic and if we don’t get there within the next 100 years they will have melted away.

So off we head in a hurry because scientists have warned that at the current melt rate the Swiss Alps will no longer be covered by ice at the end of the century.

I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of “the mountain pass”. Before history, perhaps before time, people have been crossing mountains, following the rivers to their source, the valleys with their steep slopes and the low points along the ridges.

Their desire to trade, to travel and to make war with neighbours on the other side of the hill dictated that they must find an easy way across nature’s barrier. There is no plaque, no tablet, no commemoration but I’m sure the Romans would have crossed over here sometime in the past.

This pass is old, being more road than tunnels and as we set out on its hairpins, long sweeping bends and steep climbs the views are amazing.

But what’s really interesting about a mountain pass is that it represents the point of victory in the battle between a mountain, which must stand as tall as it can, and the trail, which must follow the lowest possible route.

The mountain’s goal is to force the route to go higher and even higher and the trail’s goal is to cross over at the most opportune and lowest point.

They meet in combat for the final showdown and it is at this point that the route always  conquers his formidable natural nemesis, the mountain.

This place, where the mountain surrenders, is known as the “Pass”

We are now halfway up to the place of the ‘final showdown’ and we’re pulling over at the Cafe Stustenbrueggli for a hot chocolate.

We have just arrived at the other end of the 16.4 kilometres (10.5 miles), St. Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland. So far so good, we are following Kevin’s advice and are heading from Lake Lugano to Wassen and then the Susten Pass.

This is the beautiful little town of Amsteg, yes Amsteg not Wassen. Unfortunately Wassen is some 11 kms back in the other direction. Yes lost again, but that doesn’t matter because when you’re in a place as beautiful as this and you’re on holidays who cares.

To a melody of foreign music, cheap lollies, fresh fruit, free toilets and the smell of diesel fuel, we prepare to race along the A15 and the A1 covering 215 kilometres from La Spezia to Lake Como and Lake Lugano.

Lake Como and Lake Lugano are in the northern Italian Lakes District between Milan and the border of Switzerland. The whole area is just mountains and hills.

When I was researching information on this area of the world I came across the following description.

‘The lakes district might possibly be Italy’s best kept secret!’

that statement was followed by

‘Lake Como, has been a popular destination since Roman times.’

Are they saying people have been coming here for over two thousand years and they
haven’t told anyone about it, I don’t think so.

From what we have seen during our travels so far there’s hardly a place in Europe
that the Romans haven’t been to, built a wall and then gone home.

That being said, the view of the Swiss and Savoy Alps is just breathtaking and it probably will have visitors gasping in awe for another two thousand years.

There is a cable railway which takes you to Mount San Salvatore, 912 m above sea level. The 360° view from here is incredible.

You can look back down on Lugano, the lakes, the Alps and the Lombardy plain. Perched so high up above everything you feel you could easily drop a stone onto the city roof tops below.

pic by Susan Reid  – see it can’t swim, it’s actually standing on a rock WAC (what a cheat)

From the summit we descend to the foot of San Salvatore. It is there we find the Hotel Calispo which is only a few minutes’ walk from Lake Lugano. We book in and then take a walk to enjoy the beautiful views of the lake.

At the Hotel Calipso we meet Kevin, from England. He works at the hotel. Little did we know that he would turn out to be an oracle.

When he found out the girls were from Australia he disclosed that he had been to Bondi and he had an aunty who lives on the Gold Coast. And it didn’t end there; finding out we
were heading towards Switzerland he was just so helpful in advising us of all the fantastic sights and experiences that lay ahead for us.

He enthusiastically tells the girls “There’s the drive to the Gotthard Tunnel, the Tunnel itself, the cute village of Wassen, the famous church of Wassen, and the Gotthard rail line double loop and finally the drive of all alpine drives, the Susten Pass where you’ll cross over the Swiss Alps and see the Stien Glacier.”

Without so much as a breath he continues “You must  see the church at Wassen, but not just the church, it’s the rail loop, first  you see the train, then you don’t, then it’s in front of you, then it’s behind  you, then it’s in front again on the below and then on the right above, it’s  this loop thing that helps get the train up the steep hill. Just don’t miss it.”

Ok what Kevin was saying might sound confusing but from this depiction of the loop I found on Wikki you can see what his mind was visualising and his mouth was trying to explain. It’s not an easy task to bring all that together.

BUY NOW FROM MY EBOOK STORE

simpleeasyinfo.com

ONLY $5

  Photo: AP smh 24 07 2011

 AUSTRALIA’S CADEL EVANS

WEARS LEADER’S YELLOW JERSEY AND WINS THE

TOUR de FRANCE

.. .we can’t promise that you’ll become another Cadel Evans, but for fun and fitness you can’t beat cycling. . .bicycling that is!

Bicycling For Fun and Fitness

It’s no wonder we  are amongst the fattest people on the planet!  Does that sound harsh? Sorry, but it’s the  truth as many studies have proven.

The good news is that the situation is reversible and one of the best ways to get to work and slim  down is on a bicycle; and, “Bicycling for Fun and Fitness” can be the tool to get you started!

What’s in it for me? Just take a look at what’s covered in the ebook:

What types of bikes are available
Learn the different types of bikes and the pros and cons of each
What kind of cycling do you wish to do
Explore the different kinds of bicycling you can do
What is fitness cycling
How cycling can fit into an overall fitness program
Preparing to cycle
What you need to know before you begin a cycling program
Equip yourself
What do you need in addition to a bike for the different types of cycling
Setting up your cycling fitness program
Finding a good “routine” for fitness cycling
The right and wrong way to cycle
Did you know cycling can be harmful in some cases
Warming up and cooling down
Cross training
How to merge bicycling into a regular routine
Charting your progress
How to prepare a method to keep track of your progress
All about accessories
All the accessories that are available for specific types of riding
Nutrition for bicycle fitness
A good overall fitness diet
Bicycle Racing
Moving up to serious bicycling
Special Bicycles for Racing
Difference in bicycles for racing. . .weight, build, cost etc
How to train for bicycle racing

Who should be cycling?

Everyone!
Bicycling is a great activity to enjoy with your family. Even new parents have options for bicycling with special seats and strollers designed specifically for the little ones.

Maybe you have an exercise bike and that’s a good thing. But nothing beats getting out in the open air and pushing yourself; especially when you begin to see the results.

“Bicycling for Fun and Fitness” is up to date and contemporary with all the latest information. Not only discover answers to all the questions above, but if you are interested in racing, learn how to prepare for that as well.

You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to launch a new lifestyle of fun and fitness. “Bicycling for Fun and Fitness” takes away the excuses and leads you right where you
belong!

Having walked all over Cinque Terre I now know walking is easier than driving.

Firstly walking in Italy is slow where driving is usually done at 130 kms and secondly when you are going the wrong way on a walking trail you can just turn back in a few steps whereas on the autostrada you find yourself on a 50k journey in completely the opposite direction.

See the google map above, well all the yellow lines in the middle are the autostrada interchange roads that take you from La Spezia to Pisa.

Ok from these google pics you can see I’m at the autostrada interchange on the way from La Spezia to Pisa.

Where?, you may well ask  is the word PISA on any of these signs and where the heck are they pointing.

I ask my fellow travellers can they help. “Yes, there” is the answer.

At 130 kms the conversation then went as follows:

“There, where’s there?”

“Over there” is the reply.

I say “Over there as opposed to over here”

“Yes”

“You mean left or right?”

“Turn off here”

“You mean back there?”

“Yes”

I say in a very calm and polite way, “a right or left would have helped.”

So on we drive to a nice little town called Aulla from whence we immediately return to the interchange and make our way to Pisa.

It seems everyone knows Pisa and it’s one of the best-known cities in Italy, maybe the world,and it’s all because of the leaning tower. It’s the main attraction in the city.

The story goes that the tower began to sink after construction had only progressed to the second floor. Yes the design was flawed from the beginning, the building having been erected on weak foundations.

Anyway after 177 years of construction the bell tower was finally opened for ringing in the late 1300’s.

Our visit to Pisa was short and sweet, but I’m not sure we really could have found much else to do. We had seen enough markets and after Cinque Terre we wanted more romance but the area around the tower is everything but romantic.

I might be small, I might smell, I might live in a tightly packed tin can but I have feelings too.

I’ve just come back, or rather survived, what you fish loving earth guys call one of the greatest marine spectacles on the planet. Yes I was at the annual sardine migration which takes place from Agulhas Bank and northward up the east coast of South Africa.

You guys might think it’s a great place for a holiday but for us little silver fish it’s no fun. Treated as the butter of the sea that goes with the plankton that dolphins, sharks, whales and birds love to eat ensures being number two in the food chain sucks.

You land lubber part-time swimmers put all that love into dolphins and whales and call us bait-balls in the greatest natural predatory show on earth. Hey, no one asked us what we think of it. We have family and when you are less than 4 inches and see that there is actually a book named 101 ways to consume a sardine wouldn’t you be a bit browned off. Would you want to be grilled, pickled, or smoked?

I guess you’ve all heard of Morocco, yeah well it a great spot for tourists, but not for us. If we hear we’re on our way to Morocco then we know we’re on our way to the sardine capital of the world. Nearly 600,000 tonnes of my family end up there each year to be turned into Moroccan recipes including Moroccan Fried Stuffed Sardines and Moroccan Sardine Balls in Spicy Tomato Sauce. With names like that at the end of the process you can hardly recognise your own relatives.

All I hear is SAVE the Whale, SAVE the Whale, SAVE the ****ing Whales. Well I for one have had a gut full of that. What about us? What about the little guy. It’s just like the big Banks in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Yes it’s ok to save the Big Banks but forget the little guy, there’s just too many of us. We  have our own GFC, the Great Fish Calamity. We have no identity and when we are all gone there won’t even be a sardine museum.

Those bloody whales even have names and when all is said and done they are really just a modified hippopotamus, in fact, whales are the closest living relatives of hippos. They only entered the water roughly 50 million years ago so if it’s too dangerous for them let them go back to the land where they came from. You know the old saying ‘if it’s too hot in the kitchen.’

Another reason you earth guys love whales is because, like you, they remember one another and only have several mates each season, well get a grip. When you go out for a swim on Saturday night and another 30-40 million  sardines turn up how do you expect us to remember who we slept with let alone recognise our offspring. Those whales only have one calf we have hundreds of thousands of children. Get real!

Just because whales have web sites, songs, paintings and all manner of celebratory paraphernalia doesn’t mean you should ignore us. I say hit back and stand up for the humble omega 3 supplier the SARDINE.

We should rewrite the classics like Jonah and the Sardine, Paikia the NZ Sardine Rider and of course consider how exciting a rewrite of the classic Herman Melville novel Moby-Sardine would be.

I say stick it up their blowhole.

SAVE THE SARDINE and save it now before it’s too late.

Warning the following image contains scenes of cruelty that may offend. The Sardines have had their heads cut off so they cannot talk or be identified.

T-shirts will be available if I get enough orders and can work out how I can get rich quick.

PS: An E-book will soon follow.

I might be small, I might smell, I might live in a tightly packed tin can but I have feelings too. Please get behind the little guy and support the creation of a Sardine museum before it’s too late.

VIA DELL’AMORE – THE WALK OF LOVE

RIOMAGGIORE

“I love you Jennifer” or someone does, because they went to the trouble to etch their words of undying love on the rocks surrounding the walk. Being single I just scratched SF L SF.

The path from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called the Via Dell’Amore which I’m told
translates to “Lovers Walk”. It’s a beautiful trail along the sea fringe and is very easy to do. It really is just a footpath and it takes only 15-20 minutes to get to Manarola.

TRICK SHOT BY DAISY

pic by susan daisy reid

MANAROLA

THE END OF THE WALK FOR US . THAT”S CORNIGLIA IN THE DISTANCE

The next ‘hike’ is from Manarola to Corniglia. This is also easy but unfortunately for us the trail was blocked by a landslide. We went as far as possible and could see Corniglia in the distance.

Our plan B is to catch the train to Monterosso and embed ourselves in the beach side lifestyle of the “Beach Bar Cafe”.

The Mediterranean beaches are not like those of the Pacific. The water’s not as warm, there’s no white sugar sand and there are no palm trees to sway in the breeze and offer welcome shade.

What there is though is warm sunshine, cafes and the Mediterranean Sea with its
blue, green and cobalt tones.  Unfortunately the “sand” is more like sharp coarse
pebbles and as such sand castle competitions aren’t really possible. But floating in the water looks great.

We’ve walked along the coastal footpaths, we’ve climbed up the terraced hills of olive groves, vineyards and lemon trees and we’ve oohed and aahed at the striking views we met at every turn.

We’ve done it by foot, by train and by boat and so all that is left is to jump into the crystal clear water and have a swim(float).

AAHHHHHHH what the………. it’s cold…………….but it’s just so so beautiful.

PS The Cinque Terre is not a secret.

PPS The lie I heard the most was “it’s just around the corner”