Ka Pai Kiwis

Well that was an intersting ferry ride. Was supposed to sail at 10 but didn’t leave till after 12. We were tucked up in bed by then. It rattled and banged the whole way and had more vibrations than an Australian hired Harley.  Getting into Albania could not have been easier, customs similar to an airport and picked up 3rd party insurance from a kiosk just before exiting the port. Rode into Durres which is nice enough for a port city. Found an ATM and a nice cafe overlooking the sea for coffee then set off for a leisurely 100km ride to Berat. The city apartment blocks slowly gave way to farmland and very pretty countryside. We arrived at our accommodation for the night which is a bed and breakfast type place with a very friendly host. Sent on my way sightseeing with a large helping of Raki and a toast to Albania. This is very picturesque town with an old castle come settlement on the top of a big hill. The town is at valley level and is possibly the nicest and most fertile pla...

A very short day on the bike today. Up the coast. Passed some lovely little villages and inlets along the bay with scenes of colourful fishing boats set against a backdrop of historic churches and monasteries. Spent most of the afternoon wandering the tourist city of Bari which is a very picturesque city and very clean compared to some of the smaller places where litter is unfortunately a feature. Spot the prettiest flower.  Had a wander around the press photography awards exhibition. Wonderful photography but the things some people must endure in their lives is just so wrong. We are now waiting for the ferry to Albania which leaves at 10 tonight, check in latest is 6! I didn't realise how long it can take to leave a country. Polizzia at customs took our passports and bike docs away and was gone for ages. Passports checked at check in, then customs, then before we left the vehicle deck and at reception they have kept mine! Arivederci Itallia it has been a blas...

Leisurely start to the day with croissant and coffee in the local piazza. Then a wander around this absolutely brilliant town. Fascinating old buildings and churches. Pictures speak for themselves. Our room was on the ground floor of the tall building in the photo above. We hung around Gravina till lunchtime taking in as many of the sights as we could. Then an absolutely delightful ride to Alberobella where we saw the uniquely designed Trulli houses, The design originated in the 14th century and they were originally constructed without mortar so they could be easily dismantled when the tax man came calling. Tax evasion is nothing new apparently.  A nice lunch followed by a short ride to Monopoli a seaside town and our stop for the night Easy riding today after yesterday’s marathon. The countryside is beautiful around here with stone walls, poppy's and wild flowers in abundance in among the fields of crops.. Found our accommodation with only a small amount of ...

We arrived in Naples about 10am and headed straight to Pompeii Decided to let the satnav take us an interesting route. Through the back streets of Naples on wet and very uneven cobblestones and the world record for most manholes per square metre. End to end traffic jams had us in Pompei by lunchtime. He’s ‘armless really.  Had a nice wander around the ruins marveling at what once was and what has been excavated and continues to be. Truly a devastating event for them. Our first encounter with cruise boat tourists, quite a contrast, us two clodhoppers in our bike gear and the beautifully coiffured! Decided to continue on with letting the satnav guide us which kept us in endless traffic and continuous built up area. At 4:30 we’d had enough and dialed up the Auto Strada. All was well until an exit led to a 2nd grade and very muddy goat track. A bit of re navigation found a slightly better option and after questioning the parenthood of Tomtom it proved he was correct after a...

Day 6 A lovely day which starts after breakfast with the morning ritual of coffee in the Piazza. Nice walk around old Oresei and then a drive to Judith and Graham’s’s favourite beach spots. So beautiful. Day 7 I have spent most of the day thinking that I must have died in my sleep and gone to motorcycle heaven.  Graham & I travelled 400 km today on the best twistys I have ever seen. The roads are like a billiard table and not a pothole in sight. I could go on and on but to all my motorcycle friends believe me these are the best roads in the world for motorcycles. Put Sardinia on your BUCKET LIST.  And guess what? We get to do it again tomorrow 😄🏍 Day 8 Another awesome days riding. 455km of awesome motorcycle roads mainly to the North west. Brilliant scenery. Bikers come from all over Europe just to ride these roads. Day 9 Sleepy day today. It has been raining steadily since last night and ...

The ferry arrived  in Bastia around 6am. We were the last to disembark because Mark had gone for breakfast and forgotten the cabin number. Luckily after much searching found Robyn and the cabin.   ( Actually Robyn found Mark heading off in the wrong direction) It was a bit cold and cloudy but it soon warmed up. We headed inland to experience the famed roads of Corsica. Loads and loads of bikers but we had a great time and spent all the morning exploring the backroads and taking in the spectacular scenery. Our destination was Bonifacio which is a very cool port town with a fancy marina and an old castle dating from the 13th century, built spectacularly on the side of a cliff, reminded me of something from Game of Thrones. Our ferry left at 5pm. While waiting we met a very nice Italian dentist called Ger and a couple of Finnish guys. All touring on bikes. A tour bus arrived and disgorged its tourists, and I had a horn competition with the bus driver, con...

Only a 100km to Marseille so we had a sleep in. We had a wander around in the port area which was filled with sailing boats and lots of tourists. Having an easy day of it until I was fiddling with the bike and my cellphone hit the ground found a little slope, through a grill and an audible "plop". End of cellphone. With 1 hour to go until we needed to be at the ferry we headed off to find the Apple store. Google took us to a huge department store where we found a very nice man who took us a long way to find the Samsung store who told us the Apple store was in an equally large department store on the other side of the street. He kindly escorted us and directed us to our new destination. Apple people were first class and then we went to buy a local SIM card and another incredibly helpful sales assistant. So we easily made to the ferry in time thanks to these helpful people. Entered the ferry and found our cabin for the night.

The day is cloudy and drizzly, so we decided to punch out the nearly 400 km to Avignon. The roads are a lot busier today being a Monday. So many trucks. Got to Avignon around 1pm and checked into our quite nice hotel in a beautiful tree lined boulevard which is with an easy walk to main tourist area. Got to park the bike in the hotel basement so its very snug and secure. The weather has changed for the better, lovely sunshine and temp in the low 20's, hooray. Strolled up to the main tourist area, the main attraction is le Palais des Papes which is very impressive. The Papal Palace was the seat of the Christian world in the 14th century and was home to 9 Popes. A world heritage site and we had an awesome little IPad thingy which showed what each room was decorated like back in the day. Surprise bonus was discount for the over 60's, I knew there would be advantages to aging.

Awoke to drizzle and a bit cold. First bit of bike maintenance, the mirror took a knock so re-tightened it. If thats the worst of it then sweet* First issue of the day was getting out of the hotel carpark, steep ramp up to the automatic door, except it wasn't automatic for bikes was it! Very soon a car came up behind me but still no action, car reversed and then I reversed which kind of looked like a crab walking backwards, in the meantime I was getting hot and my bloody glasses steamed up. Car drove up to the door and Abracadabra the door opened. Very low and mist temperature got down to 10 which was a bit chilly at 130Kph. Even the hot flushes couldn’t keep up. First stop Troyes, very pretty little place where we had a wander around and a stretch. On to Dijon which has a very impressive old town which we wandered around and grabbed a bit of lunch. Lots of people about, almost all local tourists I suspect. Bed for the night is Beaune. The bedroom isn...