Torino to Arona
Unfortunately we had a bad start to the day by taking the wrong turn and having to drive in peak hour traffic through the city of Torino. Just what we needed first thing in the morning! Eventually we ended up on the correct highway headed for Lake Maggiore and arrived at our campsite for a 2 day stop at a lovely location on the edge of the lake. Unfortunately the mozzies enjoyed this campsite also. It was time to catch up on washing, shopping and vehicle maintenance.
23/5/09
We left camp at 7.30am as we had a long day ahead of us and the challenge of crossing the Simplon Pass. We joined the Queenslanders (Ward/O’Sullivan convoy) and followed them all the way to Seelisburg. The drive along the lake from our campsite through to Arona was magnificent with lots of trees along the road and grand buildings and villas. Obviously where the rich and famous hang out.
After a few "extra" turns we met up with Lang at the designated spot with about 2 minutes to spare. The drive up to the Simplon Pass was very steep and windy but absolutely picture perfect. The mountain tops were covered with snow and there were lots of waterfalls and fastflowing streams. The jeep had a few problems with fuel vaporising and we had to be careful that the Blitz's did not overheat - it was slow and hard going for the old vehicles.
At the top of the pass there was thick ice alongside the road and the guys shovelled this onto their radiators to cool them down. We could not get over how warm the day was even though there was ice outside. The old vehicles did not like the climb and got very hot – eyes were on the temp gauge all the time and it was quite hot inside the van – probably the hottest we have felt the whole trip. After a quick bite to eat at the very top of the pass we then proceeded down where there was more beautiful scenery - glaciers, chalets and even churches in the mountains.
Conquering the pass was not the only challenge of the day as we still had many high hills to climb and these really put the vehicles to the test. At one stage the jeep stopped in the middle of the road as it had fuel vaporisation and caused a bank up of traffic in both directions. Jim had to tow it around a very sharp corner and up a steep hill – we were hoping our vehicle did not boil as this would have caused problems. Nigel got the jeep going and we continued on to catch the car train at the Furka Pass. You just drive your vehicle onto a partially enclosed rail wagon and stay inside your vehicle. There is a small carriage for people to sit in if they want to. At one stage our GPS showed the train doing 55kmh but then we lost satellite coverage as it went further into the bowels of the earth. It was quite cold in the vehicle because of the wind and inside the tunnel it was dark with just an occasional light. This was George’s first train trip.
We left camp at 7.30am as we had a long day ahead of us and the challenge of crossing the Simplon Pass. We joined the Queenslanders (Ward/O’Sullivan convoy) and followed them all the way to Seelisburg. The drive along the lake from our campsite through to Arona was magnificent with lots of trees along the road and grand buildings and villas. Obviously where the rich and famous hang out.
After a few "extra" turns we met up with Lang at the designated spot with about 2 minutes to spare. The drive up to the Simplon Pass was very steep and windy but absolutely picture perfect. The mountain tops were covered with snow and there were lots of waterfalls and fastflowing streams. The jeep had a few problems with fuel vaporising and we had to be careful that the Blitz's did not overheat - it was slow and hard going for the old vehicles.
At the top of the pass there was thick ice alongside the road and the guys shovelled this onto their radiators to cool them down. We could not get over how warm the day was even though there was ice outside. The old vehicles did not like the climb and got very hot – eyes were on the temp gauge all the time and it was quite hot inside the van – probably the hottest we have felt the whole trip. After a quick bite to eat at the very top of the pass we then proceeded down where there was more beautiful scenery - glaciers, chalets and even churches in the mountains.
Conquering the pass was not the only challenge of the day as we still had many high hills to climb and these really put the vehicles to the test. At one stage the jeep stopped in the middle of the road as it had fuel vaporisation and caused a bank up of traffic in both directions. Jim had to tow it around a very sharp corner and up a steep hill – we were hoping our vehicle did not boil as this would have caused problems. Nigel got the jeep going and we continued on to catch the car train at the Furka Pass. You just drive your vehicle onto a partially enclosed rail wagon and stay inside your vehicle. There is a small carriage for people to sit in if they want to. At one stage our GPS showed the train doing 55kmh but then we lost satellite coverage as it went further into the bowels of the earth. It was quite cold in the vehicle because of the wind and inside the tunnel it was dark with just an occasional light. This was George’s first train trip.
We arrived at the other end and headed towards Brig where we were to continue our journey to our campsite at Seelisburg. This was also a steep and windy road with huge bridges over the valleys – lots of pictures taken while I was standing on the seat with my head stuck out of the top hatch. When we were going along the freeway all of a sudden it poured with rain for about 20 minutes. Rain was coming in everywhere as we were not prepared for this. We really appreciated it when we were going through the tunnels. We had to stop so that Nigel could put up the windows on the jeep as his mum and dad were getting drenched. We could not believe the extremes we had that day – heat, followed by cold in the train and then heavy rain.
Our campsite was at the top of a hill in a paddock with the use of the hotel's ablutions. This small town in the mountains overlooks a huge lake with aqua coloured water. The lake is surrounded by snow topped mountains. Switzerland is certainly a very beautiful place.
We were fortunate to see it on such a warm and sunny day as this is very unusual for Switzerland.
24/5/09
This morning we were awakened at 5.30am by the sound of rain on the roof so it was a quick scuttle to pull down the roof hatch which we had up during the night. Our start was delayed as Jim stayed to help a couple of the guys work on their vehicles. We finally left with the Wards and O’Sullivans at 10.00am – the last ones to leave. We also had to be jump started as I had charged the camera and phone and flattened the battery while I was waiting!!
We drove down the same hill that we had come up the previous day and enjoyed the sights once more. No big dramas on the way – just had to tow the O’Sullivans to get them going at the Swiss/French border. We drove on the autobahn as the vehicles were getting hot and some of the guys wanted to get to Mulhouse in time to visit the museums. We booked into a caravan park that was located between the canal and the river and a very park like spot. We had lots of space to spread out and it was a good time to catch up on the washing.
Sounds like a wonderful ride...no major breakdowns with all safe and sound, which makes things even better. Keep safe Best regards to Jimmy, Sandy and George from John Gibbins
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