Bobbing in Basel

The Rhein river runs through the city of Basel. This is the same river which I saw outside of my window in Düsseldorf for nearly 2 years. However, there is something a little strange about this river in this town…it has people bobbing in it!

The Rhein is quite a big river and has a lot of boat traffic upon it. In Duesseldorf, I often saw huge barges and ferries going up and down the river. In Basel however, if you are daring enough, you too can throw yourself in and bob along in the fast flowing current next to the pleasure and transport boats. All you need are some swimming skills and enough guts to get yourself out again.

You may be asking the question, ‘What do I do with all my stuff?’ Well the answer is simple. You carry it with you in the river. All you need is a waterproof bag. If you are cheap, then you can improvise using regular rubbish bags. Thankfully for us, I was already carrying a waterproof sack in my luggage and we bought a ‘Wickelfisch‘ to carry most of our belongings. The waterproof bags are great as they can hold your stuff inside, but they also act as a great floatation device for when you want to just lie back and watch the riverbank go by.

When I arrived in Basel, the weather was already unbelievably warm so it was no problem donning the swimsuit and jumping in the Rhein. Surprisingly, the water was not that cold and provided some much needed soothing coolness to the body. Luckily for us, Matt received a waterproof camera from ISL as a leaving gift this year so we took the camera with us and filmed some of our adventure in the river.  The following clip has been edited very quickly so you’ll have to put up with the amateur quality. Matt says that he’ll do a proper edit when we get to Tokyo.

 

Getting in is relatively easy. Getting out of the river is a little more stressful. Firstly, you have to decide which area you would like to finish your ride. Secondly, you have to execute your plan in front of many onlookers. (Don’t forget that we are right in the middle of town here…) The current in the Rhein is pretty fast. I don’t think the footage really captures how fast we were bobbing but it’s pretty fast. There is no one to help you out…you are on your own. Then, there’s the boats, jetties and buoys on the side of the river you need to navigate around. When you find a nice looking set of stone steps on the bank, you have to direct yourself to it and then use your feet to anchor your body on some of the sharp stones on the river floor. As I did this, I struggled for a while to balance as the current was relentless in wanting to push me further down the river. However, I won the battle against the current and was able to climb out (most ungracefully) of the Rhein. (Btw…Matt did too.)

Bobbing in the Rhein was great fun and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone. We have kept our Wickelfish for the next suitable river we come across and can’t wait for the next time. Maybe if you have a great river for us to bob in around your area, let us know.

The epic “Auf Wiedersehen Duesseldorf” tour.

It all began with my apartment inspection. I am warning all my friends still in Duesseldorf….get a cleaner! Having spent most of the weekend on my hands and knees scrubbing my apartment to get it ready for inspection, my body now aches and I have bruises, cuts and strange skin conditions all over me. Next time I am going to be smarter and just forgo half my bond and give money to someone who will do it. Thanks goes to Chris, Tanja, Isa and Fleur who did their bit to help me get my apartment ready. Did I pass the inspection? Flying colours mate! It was “Sehr schoens” all around. Incredibly surprisingly really considering there is a dodgy burn mark on one of my kitchen walls. Apparently bamboo steamers and electric hot plates don’t go together…

After my award-winning inspection, Tanja and Chris drove me to the hauptbahnhof to catch the train to Lausanne. Thank goodness they were there to help because if you know me well, you know I don’t pack light. Not only did I have my life in one crummy trolley bag with a broken handle (Matt wouldn’t let me buy

the super Samsonite or ravishing Rimowa luggage), I had a mountain bike packed into some tarpaulin, a small but bulging backpack and my handbag. I estimate that the whole lot weighed over 60kg (see photo). This was ok when I had friends, but once I got on the train it was on my own. Amazingly enough, I managed the trip which included a stopover in Basel, in which I had to rebuild my bike and to park it in the train station.

Rebuilding a bike is hard work for someone who has only learned the mechanics of a bike the night before when they had to take it all apart. It makes it even more nerve racking when you have an audience of beer drinkers watching your every move. Here I was in Basel train station, losing bolts and washers as I try desperately to put my bike back together. In the end, I was covered with grease and dirt but I managed to make it look right. So when the bike parking manager helped me wheel it into the parking lot (why was he sitting behind the desk when I had to put the bike together???) and the back wheel didn’t spin, did I laugh or what! Lucky for me, the beer drinkers were all too drunk to notice. That, or they were being polite as they were Swiss.

So as I’m finally rolling into Lausanne, all I was hoping for was to get into Matt’s car and drive home. Ha! Matt “I don’t want to lose my carpark” Plummer decided that it was best to leave the car where it was and walk down to pick me up. His punishment? To manage the crummy 40+kg trolley bag on public transport. Now he has red raw hands too.