Round 7: Rambling on..

Rob.

Top quality, keep it coming.

Beats a rainy evening in Blighty.
 
Malta to Karlobag

I forgot to post the picture of the Gasthof Hochalmspitze Guard Cat, so here's a wrong righted.

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:beerjug:

For a small fee she will guard your bike as well
 

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A good example of said noise was today whilst making my way south- "I wonder if you can get episodes of Fingerbobs on DVD?"
"Yofi lifts a finger, and a mouse is theerrre.." I sing to myself.
And then I miss a scheduled turn from the Zumo. See what I mean?


Worth £12 right there!
 
Oh it is so good to see you back in the saddle with your fine and detailed reports :D. Brings a joy to my boring working day (or nightshift)

Keep up the good work :beer:
 
Well, I thought I would try the new sport of 'speed bunning' today.

Didn't really have the same appeal heading back form the Midlands on the A14 and A47:(

Couldn't find a coffee house with a decent outlook, and the standard of coffee served - cardboard cups and the liquid contained therein, doesn't even smell of coffee.:barf

Rob, ' I like my coffee ', I'm with you on a decent cup of coffee.:)

I'm trying these guys at the moment : www.pactcoffee.com.
They roast and post within 7 days.

What I drinking at the moment : Colombia La Joyeria #212 (Flavour Melon, Apple, Red Fruit, Cream):drool
 
Thanks again :thumb

Good to know that some of you knew what the hell I was talking about with Fingerbobs :D

Rob, ' I like my coffee ', I'm with you on a decent cup of coffee.:)

I'm trying these guys at the moment : www.pactcoffee.com.
They roast and post within 7 days.

What I drinking at the moment : Colombia La Joyeria #212 (Flavour Melon, Apple, Red Fruit, Cream):drool

Cheers dr.. I reckon I shall be giving them a whirl on return to the UK me thinks! :beerjug:
 
Karlobag to Cavtat

A really very nice sleep. The sun is out.

Breakfast and an early run down the Dalmatian Highway for 45minutes or so before it joins up with the main A1 South. Time to rack up a few miles after the jolity of yesterday.

Packing up the bike and this thing rolls up. Interesting.

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It is early and again the road is very quiet. Excellent.

A small settlement with houses in various states. That's the coast road running right above it.

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A quick break before the motorway. A little boat haven so typical of this coastline.

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Potato spiral. Like potato but spiral. For all your spiral potato needs.

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In not much time I've run out of Adriatic Highway. I do need to keep on going South as I have places to be, so the main A1 motorway calls me. Traffic is light and I can zip along in peace.

With a hundred and change kilometers killed I stop in at a service station. It is very quiet, only couple of cars here, but most enthusiastic staff. Strangely they don't believe the bike holds 30 litres plus so they're squabbling and arguing with each other as though something is wrong. Very animated and terse as is the style around these parts. Not paying the slightest bit of attention to me. But they get the message finally.
I sit for a cappuccino and they still are having plenty of (what I think is) good natured chat with the odd word in English thrown in. They particularly like the word 'garbage'.

Back to the motorway, more general motorway style trundling before finally we're carted off of it due to it not being finished. Bizarrely things go from excellent motorway to a bumpy little back road in the space of a couple of kilometers all guided by Zumo's 'fastest route' setting. In rare fairness to Garmin there's not exactly a bumper choice of roads so if I want to moan can go back to whinging about their looney 'Basecamp' software offering. I think I actually could ride a 300 mile route quicker than I could plot it on that.

Eventually I'm making my way along the coast again and have reached the brief coastal shortcut through Bosnia Herzegovina and Neum. If you're from BiH, don't have a passport and want a seaside holiday then your choices are a) Neum b) Neum or c) Neum.
I have some Bosnian Marks from the currency archive stored in my girly coin purse so stop for a refreshing cola purchased from a sour faced bint.

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A fair run in, traffic around but manageable enough to enjoy takes me past Dubrovnik. Something rather nice out in the bay.

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And in to Cavtat. I roll up at a place called Villa Anka and get a rather nice apartment and a parking place under a grapevine. I'm offered figs and grapes from the owner's son who is especially helpful. I can't recall ever trying plain figs. Mmm, quite nice those. I have had syrup of figs subject of previous woes in the bottle and glass department but I don't think that really counts.

What a gem of a place. I visited on Ramble 1 and it is splendid to return again. Out for a stroll.

Cat closing in on the fishing activities of these two..

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A decent meal and more of a stroll, then sat in a café having a beer or three and reading about the siege of Dubrovnik on the Internet. Not exactly jolly reading but incredible to consider what happened around here in my time.

Just seraching on the web for some information about the town I come across this published on today's Independent on line. Seems they agree with my view then. http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...avtat-is-a-pearl-in-its-own-right-446461.html

Stunning sunset, what?

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The lights of a posh yacht making for a night time aquarium

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Beer of the day: Pan. Even if I did buy it in a plastic bottle like some sixth former on the way to the park.

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:beerjug:
 
wonder how that bit with neum on came about - if it was all croatia at one time

you can buy the little doofer that makes potato spirals for about 3 quid he must be coining it in hehe

very jealous

how the bike coping
 
Cavtat to Himare

I forgot to mention a very top technical tip in my last post. Much is made of having exhausts, remaps and power commanders but If you need to get anywhere faster than normal this can be achieved simply and a good deal more economically by listening to many of the early hits by 'The Stranglers' whilst you are riding. My testing concludes that this adds another 5-15 mph to your average speed depending on track selection. For the very best performance I have a customised version of 'The Collection 1977-82' which includes a lot of the decent tunes that those nitwits at EMI left out.

Anyway. Rambling again.

Today is the big push South. No bunning to be done, just the Speed element. I say Speed- Not mega huge in terms of distance but many obstacles and being well and truly adrift of anything resembling even a dual carriageway time will be needed to roll on the miles.

Cavtat is just a few miles from the Montenegro border. At the Border the queues are long. Towards the front, coaches are packed in tightly to lines against the cars so there's no chance of a cheeky filter to the front, so I join the queue a dozen or so cars back.

Hot. Slow going. The queue behind me now is getting seriously long.

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Hot hot hot. No shade.

Coach load of adjacent gawping Polish tourists.

Hot. Car moves. Push bike a bit. Still hot.

Pretty sharpish I retire the Caberg, attaching it to the side of the pannier and switch to tactical flowery hat.

Hat.

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Ah, at long last, the front of the queue. Phew. Stern faced border man. "Passport" he says. "Green Card" he says. Both are surrendered with an amiable nod.

Passport examined. His eyes narrow and flick between me and my passport.

He points. "You cannot wear that hat in Montenegro".

"You don't like my hat? But it’s a nice hat" I reply with a smile.

He breaks into a broad grin and starts to chuckle.

"No, you must wear motorcycle helmet. It is the law here"

"Ah," I say "No problem" returning the chuckle through the flap.

Aha!! My continued efforts at humour with border folks finally pays a small dividend.

A good job he didn't ask how long I was staying as I probably would have said "I'm here all week" Boom tish.


On we go then. Don't think I ever got a picture of the Montenegro one.

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Over the border and with Petrol I opt for a fill up in a place full of Japanese tourists.

Montenegro Jaffa cake checkpoint but like I say, no bunning today.

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I queue patiently for ages behind his Japanese lady who wants to pay in every currency except the one that works in Montenegro.

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First of all potato in spiral, now cow in petrol station.

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The japanese tourists seem to like this and the cow hospitably loiters and poses for photos until the petrol pump attendant comes and chases it away.

Back to it then eh.

The further south we go the further the driving standard declines. I might have mentioned this before. Back in the UK, we may complain about little old men wearing hats driving around in their Honda Jazz but at least you know to a small degree of certainty what they're going to do eventually. Here, we have no such luck. Cars pull out, turn left and right and generally come and go without warning.

Last time I came through this way I got caught in traffic behind an antique tipper truck and it took ages to get down just a few miles to Kotor Bay- too busy through Herceg Novi to get through the traffic. As if by special order the exact same thing happened, just substitute the tipper for some other veteran Mercedes truck with a load of fencing on it.

The Kotor Bay ferry arrives and for 2 Euros you can save yourself a few miles though scenic around the Bay. I need to get South so I take it. Only two bikes on the ferry, I'm joined by a Serbian KTM. He's the quiet type and I feel the quiet type for the moment so gestures are exchanged and that's that with everyone happy by the looks of it.

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The narrow neck of Kotor bay..

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Continuing South, through Bar. One of two very big churches being built.

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And down to the border crossing. Coffee and Sour Cherry juice just before the border in the town of Sukobin served by some very polite folks.

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Hmmm. I still have some Albanian cash but I can't remember if I'm relatively wealthy or I can afford a packet of Toffos.
 
How long are you lucky enough to be away for this time?
(can you read the jealousy in that sentence :D )
 
Oops. Yep I know pretty tardy. I'd better do something..

How long are you lucky enough to be away for this time?
(can you read the jealousy in that sentence :D )

:D

Not a huge one but not far short of the month so not going to complain.

:beerjug:
 
Albania

I don't think that I finished the last post properly. Ah well never mind.

Cross the border and it's very quiet.

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My border crossing is achieved in under five minutes. It is just touching 30 degrees now so I stop in the shade for a bit. A couple of minutes later another GS comes along. Bloody GS, common as muck. The pilot is a Scottish fella and the bike has a top box as wide as the panniers (no, really). He's off to meet his girlfriend in Greece. He stops briefly looking for insurance. I'd gotten a green card for the trip so had no idea where he might get it as there's not much about here.

I'm spied by some folk far off who are homing in on me to do a spot of begging I reckon, so I'm back on the bike quick and zipping off.

So here we are then back in good old Albania and heading South.

Trundling onwards and I join up with the main road from Shkoder down to Lezhe which is carnage. I'd forgotten just how crazy the motoring can be here. Forget about my mention of Montenegro, that's like Orpington on New Year's Day. Around here it is just a different league. It takes a lot of concentration and care to get along.
When things are spicy here on the road the place isn't for the faint hearted.

Fortunately the traffic at least thins out a touch South of Lezhe and by the time I get around the town of Durres things are getting very quiet. A relief, that is. I head on, on my way to meet a few friends for a bit of downtime at the coast.

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Evening sees an arrival. It's been a hard day but very satisfying.

What to do? Well.

Some of this..

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..And plenty of this

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And a few beers and a glass of the old red Vino…

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And the bill? £7 of the realm to you chief.

In other news my right foot has come up in a cracking selection of spots, some kind of rash. Like bites, but erm, they're not bites. Very odd indeed. What about this then, nice eh?

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OK I know finishing off the post with a picture of a gammy foot isn't exactly from the pages of Glamour magazine, fortunately there is Beer of the day: Tirana Beer. Ice cold, lovely lager.

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:beerjug:
 
Roberto those bites look like bed bugs to me ,I collected similar bites from cheap b+b in St Ives ,gladly they don't seem to like the scrotum area :clap :D:D
 


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