I have moved ...

... to a new place to host my blog.

After a few years playing around with blogger.com, it was time to try something else out. So after some clicking around I found wordpress.org and have now installed it on my server.

So please update your links to http://www.woollypigs.com, as it will become very quite here.

Thanks for reading.
-H

Croatia day 8 : easy delayed jet

We slept well in the hotel's comfy bed and did not hear the busy road next to the hotel. And we both had a yummy cheesy omelets in the hotel's restaurant.

The hotel took us and our bicycles the 5min drive to the airport. Quick check in and a stamp in our passports. Where we discovered that we got stamped on the way in without us knowing it! Sneaky immigration officials ;)

We found a place to sit in the airport and shortly after heard on the tannoy that Easyjet would let us know at 11 o'clock when our delayed flight would be arriving, that was at ten to ten. Oh dear.

Then at around 10:45 we were told our flight would depart at 13:05 and Easyjet had put on a refreshments spread for us. Only ham sandwich and drinks, not good when you are veggie but still not good since the ham was just a slice of cheap ham in some sweet bread, no butter or salad. While nearly everyone was in the queue we were told that the delayed flight would not have much food on board so we should get our food in the airport if we wanted anything on the flight. They don't call it a no-frills airline for nothing!

We got onto the plane pretty much on time and while the girls were doing their best to welcome us onboard, we were told that given the delay, Easyjet had missed our traffic control slot out of Split and that there was a good chance that we would be stuck on the plane for another 40min.

But, that said, it was pretty good going. We were bumped forward and left about ten minutes later. On all the flights I have taken with Easyjet it is only the 2nd time there has been a major delay like this. But when they stuff it up oh boy, do they do it well.

So the planned ride home from Gatwick is now out of the picture.

But anyhow, the trip to Croatia was well worth it and a holiday I will remember for a long time. It is a country well worth visiting even a second time around. If you do go do NOT miss Trogir.

Click here to read the first day : Croatia day 1 : stress what is that

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia day 7 : Thor rides again

Well all the mighty Thor beat the dustmen to it this morning. At four we was woken up to a massive light show and thunders that shook the earth. Shortly after the heavens opened up, lets just say that when it rains in Croatia it pours.

We tried to sleep and ignore the storm since out black octane 3 tent kept us nice and dry. Though shortly after the wind started and we heard the trickling sound of a river. Looking out into our "west wing" we saw that our Ortlieb bags did their best not to float away. And we also noticed that one of the pegs had come lose.

While complicating what to do we could hear some of the campers next to us re-pegging their tents. So of I went since I had other busting matters to attend too. There were simply no point in trying to keep dry as it was that bad. So pegs and a knock-o'meter in hand I braved the worst of it well it had calmed down a bit by then. To find a few other pegs ready to go, to I pegged all the guy-lines I could and made sure that the fly sheet was nice and taught. Good news is that rain make the hard Croatian soil nice and soft so re-pegging was easy. And then made my way to the toilet block where two other tents was spread out on the floor along with all their gubbins spread about in the dish washing area, with some worst to wear, read soaked, occupant trying to keep their dry bits away from their wet bits. We climbed back into bed and tried to sleep but the rain was very hard and the wind did try to see if our tent could fly.

By 7 we had enough and there was no point in trying to avoid what for sure will happen, us getting soaked to the bone. We mastered a plan pack as much into the bags as possible and make it the toilet block and re-pack there since there was more room and less change of getting wet while moving around the tent and it's west wing which was still a 1-2" deep river. Peli did the first bit of running up and down with our gubbings while as sat and packed our sleeping bags and mats on what felt like a water bed. And then I packed up the now muddy and very wet tent, I'm sure it had gained 2-3kg over night.

This is the aftermath of the Great Flood of 2009, the tent still standing, and you can see the "river" running under and around it.

We had our breakfast while standing in the toilet block and shortly made our way to Split. Can you guess what time we left the campsite ?

Since our hotel was en route to Split our plan was to drop of our bags there, but ended up checking in since our room was ready. And double checked that they were ok for picking us up at the bicycle shop in Split. I had a pretty idea how the layout is but no idea on how to do it bicycle so we just followed my nose which took us of the main ring road, come motor way, around Split but right into the industrial area of Split. The road wasn't too bad and again we were given plenty of space but it is not something I want to do again in a hurry. My general sense of direction was only half a mile of and we found the harbour front and its tourist very easy.

We decided to have a second breakfast when we saw a bakery and somehow a Danish, fruit cake and extremely yummy chocolate cake had fallen into our hands, hey we are cycling tourer'ist after all.

We had a little wander around in Split, yes it have it's history and looks nice but lack some atmosphere and warmth as both Dubrovnik and Trogir has in bundles.

 

It is said that if you "tickle" this mans foot you will be coming back to Split again, low and behold I did some 20 years later.

We popped our head into the tourist information to get the directions to the bicycle shop and made our way. At the shop we packed our bikes into boxes which I had email ahead for, simply great service at Ciklo Planet. After a little wait our ride arrived to take us back to the hotel, boy are we horrible organized on our last day in Croatia.

Even squeezed in time to dry our very tent, another pad on Blacks shoulder for designing a tent that is easy to put up and water proof in the heaviest storms.

Now time to kick back with a doughnut before dinner time, yes I know only an hour away, but these doughnuts are yummy.

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 8 : easy delayed jet

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia day 6 : the a day of dead ends

Well what can I say Croatia do like their bins empty cause we got woken up at six. But since we didn't have to get up to be anywhere we had a nice sleep in until 10:30'ish. Got up and didn't pack up for a change and headed out to explore the island of Civic which we are on.

A stop at the supermarket and we hand enough for breakfast on the beach. Boy do some people like to roast in sun we could see 3-4 sun beds taken over but roasting tourist, just laying there adding to the tan.

We cycled on the road as far as we could until we hit the sea, a great spot if you looked at the sea and not what was behind you.

We headed back into Trogir to find our way to St. Something in hope of making a nice loop but we got stuck in the suburb and could not find our way out everything ended in a dead end. We then changed our plans and headed over to the Hotel Trogirski Dvori where we have booked a room for the last night. Because we have a nearly start and didn't fancy packing up everything in the morning in the dark etc before our fight. So the plan is to pack up at the hotel have a good rest and the kind staff at the hotel will bring us and our gubbins to the airport in the morning in their mini bus.

We went to the hotel to double check our booking and also if they could pick us up from the bicycle shop in Split where we would get some cardboard boxes to pack our bicycles up in. And we got a "yes no problem, what time?" with a smile.

 

You can just make our red tent out, in the middle'ish of the picture.

We then headed back to the campsite to have a dip in the sea before dinner in Trogir. Now here is where there would had been some more photos of beautiful Trogir at sunset. But I was charging the battery in the toilet while showering and forgot to transfer the battery from the charger to the camera, doh!

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 7 : Thor rides again

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia day 5 : Sunday a day of rest ?

So much for Croatia being a catholic country, I was sure that Croatia would be dead as a Dodo on a Sunday. But no we got rudely awakened by the dustman at 5:20 on a Sunday morning. And again a bit later when then came back to pick up the recycling, I take it.

Again our departing the campsite time was around ten past nine, go figure.

Instead of taking the Adriatic coastal road the last bit into and past Split, we climbed out of Omis inland up towards Gata and just before we then turned towards Split. We pasta statue of Mila Gojsalić who scared the Turks so much that they jumped to their death at this point. The road up to the statue was a nice switchback climb and provided some great views of the valley if you could imagine away the electric pylons.

 From there is was a great long downhill towards Split, while we had our snack, chocolate dougnuts, we were passed by the cycling road couple we spotted yesterday.

We missed a turn and ended back on to the coastal road into Split and at this point the road had turned into a proper suburban ring road of Split. Not a nice sight and not something we wanted to endure, since I have read quite a few stories about how other tourers have hated this bit. As we found our missed turn, we spotted 6 other cyclists who cheered us on. And as we came to a stop next to them they offered Peli a sip of a 10% Slovakian beer.

 As she said no, I on the other hand said yes, it would have been rude not to! Even when we only spoke English to the main character, he kept talking Slovakian to us, and talk he could! We learned that they spotted us riding out of Omis this morning. And they were cycle touring along to Dubrovnik, though by the look of them they looked like a credit card tourers with a van to carry their gear.

We arrived at the ring road again and had to join it for a mile or so. It was a dual carriageway with a 100km/h sign. I would not like to see this road on a Monday rush hour. A short mile later there was a turn off to Kastel Sucurac which took us off the busy road but took us right into an industrial area, again were we lucky it was a Sunday lunch time.

A few miles later I just randomly turned left into one of the many Kastels that dotted the coast. And found a quite nice spot to have a bite to eat, though a bit windy (the weather, not yours truly). As we rolled along the coat towards Trogir the sun started to pop out. We even saw the campsite I visited 20 years ago and it's bungalows we stayed in, looking just the same.

Shortly after we saw a "Scottish" cricket team training. In Croatia of all places...

We arrived and went straight through over to our campsite, Camp Rozac, where we were greeted by a less than smiling reception.

But nevertheless we found a spot right next to the water and enjoyed a dip in the sea. After showers and pitching the tent we headed into Trogir to find food and by all means ice cream.

If you like sea food you will be spoiled for choice here, but we manage to find a place that served pasta. Again the freshness of the ingredients and the way they manage to make the sauce so yummily creamy, makes my mouth drool just thinking about it.

 

 

We wandered around looking for ice cream for 20 or so minutes in this magical place, best time to visit is at sun set as it really brings the magic out, just stunning. We found one place after wee bit of hunting only to find 5 more around the corner, ain't that just so. But hey, we now know where to look tomorrow and the day after since we are staying put for a few days ;)

We headed back to our tent and pretty much crawled in as the rain started... talk about timing. The rain then turned into an 2 + hour long light show with thunders that had us shaking on our downmats. And it also took out the electricity in the campsite - not good when the showers are sensor switch operated. Lucky we weren't in them but I did hear other soap-sudded moans.

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 6 : a day of dead ends

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia day 4 : a bit drafty

We woke up quite a few times doing the night because the wind. But still managed to get a good night sleep. Up and packed and ready to leave by ten past nine, seem like that is our time.

Get up, pack in a hurry, and it will be nine before we are on the road. Get up and take our time, and it is still nine when we hit the road.

As we cycled away from the site the rain started, first some simple drops which pretty much dried as they hit us since it was around 22c already on a cloudy day. And again we made good time and clocked up 20 miles before 11 which also linked up nicely for lunch in Makarska. A very touristy town, I was here on a package holiday with my mum 20 or so years ago. And the promenade hasn't changed a bit, not even the hotel we stayed at. Only difference was that when I was there last it was the height of the tourist season, and today it was at the sleepy end of the season

As we were eating our lunch on the harbour the rain picked up and it was still going we as we pulled out of the town. As we were plodding up the hill out of town we spotted the first roadie of our tour, then a wee bit later he was followed by an elderly couple. Shortly after that we saw a sole tourer getting into his wet weather gear. The rain wasn't a problem other than we were getting wet but not cold and it was a nice change to yesterday's hot hot weather.

While we had a wee snack break, and a wee wee break, we saw two tourers going south, shouting our hallos as they went past. The locals haven't got used to cycle tourers because we get plenty looks and raised caps as we go past.

As we left Makarska the road was very busy but calmed down right after the turn off to the motorway. The sun tried to get out as we pulled into Omis and we saw yet another sole tourer doing a funny jump off his bicycle as he stopped to take photo of the town.

We arrived at Kamp Caleb around 15:30, pitched our tent and headed to the beach for a quick dip, the beach here was a "sandy" beach, a change to the rocks elsewhere.

After shower and change of clothing we headed into Omis. A very old and small town nice little lanes and plenty of restaurants, that is you like fish and meat. So after a little wander around looking at the sights and menus we found a place that could serve us both. Peli had a vegi pizza and I had a small, modest plate of grilled pork, steak, sausages, chivapacici, pasta, chips and some salad.

While we where eating we were passed by a wedding with music, flag and plenty of guests tarted up to the nines.

And then we went for ice cream. I wonder how the heck I could forget this country's love for ice cream. The stalls are everywhere and all the stalls are displaying the ice cream in the same way, all heaped up in curvy mounds, like they're silicon implanted :). You name the flavour and there is an ice cream and it is good and cheap too.

As we arrived back at the campsite we saw the wedding again, by the look of things they are using the restaurant right outside. Kinda glad that we picked a spot so far away from the entrance. We are now in bed while I'm typing this us Peli is reading her book while we listen to the rain on the tent. I wonder if this will continue all day tomorrow?

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 5 : Sunday day of rest

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia day 3 : border hopping

We woke up around seven and took our time getting up. But had breakfast, packed and ready to go by nine. Again we hit the main road on the Adriatic coast, yes busy but the views we got made the hassle worth it.

Just shy of 3 miles into the days ride we met up with the French touring couple again. Soon after we spotted a couple zooming down hill in the other direction. Today was getting the miles in day, since we did some sight seeing in Dubrovnik and had a short day. Traffic was somewhat busy but still plenty space left for us. The temperature went past the 40c and even the wind was warm. The Adriatic coast rolls along with long climbs and decent, the steepest parts is when go down to a village at the sea.

We made good time and soon arrived at the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we just go waved past by the border guard. There wasn't much different to see though Nemu which is the only town on the coat we went past. Though it did look much more like the old communist, eastern Europe I could remember from 20 years ago. There is many reasons for which I will not go into here. Again we had to zoom down hill to the water in Nemu where we had lunch.

Though it meant climbing up some of the steepest hills we had done on our tour. The map we had clearly said that Nemu was halfway between the two border controls but we where barely out of Nemu before we said goodbye to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a wave by the somewhat bored but nice border guard.

The next bit was hot and rolling hills again, until we came out to the river Neretva delta where we had our first real flat bit on our tour. We passed quite a few fruit and vege stalls by the road side and after the tenth we gave in got some delicious tomatoes and grapes from a nice lady.

Then the climb back up the mountains began again with some good news, the new motorway from Zargreb to Dubrovnik via Split had reached Polce. So the traffic quited down a bit. As we passed the Bacinska Jezera lakes(I think) on one of the down hills we saw a sole tourer and we both were about to shout Hummers what the heck are.... Oh it is not he ;)

We arrived in Gradac tired and ready to find a campsite and only saw a tired sign saying kamp. We then looked for the tourist information only to find that it was closed for an other 20 min or so. The waiting time was killed by eating ice cream and looking at the sea, ah a hard life.

After a quick chat with the nice lady in the tourist office we headed 5miles further south cause the campsite in town wasn't worth a stay. We arrived at around four in the afternoon and 55 miles later. Kamp Viter was just a road width away from the beach, we found a spot under some threes away from the sun. The hammer erm rock got heavily used to get the pecks in but even with the wind picking up as it got dark the tent staied put.

We headed down the the local restaurant where I got a large pivo which I really needed while we waited for our food too arrive. I had chivapacici and shared a plate of chips with Peli who had an cheesy omelet with salad. Food there might not be haute cuisine but boy does the food taste good because of the fresh ingredients.

After dinner we looked at the sea and sunset and decided that the sunset was best enjoyed in the water. Quick shower and a early night is due that is if the wind will let us.

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 4 : a bit drafty

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia day 2 : a marble-ous day

Plan was to wake early and hit Dubrovnik early but we faffed around setting our bikes up, which we didn't do the night before in the airport.

 

 

The road into Dubrovnik was busy because it was rush hour. But we were given plenty space on the road and sometimes even a friendly toot to let us know that they were coming.

We spotted and passed a couple touring on the same route, he with back panniers and a bob trailer and her with just back panniers. In Dubrovnik at the Ploče Gate we spotted them again, and learned that they were French, not sure from where to where they are touring. They were also trying to get their bikes into the old city. I did read the night before that you can't take your bikes into town which anyway will be hard to move your fully loaded touring bike up and down the steep steps which cover half of the town. So we locked them up outside in a hidden corner and hoped for the best.

Dubrovnik is still as amazing as I can remember from 20 or so years ago. We walked around for 20 min before hunger kicked in and we got some food. A very meaty lasagna for me, well it did say meat lasagna on the menu. And a pasta with vegetables for Peli who could not complain about the lack of them in this big dish of nomnom.

Two dinners out and we have stuffed ourselves with wonderful delicious food, just as I remembered. After the food we had a quick wander around this beautiful town, even in the low end of the season it was packed with tourists and hot before noon.

We then headed out of town north towards Split, only 230'ish km to go. The first bit was busy roads but it quietened down as we went along.

The temperature hit 40c in the sun and we were running out of water as we neared the day's destination, Slano. The research I did told me that there would be two campsites in the bay. Though even with a few miles in our legs we had soon figured out that we should not have a problem with finding a campsite on the Croatian coast. And in the tourist information in Slano, they told us that there are 5 campsites in the Slano bay area.

We arrived at Kamp Rogač around 15:00 and pitched up in a corner and headed into the sea for a swim. After a quick shower I'm now sitting here in the shade typing this up while listing to the thunder storm going on in the mountains behind me, bliss.

 

 

We headed into town and found a shop and got a few things for dinner for tonight and breakfast and lunch tomorrow. In one of the bars in Slona we spotted two men touring, studying their maps over a cold pivo. We had a quite an early night, lights off was shortly after eight.  We were woken up a few times doing the night because of the wind in the tent. And not ours. Nice and quite nothing to hear for ten or so minutes then a massive gust for ten or so seconds and then repeat. I understand the reason why, as the air cools down over the sea and mountains it starts to move around, lacking the technical explanations, but why the massive gusts?

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 3 : border hopping

Click here to see all the photos.

Croatia Day 1 : stress what is that?

We we did somewhat ask for it, but I had flown with Easyjet before and other airliners with less packed-up bicycles and I have even seen un-wrapped up bicycles getting put in the plane.

The reason for not packing my bike in the box is that a normal bicycle box is too small for a 58cm touring frame with pannier racks, mudguards and a uncut fork with a riser stem. And I didn't fancy totally dismantling both our bicycles and then putting them back together outside the airport in Dubrovnik.

So I packed the bikes up as well as I could with the wheels still in use so that they would be easier to move on our way to Gatwick. The philosophy behind it, as others have said, is that the baggage handlers can see it is a bicycle and therefore will (you hope) not just throw them around.

But no. Easyjet would have none of that, and we had a nicely stressful time running around the south and north terminals finding bicycle boxes and re-packing our bikes up in time. Luckily we arrived nice and early in Gatwick.

Even with the big boxes that are for sale at Gatwick, and our front wheels off, and the front pannier rack pivoted back, still the back mudguard touched the end of the box on our small 46cm touring bike with 26" wheels.

We couldn't close the box up on the 58cm bike and therefore it would not fit in the oversized luggage scanner in Gatwick. So we had to be scanned a a different place which still wasn't big enough! So, we had to unpack the bicycle box! The friendly fella at this security desk tried to take our mind off the problem with a joke. Which did make us laugh in horror, which subsequently made him laugh! He just wanted to see our faces when he told us that they always lose bicycles ;)

The stupid thing about this was that the porter who was helping us didn't have a trolley. And he was asking where our trolley was and we had to go and get one. And when he told us that he would take the bicycle to the plane it was clear that he would take the trolley and a our one pound that we had put into the trolley. A porter service without a trolley. Groan.

Well, the good news is that we met a very friendly train conductor on southern trains. And a friendly fella at security who helped to take the top of our stress off. And a new one, we spotted in the Easyjet in flight magazine an advert by none other than ChainReaction Cycles! All is not lost.

Anyhow, back to our travels. I had found a few campsites somewhere between the airport and Dubrovnik. I picked one called Camp Kate. We arrived around 2130, pitched in the dark (remember to bring a rock, erm, hammer, cause the ground is hard because of the dry and sunny weather. And also the rocks).

Went to restaurant across the road called Flamingo, where I had the best pasta carbonara EVAH. Well, in a very long time, very creamy and cheesy, when cold the sauce turned hard - proof that it was the real McCoy. I even forgot about my beer, it was that good ! I was too busy going namnamtastegoodnam namthisisnamnam. Peli's mushroom pizza had more 'mush' than room for them. And there was plenty of good cheese too.

The only place on the site we managed to find was quite close to the road but we slept like a rock, and the wind and traffic didn't bother us.

Click here to read the next day : Croatia day 2 : a marble-ous day

Click here to see all the photos.

Hello rat run ...

... and welcome back.

It was nice to have a few weeks off away from you. No no it wasn't me who left you alone it was you who went on holiday.

And today you are back in full force !!!

The schools started back today big time and the rush hour went from normally mad to gridlocked.

Not because of an accident or "insert your favorite company here" digging up the roads again, naa it was you arriving back from your holidays.

To take your little loved one to school in your car, that long distance of say, hmm, of a mile !!

Oh well, we have been here before I just gotta accept it don't I ?

-H