The Final Leg....Geneoa to ST Johann am Walde

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The final Leg......I left Geneoa after 3 lovely days catching up with Stefano and his family. I had started the trip in May 2007 with Stef from Bangkok and travelled 5 weeks with him thru Thailand, Laos and The Tibetan Highway in China and said farewell in Chendu. Unfortuatly, his Dad is seriously ill at present and I had to cut short my stay but Im hoping that Stef and his Mum will come to visit me in NZ next summer. I caught the train from here to Venice to avoid the long cycle accross Italy and arrived too late to find the campsite so dossed on the railway station steps with a dozen or so other backpackers and cyclists. An interesting night as a storm came in about 3am and although undercover, the sound of the lightening and thunder had us all pretty restless. The next morning being Sunday, was a great time to site see as untill 11am the place was deserted. I finished the tour by attending mass in the church opposite the station as mass was held in Latin and accompanied by Gregorian chanting. The ride to Trieste took 2 days along a lovely coast but on leaving the city of Trieste I accidently found myself cycling on the autostrada and was stopped by the police and escorted to the nearest exit. They accepted my explanation that the sign to Slovenia was in Blue (the Italian autostrada signs are in Green), and let me off with a warning and directions to a camp ground. Several weeks later I meet 4 German cyclists who had also made the same error.....

From here, I briefly entered Slovenia for 4 hours and then into Croatia down thru the Istria peninsular. This proved to be one of easiest streatches of the whole 14 weeks cycling. The reasons being that the road was mainly flat, lots of vineyards, orchards and ´woods, lots of small fishing villages, ancient ruins and plenty of opportunaty for camping and swimming at lovely but rocky beaches. The locals and tourist info personnal were also very friendly and helpful and I would recommend anyone with a free week or so to holiday in this region. After a week of only covering 150kms ( but I did spend 3 nights camped on the beach at Barbariga with Hans and Anna from Munich, who cooked me a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs one morning, and watching great sunsets and moonrises from the same spot while drinking nice wine), I finally made it to Pula at the end of the peninsula. Pula has a wonderful big ampitheatre, the 3rd largest of the Roman theatres left standing, and also a lovely harbour and old town. I spent the night at a great Youth Hostel here that had its own beach (to be recommended) and from here I started my quest of cycling south to Primosten via Island hopping. (Primosten being just north of Split.)

My blonde female brain told me that being small islands they should also be reasonably flat, as in 2005 the same theory applied re that rivers cant run uphill so if I cycle alongside rivers I wont find any mountains....I didnt and spent 4 months and 3800kms enjoying the flattish scenery....however this time I was WRONG....after 4 islands and many steep climbs in tempertures of high 30 degrees, I finally did what Ive never done before. I accepted defeat and put the bike on the bus and bussed to Rejeika. I had a good nights sleep at a hostel, ate an enormous breakfast and continued down the coast via Karlobag and Zadar to visit Thomas and Andrea whom I had met on Sardinia and camped with for 3 nights. They have a small sail boat moored there and offered me a home on her for the next 10 days. So I exchanged my tiny tent and hard mattress for a small cabin and a rocking bed with beautiful woods and ocean for a back ground. The only small snag in the ointment was that there was no holding tank on the boat and no tender to row to shore with, so every morning after coffee I had to swim the 150 metres to shore to use the bathroom and stock up on food. On returning to the boat I would swim one handed with the food well wrapped in plastic, balancing on my head. The first few days drew an audience of spectactors, but they soon tired of watching the Krazy Kiwi every morning. One night after a days fishing (a record of 9 fish for Thomas) and sailing around the small islands nearby, Thomas and Andrea invited me to dinner at their folks home to sample the grilled fish. We spent a great evening eating and drinking and then Thomas announced that he was simply too drunk to ferry me back to the boat and I had to swim the way back in the dark.. Not a recommended way to end an evenings drinking, but luckily it was full moon and calm and turned out to be a lovley swim. After 10 days of beautiful weather, lots of swimming, reading, 3 days sailing and great icecream a.shore, the weather changed and a storm front came in. But once again fate came to my rescue in the form of Andres Mum who was driving back to Vienna and offered me a ride. So at 4am on Sat 14 we drove the 10 hrs back to Austria leaving the storm behind us. After a shower (the first in 10days) and a sleep for couple of hours, Maria (the Mum) and I went for a wlk up thru the vineyards of Grizling, to her walkers hut where a celebration was happening. So after several wines, schnapps and yummy Austrian food, we headed home at 9pm in the dark thru the woods.Arrived safely.! The next morning after attending Mass (yes twice in month and not since I was 14 years old) we attended another festival for the afternoon. Im sure Austria celebrates as many festivals as Italy, and there they are every weekend....That evening she took me to meet Thomas's Mum so another evening of wine and song was enjoyed...The next morning said farewells to Maria and Hermann with a promise to meet in April 2010 when they are visiting NZ, I rode in the pouring rain and freezing temp to Vienna railway staion and caught the train to Mattigofen and cycled the last 17kms in more rain to Marianne and Manfreds warm cosy house in the hills north of Salzburg and where I have been parked ever since. I was intending of travelling to Romania and elsewhere but as weather has changed daily from warm to colder and colder, I have lazed around here, going for long walks thru the woods and preparing for the last leg of the trip which takes me to London next Wed for 10 days, then onto Istanbul for 5 days and then Thailand for a month before returning to NZ late Nov. So until I have more adventures to report this is chow, or bye for now, love from Kiwi Kay.xxx

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