A return to Yugoslavia

The ferry was naturally calm and quite short but managed to grab a good coffee with some rays :cool: Great views and indeed the approach did look very arid indeed, desert like really.
 

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Took a leisurely ride to village, small and very quite now, in peak season maybe busier, not much sign of life - ideal. Our host insisted we sit down and drink coffee while apartment sorted. Adjusted the chain, seemed to have developed a tight spot I didn't much like - keep an eye on that (lubed of course too) Once in and unloaded we rode up to nearest sizable town to get supplies as rain was forecast. Got back just before it started.

Host insisted we go and join him for drinks again, we did - in pouring rain now, timed that right - due to improve tomorrow he says as we sit and drink half a bottle of homemade (not by him) apricot brandy - very nice it was too :friday

I wasn't going to miss out on a dip so had a swim in pouring rain while Bev choose to stand under brolly. Later that night a biblical thunder and lightning storm rolled in. Before there was any thunder I was woken by the lightning - the whole room was lit up almost constantly, quite unbelievable - took ages for the thunder and never got closer than four miles - probably the mainland, the sort of storm we just never get in the UK - damn impressive and bloody pleased to be a) off bike & b) not in a tent.
 

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Next day did indeed dawn beautiful with clear skies and hot...how can that happen :eek:

A day of exploration with a trip to the far north end at Lun which was very pleasant with some fantastic quiet little harbours along with larger resorts (that we didn't explore), some minor off road tracks to chapels and then a trip down to the town of the islands name Pag for a great lunch in the old salt houses - the salt pans are still there and working just to the south of the town.

Returning we decided to try a white road on the opposite side of the bay from where we were staying. We needed juice and I just thought we'd swing by Novalja a sizeable place on way back.
The road got narrow, lost the tarmac and some of its direction and choices had to made. There were a few tricky sections...all the time I was aware we were on 'low' fuel wise, much preferred to continue rather than maybe turn back as further away. After a few focused points on some looser stuff we came to a large berm just beyond a road closed sign :eek:

Bev dismounted and had a look and reckoned it was OK to get over. I know the Wee doesn't have huge ground clearance but does have fantastic slow speed running so proceeded with caution. Phew, managed it. A bit further things improved and then we were back to tarmac. We saw a sign at the other end that indicated what we hadn't seen at the start. Our host told us later it used to be a good road but got washed out and closed a few years ago. All part of the fun ;)

When back we just had time to wander round the corner - 5 minutes away, to our own lovely little beach for a quick swim in the sunset. Bev likes collecting stones and shells and had made the same discover I had. I'd put a nice tapered shell in my shorts pocket then noticed another one move. Bloody hell, hermit crab. Could have been a surprise in my pocket! :rolleyes:

The owner invited us to finish another bottle and we were talking about the previous nights weather and we heard the first mention on the 'Bora'. He mentioned if that wind blows it's a serious matter, filed away without a thought :augie
 

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Moving on towards Paklenica National Park - somewhere I had been very impressed with in '88, first though down to the bottom of the island of Pag and across the connecting bridge and before even that, a brief ride south on the road from Zubovici to Metajna.

A beautiful day again and I'd got quite a sweat on loading up - had to shower before we left! Metajna is definitely somewhere we'd go back too, bigger than Zubovici but still quite small and really idyllic bay - that water was so bloody inviting!

Anyway had to turn back (as no way off this side of island) after looking at the beach on the other side of hill to south...now that landscape is moon like and arid, now that's the Pag they talk about!

The front of my SLR had fallen off a couple of days back - weird. Over years - lets blame the BM! :p - 6 micro screws had shaken loose and the whole front glass and ring fell off! Using the micro screw that counters into the corkscrew on the Swiss I'd managed to fix it, needs replacing as had a hard life this camera and is showing it. Still takes good pictures though!

The bridge at south is opposite an old fort and photogenic (especially if you are / were / are? a civil engineer, I'm not a civil one!), another fantastic example on the way homewards at Krk Island.

Stopped off at another idyllic harbour at -I think- Vinjerac for a coffee before heading for Starigrad just about across the water. Only 88 miles ride to our next apartment so relaxed. £23 a night for a full place with kitchen and the works, choice of two balconies and another seating are besides. Brilliant. We'd actually been upgraded as hadn't realised most apartments shared a kitchen, but one had its own - we had the choice so went for the en suite kitchen option, no more expensive so great.

Looking forward to some walking and some nature.
 

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Thanks for posting that lot, I’ve been to a couple of those places and looking at your pictures reminded me that I should do it all again.
 
Saturday 28th Sept - off the bike, so a rest day surely... :augie

We'd booked three night's as it was the w/e and I guessed Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights would give us plenty of time and make sure we had a decent base - ticked that box already. I'd gone on-line to buy tickets to the park, with hindsight not sure why as no signs of any queues any day and only 30p cheaper each...and a total pain in the arse to suss out. So, don't bother - roll up and buy and continue. £6.50 p/p

In '88 I got up early, rode in and walked off, I was too early for the staff. They start at 6am now so you can forget that - very popular place no, mainly down to climbing. I'd met some Austrian climbers who offered me a go in '88 but I'd (stupidly) backed out. The 80's was a boon time for climbing standards and loads of hard routes went up in UK but 'we' never bolted. On the continent it was bolts all the way. Anyway that's the history, today the place is covered in routes of all ability and people come from far and wide to crag, there are also some huge 10 pitch routes on the massive face of Anića kuk, anyway no climbing, walking!

We were off up to Manita Pec, a cave a relatively (compared to many options) nearby. Changed into shorts and trainers and rode the short 2kms to the entrance. No a great one for restricted safety wear on the bike but it was really only just round the corner - hang on, don't most accidents happen near your home? Well, only one of mine has been - the yacht incident certainly wasn't outside our house!

The ticket office very helpfully took our helmets for safekeeping and we rode pre-70's style up to the top of the parking good 1 or 2kms further up, helpful! Parking cost £1.20 and worth it for the saved walk...especially at end of the day.

It's a beautiful park, the big thing is it's karst limestone, hence climbing. I remembered from '88 that it was quite unique, far more aggressive than say Malham Tarn - in places (see slide scan picture earlier) the water has dissolved the upward facing veins into serrated sharp edges - I wouldn't give much for your chances of falling face first into one of them - it digs aggressively into your hands if you stubble and put your hand out suddenly.

The walk up to the cave wasn't too bad (he says) as it wasn't yet too hot. The cave itself was closed until a decent group size had assembled. However the guard gave us the option to wait and have a tour, or go on our own. Again, his English was absolutely faultless. We chose the 'on our own' so we could move off afterwards on our own rather than with a crowd coming out of the cave.
 

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Very impressive cave - worth a visit ( about £7 for two, cash at entrance) and we enjoyed our time there. Queried with him the option of continuing up the mountain behind and going via a loop back to the bike.

Set out on that and in summary some tricky bits to traverse and ascend / descend but nothing too taxing, bit more than 'walking' though. I bagged the optional peak of Vidakov Kuk which was a bit more exposed while Bev waited. It was definitely warm now! Our water would gradually disappear as we continues on the loop back.
 

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Highlight of the natural beauty of the park was the wildlife.

Wherever we go, here, there, anywhere, we're always interested in the wildlife and landscape, from insects to eagles, plants to rocks - it can all be interesting and often what's a few feet or inches in front of you is more interesting than what's further away - wouldn't get far on the bike on that basis though...the first corner probably! :eek:

We where out on our little jaunt for some time, just past a working day. We'd not been rushing but it was a taxing enough 'walk' - I suspect Bev thought 'he's done it again', 'how did I fall for it again' by the time we were back after 8 hours, even I was quite grateful for the fact we had no further to go.

If you're ophiophobic don't look at the pictures below or read this next bit - too late! :augie

What made it all worthwhile was what we saw though, the second half of the walk threw up wildlife aplenty. From lustrous beetles to lizards, praying mantises and even a snake. The latter non-poisonous, not that we knew at the time mind. I think generally if they're colourful they 'less' likely to be poisonous...well....maybe not a Coral Snake or kraits or green mamba, but in Europe the dodgy ones are usually brown like our Adder, 2 vipers in this part of the world and neither brightly marked.

If you don't like snakes then obviously you won't like any, but the one we saw ahead of us on the path was a lovely specimen, very long, very wiry and very beautifully marked at its head end. Found out afterwards it was a Dahl's whip snake, not poisonous but still losing out to man's activities. Very pretty thing and we managed to watch for quite a while before it decided maybe we were a threat and sped off in a mighty impressive manner through the grass - and if you don't like snakes that's the sort of thing that would put the willies through you. I guess it's so named because it's tapered and thin and speeds off like a whip.

We came across another praying mantis a bit later, while I was zooming in with Bev's compact on macro I didn't realise I was so close. I crapped myself when the subject lunged and grabbed the camera. urgghhh. :eek: Impressive though!

Final picture is that karsk limestone mentioned. The red and white marks are the path markers - another thing we 'reject' in UK ('people who can't map-read shouldn't be in the countryside' they say - not sure I agree), but used mainland continent wide and very useful.

By the time we got to the bike we were fairly knackered - happy to have paid for the parking to save a few kms. Collected our helmets for the final 2 kms and picked up some shopping. I took to the shoreline all of 200 metres or so from the apartments for a fantastic quick dip in the sunset while Bev rustled up tea - we wouldn't need no rocking tonight!
 

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Sunday was another ticket and a more relaxed visit. Ishh.. :augie my poor wife :D

An abundance of climbers out, lots of short but tough routes as well as well as easier ones, a great place for a long w/e break for any UK climbers reading - I just assume you can get a cheap flight, hire a car and bring 4 people and gear here very reasonably. I know I'd like to!

Some pics of the entrance walls with climbers on, easy access and I assume you can just get on with it like in UK, but didn't check.
 

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The other pics are of the absolutely massive face of Anića kuk. Bev's compact has a magnificent zoom so I've circled the area where the picture of climbers are. Apparently it takes around 2.5hrs to climb these routes, some are 10 pitches in length...good view I suspect, and hopefully not to many snakes!

For no apparent reason the images are now loading in reverse order :blast so start at bottom pic and work up - that zoom is staggering really, good 500m (at least) away on other side of valley. :thumb2
 

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Only one more thing to do after returning :D

Boy do I miss that :( now, bloody hell does it rain over here :mad:

Next up, a trip back to Senj for a few days via Tesla and bears :rolleyes: a HUGE storm :( and then a ruggeded ride home

Hang in there :popcorn
 

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Great read & stunning photos, thanks Fritz :beerjug:

Been as far south as Senj but ran out of time. Really need to go back & do a bit more....
 
Thanks for posting that lot, I’ve been to a couple of those places and looking at your pictures reminded me that I should do it all again.

And so you should ;) as we should even though we've just come back :thumb. Reminded me just how good it is and not that far really , though maybe we'll overlook our return journey...which we'll have to as it's not posted yet :D
 
Tesla, Bears and a return to Senj

Monday 30th Sept, 145miles Another pack up and off, heading back towards where we'd been, but a different route and then -in theory - more leisurely homeward.

I'd been idly browsing TripAdvisor - a first in the trip - and spotted a couple of points of interest if we went inland rather than back up coast road.

Just before we'd left we saw "The Current War" which wasn't about killing people (well) but was about the race to establish voltage on household electricity. By chance one character who featured was Nikola Tesla a Serbo-Croat who went to the US and helped pioneer many electrical works. And yes his is the name that the well known car electric manufacturer took. It turned out he was from nearby and in smiljan near Gospic is a new(ish) museum in his honour. We decided to tie that and a bear sanctuary into a route back to Senj

Have I mentioned how good he coast road is... :augie interesting sign on way :eek:

We took the '25' up into the mountains, got pretty chilly without liners in by near top and looked like it might rain - luckily didn't. No surprise another superb twisty road, but inland Croatia was quite different, more like going into Poland or somewhere rather than the seaside nature we'd mainly seen. Looked like more fantastic walking country with parks lots of hostels and like and wonderful scenery. We were probably just too early to see the autumn colours that would have been spectacular in a couple of weeks, nice as it was.

Very rural and pastoral, still some ladies in black headscarves and gap toothed farmers, but nothing like '88, things have (unsurprisingly) moved on hugely.

On the coast road we'd meet droves of bikers, generally GS and KTM mounted road warriors, but with a smattering of 'travellers' coming back from further afield and a few squadrons of sports bikes. Inland. Nowt! hardly any traffic full stop.

Sadly the Tesla Museum was closed, had a lot of new work done and I'm sure well worth a visit if hereabouts, but as is a common thread - Monday's are closed days following the w/e openings. I hadn't see that on the details I read, but it's a pretty common thing on continent etc. Shame. Off for the bears.
 

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We took another white road, but turned after a few miles as was washed out and not looking good if we pressed on. The tar roads were extremely small anyway so enjoyable. Finally found the bear sanctuary village but the road was closed as re-laying it. I carried on up as no-one stopped us and then the road workers stopped us where they were actually laying and when I explained were we were trying to get to they pointed at a bit of the old road we could use. Got past that but other end blocked by rollers etc - a nearby resident shouted a driver over and they very helpfully obliged and I Squeezed through :thumb

The village of Kuterevo is where you'll find the bear sanctuary and worth the effort. Bit hippyish in set-up, but no harm in that, it's all about caring. We rode up, parked up and wandered up to some enclosures - no one about but I'd read it was volunteer run and no charge so just explored.

We were lucky when we arrived as there was one adult bear chomping on a cabbage when we got to the very large comfortable (compared to what these animals have suffered before getting here anyway) enclosure. Bruno was discovered languishing in a 5Ft by ft cage behind a bar, poor bastard. He'd been there 40yrs. :(

Now I don't know about you, but I just guessed European bears would be about the size of a human crouching...considerably smaller than American bears and pretty few in number :nenau

Well, we discovered that wasn't quite the case, these are BIG bloody bears - I guess pretty similar size to their American cousins, quote "The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the world's most widely distributed species of bear that is found throughout large parts of North America and Eurasia. The brown bear and its sister species, the polar bear, are regarded as one of the two biggest terrestrial carnivores living in the world today"

Aye, there it is then, wrong!

So to second part, apparently there are around 1200 bears in Croatia...yes...just Croatia. So not that rare really & if you are off the beaten track....in a wood...you might just conceivably surprise one. :eek: Glad I didn't know that on day one in Croatia. Please take note of size of paws and claws! :eek:

These details we found out when we went down to what I guess you'd call the visitor center. Met the bloke who'd set it up and several volunteers came up to talk to us, many French, then one says to another, 'you should maybe speak to these as they are English'. 'I know' she says, 'how' he says 'by the GB on their number plate'. Blimey this lass speaks good English I think. Well she would wouldn't she, from Leeds! Told us the back story and then we went to the other enclosures were three younger bears where, well, they were younger, but two looked pretty full sized to me. Spent ages just watching them too.

Bears have such serene small soft looking eyes (I'd not be fooled by the way!) and you imagine all sorts looking into them somewhere like here - this lot have had hard lives and won't ever get into the wild, not been taught the life skills they'd need. For some reason the nearby hamlets dogs started barking and all the bears pricked up their ears - aware that could spell trouble in past I suspect. Interestingly I went back down on myself with Bev's phone to take a picture to send home and for whatever reason the big bear stood up on his hind legs (Christ! :eek:) made a wild whistling noise and all three hightailed into the bushes. I must just have reminded him of some past bad experience.

A very worthy place, more here https://kuterevo.wordpress.com/bears/ and if you feel like it you can gift them but I haven't been able to find out how. We gave them something in Euros before we left. If down this way well worth a visit and worth supporting.
 

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Route on to Senj easy and great, down to second gear quite often so twisty - but great surface and virtually no traffic. Stopped off for a coffee and look at chain as it was sounding awful. Seemed pretty slack again so adjusted and lubed. Me no likee! :(

Back to Senj and back to the place we'd stayed before - this time a slightly cheaper apartment down stairs, older but still fully equipped and immaculate - about £20 a night too.
 

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