Month: August 2022

Mon 23 to Sat 27 August
Disentis – Lauterbrunnen – Luzern – Basel (Weil am Rhein)

Mon 22nd – Disentis to Lauterbrunnen – 190k

Today we covered 3 famous passes doing 79 hairpins and / or switch backs on what we consider to be our best ride day ever.

After a lovely breakfast we left sleepy Disentis heading west, first the Altenbeken Viaduct which is a 482 metres long and up to 35 metres high double track limestone railway viaduct. It spans the Beke valley, and was built in 1853.

Before enjoying our fist climb of the day up the Oberalppass, 2048m.

Then down into Adermatt.

Gotthard Pass wasn’t on our actual route for the day but it would have been unheard of to not experience it’s fame. To do that, we first had to ascend it’s northern side then descend it’s southern side which we did that on the new road all the way down to Airolo.

Before ascending the 12klm and 900m to St Gotthard Pass on the Tremelo road which was constructed in 1830 with the last 5klm to the 2,106m summit being surfaced entirely of cobbles. That’s a LOT of cobbles, but they’re smooth enough after nearly 200 years and easy to ride. And a fantastic experience!

We stopped at the top and enjoyed a brew as we watched the never ending stream of cyclists and motored cyclists passing by. We then headed back down to Hospental enjoying the scenery as we descended.

At Hospental we turned left, with the 2429m Furkapass next on the list, followed by 2164m Grimsel Pass. This 65klm is motorcycle heaven through here from Hospental to Meiringen with fantastic roads, spectacular views and the Swiss Alps peeping out at every turn. We did a lot of it following 5 Swiss Motorcycle Cops.

We were running on fumes as we pulled into Meiringen where we fuelled up then onto Lake Brienz where we stopped at Bönigen for refreshments.

Before the final 15klms to Lauterbrunnen where we stayed for 3 nights.

Lay Days Lauterbrunnen

Tuesday – Today we did a long walk/hike around the area and took LOTS of pics.

With spectacular mountains not too far away. We’ll visit them tomorrow.

Wednesday – Today we caught a bus to Stechelberg (922m) where we took a cable car to the small traffic free village of Gimmelwald (1367m) then another one to Murren, which at 1638m is the highest village in the region that is inhabited all the year round.
From here it was another cable car to the summit of Birg at 2684m then a final cable car to the top of Schilthorn at 2970m.

A lot of the filming of Aussie James Bond #2, George Lazenby, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, was shot here in 1969 and they certainly don’t let you forget it. LOTs more pics.

Then we did most of it in reverse, down to Murren anyway, where we took a leisurely walk through the town, stopping for a coffee then to the narrow gauge railway at it’s eastern end which we caught to Grütschalp (1487m), where we caught yet another cable car back down to Lauterbrunnen.

In the afternoon we caught the Cog Train up to Wengen (1274m) for a last glimpse of the entrancing mountains. We figure that we’ll come back here for our 50th wedding anniversary, in the winter time because it must be absolutely awesome in the snow. Or maybe our 45th.

Our Lauterbrunnen sojourn was one of the highlights of this journey and well worth the cost which, for budget travellers such as we, was very high. But we knew that, so it’s a statement and certainly not a complaint.

Thurs 25th – Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne – 140k

Costs aside, the breakfasts at our exorbitantly expensive budget hotel were excellent and this morning we ate large before packing up and heading north.

First stop was Spiez Castle. Built in 933 and then rebuilt in the 15th and 18th centuries – sounds like the axe that’s had 2 heads and 5 handles.

Thun was next.

Then around the shore of Lake Thunersee

To Interlaken where we observed a squadron of some 15 tandem parasailers all landing one after the other with tourists attached.

We moved on and stopped for a brew beside Lake Lungerersee (or should I be omitting the ‘Lake’?) at Inseli Lungern.

Around Sarnersee saw us at Schnitzturm Stansstad, or Schnitz Tower built in 1312. A bit of interesting history here.

To Lucerne, or Luzern. For 2 nights. Lucerne is a lovely town. We did a decent walking tour of Luzern and, again, took lots of pictures. 40 to be precise, that made the final cut.
An explanation here. Internet has been pretty dodgy in Switzerland, which is really annoying considering how ridiculously expensive everything is. Anyway, owing to said non existent internet I’d lost all of this week’s post up to and including Lucerne because it failed to save correctly. We’re now in Strasbourg (France) and I was just a tad annoyed today to find this out. So I’ve had to do it all again (about 3 hours work), hence the blocks of pics with less than usual explanations. Here’s our very interesting and enjoyable walk around Lucerne, or Luzern if you like, without the commentary of the failed edit.

Thanks Lucerne, we really enjoyed you.

Sat 27th – Lucerne to Basel – 215k

Today was supposed to be a short run of 105klms but I had the bright idea of visiting RhineFalls where we’d visited in late July 2016. To get there we used the freeways to make sure we got our value from the Swiss vignette. Rhinefall hadn’t changed and we enjoyed our little bit of nostalgia with a half full CH5 (A$7.50) coffee. Gotta smile eh.

It rained quite heavily as we took to the back roads heading west to Laufkraftwerk Augst with its hydroelectric power station and locks.

Then on to Basel where our hotel was quite a ways out of town and in Germany, not Switzerland, so in Weil am Rhein. We dined at the in-house restaurant.

So that’s it for this week. One week to go on the bike.

Sun 14 to Sun 21 August
Livorno – Levanto – Orta San Giulio – Bellinzona – Disentis

Sun 14th – Livorno to Levanto – 160k

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast before heading north on a pleasant morning.
Just 20klms up the road was Pisa of leaning tower fame. It was only 9.30am but already very busy with tourists. We did what the rest of us were doing.

We took our pics and headed NW for the Cinque Terre which isa coastal area within Liguria and is a string of 5 centuries-old seaside villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline.
To get there we traversed some delightful less-used roads before stopping at La Spezia for a break.

We took the easy SP370 before catching the SP51 with it’s countless corners which we chased through the Cinque Terre National Park.
We dropped down into Monterosso al Mare which was wall to wall, cliff to cliff, packed with holiday makers. Seems we’ve managed to arrive on a week long public holiday of some sort. That would explain the exorbitant accommodation prices.

Its only 45klms from La Spezia to Levanto via Monterosso al Mare, but it wasn’t the fastest of journeys.
Levanto is at the northern end of the Cinque Terre and not considered to be part of it so it isn’t as busy nor as hectic. We’d stopped here for a few days in 2019 and enjoyed it so much we thought we’d do it again.

The back end of our 4 month odyssey is planned to be less hectic than our sometimes previous frenetic travel pace. Hence we’ve planned 3 nights here.
So we lazed on the beach in the mornings adding to our sun tans before retiring to the shade for the afternoon. We caught a boat back to Monterosso al Mare mainly for the ride and something to do. It wasn’t as busy as Sunday had been.

Wed 17th – Levanto to Orta San Giulio – 300k

One of our longer travel days so we hit the autostrada and paid our tolls. There’d been some decent rains through here over the last couple of nights so temps were in their mid 20s.
The long weekend was still happening so everything was closed. We pulled into Villa Gaia Gandini for a pic.

And continued on to Gallarate with it’s Basilica of Saint Mary of the Assumption. It was as quiet as the tomb so we figured everyone had headed for the coast for the long weekend even though it was Wednesday. We found a small café and spoilt ourselves with coffee and a wee cake, each.

From here it was an easy 50k to World Heritage Listed Orta San Giulio on Lago d’Orta where we had an affordable apartment virtually over looking the main Piazza Mario Motta with Isola San Giulio right there.

Today, the town remains famous for religious pilgrimage due to its position on the slope of Sacro Monte, one of 9 sacred mountains in Northern Italy. There are over 20 chapels built into these cliffs, all dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, and UNESCO has classified Orta San Giulio on its World Heritage List

We now knew where all those folk who weren’t in the other places we’d been today were, they were right here, and it was market day.

Lay Days in Orta San Giulio

By evening the crowds had mostly gone were ever this crowd went, leaving behind a very pleasant old town with typically narrow cobbled streets and an abundance of restaurants and ice-creameries. It started to rain quite fiercely, and continued to rain all of yesterday Thursday 18/8/22. We didn’t mind too much but it certainly killed the restaurant trade.

We took a ferry to Omegna and spent an hour walking in the rain before catching the same ferry back to Orta via it’s various stops – what we in New Zealand would call ‘the milk run’.

By the evening the rain had gone and we took a long walk south around the lake side then up the hill to Sacro Monte of Orta.

Today is Friday 19th August and it’s strange to think we’ll be home in 3 weeks; but there’s still a lot to see. This morning we continued to explore this popular haven.

We took another ferry trip, this one around the southern end of Lago d’Orta, visiting Pella for 45 minutes,

and then stopping off at Isola San Giulio. (If you stay at Orta it is inevitable that you’ll take lots of pics of the Island)

Then back to Orta

Last night, Friday, we enjoyed a spritz

then went out for dinner and watched the sunset while listening to FelexSax as the lights of Isola San Giulio came on. A lovely end to what was Norma’s ‘must see’ choice. She was glad we did see it, and so was I.

Over our three motorcycle trips to and through Western Europe we’ve spent 53 days/nights in Italy, so we’ve seen a fair bit of it and loved every moment. Today we head for Switzerland.

Sat 20th – Orta San Giulio to Bellinzona– 140k

A fairly easy day today. We took our time leaving then fuelled up before stopping at Omegna for an early coffee.

We followed the northern shore of Lago Maggiore before heading up into the foothills of the alps.

Crossed Ponte Falmenta

Then continued on the SP75 to the SS337, took a left then did a U-Turn at Santa Maria Maggiore before stopping at Re with it’s Santuario della Madonna del Sangue. This is very small town with a very big church. We had coffee and panini, took our pics and moved on into Switzerland.

We bought our vignette (40SwFr) just to be on the safe side and booked into our budget hotel at A$240 for the night with breakfast. Welcome to Switzerland.

They have a pretty good castle/fort in Bellinzona. We took a long walk.

Sun 21st – Bellinzona to Disentis– 170k
or, the day of 91 hairpins and/or switchbacks

There’s just something magical about riding into and through the Swiss Alps. They have an amazing road system – if you want to do it easy there’s freeways and tunnels, long tunnels – if you want to do it the old fashioned way the old roads are still immaculately kept which makes it a joy to ride them. Like I’ve said, today was a day of 91 hairpins and switchbacks, I counted them on TomTom. What a joy, and the scenery is just so picture postcard perfect Swiss, but you really need a drone to see the roads doing their splendid dances up and down the escarpments.

We stopped somewhere for a brew.

Checked out a couple of bridges

And enjoyed some more scenery with the high Alps playing hide ‘n seek behind the clouds.

Disentis doesn’t have a lot going for it but it’s a great jump-off point for the Passes we’d exhilarate in tomorrow. It does have an impressive Abbey.

So that’s week 14 done and 2 riding weeks to go, but still 1750 kilometres to go.

Tue 9 to Sat 13 August
Cala Gonone – Santa Teresa Gallura – Propriano – Porto Ota – Bastia – Livorno

Tue 9th Cala Gonone to Santa Teresa Gallura – 180k

It looked like another warmish day so we got on the road earlyish and after enjoying the delightful twisties back up to and over the ranges we headed north.
We dropped into Santa Lucia and checked out the defensive Torre di Santa Lucia, built in 1606.

Then through La Caletta and onto Olbia where we stopped for a coffee while we waited for a traffic jam to clear.
There were beautiful mountain views behind us as we headed north.

Portisco with its many luxury sea craft was our next port of call.

Cannigione beckoned us to stop in quiet seclusion under the shade of pine trees for a hydration top up.

We then skirted the coast from this bay to that bay all with their own collection of rich men’s toys – good for them.

Another coffee overlooking the basin at Palau.

Before a final run into Santa Teresa Gallura and our budget air conditioned room. We took a wander, had a swim and went out for dinner.

Wed 10th – Santa Teresa Gallura (Sardinia) to Propriano (Corsica) – 90k

Its a 1 hour ferry ride from Santa Teresa Gallura on the northern tip of Sardinia, to Bonifacio at the southern tip of Corsica. We caught the 9am boat

And enjoyed the leisurely trip across the straight which is a very busy stretch of water. The Bonifacio harbour entrance is truly tiny for a ferry of this size, but it opens up into a sizeable harbour.

We headed north on a lovely road with some great views.

Before taking a break at Caselle.

From here it was an easy run into Propriano.

Thur 11th – Propriano to Porto Ota – 160k

Temps today promised to be sensible at 27c. It intrigues me that by far the greater majority of riders and pillions we see on touring bikes, are wearing only runners, shorts and T-shirts. Whereas we’re fully kitted for that 1 in a million unfortunate incident, so we do feel the heat even though modern synthetic safety gear is reasonably well ventilated.

Ajaccio was our first stop after we’d spent the first couple of hours diving in and out of bays and up and over headlands. We found a little nook to park and took the time to watch the world go by while we sampled the local coffee.

Onto Cargese then the final 30klms into Porto through a landscape that seemed like we were visiting Mars on a road that clung desperately to the cliff faces.

And into Porto Ota and a lovely air conditioned room overlooking the sea. With a pool.

We took a lay day here at Porto Ota.

Sat 13th – Porto Ota to Bastia – 135k

There had been massive thunderstorms up in the mountains behind Porto Ota last night with torrential rain and much thunder and lightening.
Normally that wouldn’t be a bother, but today we had to get on the road by 7am as we had a ferry to catch for Livorno and we needed to be at Bastia by 11.30am so as to not miss said ferry. So there was no waiting around for an hour or so for others to clear the roads.

It’s 90klm of considerably windy narrow roads from Porto Ota to coffee at Ponte Leccia, add to that the enormous amount of leaf litter and road wash that covered the road at nearly every corner and it made for an interesting ride at an average speed of 35k/hr. Better safe that sorry. The sunrise was amazing albeit directly into my line of sight.

We made the ferry on time.

We landed on mainland Italy at 7.30pm and found our room, which came with a free outdoor opera right across the road which kicked off at 10pm. Good thing our room had double glazed windows and air conditioning because it wasn’t exactly essential listening.

From Livorno we’ll head north to Levanto for 3 nights, then Orta San Giulio for 3 nights before heading up into Switzerland, so I’ll see you next week.

Mon 1 to Sun 7 August
Tossa de Mar – Barcelona – Bosa – Cala Gonone

Mon 1st to Thur 4th August – Tossa de Mar

A wonderful and well deserved 4 days break, lazing on the beach and getting a Mediterranean sun tan. Not hard to take at all.

Fri 5th Aug – Barcelona / Porto Torres (Sardinia)

But we had to keep moving otherwise we’d miss Roman’s birthday and my life wouldn’t be worth that, so today we’re up and gone by 9am to beat the traffic – a fail in every way.
We got to Barcelona at 10.30 where I’d arranged to have a new set of tyres fitted as the ones on the bike might or might not last the remaining 3,500klms of the journey. They were fitted while we waited and weren’t cheap that’s for sure but worth the security of knowing we’d likely have no problems with them. For those interested I had Michelin Road6 GTs fitted. I’m running 42psi in the back and 38psi in the front which is slightly over spec but we’re carrying very heavy for the bike. The last set lasted just on 10,000klms, so not too bad really considering the roads we’ve travelled.

We did a bit of sightseeing, but we’ve been here twice before and it was very hot and humid so we weren’t too active.

Then it was down to the port just before a torrential downpour with huge lightening and thunder. Good thing Norma noticed it coming.

Our ferry left at 11.30pm and I hadn’t been able to secure a cabin so it was sitting in aircraft style seats that didn’t tilt – not the most comfortable. To add to that there was very little ventilation in that room so if someone had Covid I guess we’ve all got Covid even though Norma and I wore masks. Not a good experience.

Sat 6th Aug – Porto Torres to Bosa – 115klm

We were off the ship by 12.30 and on the road after sorting TomTom who’d decided to object to something or another. Sorted her out and on our way in 35c and heaps of humidity. Not the best day for a ride.

We pulled in to the Porto Conte Tower. Built in 1572 and with a height of 13m and a base diameter of 18m, it ranks among the largest coastal towers in Sardinia and is part of the complex of fortified structures that from the early Middle Ages to the mid-nineteenth century formed the defensive, sighting and communication system of the coasts of Sardinia.

On through Fertilia to Alghero where we stopped at a tiny back street shop for a coffee and panini – delish. There’s a couple of towers here as well.

It was then follow the coast all the way to Bosa. Beautiful views and a fair amount of traffic.

Known to be one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, Bosa has no more than 8500 inhabitants. It’s colourful buildings, narrow laneways, a hilltop castle and with the River Temo flowing right through the village, make it a very popular tourist town.
We stayed in the old town known as Sa Costa. Our air conditioned room made for a lovely end to the day.

We bought salad and sat on the riverside and watched the world go by and thanked our Lord for our lives.

Sun 7th Aug – Bosa to Cala Gonone – 175klm

After a sumptuous Sardinian breakfast, in this case one that attempted to combine all the differing European variants sans milk for the cornflakes, we fuelled up at our first self-serve Italian fuel station – they’d added an ‘English’ language option since we’d last used one in 2019.
We took the road south and east, took a pic as we left, and headed for the hills where it would hopefully be cooler.

We knew we were in Italy because of the hill-top towns and religious monuments.

We dropped into Nuraghe Losa, a great triangular basalt tower dating back to the bronze age. Regrettably we missed the sign for the tickets at the car park – as would most I’d think – and were refused the opportunity to buy them when we got back, which would have entailed a round trip of some 400m in the heat. I couldn’t understand how that was a good business model. We took a pic and moved on.
Those are cork trees that have been harvested.

On through Ottana and Orani with much cultivation happening

To Orgosolo where we stopped for coffee and watched Sunday life in Sardinia go about it’s business.
We were skirting a mountain range and I’d think not too many tourists travelled this road as we saw no other vehicles on this 60 minute of 40klm stretch of winding, picturesque and single lane tarmac. It was slow going and getting hotter.

We dropped in to have a look at Ponte Papaloppe, an old Roman military bridge still in active use.

I’d played with the idea of visiting the ancient Grotta Corbeddu Corbeddu Cave but didn’t fancy the 30klm single dirt track.
So it was 30klm to Cala Gonone which is a very popular tourist mecca. We’ll stop here 2 nights and add to our Mediterranean suntans before heading north and crossing over to Corsica then Italy next week.

See you soon.

Mon 25th to Sun 31st July
Laguardia – Pamplona – Arette – Lourdes – Sort – Tosa de Mar

Mon 25 July – Pamplona – 150k

We start the today with breakfast on the balcony overlooking this. It’s another gorgeous day for a ride.

We fill up with fuel and leave lovely Laguardia and head NE to Chabola de La Hechicera – Sorginaren Txabola (Sorceress’s Shanty) which is a dolmen with a large chamber, corridor and burial mound. 

We follow the A-3228 as it skirts the Izkiko Natural Park. At Lapoblación we hang a left and cut up into the Park itself on the NA-7210.

The rural scenery is stunning and harvest is in full swing.

To Viaducto de Arquijas which was built in 1925. On October 28, 1939, a freight train and a passenger train collided in the center of the Arquijas Viaduct which is 30 meters high and is made up of nine arches and was built in concrete covered with stone.

We’re now on the NA-132A and headed for Estella and it’s Monastery of Santa Maria de Irache

We rode through Estella and one of it’s ancient castle gates.

Before checking out Puente de la Cárcel over the Rio Egra. It was built in 1873, replacing a Romanesque predecessor.

Leaving Estella we headed towards Puente La Reina-Gares with it’s six-arched Romanesque bridge over the Arga River originally built for the use of pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela along the Camino de Santiago.

There was lots of recent bush fire evidence through here.

There was some beautiful scenery as we snaked and climbed and hairpinned our way along the high road coming into Pamplona.

So into Pamplona on what turns out to be a public holiday so everyone is out and about. We found spacious apartment directly opposite the Bull Ring.

And enjoyed Tapas for dinner.

Tues 26 July – Pamplona Lay Day

What a fantastic town – there’s motorcycle parking spaces on every corner. We wandered.

Wed 27 July – Pamplona to Arette (France) – 150klm

Today we head up into the Pyrenees – I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I started planning this tour back in 2020.
It’s another lovely day, we grab a quick Café Americano con leche and fill up with fuel, then hit the N-135 heading north and east with the mountains on the horizon.

Passed a couple of medieval bridges. Puente medieval de Iroz and Puente Viejo

And settled in to enjoy the never-ending series of twists and turns as we ascended higher into the Pyrenees.
A quick stop at Ochagavía – Otsagabia (how’s that for the name of a town)

We’re now pretty much right under the mountains and following the Rio Belagua valley. There were a lot of people about trekking and mountain biking. There were these two magnificent ancient bridges – Puente Románico de Isaba – Erromaniko Garaiko Izabako Zubia. I can’t find any information concerning there age etc.

The jump-up to the top of the range

was a perfect ride on a motorcycle up through the dozen or so switchbacks and the views were spectacular looking south into Spain.

We passed into France just up the road. There was quite a bit of cloud about by now, and getting a little colder.

It was then down and ever downward

for the 25klms into Arette where we stayed for the night. This town had been devastated by an earthquake in 1967.

Thurs 28 July – Arette to Lourdes – 125klm

It was overcast and cool as we left Arette. The plan for the day was to follow the roads that skirted as close to the mountains as possible. It was a short day, but we weren’t disappointed.

Through some French villas

Before we started to climb.
The Col de Marie Blanque at 1035m

Then down and through the valley and through Laruns

And then compete with the cycle riders up to 1710m through the heavy cloud cover to Col d’Aubisque and it’s amazing views and Le Tour de France heritage.

Then a beautiful ride along the northern side of the range to another Tour de France favourite, the Col de Soulor at 1474m, where we stopped for a coffee and a sandwich.

From there it was beautiful riding as we descended towards our destination.

TomTom got herself a little confused trying to find our accommodation in Lourdes but we got there with a little help from her friend Google Maps.

Today has been a rest day with a little sight seeing, blog writing, bookkeeping work, GPS tracking etc.

Sat 30 July – Lourdes to Sort – 230klm

It’s misty and cool as we fuel up and leave Lourdes heading south before turning NE and joining the many push bike riders ascending the 2115m through the cloud to the famed Col du Tourmalet. We had a coffee and waited for the some clear vision which lasted 10 seconds.

Then it was down again

past the scores of bike riders and through La Mongie with its criss cross of chair lifts.

Losing 1000m and passing through one small hamlet to another to Peyrehitte,

we begin the ascent of Col d’Aspin which is also hiding it’s majesty with a skirt of cloud. Had a bit of a chat with a couple of riders who were on Guzzis.

Then down to Garia at 700m on absolutely perfect roads; they have to be because the Tour de France is run on these roads. Riding them on a motorcycle is quite exhilarating, but it must be torture on a push bike.

There a number of ups and downs before we get to the French / Spanish border at Col du Portillon which is 1295m. We stopped for a brew.

From there its 25klm to Vielha where we stopped at the same café we’d stopped at on our 2016 journey.

From Vielha to Sort is 75klms of lovely road through very prosperous ski towns one after the other. Up and over Port de la Bonaigua at 2100m with it’s non stop hairpins and glorious vistas.

And down the other side. It never ends.

Sun 31 July – Sort to Tossa de Mar – 265klm

Today was all about getting to the coast and it was a long day with the temps between 13c and 34c. We basically followed the N-260 for most of the day, apart from a misguided excursion along the N-260A for 45klms which has to be the most twisted piece of tarmac we’ve encountered to date. I’d promised Norma highway the whole way too.
It all started here at La Pobla de Lillet with its cluster of bridges.

The final 100klm was mostly freeway with a A$15 toll for a 3klm tunnel thrown in. But we got to the coast at Tossa de Mar where we’ll prop for 5 nights before catching the ferry to Sardinia.