Week 4

Day 22/23.

20 and 21 July; rest day followed by Trieste to Smokova

Day 22 was a rest day. We left the BnB and went in search of a campsite. Crossed the border into Slovenia leaving the lovely Italy behind. Ended up in a "family friendly" site just over the border. It was heaving - tents, camper vans, canaries, sofas, satellite TV - all jammed in together. A long wait at reception informed that we should have chosen a site first. We needed to queue again when we found one but we better choose several as all the other people in the queue may have chosen our site. We needed a token for this and a key for that. What we didn’t get on the long list of stuff was a bracelet for unlimited showers - Raz discovered this whilst naked in the shower wondering why the water didn't work. We didn't fancy the fun fair or the all night party so headed to bed.

Day 24.

22 July ; Smokova to Simuni

Stayed overnight in Selce. Big climb day today along the Croatian coast. Amazing views across the bays abd out to sea- really breathtaking. Climbed most of the morning up switchbacks with precipitous drops.

It was really windy and a few times it was hard to handle the bike. I think Alice quite liked the idea of careering over the edge. Although the road is incredibly beautiful it is busy with lots of traffic wizzing by. We took a ferry as part of our route. We managed to jump the queue- much to the disgust of a Land Rover (the driver not the LR) riding past all the cars to be the last vehicle. After a quick 10 minute journey we arrived on what looked like a luna landscape. More climbing resulted in another family friendly campsite. We managed to avoid the live entertainment and headed for the pizza restaurant. Lovely sunset. Will reach Zadar tomorrow. A bit of a milestone. Over 1700 miles done!

Day 25.

23rd July; Simuni - Podsolarska

Zadar and on route to Split. Stayed in a place where all our holiday dreams would be fulfilled (apart from sleep), the local Elvis impersonator singing into the night, golf buggies zipping around all night to transport people to the “all you can eat buffet” - really noisy! It then took us about 20 minutes to find the exit. Nothing was signposted in an attempt to keep you captured spending your holiday money on site. We finally escaped from what I started to call our living hell (probably a bit of an exaggeration) and hit the road.

It’s really hot here and having enough to drink is a challenge. We stopped at an amazing fruit stall and consumed quantities of water melon. After a number of sweaty hills we arrived in Zadar which is amazingly beautiful. The old town with its narrow streets and cafe bars is lovely. We looked at the sea whilst eating a late lunch and dangled our feet in the water. Zadar was a bit of a milestone as I had planned the first stage of our route to Zadar.

We checked the mileage and it was spot on 1775 miles cycled. We took the quicker road out of Zadar heading for Split. Stopped for a sandwich on a traffic island to the bemusement of car drivers and finally found a late campsite a bit quieter!

Day 26

24th July - Podsolarsko to Baska Voda

Split on route to Dubrovnik. Today was about traffic, roads and drivers. Left a quieter campsite into busy traffic. A lorry thundered by too close, then a bus not pulling out at all - we could feel it almost brush against our arms. Then a women hit my arm with her wing mirror- unbelievable. She stopped momentarily to see if we were still on the bike. We were - so she drove off. We caught her up and she said sorry she hadn’t seen us.

It’s so hot that the tarmac had melted forming ridges at the side of the road. It’s tricky to ride on. We escaped the busy roads and headed into the mountains. Long hot climbs rewarded with amazing views as we headed to Split. We didn’t see the best of Split. It was extremely busy and hilly - not a great combination on a tandem. We headed for the center - Ate and set off again navigating the bike between two lanes of traffic - at least we didn’t have to queue. It was a relief to get into clearer roads and the scenery was amazing.

We rode into the evening watching the mountains turn blue then red in the evening light and were fortunate enough to see the sun setting from the top of a climb - it was truly magical. Arrived at the campsite in the dark. Cold shower (not by choice) and sleep. Managed to puncher an air bed and the cleaner so determine to clean the shower with disinfectant has just thrown a bucket full on my feet. At least they will be clean.

Day 27

25 July - Baska Voda - Neum

Down the Croatian coast and into Bosnia. We left the campsite with my feet well and truly disinfected courtesy of the cleaning women and set off down the coast. We’d snapped a tent pole and an air bed had deflated in the night leaving Razzle Marsden sleeping on the floor. We needed coffee so headed to the nearest town 2 cups later we felt we could move. We asked a local garage to cut down part of the tent pole as a temporary fix and we were off.

The scenery is beautiful a back drop of mountains - rugged and craggy and the turquoise Adriatic Sea. The route is very hilly. Either we are going up or down. Not much flat! We had a close encounter with a bus which passed so close it caused a bit of a speed wobble. We cycled through wine country and looked at the numerous fruit stalls on route stopping for water melon.

Also it was hot. We lost our bananas and headed into Bosnia