A while back, based on a significant birthday milestone and a bit of a reconnection with Orienteering I decided it was about time to go back to Europe for some orienteering. First stop on the trip was Switzerland. Coincidently my first trip to Europe was to JWOC in Switzerland in 2005, and remains the county I have spent the most time in apart from NZ so it was fitting to make it my first stop.

Straight off the plane in Zurich, Siri was waiting outside to pick me up! Super nice to get off a long haul flight and meet a friendly face and within 45 mins I was sitting on the deck at the Suter’s place. Just like arriving to a second home!

That afternoon I was straight into some orienteering with a map near to their place. An area that was used for I think a world cup event several years ago. The jet lag was real though, and so was the drastic change in temperature from around 10degC in NZ winter to 30degC in Switzerland summer.

Sleep was finally very good after holding out as long as I could! The following day Siri and I went on a trip to Rigi-Kulm about an hour away. I ran from about halfway while Siri who was a bit unwell took the train near to the top. It was a good run/jog still with some adjustment to make to the climate but a very cool spot. And then Raclette for dinner to top off a another great day in Switzerland.

When Thursday morning rolled around it was then time to move on to Italy for the next phase of the trip. Thanks Siri, Judith and Nik for hosting me and making me feel right at home in Switzerland 🙂