Slovenia and Croatia

Dave.

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I figured folk might still be interested in a write-up of this trip with Adriatic Moto Tours
http://www.adriaticmototours.com/

We arrived at Ljubljana late afternoon on a flight via Frankfurt. The countryside was beautiful as we came into land - little villages dotted amongst woods and fields beneath the Alps.

A taxi arranged by the tour company picked us up for the 30 min drive to our hotel in town - a nice 4 star called Hotel Lev (Lev means Lion apparently). A 5-10 min walk took us into the old town which is absolutely lovely.

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There are lots of excellent bars and restaurants and from the number of them this place must get really busy during the high season.

In the morning we had time to explore some of the sites before we met the rest of the tour party for a briefing, short "familiarisation ride" and dinner later on.

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The tour starts properly the following day ...

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Unfortunately the weather didn't look too good for the first couple of days ...

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... so I was looking forward to testing out the Klim Overland suit that I got with this trip in mind (even if I wouldn't be doing this kind of thing) ...

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On day 1 in Ljubjana we took a walk up to the castle and did their "Time Machine" tour where various actors described different eras in the castle's history - very good!

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The weather was beautiful and the views from the top were spectacular

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Then we had lunch down by the river before heading off to meet the rest of our tour group and collect our bikes

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At nearly 2 hrs the tour group "briefing" at the hotel turned out to be more of a "long-ing" but in fairness I guess the guide was just being very thorough as he had no idea of the backgrounds of anyone in the group. He covered group riding etiquette, the drop-off system, local traffic rules, road signed, official and unofficial speed limits etc etc.

The group all seem very nice. Stuart and Thelma are a retired couple in their late 60s from Ipswich who do LOADS of riding at home and all over Europe on a Bandit. They are hiring a Suzuki V-Stom over here. There are two American chaps, Ken and Dennis, who have hired very different bikes from what they are used to - one is a Harley rider renting a new Honda Africa Twin and the other rides a Honda CRF 250 at home and has a F800 GS over here. Then there is Brett who has a 1200 GS Adventure and a Hypermotard at home and is hiring a 1200 GS over here for him and his wife who is pretty inexperienced as a pillion just like my Mrs. Next there is Todd and his Mrs from Canada who are on a 1200RT just like he has at home (but she doesn't usually go on the back either) and finally there is Wayne the Aussie. Wayne knows everything, has done everything, been everywhere, ridden everything and likes to tell everyone including the tour guides why they should do everything the way he knows is best. Having met him I now know what "Wayne" is short for. Still, he did announce that he wouldn't be riding with everyone else because after 55 years of biking he hates riding in groups and prefers to go his own way at his own pace. Thank God for that - though having met his type before I remarked to Mrs H that he'd probably change his tune and ride with us nevertheless.

Anyway's - here's our bike when we went to collect it. I have christened her Aretha because she is a big old girl and she is black :)

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We picked up the bikes and did a short familiarisation ride. I found the bike a bit tall, even with the seat in the lowest position but Brett gave me a tip about putting the suspension into soft mode as you come to a halt. This lowers the suspension just enough for a me.

In the evening the tour company had organised dinner at Ljubjana castle which was very nice. We took the fenicular up the hill and complementary taxis back :)

I must say I'm impressed with the tour company's organisation and service. Stuart has been with loads of companies and says this is the best. It's his second time with them and they gave him a jacket as a present today.

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We woke up for the first day of riding, to heavy rain as forecast. I didn't mind too much as I was looking forward to testing out my new Klim gear and Mrs H was looking very fetching in her new fluorescent yellow waterproof jacket which she bought from the tour company. After breakfast our bags were loaded into the support van and we had a short briefing before setting off.

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This was our route for the first full day of riding.

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It was torrential so I had the bike set to rain mode and soft suspension. I was very impressed by the GS in those conditions. It's a really nicely balanced bike - I couldn't imagine anything better for those conditions. I've never ridden a bike with electronic modes before and I can definitely see the advantages for two-up touring like this.

The journey was great fun, even though the fantastic scenery was mostly shrouded in cloud and mist. The tour company provided all the bikes with GPS, pre-loaded with the routes but I stayed with Talin, the tour guide, and we were first to arrive at the hotel in Plitvice National Park.

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It was still raining when we arrived in Plitvice at 4pm but we were only staying one night so we had to get out there and see the place no matter what.

After a quick shower the Mrs and I just stuck our waterproof bike gear back on. Thank goodness we did - everyone else in our group often for jeans and raincoats and ended-up soaked after a 2 hour walk !!

Plitvice is an amazing place. The rain had really swollen the lakes so the waterfalls were in full flow.

Here's a bunch of photos and a Wikipedia link if you are interested Plitvice Lakes National Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From above ....
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Crossing one of the lakes by boat ...
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One of the waterfalls ...
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Day 3 started with rain the same as the first. Again we had a short briefing about the route, which was going to include a foray into Bosnia seeking great roads if the weather improved.

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By the time we stopped for petrol just twenty minutes later it had stopped raining and it had stating to brighten up so we had a great ride on some brilliant roads through areas heavily involved in the war in the 90s. We passed military memorials with tanks, shelled houses and cemeteries.

Surprise, surprise Wayne had decided to ride with the group after all because the weather meant he wouldn't want to stop for photos or go off on his own. He turned out to be a lot slower than everyone else - "I just stick to the speed limits" - so we were stopping and waiting a couple of times which gave our guide a good opportunity to give us a history lesson about the war and its background going all the way back to the 11th Century!

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Battle of Zadar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Our guide pulled us over before we entered Knin to tell us a bit about its history.

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It is the ancient capital of the Croatian Kingdom, but has had many different rulers over the centuries. It finally fell back under Croatian rule during the war and is today populated by Croat refugees from Bosnia and ex Croat militia members who replaced the previously mainly Serb population.

It is a strange place today. Distant and quite isolated from the main urban centres of the country, there isn't much going on but it has too much historical and political significance to be allowed to die. What little economy it has is heavily subsidised by the Government and there is a large military presence. Our tour guide summed it up very well ... "The people are not un-friendly but the town has a strange atmosphere".

It really was the epitome of the backward, state managed, East European town that you'd imagine with groups of men standing on the street, and sitting in cafes with old trucks and beaten-up cars on the streets.

The place where we stopped for coffee had a big roast on a spit and was selling sheeps heads and pigs heads inside.

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It was still dry in the afternoon so after visiting the giant red and blue sinkhole lakes near Imotski and stopping for fuel we all voted to cross into Bosnia and take a longer more scenic round-about route to Dubrovnik.

Red Lake (Croatia) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Unfortunately within 30 mins of crossing the border the clouds gathered and we were soon riding through stiff rain again. We all stopped to put wet weather gear on and wait for Wayne to catch-up. The conditions were so bad and the going so slow that our guide advised us that we best turn back or we wouldn't hit Dubrovnik till gone 9pm.

Reluctantly we headed back across the border hoping that the weather would improve as we crossed the hills and approached the coast. Sadly the reverse turned out to be true. The rain reached truly biblical proportions and on several occasions we found ourselves riding through standing water on the road creating bow waves which soaked boots and legs. The ride along the coast, overtaking between the bends was entertaining to say the least but again the GS performed admirably in two-up soft rain and heated grips mode :)

Ultimately we were forced to take shelter at a road side cafe overlooking the coast before making the final 45min push to Dubrovnik.

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We finally arrived at the hotel at 8pm, 12 hours after we left Plitvice, tired and soggy but exhilarated :)

We hung up our wet gear in our rooms and grabbed a quick shower.

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Then we all piled into taxis laid on by the tour company and headed off to a restaurant that they had booked by the old city walls.

The food was really first class ... As an example this was the starter of monk fish and octopus with crab pate :)

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Lots of wine was drunk as the rain hammered on the glass roof of the restaurant, and by the end of the night Wayne had seen off a bottle on his own and was getting a bit jolly with a napkin and Mrs H's umbrella ...

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The old city of Dubrovnik is simply stunning - walking the city wall early in the morning and going up in the cable car to see the city from above are both musts, as (for fans) is the Game of Thrones tour of all the sites including Black Water Bay.

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However Mrs H and I were here last September so we have already done all that. For us a morning sitting in a bar watching the cruise ship crowds on the main street of the old city was enough.

We had contemplated going down to Montenegro but felt we could do with a day on our feet rather than on the bike so this afternoon we opted for the footpaths through the woods of Lapad instead before heading out to dinner.

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We bumped into Ken, Dennis, Brett and Becky and had an excellent dinner at a traditional Croatian restaurant complete with entertainment from a very droll waiter who wanted to join our tour :)

Ken in particular is quite a character. He did three tours in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot and today is a retired banker who helps the Desert Research Institute as a volunteer arranging their Eco research deals around the world.

Home - DRI Desert Research Institute

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His father was also a pilot who started his career supplying Patton with fuel in Germany, then flew in Korea, was the first test pilot on the F100 Super Sabre and knew Chuck Yeager well and finished his career as a squadron leader flying F4 Phantoms in Vietnam at the same time as his son before retiring! One of the best things about trips like this is the interesting folk you meet :)

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For day 5, we are heading up country again to Hvar island on the wonderful Magistrale coast road :)

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Wow. Day 5 was awesome.

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We had perfect riding weather and the Magistrale coast road north from Dubrovnik must be one of the most scenic biking roads I've done.

We stopped for coffee at Ston ...

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... and then Oysters (!) at Mali Ston (this whole area is famous for its oysters and mussels).

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(here's Becky, Brett, Lesley and Todd)

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Mounting up again we passed into the short stretch of Bosnia that comes down to the coast but unfortunately as we got to the border crossing back into Croatia, the Police pulled us over. They were looking repeatedly at our number plates and going back and forth to their car. Our guide Tilen and another rider, Todd with his pillion Lesley, had been ahead of us and were out of sight ahead at the border checkpoint. When Tilen came back to find out what was wrong he inadvertently dropped Todd in the shit because it turned out that it was his bike that they had a photo of from further up the road. If Tilen had left us to it they would have had to let us go and wouldn't have seen Todd's bike. As it was he got an on-the-spot fine which amounted to about 40 Euros. Tilen said this was pretty good value as in Slovenia it would have been 1200 Euros and a ban!

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Once on our way again we stopped for a good lunch of black squid ink risotto at Drvenik ...

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... Before getting the ferry across to Suraaj on Hvar Island.

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We had a coffee and waited in Suraaj until all the traffic from the ferry had dispersed so that wouldn't be stuck behind them on the tiny southern roads of Hvar Island.

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Lesley and Becky ...
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Once out of Suraaj the road twists and turns really nicely, but it is quite narrow and poorly surfaced. It reminded me a little of our Somerset B Roads ... which showed the GS would be good match for the kind of riding I often find myself doing.

As we got further North the road got wider and the rough, knackered surface was replaced by pristine asphalt. Sweeping corner followed sweeping corner all the way to our hotel. I was taking it easy with Mrs H on the back but still had an awesome ride.

Finally we descended down into Hvar Town to the Hotel Croatia which is a gorgeous almost colonial style building in the most beautiful setting.

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The quality of the hotels and restaurants included in this tour has surprised us and delighted us throughout but our evening meal was the best yet.

Right outside our hotel we boarded a small boat and had a 40 min trip around the coast as the sun set.

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The restaurant we were dropped at was something else. We were welcomed with some flavoured Grappa which they distil themselves and then had a wonderful meal of fresh fish and a squid which the owner said he had caught himself that very day.

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We were joined for dinner by a Croatian motorcycle journalist and photographer who sometimes works for the tour company and happened to be in Hvar on another job. We spent all evening talking about bikes and bike racing before having one last Grappa and heading back to the hotel in taxis laid on by the tour company.



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Day 6 was a rest day in Hvar. We still managed a couple of hours on the bike exploring the island including a bunch of tight hairpins up the mountain to the highest point on the island where there is a Napoleonic fort which the locals call Spagnola. The views from the top were breathtaking.

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The Mrs and I have been using these Interphone F3MC headsets throughout this tour after I saw them in Ride magazine. I've had similar sets years ago but they have obviously come on a long way, and this model has a very useful feature of voice assistance which gives you audible instructions of what buttons to press for what functions as you are actually using it. This is a great feature if you aren't going to use the system often enough to remember how to use it every time. Recommended :)

Product detail - Interphone

Product Reviews - Interphone F3MC Dual Bluetooth Intercom

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Here's some video of the road into Hvar town ... (the road opens up from about 8 mins)

http://youtu.be/rHOdHqiHwg8

Day 7 was spent island hopping. We went from Hvar Island, back to the mainland and then onto Pag Island.

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Here we are leaving the hotel on Hvar.

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Our guide Tilen, followed by Brett and Becky from Salt Lake City on a R1200GS, then their friend Ken from Las Vegas on the Africa Twin, then Todd and Lesley from Canada on a R1200RT, Stuart and Thelma from Ipswich on a 650 V-Strom, then Dennis from Montana on another F700GS, then me on a R1200GS and finally Wayne on the F700GS.


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We had a fairly late start on Day 7 with the usual briefing and a short ride to the ferry port where we had a cup of coffee before boarding.

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The ferry crossing took two hours so we had a picnic lunch on board as we passed some lovely coastline and islands.

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On arrival we got out of the noise and traffic of Split as quickly as possible and found a petrol station to fill up. Unfortunately about 100 Austrian dirt bikers on some kind of event had beaten us to it so we decided to head on down the road to the next garage.

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