The Mostar motel whilst modern, very comfy, secure bike parking and importantly cheap didn’t advertise that it was located next to the busiest noisiest road in Mostar which despite the cheap Rum that we had drunk, sleep was not great.
However revitalised by the inclusive breakfast we headed towards the Croatian coast.
The border crossings between Bosnia and Croatia are inconsistent and today having been through two checkpoints we stowed away passports and vehicle documents only to find out there was a third check that wanted to see my documents but not my passport and Andy he just waved through.
We’ve seen quite a few road signs on our travels warning us about the local wildlife from bears, deers, wild boar but today we came across a new one Wolves. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately we didn’t spot any.
We joined the coast at Polce and then headed North. It is an amazing road and on the bike intercom we began to compare it with the Albanian Coast rode to try and work out which one we thought was best. We didn’t really come to a conclusion. There are no real surprises on the Croatian coast, it’s just continuously awesome with glorious views almost continuously and sweeping bends which allow you to travel fairly fast. The Albanian coast road is more dramatic and you need your wits about you with tight 180 degree turns appearing suddenly but then as you negotiate your way through the bend you will be rewarded with an amazing view which then disappears almost as quickly as it appeared as you weave up and down and in and out of roads cut into the mountain.
We stopped at Baska Voda a small resort, for a lovely salad and just as we were chatting and eating Andy spotted the local parking warden eyeing up our bikes, apparently illegally parked. Quick to apologise we moved them 20 yds and avoided a ticket.
Leaving there we hugged the coast which until we got to Split was very quiet in our direction which meant we could enjoy the road and make good progress, stopping every now and then to take photo’s. Every now and then we would recognise a landmark from our previous Croatian experience.
From Split the roads became much busier and while the local scooter and motorbike riders ignore the no overtaking signs and travel up the centre line with speeding cars moving over allowing them to overtake, we were far more cautious. Waiting for gaps in the oncoming traffic we would then accelerate past as many cars as we could before pulling in.
The road from Split would occasionally detour inland as it cut across bits of the coastline but for most of the time we were never very far from the very blue sea. As the clock approached 3:30 we started keeping our eyes out for signs for camp sites with Andy eventually seeing one marked on his Satnav at a small place called Primosten. Arriving there we were pleasantly surprised to find a very good campsite right on the beach. Although the pitches are geared for the motor home market with lots of pebbles and very little soil or grass we eventually found a pitch where we could at least knock the pegs in a couple of inches. Tents erected we walked the 15 yards to the Adriatic and cooled off with a lovely refreshing swim.
Tomorrow we should leave Croatia although we haven’t yet decided the route through the Alps which is very weather dependent when on bikes.