Day 5 - Motovun Croatia (33 kms) - "A view of the world !

I'd forgotten what a privilege it is to have the opportunity to cycle through such beautiful parts of the world and today's opening leg was a great reminder !

In no rush we took to the streets this morning to improve upon our "cheapie" Youth Hostel 3 euro breakfast (an orange, a roll and a cuppa) loading up as well with some goodies from the local bakery !

With stomachs filled, bags packed and bikes loaded it was time to get this epic under way. We posed briefly for a few pics on the waterfront before seeking advice on how to get out of town.

N.b. pics alarmingly read as "shits"until I picked up my predictive text error just now !

Now call me stupid but the advice from our Croatian friends to keep turning left after heading out meant I thought, that it was pretty likely that we'd be back on the hostels doorstep within a few minutes !

We need not have worried though as we were lost within the first few kms ! Kev tried to pull over a pedestrian who simply started walking faster (I don't blame her ) while I pulled over a holidaying bike rider who left us holding his bike while he raced over to the local service station to ask for directions on our behalf, amazing !

Our new found friend then cycled with us ensuring that we were on the right road before saying goodbye !

We were pleasantly surprised by the low traffic levels heading away from the beautiful Istrian coastline inland beyond Visjnan.

After nearly 30 kms we had our first view of Motovun our village destination, perched on top of what appeared to be an impregnable fortress - an impressively steep hill against a beautiful valley backdrop !

A solid 8% climb soon brought us up to the old town itself with its stunning 180 degree views !

Having to wait for our apartment to be cleaned we took some lunch although Henley felt his green salad would have struggled to have fed a pigmy rabbit !

When H still grizzling we retired to our nearby apartment with some of the best views you could find anywhere ! A magnificent balcony and an incredible bedroom window outlook giving us surround sensory overload !

With nothing to do other than take in the views we eventually headed back up the road for dinner in the setting evening sun with Kev this time going for something more protein enhancing !

Back at the apartment standing on the balcony watching the sun going down was one of those moments you'll never forget- the spell subtly broken when Henley yelled our delightedly from the bathroom " Hey Litchy" I've finally been able to flush that damned thing down the toilet ... !

Tomorrow the going gets tough as we head off road on to the Parenzana trail on our journey through Slovenia back into Italy.

Porridge

MADE IT . What a bum deadening , brain numbing thing long distance flying is . Fortunately my two seat companions departed at Dubai leaving me with 3seats to stretch out in , a smidge more comfortable for the last leg to Heathrow .
After linking up with Mike and bidding farewell to Monny ( in one breath just about ) we were then jammed onto Sardine Airlines otherwise known as Easy jet and bundled off to Venice .
What a fascinating place , crammed with gazillions of tourists and about the same ratio of water craft , gondolas , taxis , ferries and little putt putts . We used the local bus service to get into Venice and if Bernie Ecclestone runs out of F1 drivers he's got a ready made batch on his doorstep , rain or shine one speed , flat strap .
Next stop Poric ( the local pronunciation sounds like porridge ) in Croatia ,a place where the beautiful people with their floating palaces ( aka yachts ) go to be seen . We bought them down a rung or two walking with our laden treadlies along the main drag looking like hillbillies , suck it up boys .
Our first day in the saddle couldn't have been more enjoyable , 30 odd kms in warm sunny conditions , no breeze and gentle undulations . Along the way we created a World record ,it only took us 3.5 kms before we had to ask for directions , not a bad effort , a sign of things to come .
The view from our accommodation balcony in Motovun is outstanding , perched high up with 180 deg views .
The staple diet of Italy and Croatia in their restaurants appears to be pizza and pasta  so at this rate I should be about 10kg heavier at the end .

Day 3 - Porec Croatia - " Millionaires Alley" !

With the windows closed that damned rooster didn't get much of a chance to disturb our beauty sleep which was most needed by KH after sitting up and watching the US open followed by the Swiss Cycling tour for 4 hours not in itself a problem until he mentioned he hadn't had time to check whether in fact he had been "dudded" that 1,000 euros yesterday !

Another fab breakfast and with bikes packed and stored we journeyed back into Venice with a bus load of American tourists straight off the plane doing a great job of successfully stopping people from getting on or off with their 3 storey high suitcases !

We had time for a quick last look on this warm sunny day with a slow cruise down the Grand Canal taking in the magic ambience of this place and just feeling a tad jealous of those sitting back in their hotel restaurant chairs doing nothing more than supping on a drink and watching the world go by

Disembarking somewhere near San Marco we wandered back to Piazza La Roma taking different exploratory routes through the beautiful piazzas and laneways.

We timed it perfectly to reach our return bus just in time for a tremendous thunderstorm which disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

Back at our hotel we boarded our luxurious mini van with our bikes and drove to San Basillo on the Western side of Venice and went about the complicated process of boarding our Venezia Lines Hydrofoil to Croatia.

To get through security we had to remove everything from our bikes and then painstakingly put every bag through the security scanner before going back to then take our bikes through the metal detector or in Kev's case go back a 3rd time after he'd forgotten he'd left his down tube bag on his bike ???

After then placing everything back on our bikes we walked to our Hydrofoil where once again we took everything back off our bikes for stowage prior to boarding - I'm sure it made sense to someone !

In our floating sauna (no air con until the engines were started)we waited and sweated until finally getting underway just after 5.00p.m.

For the first 30 + mins it was gentle cruising until we passed outside of the Venice Lagoon and then Boris let her rip putting us on a high speed "vomitron" for nearly two hours to the Slovenian coast where after a quick passport check (because we were leaving the Schengen area ) we headed a further 40 minutes down the coast to our destination at Porec.

As for first impressions ... Wow !

A beautiful harbour lined with restaurants and million dollar boats that would have put Greg Norman to shame !

After checking into our Hostel and being repeatedly told by the staff how they love Australia seemingly because so many Croatians live there, we journeyed out in to the streets where it appears that life doesn't start untill around 10.00p.m

It was Pizza, Pasta and a late night Ice Cream (at least for me) as we wandered the beautiful streets of the old town before retiring to our private 4 bunk hostel room !

With bikes at the ready we hit the saddle tomorrow working our way inland to Motovun a gentle 30 km opening ride !

Day 2 - Venice - " Sun baking on the canals" !

It was nice to semi sleep in until the hotels rooster (now on the endangered species list) was successfully able to raise us out of our various comatose states !

To Henley's delight we were treated to a magic continental breakfast that included a bit of everything including  enough tasteful fruit to even keep even the "fruit bat" satisfied.

Back to our roome we set about demolishing our boxes and assembling our bikes. To Kev's despair his box damage meant he'd lost 2 of his 4 front pannier fixing lugs, not a big issue he said as he didn't bring his front panniers only his front pannier rack  - apparently he couldn't be bothered unpacking the rack after deciding not to bring the panniers !!!

Bikes looking the part we left our hotel near Mestre to journey into Venice itself to give Kev a taste of this amazingly beautiful and amazingly crowded city !

With a bit of prior knowledge we walked the quieter side of the Grand Canal marveling at the incredible architecture and former wealth of this lovely city of bridges and canals.

Walking down to the Piazza San Marco with the throngs in the heat was tiring and it wasn't long before we took our rightful place on a bench reserved for international geriatrics.

Refreshed and after being told to move over by a 90 year old, we ventured back by way of beautifully quiet canals seeking our lunch time abode after finally being able to withdraw money from an ATM the first one we'd seen for ages !

A major international incident was narrowly avoided with Henley pounding on the bank's doors threatening mayhem after believing the ATM had "dudded" him of 1,000 euros.

Thankfully because the Bank was closed a 2nd attempt had Kev realize that the amount he was trying to withdraw was over his daily limit !

After a pizza and pasta lunch and some Italian rain we journeyed back taking in the marvelous free afternoon entertainment as Ferries, Gondolas, Speed boats and large water taxis jockeyed on the Grand Canal in a chaotic display somehow avoid striking and sinking each other !

After a good spell in Venice it was time to head back to Tessara and our hotel with Kev relieved to be finally able to claim his video camera having left it on the hotel shuttle in the morning !!!

Tomorrow we have time for a quick Venice revisit before taking a late afternoon ferry to Porec in Croatia the starting point for our 2015 cycle epic !

Day 1 - Venice - " The boys are back in town " !

It cut a pretty familiar sight (almost) as a zombie like Kevin Henley propped up a wall at London's Heathrow Airport after 30+ hours on the go from downtown Perversi Ave Melbourne.

I say almost, as the slumped figure looked remarkably like the late Yul Brynner with his new and improved aerodynamic hairstyle but the sequence of slurred "Henleyisms'" were enough to soon confirm his true identity !

I said goodbye to my Scottish "domestique" and former wife Monika (I think the divorce papers will be in the mail shortly after 3 weeks of gruelling Scottish cycling) and rolled Henley with his bike into our hire car for a short 70 km journey down the M25 / M23 to London Gatwick

After a long check in process and a delayed flight we finally arrived in Venice at 10.30p.m. requesting a crow bar & 2 wheel chairs to help get us off the plane that we'd been so uncomfortably crammed into for the past 2 hours - We have now officially renamed Easy Jet as " Squeezy Jet" !

Our first on tour drama came not long after when we went to pick up our bike boxes noticing that both were badly water damaged with Kev's on the verge of disintegrating !

How both were water damaged is beyond belief given the sunny weather in both London & Venice. We would have questioned the baggage handler but he disappeared at the speed of light after dumping the boxes !

Thankfully we were able to get both damaged boxes (just) into our hotel shuttle finally settling into our hotel room both pretty exhausted after our various journeys .

Luckily for me Kev's damaged bike box did serve one good purpose as it gave me ready access to his seat post when Kev suggested that midnight would be a good time to start reassembling the bikes !!!

The boys are definitely back in town !

Mike's Word !

A desire, some spectacular scenery and a good friend to share it all with are the simple ingredients needed to inspire my touring wheels to turn over once again.

This time we head South to North through Europe hoping to take advantage (by then) of a slightly warmer Scandanavian climate as we cycle some 3,500 km's from Croatia to Norway by way of Italy, Austria, Germany & Denmark !

Knowing Kev's penchant for culture and cuisine, his love of cycling and getting lost and his eagerness to attempt to pronounce the many unpronounceable Icelandic town names I'm sure we are up for our best trip yet !          

Kev's Word !

I remember saying to Mike after arriving home from our 2011 European / UK Epic that i was glad i did it then because in a couple of years i don't think i would be physically capable of completing a similar trip . What a premature statement because 2 years later we backed up again for an awesome 2013 trip and in a few weeks time we head off again for our 2015 journey . Just proves you are never too old to jump on a bike , pack a bit of gear and ride , the surprises and pleasures are endless .

As usual i have contributed absolutely nothing towards arranging the planning and booking for this trip which consequently is the main reason why things have flowed smoothly and the end result looks outstanding .

This trip could well turn out to be our most diverse and spectacular so far with countries like Italy ,  Croatia , Norway and Iceland on the agenda , countries we have not visited in previous trips . Hopefully our journey through Norway and Iceland doesn't see us ploughing through snow in sub zero temps - it is their summer you know .

In the meantime Mike and I would love to receive your comments posted on the blog site , abusive or complimentary , it doesn't matter .

Happy Cycling