Kiwi Dreams - Europe & Morocco 2014

Careful in Greece as the roads can be very slick when wet. They're covered in a layer of fine dust which turns to slime when wet.
Apart from that I think you'll like Greece as there's always a mountain in view so the scenery is great. I thought the most scenic area was in the hills just south of Patra.

Now don't you go putting the hex on the weather!

Thanks for the tip blacktiger

Rob if you are reading this, the ferry left on time and I received your text. See you in the morning.

Hope not. Greece is lovely in the sunshine. e.g.

Heya Mike and Leanne

Big catch up with wifi here in La Paz, you guys have covered some neat territory and the Ducati Factory, we went there too, loved the bikes and history, we also did the Guzzi museum loved Italy full stop!!!

And Stelvio, would love to be let loose on super moto ... it snowed the day we went over.

Re your water/oil problem I bet it will be your waterpump seal gone south, it is an easy fix with a new pump kit which has two bearings, shaft, seals and impeller so the KT shop should be able to knock it out quickly, job won't be more that 3 hours for interests sake .....so you know.

Keep up the good work mate really enjoying the read ... a life saver for us in Bolivia, death road tomorrow then out we go

Love to you both

Andi & Ellen

Welcome to our beautifull country...... enjoy your time and the view
P.M. me sshould you need any assistance while in Greece. I'm in Athens

Before I start today's update I want to first introduce you to Danil from Parkway Bikers Rock'n'Roll Cafe in Bari.

I stopped there yesterday afternoon, before I needed to be at the ferry, for a coffee and to use the wifi.

What a fantastic guy, through his limited English he wanted to know where I was from, where I was going, wanted to see this blog etc. Then refused payment for the coffee and came out to see me off.

A genuine good guy.

Thank you Danil

Thank you for the kind offer DoctorAbo

It was a nice calm crossing of the Adriatic (9.5 hours departing at 8.00 pm) my seat was nice and comfy, dull lights, my neighbour snored and some poor kid had a bad cough. So I got 3 hours of "quality" sleep lol.

I met Rob as planned, he came over from Corfu, in Igoumenitsa (Greece), he on the marvellous KTM 1190 R (for you non bikers his bike is the replacement / upgrade for my bike)



First stop was Dodonna, the site of the Oracle. What I found fascinating is that the archeologists are still excavating the site, they actually unearthed something while we were standing there, here they are digging (woman on the right is the head archeologist who showed us around)



Leanne I know how you love Roman amphitheatres (private joke from a trip to Turkey where we saw lots of them) well you missed this one, it is a Greek theatre that is still being uncovered



From there to Meteora, this is a place that I have wanted to visit since seeing it in James Bonds "Live and Let Die". Those are monasteries on top of the sheer cliffs



In the past the only way for the monks to get up was by ropes being lowered to them



On the way out we stopped at a small village to use the spring, a great way to cool down!



Rob checked out the local produce that was for sale and bought some. He was "quietly" approached by one of the sellers with an unlabelled bottle, of an innocently clear fluid, that just happened to be village brewed Ouzo! Now I have quite liked Ouzo in the past (quiet Claire Byrne) and as I sit here we are sipping it (so I need to finish this fast while I still make sense). Here are some of the other potions for sale



Over the road was a cool little cafe where we had lunch. A group of three (BMW) Greek bikers came in who were on day one of a twenty day trip to Spain and back, so we caught up with them. This is Costas



Here they are heading off (BMWs behind the KTMs obviously...)



We had a great lunch, the Souvlaki was to die for (yes mum I did eat it!)



Now what was going to be a 40 minute lunch stop turned out to be over 2 hours. The team who own the cafe were outstanding. Travel to me is about meeting and getting to know the locals, the afternoon turned out to be one out of the box. What a neat group of locals, they came and sat with us, looked at my NZ photos, gave (yes gave) us coffee and dessert.

The cafe is in Trigona, heading towards Meteora the spring is on the left. If you are heading that was please stop and support them, they only purchased the business a month ago.

What with Danil last night (see previous post) I have been very lucky to meet four really nice people.

Here they are (and the ouzo is affecting us and we can't remember the names except for Natasa on the left)

Leanne made it home safely, thank you Phil and Dawn for picking her up at the airport.

To Albania today

It was great to see Leanne again after 2 months, we had a chat at the cafe at the airport then headed home in some heavy " Naki sunshine "
She's coming to our place for a coffee tomorrow to see the progress.

Thank you so much

Can't beat that Naki "sunshine"

Mike

A long day we arrived at the hotel around 8.30 pm. I must be getting acclimatised as I thought it was a cooler today and then saw a sign saying 28c.

For the last few weeks in Europe I have been able to read the place names but not able to pronounce most of them. Greece is different, how do you say these (or find them on a map)?



Our hotel in Perama was very close to the Perama caves so we went there first thing. Wow the caves are amazing, the caverns were enormous, our two storey house would fit into some of them. I have never seen so many stalactites and stalagmites. The pictures don't do the caves justice.



We then rode into the Zagoria National Park and stopped in Monodendri to visit the world famous Vikos Gorge. A sign at the entrance says it is the deepest canyon in the world.



We enjoyed the mountain roads and switch backs so much that we did most of them twice (that happens when you head the wrong way!). The little villages were nice.





We then headed to Albania. It was strange as the road to the border was smooth, wide and fast, almost as if to say to people coming from Albania "look at us and how good our roads are.

There was a line at the border, so we rode to the front only to find that the internet was down and they could not process anyone. While waiting we did the customs thing, watched people argue with the immigration people etc.



Due to Kiwi charm and charisma (yeah right!) when the system did come up an hour later we were one of the first processed

Then we got to the Albanian border and were through very quickly



It is amazing the differences between each side of the border. The road deteriorated very quickly. It narrowed, had patches of gravel washed onto it, pot holes, one hidden speed hump (my ABS does work) wandering stock etc. This road was like the Paekakariki Hill Rd in Wellington but much longer.



A stand off with a donkey, he didn't move at all as we went past.



Then we came to the Lake Butrint cable ferry. How awesome is this!





Rob just about to very nearly drop his bike, the trouble with high bikes and uneven wooden planks!



Our hotel is about 200 metres up the road from the ferry.

The hotel we are staying at is right next to the world heritage site of Butrint, just a 3 minute walk. In case anyone else wants to stay here, and visit the Archaeological site, both Mike and I recommend it as "biker friendly" and good accommodation and food. We are back at the Hotel again at noon, decided to have lunch before setting off to Girocaster.

The cable ferry at the Butrint estuary is the shortest route for anyone driving from Greece. If you are approaching from the north of Albania, then head for Serande and there is a land route from Serande to Butrint.

Hotel Livia
Butrint
Albania
www.hotel-livia.com
email: info@hotel-livia.com
+355 8912040

We have spent the morning looking at the historic site of Butrint. Now sitting in the shade back at the hotel with a red bull and ice, going to have lunch and then plan the route to Gjirokastra.

Well as some of you know I need to find a job when I get home. Well I thought I saw an opportunity here this morning. As they say "if the hat fits, wear it". Obviously I failed with this position!



Butrint has a wonderful historic site where work is still being done to unearth it. Rob is very interested in ancient history so he made a wonderful guide. The site faces a battle with the water table, as you can see by the water in front of the theatre here.



The Baptistry, the fine gravel is put down to protect the mosaic floor (from getting wet and drying out each time it rains etc)



Fishing port Butrint



The road we came in on last night (and will possibly leave on soon) the cable ferry is just hidden by the trees on the right.

We left Butrint after lunch and it was only approx 70 minutes ride.

I had a sit on Rob's bike, he has a higher seat on it so it is very high, hard to manoeuvre around the hotel yard. "Honey does my butt look big on this?"



The road out of Butrint. Albania on the left, Corfu (Greece) on the right and an Italy to Greece ferry going past.



We rode past Serande, some nice beaches there.



We rode through two checkpoints, they have them here similar to Morocco. The second checkpoint the police were fully armed with rifles. We soon arrived in Gjirokaster. The roads are paved with very slippery pavers and the town is on the side of a steep hill. It would be VERY interesting riding back down on the loaded bike after a shower of rain.





The owners of the Bed and Breakfast we are staying in (Vita and Haxhi). It was great talking to them about the changes they have seen in their country from being aligned with the Soviets, then the Chinese and then fully open to the world.



Overlooking the town is an old castle, remarkably preserved. Inside is a display of many artillery pieces from world wars.







Fantastic views of the town from the top





Tomorrow I ride to Berat and Rob heads home.

Mike. Here is a bit of an "aide memoire" for you. It's been my pleasure to say "Pershandetiya" (hello) to you and ride with you for these few days. I wish you "Kalo Taxidi" (safe tavels) as you set off for Macedonia and continue your journey through the Balkans and then back across Europe again. Great to meet Leanne in Skype calls, and shame about the "wide angle lens" ... lack thereof

"Faleminderit" (thank you),
Rob

It was a delight meeting you and riding with you Rob, I especially appreciated your knowledge of the history of the areas we visited as I gained so much more from knowing that.

Hope to see you in NZ one day.



(By the way remember that my ride today was meant to be less than two hours? Well 5 1/2 hours later I am nearly there.... Will update that part later).

Kind regards

Kiwi Mike

It has been a long day on the bike. Google maps estimated the ride time to be 2 hours 50, zuMO suggested a different route that was shorter so I followed that.

Rob and I rode together for approx 30 minutes, we explored a side road that by the sign post led to a castle. It was a strange road, very wide, tar sealed but no one appeared to live on it?



It was in need of some maintenance, this is a sealed dual carriageway that is half covered by debris



Where the seal ended we continued and had the excitement (it was still exciting then!) to ride on a some Albanian gravel



There was this cool, soviet era(?) monument in a paddock though



My route took me into the mountains, following a river. The road surface in places was shocking, very, very rough tar seal (how I would have loved that later!). The surface of the bridge was so rough you had to ride from one side to the other to find a smooth route.





There is a lot of manual labour in the fields, groups of people tending the crops by hand. I found this sight that appeared to be from another age.



My route soon turned to gravel, awesome I thought, only another hour and I will be in Berat (yeah right)



The road then started to climb and the surface got far worse. I thought I was okay as this road was SH74!



Then the rocks / gravel finished and the dirt / ruts started!



Bike and rider cooling off at the top (of the first climb)



Nice lake



The route became like a enduro loop. Most of the way to keep control I had to stand, some of the hills really had to be attacked to get up the rock outcrops. Unfortunately I was not on a light enduro bike but a fully loaded 990! For 20 kilometres I only once hit third gear, the rest was spent in first and second. I stopped three times to let the bike cool down (had to move quickly at one stop when a dog appeared and took a dislike to us!). If it had rained I would have been in the crap.

I finally chanced upon a guy walking and through hand jesters he indicated that I should take the next turn left and that that road there would be smoother.

It was so good to see the seal that I kissed it!



I rode down the hill and was lost. I could not take the chance of being led back to that rough route by the MO so instead I decided to follow the direction of the flow of the river. All the time peoples warnings about bandits in Albania etc went through my mind.

I came to some sort of hall and stopped to ask a group of men (drinking Raki I think) the way to Berat, they indicated a way to go. Just as I was leaving one of them came out, to cut the story short Brazil was mentioned (World Cup) and then in his accent he started saying "Germany Germany". Now said slowly in an accent for a second or two it sounded like "Your Money, Your Money"

I rode the way they suggested but noticed that I was going up river! Luckily a car came along and through the drivers limited English it was agreed that I would follow them to the main road. Where I came out on the main road, after 4 hours riding, was only (by Google maps) 37 minutes ride from where I had started in the morning!

The Albanians are happy to give directions. Due to this new road my map and MO was confused and I ended up in a little village. One guy in a van stopped to help me and another guy came out of his house to help. Nice!



From there I stayed very much to the highway (although last 20km to Berat was road works, very rough and dusty)

I was very glad to get here.

By the way it was good to see that this globe in the city of Fier included New Zealand.



Tomorrow I head to Macedonia making sure I keep a better eye on the map this time!

Sorry to hear the rest of your journey today took so long. You were saying earlier how much you enjoy dirt tracks ... so the Albanian gods must have heard you . I couldn't find the "alternative" route back to Serande we talked to Veta about. 50 km after Girocaster I reached a different border crossing between Albania and Greece, then realized I was not where I should be either!

Eventually, I returned to Serande the same way we travelled together, past the Hydro power plant and the canal with the massive 18 inch high speed hump that tested your ABS. I hit it a bit fast this time and took off momentarily. At Serande there was only space for two vehicles on the 4pm ferry so I was lucky to get K9 on board. Anyway, back home in Corfu now!

I'd like to take you up on the offer to visit NZ in the future, and would like to keep in touch! I look forward to follow the rest of your journey.

One thing, to share, that I saw while having dinner tonight. Where I sat overlooked the river and this sheep herder came down to the river, he waded across and all of his sheep followed. How cool is that?




Yeah I know why post with; no cars, bikes, gorgeous girls etc?

And there will be no sheep jokes either!

Kiwi Mike