Croatia Mountain Ride Part 2

What the??

Still riding around lots of little Croatian mountain roads, we pull up to this most interesting house. And all I remember thinking was.. "What the heck??  And How beautiful it is here!  I wonder if it's for sale.... I'd love to have a crack at remodeling that one!!"

;-)

Anton and Ivan have something really interesting to show me..

And did you notice that Rakela is missing? When I asked, they said, yeah, he had to get back to Split for an appointment.. they're not much into good bye's here.  Ivan, being from South Africa, said it took him a while to get used to that part of the culture here as well.. okey dokey..

The house is not a house, it's a grain mill.  Well, an old one that actually could use a remodel job..

Ivan explains that Croatia is one of the most water rich countries in Europe.  This water is just gushing out from underground.

In this picture with Anton on the rock, you can see in the middle where the water is coming up from below... so much of it and so forceful!  

So obviously they utilized this water pressure here to run a grain mill.  I am fascinated.. in this world, especially in Australia, where I haven't taken a bath in years as a result of needing conserve our scarce water.. (Yes I do get clean from time to time with my water friendly shower!! ;-) But here it is so good to see such an abundance of fresh flowing water.. And Ivan says he has more of these to show me!

We don't ride far to another exit point and source of water, and this time, the grain mill is in tact!

Can you believe the power of this water is not coming from high in the mountains.. just simply from underground!??

Ivan and I are a little bit jealous, so we put our bikes up there too..

Photo by : Anton

Ivan decides to see if we can get in so he can better explain to me how this works.

Obviously there is the wheel that the water turns.

Sorry if this bit is boring, but I think it's fascinating to see in this day and age that in order to get some flour it doesn't come out of a big plastic factory..

This guy must have seen us just open the door and walk right in, so he came to check us out.  Really nice guy, and explained thoroughly to Ivan and Anton the process here.. I don't understand Croatian so I take their word for it!

After I convince Ivan to get back on his own bike!! ;-? he continues to guide us through the back roads every which way.. Sure glad he knows where to go! Once again, it's nice to play follow the leader and just ride around without a mission.

Photo by: Anton

Then it's time for one last stop to take in the view from the mountains before going back down to the coast ..  What a big and fantastic day!!

For heaps of great photos of Dalmatia, have a look at Anton's ADVRider threads, they are awesome!  He also has posts for The Sahara, Greece, South Africa and the Alps

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=433338&highlight=Dalmatia

Such and honor to ride with Anton and Ivan, they both have years of off road experience and it was just downright fun!!!

Riding the Croatia coast to Zadar

At this point and time in my journey, most of my travel decisions are based on the weather.  I am watching the forecasts and seeing so much rain, so if there is a patch of just fairly good weather I go for it.  Yes, I can ride in the rain, no worries, it's all part of the adventure.  But I was recommended this coastal route along Croatia and anyone who said so, points out how spectacular it is... but not in the rain! So make my way to Zadar... now!

It is a very nice road for sure.  No question as to why it's so popular, and I can see how much of it I would miss on a full rain day.  The road literally hugs the coast line all the way, making it a continuous slow curvy ride.   I never did get full sun, but this sunny haze will have to do.

It's well past lunch time.  After exploring old town Krk with Nikola and his family, I lost track of time.

And again, being the off season, most places are completely closed and boarded up.  I finally found this little village and an open restaurant.. hallelujah!!  Not a soul there, except the lady who runs it.  She was sitting outside smoking and reading a magazine, so I hated to disturb her.  But she was kind and seemed pleased enough to help me figure out what I can have.  There were some pictures on the wall inside the restaurant.  Again, I don't read the menu, I pre-decided what I would like to have well in advance, and then set the challenge to explaining this to a Croatian woman who speaks zero English.  I wanted a salad sandwich (lettuce, tomato, cucumber and cheese) toasted, and french fries.  She went over and over the details, and through the translation, she did an excellent job.. it was superb!!  I'm in the land of olive oil.. I love french fries cooked in olive oil....... ;-)))

I am so happy... and full!  But I see the weather rolling in.. I must continue.

I learned very quickly how slippery the roads are here when wet.  I later was told by every motorcyclist I met in Croatia to take special care because their roads are especially slippery from being mostly limestone. With as twisty curvy as these roads are, and quite often having no guard rails from going overboard into the rocks and sea below, I want to finish this before it gets dangerous.

You see the van parked in the photo above and a man on the other side of the road?  I didn't!!  Until I heard him start howling like a wolf!!  I was trying to take some pictures but he kept howling, so I got nervous. I tried not to look scared, and calmly as possible, repacked my camera, put on my helmet and gloves again and got on my bike.  Thank goodness he didn't move.. But the howling continues!  What do I do?  Nobody else around, should I turn back towards Krk?  The only way through is between Wolf man and his Big van!! God only knows there might be more of them in there! I finally heard a car coming, and decided to ride past him FAST at the same time the car coming from the opposite direction.  I was afraid if he was howling like a wolf, he might try to jump the bike like a wolf as I rode by.  Thank goodness, he didn't.  My heart was racing though.  Who stands on the side of the road howling like a wolf.. and for that long!! Doesn't matter, just happy to be able to continue...

Finally get into Zadar, and start tracking down the place I organized to stay in for a couple days.
 
I like this one, my kind of fixer-upper!!  But it's not the house I'm looking for..

Is this it??

No... but I always like to see how things are built in different countries.  You can see why this house will last for hundreds of years compared to others.. people around here are still living in dwellings built over 500 years ago..!  Not much of the western world can say that!

Okay, by the looks of those clouds I have got to stop looking around town and get to where I am supposed to go..  luckily, the house I need to find is just around the corner from here.  A good room to hide out while the rain comes through for a couple days again.

There is a lot more to my Croatia adventure, so this will be continued!
 ;-)