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Monday, October 16, 2017
Monday, October 9, 2017
Germany is Almost Home
We had a great trip to Europe and there is no better way to finish it off than to spend a little time with good friends. In the last two weeks in Germany we had a great time, touring the local areas, playing cards and just kicking back, he perfect way to say goodbye.
FYI: this trip we rode 14950 km on our 2015 Suzuki Vstrom 1000 and installed one front and one rear tire. The most expensive gas was in Italy, €1.55 or $2.30 a liter, and the cheapest was in Bosnia, $1.50 a liter. Our final tally of countries we visited this trip was 14 and some of these twice. It cost us $1675 to ship the bike over with Air Canada and $2100 to ship it back.
How much fun we had....Too Much!
Ken, Martina, Martina's parents, Jonas, and I stand in front of Martina's parents' family farm which has been in the family for over 310 years. The barn is built in the traditional red brick and wood, and at one time housed the family and livestock.
A damp fall is the perfect growing condition for shaggy mane mushrooms.
In northern Germany there is a lot of farmland and the wind farms are included in this. The cooler fall weather and flat landscape is just right for bike riding.
While staying at Heinz and Martina's house is Assendorf we made a road trip to Bremmenhaufen to the Immigration Museum. Ken and I found it very interesting as the museum was laid out as if we were immigrants boarding a boat and crossing the Atlantic to New York, and beyond. Here we are getting ready to walk up the gangplank...ready to leave for the new world.
Throughout the museum we were able to listen to the voices of immigrants with their stories. At the end of the tour we were searched their archives for information about Kens' and my grandfathers coming to North America.
We were very happy to be taking the road trip in a car (not a motorbike) a rainstorm hit us full force. Take a close look at the windshield at the big raindrops.
Heinz, me, Martina, and Ken enjoy coffee and and a blueberry cake Martina had made.
Looking out over the moors at Natur erleben Rehdener Geestmoor, Naturpark Dummer.
Franz and Ken don their hats for a afternoon at Hessen Park, near Weisbaden. At this park we walked among restored buildings from the surrounding villages and depicted life in the old days.
The park has fields of sugar beet (a large vegetable laying on the ground) and wheat and fruit trees that use in live demonstrations of a working farm.
Susie, Christian, ? And Sabine check out a wagon of some pretty good looking cabbages.
The view from the window of our plane as we fly over Greenland. Thanks to the guy in seat 35c for the picture as we didn't have window seats that enabled us take this photo.
A good reason to come home to Canada, a colorful fall day which was still warm enough to ride home (9 degrees at the Penask summit).
Friday, September 22, 2017
Corsica Is France
I think we can honestly say that we now KNOW Corsica. On an island that is approximately only 162 km long and 60 km wide we rode over 1600 km (around, across, from the top to the bottom, and back again). This island is full of bikes and we know why...the roads are good and they wind through some very nice countryside and along some fantastic beaches. The riders may be a little crazy, passing on blind corners and traveling at such a high speed I am sure they saw nothing but the road directly in front of their front tire.
We rode the head of the island, about 100 km, and it took us all day. We visited Corte, in the center of the island, and did a great afternoon hike up the Restonica valley. At the end of the island we saw the fort of Bonifacio, and stayed near the beach of Roninara, located in a beautiful bay. We found the small village of Campomoro, with good hiking along the coast AND had a fantastic beach which was not very busy. Traveling back up north, on the west coast we drove through Piana and Porto, in between which is the Calanques de Piana, an amaze drive that shouldn't be missed. Oh I forgot the Asco Valley, a twisty ride along a creek and up to a ski hill with a hike into the Asco wildlife reserve. One of the things we love about traveling is meeting people and we met up with old friends, Stefan and Emma (actually they are not old, younger than us) from a previous trip and spent three very windy days in Lozari catching up on travel stories. We left them on the morning of our departure from Corsica, (on which we were taking the night ferry to Nice) and then still we had more sights to see as we rode to a view point above Bastia where we had a nice view of the port.
Now for just one small rant...We camped the trip on Corsica and a few things drove us a little crazy about the campsites. Can you believe that in the washrooms they do not supply toilet paper...you must bring your own. And, they do not supply toilet seats...are we expected to bring our own as well? When we questioned them about these oddities they replied "sir, we get 1000's of tourists here a year, are we expected to supply paper for so many people? (as if we don't get a lot of tourists in Canada, and we supply paper). As for the seats, I guess the French can't be trusted not to steal them. Ok, I feel better and to tell you the truth we really enjoyed the French and our time in France.
As the time came to leave and head north for return trip to Germany, the temperature dropped and we found ourselves in 9-11 degrees riding in the morning. At this time we had to remember the days of riding in 40 degree during the earlier months of our trip.
As we left Krk, Croatia, the clouds were moving in the rain was not far behind.
Small villages on Corsica were nestled in the mountains...
And in vineyards...
And along the sea in remote bays.
An old gas pump, standing watch over the new at the gas station, was no longer in use but interesting just the same.
Sometimes we wondered what wound drive the people to build villages in such precarious places?
Lac de Melu, a great one hour hike after an amazing drive up the Restonica Valley from Corte.
Ken, with the Restonica Valley in the background.
Corte, in the heart of Corsica, has the most amazing fortress that I am sure was totally impenetrable.
The island has many of these old roman bridges.
We may have a little more packing room than these two Fiats.
A great hike around the Punta Di Compomoro had us scrambling over rocks along the waters edge.
Just because I love them.
Ken, wake up! It is time to go back to camp for happy hour. A tough life.
What is crazy about this picture? Note the speedometer...note the vehicle ahead of us. Is this a little dangerous? A quad driving on the highway at 101 kph?
The drive between Piana and Porto, called the Calanques de Piana, was possibly the most spectacular on our trip to Corsica. The color of the rock changes with the time of day and the lighting.
The beach at Marine de Porto.
At Porto, we had such a bad thunderstorm we were very lucky to find this little cabin/tent to sleep in. A great idea! Upstairs there was a double bed, and under the tent there was picnic table ( not something you find very often on Corsica) and a clothesline.
On a hike in the Gorges of Spinonca, we walk on trails that have been uses since the 15th century.
Roads in the past now become cobblestone hiking trails.
These pigs are domestic but they run wild I the mountian, like we would see our cattle in Canada grazing on crown land.
Ken is happy whe he can walk in the woods, it reminds him of home.
This island is really one giant rock and this is just one, big one. Volcanic holes which have been eroded by time and the elements filled with rainwater...yes, from our huge thunderstorm.
Another view of a small village, the sea and the twisty roads leading to and from the village.
Too cool, we met up with our friends, Stefan and Emma, for a few nights in Losari. We first met them in Canada in 2011, then in Baja, Mexico in 2012 and now in Corsica, France. I love it!
The view of Bastia, the port we arrived and left from, taken from over 900 mts at a telecom/military station above the city.
Moby ferryline's Moby Dada, the biggest and newest in their fleet.
Back in mainland France, we began to see other types of bikes beside the typical adventure bike that was so popular on Corsica. Note the dog driving.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Going to Corsica
Looking back at Livorno, Italy, as we sail away to Corsica
Moby ferry line is the way to go
Ken found a new friend on deck!
After much contemplation, hours at least, we decided to meet our German friends, Stefan and Emma, in Corsica. The fact that the weather was still warm there only helped us make the decision. Apparently a few other bikers had the same idea!
Check out Moby, going to Corsica, on our YouTube.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Hiking Baska, Krk Island, Croatia
Krk Island, in Croatia, is a great place to hike, lots of trails, beaches, beautiful bays and of course a lot of rock. Kms of rock walls cover the hillsides, some still in use today. The water in the Adriatic was still warm enough to swim in comfortably in, very nice after a day of hiking.
Check out the view of two bays we visited on a day hike.
Croatia
We wanted to visit Croatia, again. The clear water of the Adriatic, the rocky coastline and picturesque islands found fond memories for both Ken and I when we remembered our last trip to the country. This trip in late July, we tried to book a week or two in an apartment in Baska, on the island of Krk. To our disappointment, Croatia was booked up and what wasn't booked was way above our price range. Now, in the last month of our trip we said "the heck with it" and headed to the beach.
On our way to the coast we passed through an area which is known for its' storks. We have seen many storks on this trip but what was amazing to us were the wood houses that we saw in this area, not something that is common place. Trying attract tourism, some families have converted old farms into beautiful antique apartments or B and Bs, we were camping but even the restaurant at our campsite was a converted farmhouse, very nice.
After a couple of days camping in the Stock refuge (with no stocks, they had left for the season already) we made a beeline for the coast. We arrived at Baska on the island of Krk, found a great little apartment, and set into a routine of hiking one day (we did 4 hikes totaling over 45 km all together) and beaching it one day. Can you believe we spent 9 days in Baska, it's a busy little tourist town but we think it is lovely just the same.
Warning: the follow pictures contain a lot of rock!
Just another great camp spot, this time in Cigoc, northeast Croatia
Now these are some tall corn stalks!
A little fixer upper we found, built in the late 1800's
The beach at Baska on the island of Krk. We had to come back for another visit after being forced to leave early (bad weather) five years ago
We did several hikes in the area. This one recommended that you not wear sandals but I figured I was safe in my Texas
We made it to the viewpoint on the ridge, which had great views of the islands and the Adriatic
The Island of Krk is covered in drywalls, these fences and pens made of piles of stone. They were and some still are used to contain sheep. These were made hundred of years ago by sheep herders but now they are an added attraction to the view on all the hikes on the island
In the background sits Uvala Vela Draga, the destination of our first hike on Krk
We enjoyed a couple of hours swimming and refusing to think about the long trek back to the apartment
Camp Bunculuka, not quite the quiet cove we are used to at Rattlesnake beach in Baja, not to mention that Bunculuka is also a naturist camp (clothing optional)
A nice little Italian touring bike, Moto Guzzi
Off we go on hike two, it all starts with a climb up a rocky staircase
Standing on the trail which runs between two drywalls, many more larger walled fields are in the background
A small snake we saw along the trail to Vela Luka did not want to leave his lunch behind, no matter how much he want to escape us
On the way back from Vela Luka we took a trail that made its way to the sea via Kanyon Vela Vrzenica, all I can say is how do I get down there?
The beach at Baska is very busy. In high season, on any given day, over 400,000 will visit this island with its small towns and beautiful beaches
Old town Baska with its small streets with wall murals
Krk is the only island in the Adriatic that has fresh running water year around. This water station is used for washing clothes and watering animals (not so much now that this island has electricity) and as a social gathering place. Though this one was made in 1960, they have been used for hundreds of years on the island
On our third hike, along the trail from Batomalj to Baska, up on the ridge, Ken takes a moment to enjoy the view and catch his breath
More rock and more sea and more islands...
Bumming a ride after a hard day at the beach
On the second to last day, on our fourth hike, we got caught in the rain. It was a bit to much deja vu for us, remembering our last visit here, it must be time to head on....9 days is enough.
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