Riding across northern Greece

After leaving Konista, it was a misty ride through the mountains of Western Macedonia skirting Thessalonika to Kavala.

I had decided I wanted to make, what is a bit of an Australian Pilgrimage, to ANZAC Cove on the Cannakale Peninsula in Turkey. Hence, it was a blast across northern Greece.

What were the highlights?

The most fascinating stop was the Porto Logos. A little fishing village on the coast between Kavala and Alexandroupoli.

A quaint village with a small port and restaurants, a secluded beach and flamingos and other bird life.

It’s also the site of the Byzantine Monastry of St. Nicholas.

The monastry is set in the middle of the lake with each of the churches containing amazing frescos and etching.

The Byzantine Madonna and Child in the photos are etched and coloured directly onto brass plate and were breath takingly beautiful.

The city of Alexandroupoli is a beautiful coastal city at the top of the Aegean sea close to the border with Turkiye.

The sad part of crossing this part of Greece was the largely blackened forests and farmland, the legacy of recent wildfires in Northern Greece. Wherever I travel, there are ever present reminders of the current climate crisis

From Albania to Greece via the Vjose River

From the coastal resort town, the villages and landscape changed quickly as rode south east in the general direction of the Vjose toward Greece.

The route meandered through tittle villages, past monuments, and derelict oil fields. Connecting and reconnecting with the Vjose River.

It was easy to pick the Vjose as it carried much more water than other rivers. Drought has ravaged this area, and most of the other rivers had lost their flow to irrigation and electricity.

The town of Memaliaj is built on the edge of the river and a great place to stay and have a swim.

From Memalaij, it was a slight diversion to visit the Lengarica Canyon and the Thermal Baths of Benja.

Unfortunately, the river was very low but the thermal sping was beautiful.

On rejoining the Vjose, its mood had changed. Flooding rains in Greece had turned the Vjose gently flowing blue river into brownish torrent.

A return to high mountains herealded the approach to the Greek Border.

The first night in Greece and last beside the, now, Aoos River was in Konitsa with its Ottoman bridge at the end of the Aoos Gorge.

It was tempting to follow Aoos further south into the Greek mountains to its origin at the Aoos Spring, but my route was across the top of the Aegean Sea to Turkey.

Albania

The mountains of Montenegro continue over the border into Albania.

Spectacular hairpin roads, coming up from the coast.

Near the border is the Theth National Park. A beautiful alpine area for both riding and walking.

There are a number of restaurants, guest houses and hotels in the area. The local food is delicious and plentiful, and if you are lucky you will be invited to share a campfite with the locals.

The next destination was Vlore on, what is termed, the Albanian Reviera.

Vlore is also where Europes last wild river empties into the Adriatic Sea.

The Vjose River’s headwaters are in the Mountains of Western Macedonia, Greece, where it is called the Aoos and my route through Albania.

Vlore has beautiful marshlands as well as beaches.

But I was keen to aquaint myself with the Vjose River. Next blog will follow the Vjose river into the mountains of Greece.

A small tour in Victoria’s High Country.

Victoria’s high country is about my favourite riding ground in Australia. I’ve ridden most of the roads in the region and in the nearby Snowy Mountains, but there were a couple of dirt roads that run between three iconic high country towns; Corryong, Omeo and Dargo, that I was yet to ride.

It was a good chance to try out my new Moto Guzzi V85tt adventure bike.

I camped the first night at the Eskdale Caravan Park and had a lovely site right beside the Little Snowy Creek.

John, the publican at the Eskdale Hotel, is a keen adventure bike rider and a reliable source of information on the state of all the local trails.

Armed with local knowledge, I decided to take the scenic Great River Road that runs beside the Murray River. Toward Corryong.

Along this road, there are beautiful roadside stops with views over the river valley with tables for a picnic lunch.

There are sculpture along the road and in the back ground of the above photo you can see a Bogong Moth sculpture.

My favourite sculpture along this road is the Murray Cod sculpture at Tintaldra.

The sculture is mounted on the remaining structure of the old bridge. The photo is from the new bridge.

Enough sightseeing it was now time for some serious riding on the Corryong -Omeo Road.

Its a good quality gravel road that allows a good pace to be maintained and I was into Omeo late afternoon and set up in the camp ground beside Livingstone Creek

After a hot dusty ride the creek swimming hole was the perfect spot to wash off the dust and cool down before dinner. (Ps I had a special request for a swimming selfie!)

I met some friends for dinner at the Hilltop Hotel, which has an interesting piece of taxidermy.

From Omeo to Dargo its only 50km of dirt through the mountains. Dargo is an iconic village in the high country, and I was excited to get there. The dirt road goes over Mt Birregun, a 1350m high mount in the Victorian Alps.

Its a beautiful ride.

Thr Dogs Grave Reserve is a special stop along the route.

The pioneers planted walnut trees around the village, and the main street is lined with old Douglas Fir.

And, of course, there is the Dargo River.

The run home took me through the beautiful Yarra Ranges and its temperate rain forests, tall trees, and giant tree ferns.

Arriving back in time for NYE.

Montenegro – a bikers paradise

Montenegro is a country of absolute scenic beauty with high mountain ranges that run right to the sea and mountain roads the match of any in Europe.

A day didn’t go by that I didn’t find other riders.

The great roads started at the Bosnian border. The first destination was the Bay of Kotor and the Kotor Sepentine.

With 25 hairpin turns and amazing views over the Bay of Kotor this is a special ride.

After a night in Kotor, it was off to the city of Podgorica to undertake one of the great rides of Europe through the Moraca and Tara river canyons.

The ride along the Moraca climbs from the Montenegro capital Podjorica into the mountains and onto the Serbian Border.

The village of Kolosin is just off the road. At 1450m elevation its a beautiful ski village with lots of accomodation. It is a beautiful place to stop after a hard ride.

Its also a good place to see some striking Soviet style architecture.

Mixed with some good local beer French Romantic style buildings.

It was a short along the Moraca canyon road to Mojkovac to the start of the Tara Canyon road.

The Tara Canyon is second only to the Grand Canyon as the longest canyon in the world.

What a ride!!!!

The road finishes at the Durdevica Tara Bridge, which provides a wonderful view down the Canyon.

How good was the ride? So good. I turned around and road it again as set my course for Albania.

In all my riding in Europe and Australia, these canyon roads are close to the top.

The road to Albania continues through some remote mountain country. Where the script changes in the little villages.

On the return trip, I took the road from Serbia down through the Durmitor National Park. Beautiful, high plain roads.

That lead back to the Bay of Kotor. Being late September, many of the water side hotels were closing for the season and rooms were relatively cheap. Right on the water at Herceq Novi, which is right on the Montenegro/Croatia border.