Oberdorf, Switzerland

Sat 13th – Sun 14th Sept

On Saturday morning, the rain started pouring down in Zurich to compliment our hangovers. Not that little pitter-patter that annoys you when you can't decide whether to take out your umbrella or just hurry up to the tube station. This rain defied the invention of gore-tex and wellies.

Rain sucks, but it's even worse when you live in a van. Suddenly we were flung back to our first days in Portugal where our rain coats, shoes, socks and clothes just never dried out until the rain did. There's no where to hang up wet items except above where you're sitting, which means the seats are soon wet from the dripping. And then the leaks returned. I guess all of that heat in Croatia had melted our rubber sealant and suddenly we were pulling pots and pans from every cupboard in an effort to keep the carpet and cushions from getting wet.

So our timing for visiting Bevan's friend Andrew and his family couldn't have been better. Andrew, Miriam and their daughter Sophie live in Oberdorf, Switzerland, about a 40 minute drive outside of Bern. We pulled up and literally ran into the house – and what a welcome relief! The house was huge, heated, dry and they even had WiFi, a washing machine and dryer, and an incredible view of the Swiss Alps.

Reeling from shock at being indoors again, we settled in for a delicious evening of guzzling Australian wines and chomping into Andrew's famous spaghetti bolognaise. When dinner was done, we didn't even have to go outside to use the toilet or wash the dishes. It was heaven and exactly where you'd want to be in a terrible rain storm.