Kraljevica to Senj. Another day of spectacular Croatian coastline.

 Last night at the campsite was sitting down at the beach talking to some young Aussie guys over a cappuccino.The photo above was taken on sunset.  The campsite was a bit roudy last night with people and their torches flashing our tents to all hours of the night. And that affected my sleep. 

We got up at 6.15 to start packing up the gear.  Breakfast was muesli, yogurt and a banana to get us on our way.  Once again we started with a climb and then a steep descent onto the shore of the Sea. The only bad thing about this descent was it was the wrong way again, that meant we had to ride back up the hill.  The hill ended at he commencement of the expressway onto the island of Krk which we were not allowed to enter with bicycles. 

We rolled along for the early part of the morning with a couple of good climbs and then down to the sea.  This happened time after time until it was the Aussie morning tea break.  With a couple of nice treats and a cappuccino it was exactly what the doctor ordered.  We were ready again for more mountain climbing. There was one stage that we had to take our time due to roadworks and this slowed us up big time. Waiting for the light to turn green on the side of mountain in 40 degree heat was unbearable, but at least the scenery was just spectacular.

 The photo above was taken during our lunch break today.

 The photo above was taken whilst rounding another bend looking down into the Adriatic Sea.  This is the view we get to see every minute of the day.  Now that's hard to take.

 At the end of the day we rolled into the town of Senj and found a booking agency for apartments.  We were shown this nice place up on the hill overlooking the sea and for 40 Euro I thought that's a bargain.  The photo above was taken shortly after arriving in town.  We headed straight for the water and dived in with all the other whales.

The above photo shows Peter with his cap on cooling off after another hot day in the saddle.

Tonight we're going to walk back down the hill into town and get some dinner.  Might even have a swim.  Tomorrow's breakfast will be on the balcony looking out over the sea.  Just like at home.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Brsec to Camping Ostro, Kraljevica.

Last night I slept on the floor and Peter had the double bed.  I used my roll out mat and slept pretty good.  I could have had my own room but I thought there was no way I was going to pay 50 Aussie dollars for a bed in a room with no TV or Air con.  We woke nice and early and were on the bikes by 7.30am for a short ride.  Yesterday was 75kms in unbearable heat with mountains to climb.

The first part of the ride was downhill for about 5kms.  The interesting thing about the ride was that after about 2kms there was a sign for a camping ground.  Shortly after that sign there was another sign for another camping ground.  So much for good advice yesterday on accommodation in the area. 

We rolled along and entered the town of Rijeka at the 35km mark.  We found a nice coffee house and had a good hour break out of the sun. As we left Rijeka I kind of got our route wrong.  Well I never admit to making a mistake but I did lead Peter and I onto the major expressway, if that could be a mistake. 

The cars, trucks and buses flew past at 100kph and we had no shoulder to ride on.  We were stuck on the highway until we could find an exit.  We entered tunnels from 250 metres to over 2kms long.  It was slightly scary to say the least. I had to put my headlight on so the vehicles could see me. I could the vehicles screaming up from behind whilst in the tunnel and it was probably the most dangerous riding of the tour thus far.  We did manage to find the exit point at Bakar and were treated to about 10kms downhill to a small village where we regrouped and decided it was time for lunch. 

Lunch was on the shore of the Adriatic watching all the swimmers enjoying their holiday season. Peter decided to jump in and have dip with his riding shorts on, I stayed and minded the bikes.

 The photo above is of the town where we had our lunch break.

 The photo above is at the top of one of many climbs today.  You can just make out the expressway bridges in the distance that we rode on.  Not again.

The photo above is of the shipping port of Rijeka.

After lunch we rolled on to the town of Kraljevica and headed for camping Ostro on the shore of the Adriatic Sea.  It was only 1.30pm and we had ridden 60kms but we wanted an early day for a change and to have a swim.  We found the campsite, pitched the tent and spent the next hour laying in the Sea.  It was so refreshing. 

Tonight Peter is going to make dinner which is always an excellent meal, and I'm going to fine tune our route and distance for tomorrow.  That's my job.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Back in Croatia. Pula to Brsec. What a scorcher.

After arriving late in camp and eating later, we got to bed at midnight.  This campsite is amazing, it's like a rich mans' refugee camp.  People are packed in so close to each other, when I rolled over in my tent I had to be careful not to cuddle the person next door.  Although she was attractive.

 The photo above and below are of the Amphitheatre in the centre of Pula, Croatia.

After packing up the tent we headed down into town to check out an old church and to see the 1 BC amphitheatre in the centre of Pula.  Now the Romans do get around Europe and their footprint has been firmly placed in this seaside town.  I took a couple of photos and then headed out of Pula along the 66 highway to Rijeka.  We had no intentions of reaching Rijeka as we wanted to stop shortly after lunch and swim the afternoon away.

The first 30kms of the ride was all uphill at a gradient of around 4-5 %.  By 10am the garmin showed 40 degrees.  It was hot and humid and all uphill.  We were just tapping along at a good pace and trying to reach the coast of the Adriatic to have a swim.  The distance was not on our minds today, it was just time to go for a swim.

The 2nd climb of the day was a cracker of 8kms at 9%-12%.  We had little shade from the trees and no matter how much water we were drinking it wasn't enough.  At the top of the 2nd climb it was time to roar down into the valley below.  The wind had picked up and now we were doing it real tough.  With a couple of small villages to entertain us, and a few more drink stops, it was time for lunch in the small Croatian village of Labin. Once again we were treated to tuna and tomato sandwiches. 

After lunch we pushed on and came to another climb.  This was about 7kms with a better gradient.  By the time we reached 1/2 way up the mountain we got our first glimpses of the mighty Adriatic Sea.

 We finally got to the top of the climb around 3pm and now all we had to do was find some accommodation.  The photo below was a photo of one of the many villages we rode through today.  It's riding through villages that makes this tour worth every cent. 

We came to the town of Brsec and asked a couple of people for a room, all to no avail.  Finally I asked a group of old men drinking coffee for a room.  After a couple of phone calls we were taken to a small home where momma invited us in.  After she fleeced us for one room with a double bed for 30 Euro, I had to consider sleeping with Peter on the double bed or pulling out the roll out mat and sleeping on the floor.

After a nice shower we went for dinner and ate like Trojans.  From where I'm sitting typing out the story I can look out and see the Adriatic Sea.  This place is just spectacular to sit and relax on a summer's evening with not a worry in the world. 

Tomorrow we have no idea how far we'll ride or where we'll end up.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

How do you hold up an international cruise. I did.

Peter made a great dish of tortellini, salami and a very special sauce for dinner last night.  Again the night was just as hot as the day, so we went and sat out the front of the camping ground and just chatted some time away before retiring for the evening.  My tent was a mess and I needed to do some cleaning before I could lie down.  I had a great night’s sleep and woke around 7am. 

Now we were in no rush today as we had everything planned and we still had our ferry pass from yesterday to use.  This was a great idea to purchase a 36 hour ticket for 25 Euro. For breakfast we had muesli, banana, and a cup of coffee.

I slowly packed up my tent and loaded the bike for the 1km ride to the port of Punta Sabionni.  But first we still had plenty of time before we boarded the 5.15pm ferry to Pula in Croatia.  Now that’s another story in itself.  We went to the Wifi room, did some research on accommodation and checked out the intended route for the next couple of days.

It was now time to go and catch the first ferry to Lido.  This took about 30 minutes and we had no problem with getting the bikes on as the ferry only had about 20 people on board.  After arriving in Lido Saint Maria we rode down to the cafe where we had a snack yesterday and once again had another snack of cake and coffee.  We sat down with the coffee set and looked real cool with all the locals.

The next stage was a 5 minutes ride up the road to find the port of Lido Saint Nicolas.  This was a ferry port for the transfer of cars to and from the mainland of Italy.  We got on board with our bicycles and we were off again for another and perhaps the last ferry ride in Italy.  The ferry took us to the port of San Basillio which is still on the island of Venice but around the other side of the island.  You are not permitted to ride your bicycle on certain parts of the island so we had to catch 2 ferries.   

After riding over the bridge and through a Police check point, we were permitted to enter the harbour. We made our way to the customs waiting area and just relaxed the afternoon away talking to some young Aussie tourists and doing some more waiting.

Check in for the ferry commenced around 3.30pm, so Peter and I got in line to get our ticket and present our bicycles for inspection.  We were told to take our bikes with us and head towards the security screening process.  This is just like the screening at any airport in the world.  Because we had 4 panniers, tents and tarp on each bike they told us to push the bikes through and didn’t worry about the scanning process.  Then we were called back to go back through the scanner, take our panniers off, and tent, and handlebar bag and put them through the scanning process. This is where all the fun begun.  By the time I got through the scanner I was asked if I had a knife.  Of course I have a knife, I’m camping.  The problem I had was it was one hell of a knife, with folding blade.  The line behind us was long and getting longer because of what we had to do and it was taking up a lot of time.  

So I was pulled aside and asked for my passport and this was taken to the Police check point about 10 metres ahead of me.  I couldn’t go anywhere and was told to wait for the Police.  Now I was thinking what was the worst thing they could do to me, whip me, put me in goal, or fine me?  After about 10 minutes of waiting with my bike and gear, I was told to come forward ahead of everyone and speak to the Police Officer. 

I went into the air conditioned room and started talking to one of the 2 police officers that were doing all the police checks on people wanting to get onto my ship.  I had the undivided attention of one officer and that meant the tourists had 1 officer to do the checking.   We talked about the knife and why I had it, and he told me it should have gone on checked baggage. I explained the situation and he was fine with my excuse.  I also requested if he could speak to the ship’s master and see if he could carry it for me and I’ll pick it up off him when we get to Croatia.  Sure, no problem. I was given a piece of paper and told to collect the knife when I get off the ship.  

I took about 15 minutes talking to the police officer about my job, Peter’s job and he was rather impressed.  He told me had been to Sydney in 2000 and participated in the 800 metres finals of the running.  I shook his hand and called him a legend.  He wished me all the best in my journey and I headed towards the ship. 

Due to my little encounter with the Police and holding up the whole process, the ship left Venice 15 minutes late.  But it was pretty cool to shake hands with an Olympian runner from Italy.

Now we’re still on the ship heading to Pula, so when we arrive I hope to find some accommodation, post the story and go to bed.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Post blog. We finally arrived at Camp Stoija in Pula, Croatia at around 10pm.  Not good, but the other option was far too expensive.  We settled in like all Aussie do, we made ourselves at home.  The place is loaded with tourists and we should be moving on by 10am tomorrow.  The cruise was good and the sea was smooth as can be.

Now it's time for bed.

 I took the above photo whilst catching the car ferry to San Basillio port.

I took the above photo today.  Notice the haze has gone and the picture is much clearer.

Good night Australia.

A day in Venice.

 Today we caught the ferry from Punta Sabionni to Venice to check out the place I once visited with Graciella in 1982. When you look at all the photos I posted you will see the heat haze that was with us all day.  The temperature was over 40 degrees C, and the humidity was worse.  It was a tough day to out in the sun when we were  on a so called 'rest day'.

It was nice just walking around the alley ways of Venice, sipping coffee with the other tourists.  The amount of tourists lining up to enter churches and museums was mind boggling.  We arrived on the island around 9am and the people were already lined up for 200 metres.  I gave that a big flick.  I just wanted to wonder around the town.

 The photo above shows some of the water craft making their way along the Grand Canal.  Peter and I took a trip on the river craft up and down the canal for an hour.  It gave us time out of the sun and an opportunity to take some photos from the canal. The water was OK, but I was surprised with the amount of graffiti on the walls in some alleys.

 The photo above is of St Marks Square.  This is probably the quietest you will ever see the place.

 The photo above shows one of the huge cruise liners that frequent the city of Venice with it's billion tourists on board.  It's amazing how that huge ship made it's way into such a tight fit.

 The photo above shows one of the canals you can take a gondola on.  I was not prepared to pay 80 Euro to go for a boat trip with Peter up a canal with some Italian singing songs I couldn't understand.

The photo above shows the scores of Gondola's waiting for business.

After walking around Venice, Peter and I took another ferry to the island of Murano.  Graciella and I had visited the glass factory in 1982 and I wanted to see it all again.  The thing now is, that there's a hundred glass blowing factories all over the island.  We took a brief look and moved on.

With the afternoon getting on, and both of us wanting to call it quits, we got back on the ferry and returned to Punta Sabionni.  I headed off to the beach for some whale watching and Peter chilled out around the campsite.

Tomorrow we start the journey to Pula, Croatia.  We have have to catch 2 ferries to reach the major port in Venice. The ship leaves at 5pm and should get to Croatia by 9pm same day.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Possagno to Venice. 115kms. Perhaps the wrong way.

Paul Wolfe turned up to the hotel to pick us up for dinner.  He worked it out who is was going to meet by some of the strange things I had said to his wife earlier on in the day.  None the less, we were taken to a special restaurant where we dined on fish, spaghetti , wine for some and water for myself.  We met Paul's friends, Simon, his wife and daughter.  They come from LA and spend time over in Possagno each year riding in the mountains.  We had a fantastic night, eating great food and Paul and Christine spoilt us in being the perfect guests.  They dropped us back at the hotel around 10.30pm where we said our goodbyes and hoping that one day we will meet again.  As I always say, 'never say never'.

 The photo was taken last night after dinner with Peter, Christine and Paul Wolfe.  A fabulous night.

 The photo was taken yesterday whilst walking the village of Cunial with Jan Carlo.

 I took the above photo whilst searching for the headstone of my father in law's brother.

 I took the above photo yesterday during our sightseeing of the surround villages near Possagno.

 The photo of the above bust is a self made bust by Antonio Canova. He also has an airport named after himself.

 Today's ride started at 7am and finished around 3pm.  We covered the 115kms at an average of 22kph.  Now that's not a bad record for the tour.  We travelled on good flat roads with quite a deal of traffic.  Stopping occasionally for coffee and treats. The weather was beautiful and this remained all the way to Camping Miremare near Venice.

The above photo was taken whilst having a swim in the Adriatic after our long ride.  Scenery was not too bad either.

 When we set up home we do int in style.  I put up the Aussie flag and some rope.  No one is allowed to enter.  That's Peter in the photo preparing dinner.  I told him I can't cook for shit and don't like getting my hands dirty.

 The above photo was taken yesterday of a 12th Century church in Possagno.  They use the church once a year for a special event.

The above photo shows Jan Carlo walking amongst the columns of Canova's temple in Possagno.

Our day ended pretty good today.  We made it to camp and had the tents set up by 3.30pm.  Enough time to catch the bus up the road and go for a swim.  Peter made a great dish for dinner and now we're planning our day out in Venice and how to get to Croatia.  We were thinking of going to Rome, but time is against us. 

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Possagno Day 2.

Today is suppose to be a rest day, but like all good plans, sometimes I just throw them out the window.  After another ordinary night of heat and traffic noise, I rose at 7am.  I did set my alarm for 9am, but that didn't work out.

Peter and I went down stairs for breakfast which consisted of a croissant and a cappuccino.  Now that's not enough for 2 athletes, but since we were not riding today we could get away with it.  We had arranged for Jan Carlo to pick us up at 10.30am this morning to go on a sightseeing adventure.  As if we haven't had enough adventure yet on this tour.  As usual my day always seem to find other encounters out of the blue.

Now this is a true story.  Whilst standing on the corner with Peter, Jan Carlo just turned up.  This attractive female cyclist of around 60 years happen to ride past and stop at the stop sign.  I called out, 'eh, do you know me'?   She replied, 'is that you Terry?'  Sure is Christine.  This lady is Christine Wolfe the wife of Peter Wolfe who I met during the Cairo to Capetown bicycle tour in 2011.  She and Paul live about 3 kms from where Peter and I are staying.  Christine was one of the group that was held up and robbed at gun point during the tour.  I arranged for Christine to bring Paul to the hotel for dinner tonight and also to tell him he was going to meet someone famous.  Yeh, that's me.  I'm really looking forward to seeing his face when we meet.

Now for the rest of the day.  We went driving all over Possagno and surrounding districts visiting the house where my father in law lived and also the Cunial family village.  We visited churches, villages, met more people and ended up in the Dolomites visiting Tony and Graciella Cunial for the last time on this tour.  We then returned back to check out Canova's temple in Possagno.  This is a major attraction in the region.  Very briefly, the temple is set 342m above sea level.  Canova's Temple stands as a magnificent neoclassical building at the foot of Col Draga hill.  It is surrounded by a cobble stone paving displaying an elegant geometric pattern and seated on three ascending levels, designed by the architect Guiseppe Segusini.

The building's design is a combination of 3 distinct architectural elements:  the colonnade as in Athens's Parthenon; the round body as in Rome's Pantheon; the apsidal chapel.  These three elements are mean to symbolize the three main phases of civilization: the Greek, the Roman and the Christian.

The Temple was designed in several stages by Canova between 1804 and 1818; Pietro Bosio  and Luigi Rossini helped him with drawings and he was also assisted by Gianantonio Selva and Antonio Diedo.  On July 11th 1819 the first stone was laid, amid great celebrations in the village, led by Canova and the local authorities.  The expense of the building was sustained almost entirely by the artist himself.  The whole local community took part in the work providing voluntary labours and also part of the materials needed in the construction.

Canova died on October 13th, 1822, when building had just started, but in his will entrusted to his half brother Sartori the completion of the work that had meant so much to him.

So we ended up going out for dinner with Paul and Christine Wolfe and their friends.  We had a fabulous time and it was so nice to catch up after the Cairo to Capetown bike ride.  They invited us to come and stay at their home but we had to decline.  The tour must go on to Venice tomorrow.

 I took the above photo in the cemetery in Possagno.  It's the headstone of my father in law's brother.

 The photo above was taken inside the Canova Temple in Possagno.

The photo above shows Betilla in the crowd being greeted by the Pope.

I wanted to post more photos, but unfortunately the WiFi is very slow.  I hope to post more tomorrow when I reach Venice.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.