Switzerland - Day 8

I'm afraid once again this morning we were met with a damp and cloudy day but we are now pretty much used this and it really isn't an issue. Had a pretty good night on the self inflating mattress, it was nice not to wake up in the middle of the night on a softening air bed wondering whether I was adrift on the high seas.

Took a walk down into Kandersteg to pick up a few supplies. Switzerland has always been an expensive place to stay and we are glad that we took the trouble to bring the vast majority of our basic foodstuffs with us. Even something simple such as a small cake will cost the equivalent of several pounds and it is very easy if one has not planned in advance to end up spending quite a bit of money on basic foods which can be easily avoided through some advance planning. Given the cost of the basics here it is not difficult to estimate what the cost of stopping and hotel accommodation would be and the approach we have taken on this holiday is more than justified itself in financial terms alone.

We did consider at one point walking up to the Oeschinensee but the weather was pretty gloomy and we bumped into our Dutch friends and instead of heading off up the hill we accepted their kind invitation of Coffey in the small communal chalet next to our camping terrace. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours chatting with them about this and that and soon time for lunch and so the day passed pleasantly without incident.

I think Lorena has become a little concerned about a little ritual I have developed which involves me walking around the tent with 2 sticks gathering up what seems to be an inexhaustible supply of large brown slugs. It must be the wet weather that they seem to keep appearing so I've been gathering them together in a small plastic container and then depositing them elsewhere for others to enjoy, I know that this is a pointless activity but for some reason I can't resist doing it!

Later in the day there were a number of new arrivals at campsite including an English couple with a couple of youngsters who are camping quite close by, they seem very pleasant and the children certainly seem to be enjoying the outdoor life which is lovely. Also later in the day struck up a conversation with another very pleasant Dutch couple who are shortly off on a tour travelling between several of the Swiss Alpine club huts which sounds very adventurous and good fun. The lady was saying that she recently ran up Mont Ventoux for charity, impressive indeed! I've always found any Dutch people that I've met when travelling around to be extremely pleasant and very easy to get on with, for some reason there seems to be a nice bond between the Dutch and English people's.

A nice day was rounded off with a good meal of chilli con carne and rice followed by a tin of pears, we certainly haven't gone hungry on this trip by any stretch of the imagination. The problems will arise when the fact that we have been eating as if on a walking holiday without doing the walking manifests itself on the bathroom scales!

Well, time to turn in for a night on my much more stable sleeping platform, according to the weather forecast in the Kandersteg tourist information office the next 3 days should be much improved so if that proves to be the case we will try to make the best of what remains of the holiday.