http://walradio.com/biketrips/index.php http://walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry090418-060738 Windsor to Wiseman's Ferry - 55km

We caught the train to Windsor and left about midday towards the Sackville ferry. Not long after the ferry we turned left onto River Road which followed the Hawekesbury until Wiseman's Ferry. It's a nice ride, undulating but no daunting climbs. There are a lot of water skiers and noisy boats, and a lot of caravan parks beside the river if you want to camp anywhere along there.



An old man who was chatting to us over his front fence recommended we go to Del Rio, which is a "riverside resort" with camping and a bar, not far over the river from the Webbs Creek ferry. It wasn't the most peaceful location, but it did have hot showers and a bar. We were cooking our own, but the bar also did food.

Day 2:
Wiseman's Ferry to Mangrove Mountain - 56km

In the morning we went back over the river on the Webbs Creek ferry, then again on Wiseman's ferry. Wiseman's Ferry Road follows the river downstream for a while until Spencer where we had lunch. Then it leaves the river and heads up Mangrove Creek. This is an OK ride until the road leaves the creek and heads up towards Mangrove Mountain. There are a few kilometres of a constant hard climb before it settles into a bit of an easier climb.

Even though the distance covered was short for a day of riding it did take us most of the day, although we regularly stopping for coffee breaks and the like in the morning.

There's a shop at Mangrove Mountain where we bought a drink and some water and asked about camping. There are no caravan parks or campsites around, but she recommended the football field which was a short ride up the road. This turned out to be ideal - nice grass to pitch on, quiet, and fairly secluded. After a good meal, some wine, and some very tasty scotch supplied by Dan we slept well.

Day 3:
Mangrove Mountain to Brooklyn - 44km

We were quite close to the top of the hill. It's about 4km to Central Mangrove, then almost all downhill from there for the rest of the way. We stopped at Peats Ridge for delicious hot crossed buns and a bad chai latte, then enjoyed a quick downhill run (some of it quite fun) to the Pacific Highway and on down to Brooklyn. At Brooklyn we had a couple of celebratory beers and fish and chips for lunch, before catching the train home.



The route we took for this ride came from http://www.cycleaustralia.info/cycling/hawkesbury.htm. If you look at his google map we followed the main route the entire way. Apparently the side trip he has marked to St Albans is worth it.

Even though there were shops along the route we took most of our food with us as it was Easter, but there wasn't really a need as most shops seemed to be open even on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I would recommend carrying a fair bit of water. We had no problems refilling in cafes generally, but at Mangrove Mountain (at the top of a long climb) the only water to be found was bought at the shop.

For camping, there are a plethora of caravan parks along the Hawkesbury, but after that nothing. I would recommend the football field we used at Mangrove Mountain (it's on a side road, but signposted from the main road), and other than that there are probably a heap of places you can free camp in Ourimbah State Forest and the like.

It was quite scenic for nearly the entire way. Where we weren't following the river we were either too busy climbing to notice anything, or going through state forest or national parks. There were some great views from the Pacific Highway.

With an early start and a late finish you could easily do this as a two day trip.
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The trains didn't seem too bad although we didn't feel particularly welcome. The rail network in Croatia doesn't have a lot of coverage though. As with Slovenia, you might have a bit of trouble getting on the trains with a bike if it's particularly crowded.

Buses will accept bikes, but only when they're in the mood, and it's up to the driver. You have to wait until the bus arrives, and if you're rejected try the next one. If the bus is not very full you have a good chance, so try not to travel in peak times. The charge for taking a bike is considerably more than for the same size of luggage, as well.

Car ferries are great for bikes, but the passenger-only catamarans won't take them. There's no reason why not, so, as with most things, this might be negotiable. You may also be able to negotiate with tour operators and the like if they are travelling to an island you want to go to. To be sure ahead of time, check that the route you want to take is serviced by a car ferry. Also, in some cases the cost of a bike on a ferry is more than the cost of a person.

In Slovenia we never tried using buses, but we used trains fairly regularly and never had a problem. We weren't travelling in a peak time though, and I understand you can be rejected by the train conductor if he thinks it is too full.

In general, travelling outside of peak season will give you a good chance of getting onto public transport with your bike.

We never had to box or bag the bike on any trains, buses or ferries. Just take the front wheel off for the buses.]]> http://walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry090414-063919
The heat was often a bit too much to ride in, so opting to spend four or so hours in the middle of the day lazing about in the shade somewhere, and only riding morning and late afternoon was great. The time off can easily be wasted on delicious gelato, beer, and enjoying the seaside towns.

Krk as a town was a highlight - beautiful, but small and relatively quiet. For cycling the highlight was probably the twin islands of Cres and Losinj.

Although the big cities are great in themselves, as a cyclist it's difficult to like them. Dubrovnik in particular is a very beautiful city, but is more suited to the normal tourist than cyclists. On another cycling trip I would gladly skip the big cities and spend the entire time on the islands, then visit Montenegro via Trebinje. The inland route via Bosnia seems it would be much more pleasant and easy than the coastal road.

Finding campgrounds in Croatia was easier than in Slovenia, but they were usually rocky and hard ground, and we got a few bent pegs. In some cases we used rocks more than pegs to anchor the tent.

We didn't cycle as much distance as we intended. In Slovenia we were limited mostly by bad weather, and in Croatia it was our ferry options and our unwillingness to ride the main coastal highway. What we did was very enjoyable though. We also improved quite a lot as cyclists over the three weeks, and were in pretty good shape by the end.

Apart from the rainfall, Slovenia was probably a better country for cycling. Less touristy and more bike friendly than Croatia, and there were areas that sound great for cycling that we didn't visit.

Anyway, it was a great trip. I think our only mistake was to try to fit in too many places, meaning we had to cover quite a lot of distance on other forms of transport in order to fit them in. Catching trains, buses and planes is so much less fun and rewarding than cycling, and considerably more expensive. It would be better to cover less distance and be cycling nearly all of the time, even if it means missing a lot of the big drawcards of a region. There are so many small things which will make up for it.

Croatia and trip audio wrapup ]]> http://walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry090414-051142
Plane Dubrovnik to Tallinn

6th and 7th June 2008

Our last day in Dubrovnik before heading home was spent looking for bike boxes. As there are a total of zero specialist bike shops in the city and a similar number of helpful people in the sports shops that did sell bikes, this turned out to be not possible. Estonian Air's policy is that all bikes must be in a box. When we called them they said they would accept them bagged, just not take responsibility for any damage. Eventually we found some huge sheets of plastic from a gardening shop to wrap them up in. This is far easier and more practical than a box anyway.

We had a mid morning flight, but because of our previous difficulties with catching the buses we took a stupidly early bus. It all worked out well though, and it was worth the effort to skip riding that busy road.

June 6th audio update
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Cycled Dubrovnik to Trebinje and back

5th June 2008

We took a day off from our lazing about in Dubrovnik to make a side trip to nearby Trebinje in Bosnia. Since it was just a day trip we didn't have much weight so it was to be a relatively easy ride. Leaving Dubrovnik wasn't so easy because it was quite a long steep hill, and a very busy road. There was a shoulder which made it, although still a little frightening, at least managable.

About 4km out of Dubrovnik we turned off the main highway onto a small road which led to Trebinje. At first we thought we were lost because the road was completely empty, and we thought it was a major road into a different country and so should be busy. There were a couple of quarries around but little else. We were able to confirm we were on the right track though and continued on our merry way up the winding road. The views back to Croatia and the Adriatic were quite spectacular.



Because of the history of unfriendliness between Croatia and Bosnia I was expecting the border security to be quite tough, but it was the most relaxed I've ever seen. The Croatian border waved us out, then when we got to the Bosnian security I was taking too long to find Millerine's passport, so they sent us through without checking. Obviously two non-slavs on bicycles don't pose much of a threat.

The rest of the trip to Trebinje was uneventful. The road continued winding up to the top of the hill, then it was a gradually graded 15km ride down into Trebinje. In between there was very little other than abandoned and destroyed buildings, road kill, and only about four or five cars. It was very stark. It looked as though it had been hit hard by the war and never recovered. The view of Bosnia was nothing but mountains. If I were to ride to Montenegro I would go via Bosnia though. It's a much more pleasant ride than along the busy coastal road.

Trebinje was a very normal city, not a beautiful town like we were getting used to. There was an old town, but not much of one. It had other things going for it though. We were the only tourists in town, it was very cheap, and everyone we met was helpful and friendly. I got out fifty konvertibilnih maraka after judging it's spending power by looking at cafe beer prices, but it went a very long way. We went to the markets and bought a whole heap of vegetables, then had what for us was a gourmet lunch (the best food for the trip), and still had enough to buy some food and alcohol supplies for a couple of days.

In general there wasn't much to see, but after being in overtouristy, unfriendly Croatia for so long the friendliness of the people of Trebinje was very welcome.

On the way back the border security just waved us through. We enjoyed more of the view of the Adriatic, and were back in time to cook a delicious tea of vegetable soup.

June 5th audio update
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Cycled Milna to Stari Grad
Ferry Stari Grad to Dubrovnik

3rd and 4th June 2008

The ride back to the ferry at Stari Grad was fun because once you get through the tunnel at the top of the island it's all downhill, and we knew the road well by now.

Again we shared the ferry with Pat and Ron, although they got off at Korčula and we had decided to go straight through to Dubrovnik. The view of Korčula old town from the ferry was almost enough to cause regret for not stopping off there. The rest of the island didn't look all that exciting as we travelled down it's coastline though, so I settled into reading Kafka's The Castle and drinking beer on deck.

Dubrovnik is a fantastic city. The old town is as beautiful as any I've seen (or more so), is large, and the walls are very well preserved. It also has hundreds of stray cats. The rest of the city outside of the old town has some character and a good vibe as well. The only problem is the hills and the lack of bike shops.







We are staying at Camping Solitudo, which is near the suburb of Lapad, a few kilometres from the city centre. It's a very comfortable place and ideal for settling down for a few days, which is exactly what we intend to do (apart from a day trip tomorrow). Particularly as there is a little market which sells our staple diet these days - bread, vegies, beer and wine.
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Cycled Trogir to Split
Ferry Split to Stari Grad
Cycled Stari Grad to Hvar

1st and 2nd June 2008

We got up early to ride to Split in an effort to beat traffic, but we needn't have worried as it was Sunday and even the multilane highway we entered Split on was pretty empty. It was an OK ride and our fastest average speed for any section of the trip. In Split we ran into a Dutch guy who was planning to reach Indonesia sometime before December, and had cycled 4400km in 6 weeks. He was wondering what the roads were like for cycling between Darwin and Sydney, so I told him a little about the difficulties with distances and water.

We met an English couple, Pat and Ron, on the ferry. They were a bit older and doing a similar thing to us. We went together for the ride to Milna where we camped, and they were much more our pace than Matt and Vanessa had been.

Hvar is a long thin island with a 77km road from Hvar at one end to Sucaraj at the other. Stari Grad is less than 20km from Hvar, on the other side of the island. The road to Hvar is good for cycling. You have to ride over a big hill (as with all Croatian islands), but there isn't much traffic. There is a kilometre or so long tunnel at the top which is well lit and worth it for skipping the worst of the hill. It's very steep getting out of Hvar, but only for a short distance.

The town of Hvar itself is very cool. It's very touristy but a nice and lively. There's also an awesome castle with fantastic views of the surrounding islands and of Hvar.



The Milna campground was about 5km from Hvar and wasn't great quality, but was cheap at 100 kune/night. It was in a nice place next to the sea, but the ground was rock hard, resulting in lots of bent pegs and a partially erected tent. There was a very good campground nearer Hvar, but it was more than twice the price.

We still didn't want to ride the mainland coast road, so we opted to ferry out of Stari Grad, leaving us a day to hire a scooter and travel to the other end of the island.



Hvar is probably the most scenic of the islands, with an excellent town and castle. Well worth the visit, but cycling the length of it would be fun.
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Bus Zadar to Trogir
Bus Trogir to Split and back

30th and 31st May 2008

We left the campground early as we were obliged to do, and spent a while riding around Zadar. It's a nice town with a bustling lifestyle, and seems to have a life of it's own apart from the tourism. We saw some roman columns and some markets before leaving. It seemed a nice enough town to stay in for a couple of days.

We caught a bus from Zadar to Trogir near Split as we wanted to avoid the coast road. Initially we planned to go to Plitvice National Park, but the bus wouldn't take us. It is up to the driver of each service to decide if they'll take a bike, and they seem generally reluctant to do so. There is a train but it takes a long time with multiple changes and the services are apparently not particularly reliable. The bus drivers are difficult to communicate with, making the process of getting a bike on a bus a pain in the arse, and it's also more expensive than trains. Avoid taking bikes on the bus in Croatia if you can, although I would also be reluctant to ride the coastal road.

Trogir is a lovely small town that we stayed in for two nights. It has a small walled old town with a small fortress, and many, many scooters. We camped a few kilometres away from the old town on an island you could access by bridge. The ground was ridiculously hard and I bent the pegs trying to put them in. There were a few beaches which were recommended to us by the tourist info, but they were uninspiring gravel beaches.


The next day we caught the bus to Split for a day trip. It has a beautiful roman palace in the centre, but apart from that felt like quite a soulless city.

We met an English man doing an England to New Zealand trip who looked set for life. His Burley Nomad trailer was heaped up and was quite colourful with flags from places he'd been to. He claimed to get quite a bit of attention when on the road. Not sure I'd want to pull that weight though. Also he used foot straps not cleats.]]> http://walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry090104-042558
Cycled Osor to Mali Lošinj
Ferry Mali Lošinj to Zadar

29th May 2008

We left Osor quite early and the ride was very easy to Mali Lošinj. We stayed in Mali Lošinj for around 6 hours until the ferry, which was a six hour trip to Zadar. It was dark once we started cycling from the ferry terminal to our campground, but it was well lit and not too hard to find our way.

The guy serving us at the campground offered us a 50 kuna deal instead of the normal 140 kuna if he could take our money under the table and we agreed to leave before the office opened in the morning.

In Mali Lošinj we dropped into an internet cafe and booked our plane tickets home. There is a new Estonian Air service from Dubrovnik to Tallinn, which we booked for the 7th. It cuts our trip short a little both in time and distance, but it was the best flight for us to take.]]> http://walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry080923-081355
I'm sure you can get them from map shops, but we haven't had the good fortune to fall upon a map shop.]]>