We spent a few days of May (actually mostly June) half term in Lancaster. Staying somewhere other than our house was still a novelty. It was hot and sunny and we weren’t very adventurous. Time was spent mainly catching up with friends, visiting playgrounds, having picnics and eating ice cream.

Comrie and Killin. A few nice frosty days and a few windy showery ones. It turns out mountains are significantly harder with an opinionated toddler than a 12-week old, especially when recovering from flu. As a result, we bagged more playgrounds than summits…

Frosty toddling

Monument in Comrie

Christmas morning toast (on a real chair)

Comrie playground in the rain

Sitting in a cosy corner of the fireplace.

Highland cow found in Crieff visitor centre

Leading the sheep astray

A lochside circuit

Heading for the playground in Killin

Aiming up Sron a’ Chlachain

Rising slowly above Killin

Loch Tay

Happy Rucksack Resident

Loch Tay

Walkabout on the top of Sron a’ Chlachain

Climbing the summit cairn

Watching the view

Summit smiles

Cairn above Loch Tay

Advanced banana eating.

Mummy in the trees

The walk to Killin

The ‘Dog’ walk

Trying out some new trainers

A high level walk, shortly aborted due to illness and snow storms

A short walk with the baggers

Who knew Calais had such a nice beach?

A couple of hours north of Trento we waved goodbye to Sudtirol (probably to return in future), crossed the border into Switzerland and soon joined up with routes we’ve driven on previous trips. We were happy to break a long driving day with a short walk up a small peak with big views at the top of the Fuorn / Ofenpass, then got stuck behind a series of motorhomes, cyclists, a coach and what felt like all the roadworks in Switzerland as we continued over the Fluelapass.

We then spent two nights at Landquart in definitely the best (if most expensive) campsite yet. We cycled around some of the hillside villages and along the Rhine.

Short walk from the Ofenpass /Fuorn Pass – Ortler is the snowy mountain in the distance

Swiss paths!

Good limestone pinnacles (and Ortler again)

View north from the top of Il Jalet

A more meadowy return route

Back to the van in less than an hour

The campsite at Landquart won our hearts by providing not only grass, shade and amazing facilities, but also high chairs to borrow (five weeks of eating on the ground starts to get tiresome!)

Look, Mummy’s finished making my bed!

Late night one hand walkies

Rhine valley, looking towards Chur

Cycling in the towns above the Rhine

Where the Landquart sneaks through to meet the Rhine

Then we headed to Zurich for a fun weekend with Emily, Bernhard and Quentin. It’s been a strange novelty to be back in a house – Jess found the smooth, horizontal floors quite a change from her usual cruising ground and wanted to go outside at every possible opportunity, and we have enjoyed such luxuries as sofas, dishwashers and more than half a metre of bed each! Activities included a linear walk from Rotenthurm to Biberbrugg through some Swiss “moors” (aka bogs), floating down the River Limmat on a selection of inflatables, and having fun / causing chaos on trains.

They were hardly ever this still

Snack time waving

I’m just trying to eat an apricot in peace.

Tall trees

Varied walk to Biberbrugg

Classic Swiss view

Inflating the inflatables

Unimpressed floating down the Limmat

Swimming and floating in the afternoon heating

Youngest paddler on the river

Happy floaters

We’re leaving Zurich this morning after a final nappy wash and feel like we’re really on our way home now. Three (hopefully fairly leisurely) days to get to Calais via France and Belgium…

A couple of days based in the Trentino region of Italy. One catching up on stuff and chilling out – see last post. A little cooler (especially at night) and less busy than recent stops, at least around our campsite in Roncegno. We then made a day trip to Lake Garda, which was (predictably) both hot and packed with people…oh well!

Deciding that parking at the lake was likely to be disastrous, we cycled in from around 12km out, which was thoroughly pleasant. The route was along the Sarca river, through the town of Arco and watersports hub Torbole before ending up in Riva del Garda at the north end of the lake. With blue water stretching beyond the horizon and steep cliffs on either side, it was very picturesque. After completing our checklist for the day (pizza, coffee and gelato), we cycled out again and back to the sanctuary of our campsite, where we enjoyed a spectacular evening lightning show over the mountains to the south.

The Sarca river just south of Ceniga, with the Arco castle on the hill down the valley

Just coming into Arco

Lake Garda (we’re at the northern tip)

Getting excited about pizza (or maybe pigeons)

Going walkabouts

One if the waterfront piazzas in Riva del Garda

One of many cruisers (not to mention pedalos, windsurfers, yachts, stand-up paddle boards and swimmers) coming and going

Back on the lake shore (admiring views and eating gelato)

Cycling back to Ceniga along another great cycle path, this one lined with rhododendrons

Vineyards, cliffs and castles in Arco

Orchard, mountain and electricity pylon view from our pitch

Why yes, I can climb out of my chair…