We have done our first major mountain pass today. Travelling east up the scenic route 19 the landscape was changing every few kilometres with our ears popping indicating we were climbing to new heights. The villages were so picturesque and Lorraine was busy trying to take pictures as I was trying to negotiate narrow streets and sharper bends. The was no rush whatsoever, large lorries could no longer follow us and instead had to load themselves on the many autorail routes to get them through the mountains. However we were joined by hundreds of motorbikes as we approached the start of two passes ahead. We arrived at the junction of two passes (The Grimsel & Furka) and looked up to see these roads precariously stuck to the side of this gigantic mountain in front of us. The look on our faces must have been priceless as our jaws dropped in awe of the view and the task ahead of us. Something else twitched as well as I knew the strain this would put on our engine and above all the brakes!. Without hesitation and with excitement we turned left and committed ourselves to the start of the Grimsel Pass. The motorbike riders affixed cameras to their helmets as did some sports cars and we all set off. It was very leisurely as every driver and passenger was taking in the fantastic scenery on the straight bits then hanging on for dear life as you negotiated the sharpest hair pin bends dangling several hundreds of feet above where you had just come from!. Lorraine's grip on the door handle became tighter and even I could feel myself leaning inwards trying not too look too much as 3.5 tons of our pride and joy edged slowly around the next bend literally inches from a sheer drop. Bradley knew this kind of driving was different but he felt relaxed at the 20mph top speed and curled up for a snooze wondering what all the excitement was. Our progress was slow but the bikers were very courteous only passing when it was safe. If you have a motorbike this has to be the ultimate road to drive on!. On the way up we only used 1st and 2nd gear but the van coped really well and we arrived at the summit to a sea of motorcyclists having a well earned drink on the veranda of the Berghotel. Now the best bit... we turned into the small car park and at the end saw a sign depicting a motorhome pointing to a rough track disappearing around the edge of a rock face. We couldn't believe that there was a special place here just for us to park overlooking a beautiful lake at the top of the world, what a better place for lunch!.
After lunch we went for a walk feeling the wonderful fresh air and we noticed some small miniature alpine houses and there to our amazement were a family of beavers waving back and enjoying the sunshine!. What a weird find at this altitude were you don't even see birds!.
What goes up must come down and our descent was equally as exciting but this time trying to keep the brakes from getting too hot. We were only stopped by a rescue helicopter that had to land on the road in front of us to pick up someone we can only presume was taken ill or injured whilst out walking.
We are now on lower ground at a lovely campsite at Meiringen and the weather has now closed in with thunderstorms and rain. Temperatures are expected to drop as well and the first snow is expected on the peaks. We will move towards Interlarken in a couple of days and then its some more passes to negotiate snow permitting before Luzern.
The main language seems to be German the nearer we get towards Austria so its 'Auf Wiedersehen' till the next time!
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