to Sibenik, Croatia

Westwards once more, to the coast of Croatia and Sibenik...revisiting memories of my stay here in 1985, when it was still part of the former Yugoslavia. Fond memories, Croatia doesn't disappoint.

Slept well, though awake early once again. Looking out the hotel window, Sarajevo on a Saturday morning is in sharp contrast to the bustle and fumes of Friday evening. PP and I grabbed breakfast at 06h30, as arranged; switched to the riding gear and headed out at 07h30ish.

Making progress, PP was initially more focused on the road and the riding, than the scenery - a series of rocky cliffs and canyons.

Relatively fast major roads, we climbed out of Sarajevo, towards Mostar. Dropping down into a valley, we stopped for a coffee in the sunshine at Repovika.

Heading out across the hills the Sat Nav detoured PP up a narrow rut track. As became clearer later, this was to avoid a section of collapsed road that’s under repair, due to landslides. However, this is Bosnia and the advice is not to deviate off the major arteries... moreover, we only covered by our travel insurance at this point.

Heading back to the road, a few cars are continuing up the pass...I suggested that we could always double back, taking the long way round via Mostar, which is supposed to be beautiful. Looking at the Sat Nav, there was one link section of road greyed out. PP wanted to push on, happy to oblige, the net result was a little ‘off-roading’ along a mile and a half of roadway that was still under construction....

The plateau at the top of this pass tells the story for itself in pictures!!

Dropping down the other side, past a large lake, we cross the border into Croatia after Rastovaca.

Back in the EU and insured!!

Temperatures rising to the mid thirties once again, we simply keep going, covering the remaining kilometres to Sibenik. A brief coffee stop and a final small deviation at the end, we arrived at our destination...

A beautiful campsite with amazing facilities, the only issue is the hard ground; we toy with the idea of a cabin though, with none available, we purchase some camping nails for the task in hand!..not sure I haven’t bent one of them in the process already?!?

Manoeuvring my bike, I have my first drop for 3,500 miles; forgetting to take him off the higher suspension setting (with no weight in the panniers), I’m forced to lay him down when I misjudge my footing... oh well, he needEd some TLC upon our return already.

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow to ‘recharge batteries’, clean the lights, chill beside the Adriatic; before the push homeward bound via Trieste, the Dolomites and Alps.