I know the area well because 'er indoors is from Zadar I never have made it down as far as Montenegro though. It is supposed to be very beautiful.
What a fantastic trip. Would love to do this. It's good to have one chube on the tour as it bonds the rest together.:grin:
Indeed. The road from Cetinje to Podgorica passes by a village named Rijeka Crnojevica: The view from the hill above the village includes a vast mat of wild water lilies:
Most of the morning was dry so I got the chance to get the GS out of soft and rain mode to see how she was under more normal riding conditions. For such a big bike it handles pretty well. I wasn't pushing too hard with the Mrs on the back but I found it very flickable and yet stable in the bends. The front tele-lever suspension (or whatever it is called) is a little weird feeling, but I'm getting used to it. Comfort-wise I found the seat a little soft, and after a few hours the reach to the bars gave me a little discomfort from an old injury in my right shoulder. The Mrs found the pillion perch OK, but it is very high so getting on and off was a bit of a pain. The heated grips were very effective and welcome in the rain. The engine is excellent up to 4,000 rpm or so, but above that I found it a bit buzzy. I guess it has a fairly short stroke and is clearly much more refined than the Desmoquattro I know and love. Would I buy one? Certainly not for solo riding, but for long distance two-up touring, if the Mrs thinks she'd like to do more of it then I'd definitely consider one - though at only 5'8" I think I'd want the low seat option. The Desmoquattro engine is so special though that even though it doesn't have all the electronic toys I'd get my ST4s back on the road first and see what she makes of that before purchasing something else more modern instead. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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 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 groups mode Ultimately we were forced to take shelter at a road side cafe overlooking the coast before making the final 45min push to Dubrovnik. 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. 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 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 ... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes it sure was. Thankfully today was a rest day. 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. 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. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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 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 Today, day 5, we are heading up country again to Hvar island on the wonderful Magistrale coast road Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Forgot to recommend that you eat off the main drag in Dubrovnik. Food is half the price up a side street. Not done Hvar, so full description please Neretva Delta is pretty spectacular.
Absolutely. The Stradun is great for people watching but the best restaurants are up the side and back streets as you say. The place we ate at last night is called Sesame Taverna. It is to the west of the Old City just up from the taxi rank at Pile Gate. Highly recommended in Becky's guide book and quite rightly so. We are currently on the ferry to Hvar so I'll post a full update about today a bit later Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Looks s bi Looks a bit cloudy. What's the temperature like? Fabulous weather here in Devon. Wall to wall sunshine and 16 c
Good riding weather today. No rain. Not too hot. About 16 or 17 I'd say Correction ... Just looked at the bike and it is saying 20 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow. Day 5 was awesome. 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 ... ... and then Oysters (!) at Mali Ston (this whole area is famous for its oysters and mussels). (here's Becky, Brett, Lesley and Todd) 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! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If you think that section of the Magistrale was good, you have a real treat in store when you get further up, especially from Pag to Rijeka. It will blow your mind...
Once on our way again we stopped for a good lunch of black squid ink risotto at Drvenik ... ... Before getting the ferry across to Suraaj on Hvar Island. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We did Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar, Split as our family holiday last year. Wonderful country and people, must be great on a bike, very jealous. Anybody visiting Dubrovnik for a few days, get in touch with Dennis for a private boat tour, not cheap but a really memorable day.
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. Lesley and Becky ... 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 - certainly much more so than any of my Ducati Superbikes. 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. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
