Omis on the Croation coast

Left Munich on the 10th, got an early start and Rob lead us on some roads he had found to get us into the Austrian Alps. We sat having coffee at the bottom of the Grossglockner and were in sleet an hour later at the top of Austria.

The views were amazing, almost as amazing as the roads. Fast sweepers and hairpins all the way. We were so high that all bikes strarted playing up and running badly. We were then to head for the Slovenian border but missed a turn and when it started raining we went looking for a place for the night. Our camping gear has remained unused to date.

We ended up at Weissensee, a little ski destination and summer lake holiday area. Nice, but not much character. Morley did his Mark 11 exhaust repair which quietened the bike down a tad and made it run better.

Wedesday 11th, we headed for the Slovenian border. slow going again, this time because of roadworks. before Slovenia, we had to travel about 20 km through Italy. Entered at Tarvesio and came across a fantastic guard complex just before the border. Built back in the mid 1800s and used right through to WW2. It would have been a very bleak spot in winter. The view from the roof (refer pic) was breathtaking. The weather was good and the roads through Slovenia were excellent.

We arrived in Croatia around 1:00pm and headed down to Bakar, small port area and found a little cafe for a seafood lunch. Whitebait and squid and a few beers. Life is pretty good. To make up some lost time, we took the new freeway towards Split. Good road, but a freeway! Boring as hell. We were running parallel to the coast and eventually took an exit and headed for the water. We found a village, Triunj, and a cheap flat and a good cafe up the lane. More seafood. Its so good and cheap.

Thursday 12th. We were awoken by light rain, followed by heavy rain. We rode straight past Split, a shame but we were so wet we would not have been able to enjoy it. We rode in heavy traffic, slow and the rain just soaked us through. The water was pooling on the roads and becoming dangerous, so we pulled into Omis. A lucky break. Its a great town and we stopped for a coffee and the owner, also had a flat. Result.

Within minutes of booking in, the place looked like a drying room. Every item of clothing we were wearing was soaked. The air is so damp, we may not get anything dried. The cafe owner even removed one of his tables so we could park the bikes under cover for the night.

Hopefully tomorrow the rain may be gone, or at least lighter and we will head for Dubrovnik and then on to Albania.