Friday, October 9, 2009

On the Bike Again: Dalmatian Coast Croatia 2009

Greetings from Brac, on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, where I am typing very clumsily on a Croatian (Hvartska) keyboard. As such, I plan to keep the descriptions of the last amazing week to a minimal amount and let the photos tell the story.I got here a week ago and what fun was it that Sheri Tarr from Melbourne was also in the region! We met up and had a great time, as always. Here we are walking around Dubrovnik last weekend.

The time with Sheri was too short. On Sunday, it was time to meet the Backroads gang! Here is our boat that we have been riding around on, I am not kidding about this. It is awesome, and has taken us to all four of our desintation islands (Mljet, Korcula, Hvar and now Brac). Tomorrow we will sail back to Split on it (and from there we split for home...ha ha ha...).

I am so excited to be back on the bike! Here I am in the town of Cara on Korcula, day 2...taking a break by the sea. All the villages are increadibly quaint and look like this:


We stopped to taste some wine at the Toreta Winery in Smokvica. Here is one of my guides, Lennie, tasting wine with one of the family owners. The following day, we visited the Lavender Lady (Korcula is known for fresh lavender) where we heard all about her trade and got to stock up.



There are many cats in Croatia, I have made frinds with some.



We have seen the most beautiful flowers, such as this bougainvillea.



Last but not least, we have biked really LONG WAY. Michelle Pearcy once told me, what goes up must copme down. In the case of this country, what goes up must come down, then go back up and down but up a lot more, and so on. Today was the first time I actually cussed at the hills on the route. I did 30 miles and more than 3000 feet before lunch, so I guess that is not too bad.



More to follow soon!