Made it to the coast

Sam and the makeshift jacket

looking at the Furka Pass

bogan excellence

Hey hey hey. So we are on day 6 and have made it to the Italian coast. Mmm sea. But to backtrack a bit...

We left Switzerland heading for the Furka Pass, which would get us to the lakes at the Swiss/Italian border. There is a slightly smaller pass before it called the Grimsel pass, and as we were heading up that one in slowwww fog like the other day, except now there was traffic added,  we thought shit we'll just skip the Furka cos the main idea there is to get some super amazing views over the alps and I can hardly see Sam in front of me. As we were on the way down the other side, the skies started to clear and we got this amazing view up the the mountain and changed our minds. About 3 bends from the top (2429m) our luck gave way and we were back in fog. Ah well we got some good views. Great views even. The southern half the road gets much slimmer and bumpier and generally less kept up, but dropping below the clouds into the lush green valleys was a welcome treat, for me and the breaks and the clutch har har.

Apparently I'm the only biker who even uses the clutch, apparently it's a thing just to stop using at all together once you're well learned. I think...that will never be me.

Along with the valleys came the damn wind again, just as we were dropping off the mountains,  but oh boy if I thought it was strong on them French highways wellllllll I take that earlier statement back, this was strong wind. It was a struggle to keep steering straight for a bit there. On our way to the Italian border we could see part of the autostrada with standstill traffic for miles, not in the direction we were travelling but still. Gutted. It made for much more traffic on the 'back' roads, but again not in our travelling direction. With regular stops for snacks and views and petrol, it feels like you can just drive and drive. It really is great.

It was 8 degrees on the mountain and afternoon the wind died down we could definitely feel it getting my warmer by the minute - I have a temp gauge on the dash and it went from 8 to 28 that day. Brill. We hit Lake Maggiore as the sun was slowly going down - perfect timing really, and by the time we went through the Italian border most of the traffic had cleared out too. In to our last minute airbnb booking - garage again thank god the streets are so slim. The view out over the lake was broken by trees but we did get the spot where the almost full moon hit the lake which was great.

A super slow morning (real walls+ real curtains + real bed + own bathroom bliss, it'd only been 4 days but still what a treat) and a drive down the lake, the temperature change was not as harsh as I thought it would be in my motorbike gear but I've learnt it is bette fro wear a long sleeved top under my jacket, cos that plasticky lining of my jacket  is a bassstard for making you sweat In .0087 of a second if you stop in 32 degree sun.

Then a 30 mins ferry from Intra to Laveno-Mombello @ €7.80 each (bargain) to see this super cool old monestary, the Santa Caterina del Sasso. Not a hell of a big place, but built in to a cliff and with the view back over the lake it was a nice little stop.

Then on to do some motorway miles to get clear of the thunderous forecast following us from the mountains. Italian highways while not windy were hella busy. Well, coming up to Milan anyway, and we managed to break two toll booths somehow. The first never closed after Sam went through so I had to awkwardly roll backwards and out to use another, no cars behind me thank god, and the other are my card which was stressful as hell cos that was all ma monaaaay. Luckily there was an attendant at this one who came and got it out for me. Phew. The drivers on this stretch loooove to get right up your arse, and sort of drive in both lanes past you without indicating. Talk about stressful. Past Milan it was back to little traffic and non stressy Alana, but I must have been holding on a little to right as now my thumb is numb and hasn't quite come back to normal. Heck. Check in to another random campsite, this one was too close to a highway and also children galore until 1am but they had a little shack just for us no-equipment campers so that was a bonus.

Before we left we printed these maps of great motorcycles roads from this German website called ADAC, I think it's like the AA in Nz, but in the morning we followed this amazing winding road all the way to the coast. Lots of racey sports bikes, a few slow chuggers like me, and after the one main tourist attraction not many other cars at all. If anyone wants to know or do it one day (DO IT), it's the SS45 from pretty much Piacenza to Rapallo via Ferriere and Recco. I'm pretty sure all the roads around there would be scenic as hell though.

Anyways, we made it to the coast, got another lil campsite (no handy shed/lounge deal this time) and headed down to scenic Portofino for our first coast swim, so happy to get outta that gear!