Hot day at Brienz and a cruise on the lake

7 July 2015

Interlaken is the town between two lakes, hence the name. It is located between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. One of the attractions for visitors to this region is a cruise on one of the lakes. We chose to visit Brienz, followed by a cruise on Lake Brienz back to Interlaken.

Brienz is only a short train ride from Interlaken. The journey offered scenic views of the lake along the way. Brienz is famous for its wood carvings and we chanced upon a guy preparing his work of art using a chainsaw by the lakeside. There were actually a few artists at work along the promenade by the lake.

Wood carvers at work by Lake Brienz.

We dropped up the Schweizer Holzbildhauerei Museum or Swiss Wood Sculpture Museum to look at the finished products. Impressive wood sculpture at impressive prices.

It should be fun and nice exploring Brienz but this day in July was unbearably HOT! The weather was like what we experienced at the equator back home and quite unlike the normal weather we would expect in Switzerland. We later found out that July 2015 was the warmest month on record since instrument temperature records began in the late 1800s. 

The streets of Brienz was not crowded, partly due to the heat I think. There is supposed to be a street that is quite scenic further up in town but we decided to give it a miss and chilled inside a cafe by the lake. Switzerland’s buildings are designed to withstand cold weather, with heaters to keep the occupants warm, but no air-conditioning to keep the occupants cool.

A round of cold drinks, milkshakes and ice cream with breeze coming in from the large windows brought some relief.

Brienz has a nice lakeside promenade that is good for a stroll later in the day when it was cooler.

Somehow, lakes fed from glacier melt water have this unique turquoise colour and Lake Brienz is no different. Nice colour.

We got to meet this fellow by the promenade and some coot on the turquoise water.

Lake steamers ply the lake, bringing passengers from Brienz to other towns by the lake, including Interlaken. We took the steamer back to Interlaken and our Swiss Half Fare Card could be used to get 50% off the fares.

Everyone on board took seats out on the deck to enjoy the views of the lake and surrounding mountains.

View of Brienz from the boat.

The boat made a brief stop at Giessbach, known for its waterfall and also a grand 19th century hotel.

Grand Hotel Giessbach.

The Grand Hotel Giessbach is a filming location for one of my favourite TV series,  the HBO WWII television series “Band of Brothers”. In the last episode of this series, the 101st airborne arrives at a lakeside mansion, which was supposed to be in Austria, but was in fact on Lake Brienz in Switzerland. Many of the scenes were filmed in and around the hotel.

A brief stop at Iselwald, on the way to Interlaken.

A little bit of rain from a passing cloud.

The sky was getting darker as we approached Interlaken. The timings of the boat’s arrival and train’s departure from Interlaken Ost station for Lauterbrunnen was well synchronized. We did not have to wait long to be on the train back to Lauterbrunnen and on to Wengen. 

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Tandem Paragliding in the Lauterbrunnen Valley

8 July 2015

This is the day where some members of the family gets to experience the thrill of soaring above the Lauterbrunnen Valley. We were to meet at the cafe in Lauterbrunnen where the Airtime Paragliding office was located at 9.30 AM. We had dropped by this cafe a couple of days earlier to make our bookings. Only the young and brave ones in the family would be doing the tandem paragliding. The staff confirmed that it was safe to fly even though there was some low clouds above the valley.

View of the Lauterbrunnen at the cafe where the Airtime Paragliding sales office was located.

A van soon took us (flyers and observers) to Stecheberg, located at the other end of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. We were here a couple of days earlier after our first hike in the Bernese Oberland.

From Stecheberg, the flyers took the Schilthorn gondola up to Mürren. The launching point for the paragliding was at a cliff slightly above Mürren. The staff from Airtime were friendly and helpful. They briefed us on what to expect, when and where the flyers would be landing.

This field would be the landing zone for the paragliders.

While the flyers were making their way up, we (the anxious parents) spent some time exploring the area around Stecheberg. The Mürrenbach fall was just next to the gondola station. This is a free-falling waterfall, falling 417m down the cliff and hence is the highest waterfall in Switzerland.  A placard describing the waterfall also explained how the Lauterbrunnen Valley was formed. The U-shaped Lauterbrunnen Valley, with almost vertical cliffs were formed by glacier. Standing at the green grass of the valley floor and looking at the steep rocky cliffs around me somehow reminded me of scenes from the cartoon/movie Land Before Time. A time when dinosaurs ruled the earth.

Mürrenbach fall.

Before long we spotted the first paraglider in the sky above. It was hard to see if this is a member of our family since it was so high up. It was soon apparent that this is a solo flight and not a tandem paragliding.

There were some guys doing wing-suit base jumping from the cliff above.

Wing-suit base-jumper gliding down.

Deploying the parachute.

Parachute deployed.

Shortly after, more paragliders were seen above. The 200mm telephoto lens of my Nikon DSLR were put to good use and I could spot 4 legs hanging below the canopy. The guys must be on their flight.

I took quite a lot of photos of the first tandem paraglider to land but it was not a member of my family.

I like this shot but unfortunately the subject was not a member of my family.

The next few photos show Daniel coming in for his landing. They did a couple of acrobatic manoeuvres, just for thrills, before the final touch-down.

The following were photos of Joanna’s flight.

She flew close to the Murrenbach Falls. Then U-turn back down along the cliff.

Once again, a few swaying left and right and acrobatic moves before coming in for the landing.

Photos of Samuel’s flight.

Once everyone had landed, we were given the option to purchase photos and videos shot during the flight using the Airtime staff’s go-pro camera.

 

These were some the photos shot during the flight using the Daniel’s go-pro.

At launching point above Murren. See the low clouds in the back. Any lower, the flight would be cancel!

Just after getting airborne. Murren could be seen in the background.

Just above the edge of the cliff. A bit of the river could be seen in the valley down below.

Getting a chance to take over the controls.

These were some the photos shot during the flight using the Joanna’s go-pro.

The canopies all laid out in preparation for the launch.

Just after lift off!

Close up look at the Murrenbach waterfall.

 

These were some the photos shot during Samuel’s flight.

Flying close to the cliff.

A chance to take over the control of the glider.

Everyone enjoyed the flying and would want to do this again, given the chance and budget!

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