Switzerland - Arrival

Oberbalm
Sat 3 - Sun 4 May 2014
The Qatar Airways flight from Perth to Zürich, with a change of planes in Doha, took about 20 hours and proved to be relatively easy. All our luggage, including Beth & Denis's bikes, arrived without any dramas and we were met at the airport by Marianne's sisters Maja and Bettina. After manoeuvering the bike boxes through the airport to Maja's van we drove to Maja & her husband Matthias's home in Oberbalm, about 30km east of Zürich, to a very warm welcome from Marianne's family. This is the house where Marianne grew up and is located in a small village, overlooking Lake Pfäffikon and with panoramic views into the Alps (when the weather plays along). We have been lucky enough to be able to use it as our base ion all our previous tours.

Later in the afternoon we reclaimed our bikes from a neighbour's barn where they have been securely stored over the winter and we were very pleased to find them in excellent condition.

As Beth & Denis were staying in a B&B a few kilometres away, after an enjoyable evening meal with the family they were dropped off to enjoy stretching out in a comfortable bed.

The next day, feeling remarkably good with only minor jetlag, we reconvened in Oberbalm to re-assemble D&B's bikes and prepare all the bikes and some of our luggage for despatch by train to our next destination high in the Alps in the Obergoms region.

In the mid-afternoon we cycled down to the Wetzikon railway station and, taking full advantage of the remarkably efficient and low cost luggage transport service offered by the Swiss Railways, sent off our bikes and luggage. The service guarantees that our bikes and luggage will be waiting for us at our nominated destination by 9am Tuesday morning. Compared to the hassles of us loading and unloading bikes and luggage at the three train changes on our route to Obergoms, this service is an absolute dream!



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