Slovenia and Croatia: Day 5

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Cycled Varpolje to Polzela
Train Polzela to Ljubljana

Date: 20th May 2008

Our original plan for this days ride was to ride the 45km or so to a campground at Kamnik and perhaps beyond to Ljubljana, but it was such a dreary wet day that we changed our plans and headed towards the safety of the nearer train lines around Šempeter.

We only made it a short distance before we gave up and caught the train from I think Polzela. Being cold and wet isn’t always fun when there’s the possibility of being dry and warm somewhere. Catching the trains at this time of year was pretty easy because there weren’t too many people. I understand it can be difficult with bicycles sometimes though, as it’s entirely up to the conductors whether or not you can take them on. The first train was memorable because of the duck noises it’s horn made as it went past the villages.

In Ljubljana we again opted for a guest house near the station. It’s a very nice old town with a great castle, but nevertheless I would have been happy to skip it if we hadn’t taken the train.

Slovenia and Croatia: Day 4

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Cycled Solčava to Varpolje (near Rečica)

Date: 19th May 2008

After a great night’s sleep at Majdač we rode through Solčava uphill along the Savinja river to Logarska Dolina – a beautiful short, flat valley with tall mountains around it. It’s worth it to go just to ride along the valley, but there are accommodation options there if you want to stay overnight.

The entrance to Logarska Dolina

View along the valley in Logarska Dolina

The Savinja river begins in Logarska Dolina as a small creek, and we followed it for the rest of the day along it’s long descent through the upper Savinja Valley. It didn’t take long for the Savinja to grow from a fast flowing creek to a fast flowing river. It had been lovely weather all day, but around Ljubno it started to rain again. We hid from the cold rain in a petrol station (of which all in Slovenia are named “Petrol”) and bought some food and, most importantly, a good road map. The only map we could find in Australia was a 1:500 000 that covered most of the region, so a local map with the camping grounds marked was a vast improvement.

After the rain eased we continued down the valley to the nearest campsite, which was in a small village near Rečica. The guy there offered us a place in the campsite’s hostel for an extra euro each above the camping cost, so we took that. It felt a little like we were guinea pigs for the hostel, because it was a bit dodgy (it didn’t seem quite finished) and we were the only ones there, but it was comfortable and warm. There we ate, drank cheap wine, and were generally quite merry.

Slovenia and Croatia: Day 3

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Cycled Brezno to Solčava

Date: 18th May 2008

We woke early and did the final 20 or 30km to Dravograd by morning tea. We followed the main road along the river for the most part, but towards the end a sign sent bikes on a detour along some quieter roads. There were a couple of climbs along this route but they were short and no problem. The route along the river Drava between Maribor and Dravograd is quite beautiful and doesn’t have too much traffic.

In Dravograd we found a cafe that did terrific cakes, then continued along the river Meža (more of a creek) through Ravne na Koroskem, Prevalje, Mežica, and Černa. In Černa we had some pizza (the cheapest eating out of the trip at €3.50), then asked the locals about the road we had chosen to Solčava, and they said if we were in good condition we could make it. It turned out to be the hardest part of the entire trip.

For the first few kilometres we followed a creek up a gentle climb, then we hit a very steep dirt road, and a lot of rain. It was wet, cold, and very hard going. We even pushed the bikes for about half a kilometre. It took about 2 hours to go about 13km to the top of the pass. I think the climb was from around 500m to around 1400m. It was very beautiful, but, exhausted and cold in the rain, we didn’t have an opportunity to appreciate it (or take any photos). This was followed by a very steep downhill, which was just as hard because our exertion had been keeping us warm and now we froze. We finally made it Podolševa and hid from the rain under the eaves of a farmhouse.

When the rain settled we were given directions to a guest house, Majdač, a few kilometres away in Solčava. The woman there was incredibly helpful and for €40 we were fed a wonderful dinner and breakfast, and all our clothes and shoes were dried. There was also a terrific view of the Kamnic alps which we had just crossed.

The view from the guest house

The view from the guest house

Slovenia and Croatia: Days 1 and 2

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Plane Tallinn to Vienna
Train Vienna to Maribor
Cycled Maribor to Brezno

Date: 16th and 17th May 2008

We had a bit of trouble packing the bikes for the plane because the bike boxes we’d managed to acquire weren’t big enough, but the flight was otherwise OK to Vienna. There we met a Canadian dude who, for a month long trip, had two small panniers and a handlebar bag. We felt a bit ashamed at the amount of gear we had. He had no wet weather gear (apparently the best way to assure good weather) and wasn’t intending on camping, though.

Vienna was an easy city for cycling about, and we did a bit of tourist work before going to bed in our rather comfortable hostel. The next day we caught the train to Maribor in Slovenia before starting to ride towards Dravograd. Getting the bike on the train in Vienna was easy – prepay, and the bike goes on.

We started cycling at around 2pm after grabbing some fruit from the fruit stand. It was an easy fairly flat ride up along the river Drava. Although it was uphill the incline wasn’t noticeable, and it’s a lovely river to ride along. The road had very little of a shoulder but the cars gave a wide berth and it was an easy ride. The only mishap was when Millerine braked suddenly to avoid running into a couple of chooks (yes, there were domestic chooks running across the road) and I ran up the back of her. I bent my front pannier rack but it was easy enough to bend back into shape.

There are no campsites in the area and with the steep river bank any useful campsite is hard to find. We ended up freecamping in the only comfortable spot we could find, which was in the town of Brezno beside the river.

Balkans day 2 audio update

Newcastle to Taree: Day 4

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No cycling. Train to Coffs Harbour

As I awoke the next morning from uneasy dreams I found it had turned into monstrous weather. It had rained 25mm overnight and my somewhat beautiful campsite had become waterlogged. I had gone to bed planning to do one more day of riding, aiming for Wauchope (pronounced “war-hope”) where I would catch the train and be in Coffs in time for Nats. However it was raining heavily and the forecast was for more rain, thunderstorms and flash floods up the coast.

Taree Campsite

Taree campsite

Since it was around 75km to the nearest useful station and I didn’t fancy a day of riding along the highway in heavy rain I piked and caught the train from Taree.

Still, it was a good introductory trip for me of two and a half days riding. The second day was the highlight, and I highly recommend a ride through Myall Lakes, although many might prefer to take the proper road rather than the shortcut along the closed road.

Things I learnt:
- Don’t skimp on panniers. My vaude bags are OK and not at all cheap shit, but the rain covers are a bit annoying. I would be happier to have paid the money for the fully waterproof ortlieb bags.
- Staying dry can be hard work. It’s easier if you just wear clothing that you can get wet but will keep you warm.

Newcastle to Taree: Day 3

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Booti Booti to Taree
Date: 21 April 2008

I awoke after around twelve hours sleep to find a beautiful sunny morning. Since my plan was to visit relatives in Forster I let Tom go on his merry way and took it fairly easy in getting going. I spent a bit of time at the beach and gave my things a chance to dry. If you’re ever around Booti Booti I can recommend camping at The Ruins campground. It’s a nice NP campground with a beach and good facilities.

Forster was only about 15km away, but within Forster itself there are a number of hills. The people I was visiting lived right at the top of these, so I felt I deserved the tea and hot crossed buns that awaited me there. Their verandah had a lovely view of the beach and I would have been happy to stay, but the view became that of a dark imposing storm making it’s way towards me. In a bid to defeat it I jumped on the bike and headed towards Taree, but it wasn’t long before I was riding in steady rain. It was still a nice ride along the river though. I stopped in near a place called Darawank for lunch out of the rain.

Darawank rest stop

Lunch stop out of the rain at a rest stop near Darawank

I had a bit of trouble with the rain covers on my panniers, so riding along the highway was slow going. My vaude panniers keep everything dry, but raincovers can just be a pain in the arse in heavy rain. They fill up with water, fall off, and generally don’t always behave as they should. However Pacific Highway has a wide shoulder and it’s not a bad place for a cyclist. It’s little boring and had heavy traffic though.

Anyway I made it to just past Taree to a place called Cundletown and checked in to a Caravan Park on the Dawson River. It was one of the more scenic camping spots I’ve stayed at, even though it was in a Caravan Park.

Newcastle to Taree: Day 2

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Bob’s Farm to The Ruins, Booti Booti
Date: 20 April 2008

My first full day of riding started early because I wasn’t particularly comfortably sleeping and felt a need for some water. I arose at around 4am and rode the rest of the way into Nelson Bay, stopping at a servo to refill my water bottles which I had foolishly neglected the day prior. In Nelson Bay I grabbed a big subway breakfast and chatted to a crazy old man about the floundering mullet in the water. There was also some time for more sleep before the ferry to Tea Gardens departed.

The ferry ride was not uneventful, with a stop to watch some dolphins partway. I also met a guy, Tom, who was riding to Byron Bay and had the same route planned for the day as myself through Myall Lakes and Booti Booti National Park. We got off at Tea Gardens and headed along Mungo Brush road. We stopped at Dark Point which was an aboriginal site, but looked like a whole heap of sand dunes on a beach.

Dark Point

Dark Point

At Mungo Brush we lunched and I had a kip, then left Mungo Brush road for some adventure. We had both planned to head down a road between Mungo Brush and Seal Rocks road which was marked as a walking track on some maps and a road on some others. It turned out to be an unsealed road which had been closed since 2005 and was in not a great condition. It was very rocky for the most part, and about 30cm deep in water for the rest, and we had to go about 10km at close to walking pace. I never fell in the drink, but Tom got a little wet. The rest of the way to Seal Rocks road it was good graded dirt road. My pannier rack broke at one stage, but I fixed it up with zip ties. Always keep some handy. Tom had some gear trouble, but otherwise it was a mishap free adventure.

Mungo Brush to Seal Rocks Road

Tom getting wet on Hawksnest to Seal Rocks Road

After that it was Seal Rocks Road then onto Lakes Way and a bottlo. I was getting fairly tired towards the end of the day and Tom, who was a stronger rider, wanted to push on to the campsite at Booti Booti. He left me as it started to rain and made it to the campsite ahead of the coming storm, but I managed to get caught in a huge deluge. I was very glad when I finally pulled into The Ruins campground at Booti Booti and got out of the cold rain.

Newcastle to Taree: Day 1

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Newcastle to Bob’s Farm
Date: 19 April 2008

I had just finished my job at Qantas after 5 years, and had no plans to work again for a few months in order to get a reasonably long holiday, including a planned month long bike trip in Europe. To celebrate my unemployment and to get a bit of riding practice in I thought it might be a good idea to ride from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour, arriving in time for the Australian Ultimate Championships. I had a time limit of a few days, so the plan was to get to somewhere between Taree and Wauchope (apparently pronounced “war-hope”) and catch a train.

On Saturday afternoon, still with somewhat of a hangover, I caught a train to Newcastle, the ferry to Stockton, and started pedalling towards Nelson Bay.  I made it most of the way but was pedalling in the dark for a while so camped next to some grape vines.  I was too lazy to set up the tent, and just covered myself with my hoochie thinking the weather to be fine, but it rained a little so wasn’t completely comfortable.

The train is part of the Sydney CityRail system so is not particularly expensive and you can take your bike on it easily. The ferry is pretty much just a river crossing and it’s a very regular service.

 

Getting a camping card international

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After reading around it seemed a good idea to get a Camping Card International (CCI). A CCI gets you discounts at a number of campgrounds in Europe, has some insurance associated with it, and (apparently) can be handed in in lieu of a passport at dodgy Balkan campgrounds that want to hold your ID hostage. To quote the  CCI website, it “has the same value as a passport for the campsite owner.” It seems to be a fairly common thing in Europe, but not so well known in Australia. You can get them from your local automobile association, so I went into NRMA and hung around for an hour and a half while they found the form. They required me to get NRMA membership, which doubled the cost of the card, but I only needed to get one between Millerine and myself.

Anyway, same value as a passport? My arse! I’m not sure if it will be accepted anywhere we try to use it. $50 for a card with my details (handwritten), laminated to look pretty. Dodgy!

Edit: It was a little troublesome, but sometimes necessary. You’re better to just get one at the first place you need to use it.

Airline tickets and planning routes

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For my entire travelling life I’ve had access to airline staff benefits. This means access to cheap flights on many airlines around the world. Staff tickets are also standby tickets, which means I’ve been able to plan dates and buy tickets within a week of flying. This time it’s different. For the coming trip to Europe I’ll only have limited access to the benefits, so any flights in Europe, North America, or between the two continents, are commercial. To and from Australia will be on standby.

The biggest expense is of course getting between Europe and Vancouver. Air Berlin had a fantastic deal of €650 from Berlin to Vancouver, so we’ve locked that in.

The next issue is getting to South Eastern Europe. We’ve decided we want to see Budapest, Croatia, perhaps Montenegro, and everything else is a bonus. We’re picking up our bikes from Tallinn, Estonia, from where there are no direct cheap flights to any of these places. Doing two flights with bikes is both difficult and expensive. Easyjet charge €22 or so per bike per flight. Estonian Air had fairly cheap flights to Vienna which end up about AUD200 each including the bikes. This is reasonable, so now the plan is to take the train to Slovenia, then travel down through Croatia to Montenegro, then train back up to Budapest. That will probably take up three of the four available weeks (even covering large boring distances by train or ferry), so we’ll be train travelling tourists on the way back to Tallinn.

Currently I’m excited about the thought of Slovenia and a little apprehensive about Croatia and Montenegro. The former seems a lot more cyclist friendly, although the latter are supposedly more visually stunning.

As the greater part of the trip will be in the Balkans, I’ve found Balkanology particularly useful.