Corvana (Italy) to Bovec (Slovenia)

Another day of stunni ng moutain passes and beautiful scenery. I just cant get enough of these roads. We had a slight glitch as one of the mountain passes we were supposed to traverse was blocked off, so it was a 30km backtrack followed by some motorway running to get back on track. In beautiful Slovenia for the night and then head back to Ljubljana to return the bikes tomorrow.

A Day Off? Nah let’s do the Stelvio Pass!!!!

This was a rest day in the itinerary, but as soon as I saw the Stelvio Pass as a possibility, it just had to be done. This pass is a motorcycle mecca, and I had decided I was doing it rain hail or shine. Brenton and myslf were of similar mind from the beginning of the trip. So we left the hotel at 0645 and arrived at the bottom of the pass (via 2 mountain passes and some motorway running) at 1000. The pass divides Italy and Switzerland with both sides equally beautiful for different reasons. The italian side is just full of switchbacks with very sharp corners - in fact you had to slip the clutch at times as first gear had you running too fast to take them. It is hard to describe the feat of road engineering this road was. On the Swiss side it has more straights, but the challenges of construction were multiple tunnels. We went over and back and then back to the summit for the obligatory Tee Shirt before our final descent back to the hotel. We had a couple of hours of rain on the way back, arriving safely back at the hotel at 1730. Got some awesome footage on the GoPro, but here is a sample. Would be a different propostion in wet weather!

The Mountains Call....

Today was a ride through Slovenia followed by a trip in the the Italian Dolomitres. Just when we thought the roads could not get better - they did. Just mind blowing stuff. The photos don't really do it justice. I have always said that NZ has all of the best elements of overseas beauty. But we ceertianly dont have anything like this. In the hundreds of thousands of kms I have done on a motorcycle I would rate this as the best day of motorcycling I have ever done. From the green fields of Slovenia to the magesty of the Italian Dolomites, this day had it all. It was 400km of pure pleasure.

Novalja (Pag Island) to Skocjan

Another short ride to the ferry and a 15 minute ferry ride from Pag Island to ther mainland saved us a 200km ride. A wee bit of motorway work followed with a 130 km/h speed limit- so many of the bikes stretched their legs a little. Then it was a border crossing to Slovenia and an option visit to the Skocjan Caves.

Oops - I Got Lost! Hvar to Novalja (Pag Island)

A bit of bad luck (but in some ways good fortune) for me today.We had a short ride from our  accommodation to catch a 2 hr ferry to Split. All was well and we rode off the ferry. Mike and Denuise use a system of corner marking to ensure the group follows the correct route for the day. Problem was, in perfect timing, a bus hid the tour leader (who I was following) just as I went past. So I was off in to the unknown. As I entered the motorway I knew I had taken a wrong turn, but safe with the knowledge I had the map and the hotel list in hand, I decided it was tome for a little adventure! Below is the route I should have taken marked on the map. I ended up taking a slightly different route via Sinj (where I stopped and asked for directions), Donji Muc, Drenis and rejoined the route in Sibenik. So it was quite a frew extra k's, but through some lovely mountain roads. I wasn't wasting any time - thinking if I pushed on I could rejoin the group at afternoon tea and we would travel to the hotel together. Then the 2nd piece of fate intervened when I passed the group 40km short of Zadar when an large truck parked right in front of the bikes making them impossible to see just as I went past  So it was onwards to Pag where I stopped for a break and to consult said hotel list to find I was still about 25km short. A quick drink and some directions to the hotel and I arrived about 10 minutes after everyone else. Amazing roads today again. The roads are just incredible and we haven't had rain (with the exception of a quick shower leaving Split) for the whole trip after day 1. Temperatures have been between 27-32 Celcius.

A Day Off In Hvar

Today for me was a blur of Pool / Bar / Pool / Bar whle Aly explored the sights of Hvar.

Dubrovnik to Hvar (via Drvenik to Sicuraj Ferry)

We left Dubrovnik at 8am after a short slow manouvering lesson from Mike which was useful for all. We headed for the ferry in Drvenik which took us to Sicuraj at ther far end of Hvar island to where we were staying. Some narrow but magnificent roads and once we had passed the traffic coming out of Sicuraj the roads opened up and so did the throttles a little. I had a great time through here. Sorry no photos today, but i did get lots of GoPro footage of the ride over. The roads were just magnificent meaning you could lean the bikes over some way with confidence. By now everyone is riding a little better than at that start as we all get in to the grove with the complications of riding on the right side of the road getting better and better. I still get nervous approaching roundabouts though. You just have to train yourself to behave quite differently. Had a lovely 30 minute boat ride to dinner at a vineyard tonight.

A Day Off

A very relaxing day with a trip out to "Mikes Cave" and a swim in the sea. Followed by lunch in the old town and a snooze mid afternoon...

Budvar via Kotor (Montenegro) to Debrovnik (Croatia)

This was a day of days. We only travelled 175km but it took from 9am to 6:30pm.

Unfortunately it was a difficult day for one of the participants. He moved on to the footpath as we were heading up the narrow street uphill from the hotel and managed to overbalance and his bike toppled on to the street and hit a delivery van. The van driver refused to move unless we paid him 50 Euros ($100) which I did and it all went away. Later we ended up on a one lane road up in the mountains heading for lunch that had some horrendous road works on it. They don’t believe in signs or paddle men here and the roads we passed over (if you can call them that) were in a pretty shocking state. Him and a couple of others took a tumble there too. But the most serious accudent was yet to come. He was met with a car that had swung around on one of the switchbacks and he wrote the bike off after hitting one of the road barriers on the sharp corner. Just as well he did, as it was protecting a sheer drop. Possible cracked ribs is fortunately the only injury. It could have been much much worse. I am writng this after dinner and he is off getting checked out by the medics. There have probably been about 8 tumbles on the trip with the vast majority (all but one) at less than 3km/h. Its always a it upsetting to see someone have a serious “off” like that and it certainly brings in to play the advantages of having a van following to recover the bike and rider. Some shuttling was required to get all the bikes and riders down and I pillioned Aly up to collect one of them.

Still, some more great roads today and some magnificent views. Rest day tomorrow. Morning on a boat and afternoon strolling around the old part of town.

Skhoder (Alabania) to Budva (Montenegro)

Anorther day, another few mountain passes - or at least that's what it felt like. A straightforward ride to the border after gassing up (all the bikes are fuelled at once). The border crossing was reasonably straightforward as they had a "pedestrian lane" which they were happy for the bikes to occupy. From there it was some  more 1.5 lane roads over the mountains and dodging the normal oncoming traffic and road slumps. Some fantastic views though made it well worthwhile!

Zabijak to Shkoder (Albania)

Lots of long sweeping twisties and tunnels today as we decended out if the alpine region to catch the MotoGP coverage at lunchtime then cross the border through to Albania. Big temperature rise today. Was between 32-35 degrees and as luck would have it this was the longerst border crossing experience with them actually wanting you to take our helmet off so they could ID you! All went smoothly though.

After an experience like that keeping up fluids is very necessary. We ate in the hotel and found plenty of cold liquids on offer. Tomorrow we will be getting our first glimpse of the Dammation coast.

Mostar (Bosnia) to Zabljak (Montenegro)

Again it was quite a short journey by the most direct route, but this is where using an experienced tour operator comes in. One of the most spectacular roads of the day was over a mountain pass in the Durmitor National Park. Plenty of motorcyclsits have travelled between these two places,  but I would be decent money that not many have gone the way we did. It was a very narrow road in most paces 2 cars could not pass each other and there were some pretty sheer drops offs in places. Having safely vavigated that, it was off to the hotel and then a nice dinner.

https://youtu.be/B3rEbUyKx_U

Sarajevo to Mostar

More nice windy roads today. It was only 70km from Sarajevo to Mostar, but the trip took us the long way over some windy mountain roads. On arrival we wandered on to the old part of town and examined the Mostar Bridge - the central focus of the town which was of course bombed and badly damaged during the recent war. It has been rebuilt in the original style sonce and is looking spectacular. Tomorrow there is a Red Bull diving competition off the bridge as we are heading out of town to Montenegro....

Exploring Sarajevo

Today was a rest day, but it was a busy one! After breakfast we took a stroll around the old part of the city with a guide. We visted the town hall, many religious buidings and the brewery. When I read about the assasination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand as a youngster I could have never imagined I would stand one day on the very spot it happened. Then it was a trip up the cable car to view the bobsleigh track built in the early 80's for the winter olympics at the cost of 8.5 million US$ before the lastest of many wars gripped the region. Then it was back for a shower, and up to the yellow fort to view the "sunset" (damn cloud was in the way) followed by dinner at the brewery with live music. Not a bad way to spend a day in Sarajevo!