Otway Rangers Rain Forest, Victoria, Australia.

The film ‘Force of Nature‘ has recently opened in Australia. Parts of it were shot in the beautiful temperate rain forests of the Otway Ranges.

Hopetoun Falls features in the movie. Its currently approaching summer, so the waterfalls in the ranges are flowing slowly. Some, like Henderson Falls, gently cascade over the cliff face.

Henderson Falls, are near a rocky feature in the ranges named The Canyon. I think I recognised it in the movie.

Its a beautiful walk through the forest to reach the Canyon in a quiet part of eastern end of the ranges.

The western end of the ranges faces the incoming weather and is a thicker forest. With more Beech trees, ancient Beech trees.

The Otways are a mountain range that abuts the sea. The Southern Ocean, to be precise.

So after a long hike on a hot day, it’s easy to cool off with a swim in the cool ocean waters.

I camped a couple of nights at Apollo Bay, which sits on the ocean about halfway along the ranges.

It’s a beautiful town, at night as dark slowly descends over the harbour.

Or as the sun rises over the rolling surf.

Eric Bana is the star of ‘Force of Nature’

But you will have to endure having me in the starring role here.

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.

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.

Croatia 2 – Split and the Central Mountains

From the Gacka Valley, I headed south along the mountains to Lake Peruca, in the mountains east of Split.

The mountain road south runs parallel with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Border, and through the Dinaric Alps

This region hosts the Dinaric Rally, a major cross country motorcycle endurance event.

Lake Peruca is a man made lake and a major source of hydro electricity. It also has a number of camping sites and villages.

I chose Camping Peruca by the lake. The campsite had water access for swimming. From the campsite, it was a short ride into the Danaric Ranges and the headwaters of the Certina River that feeds the dam.

The ride to Split is a little over an hour, mostly winding through the Certina Valley.

Spit is Croatia’s second largest city. Its a great place to get any equipment, like misplaced gloves or gloves or repairs such as a new tyre. Its also a ferry hub. As I came into Split in mid August and left late September. While it was still pleasantly warm in September, there were nowhere near the crowds, so getting around the old and new city was a lot easier.

The old city was interesting with its mix of Roman and Greek architecture.

Out of the old city and main harbour the new city is colourful and where the best swimming beaches are.

As an old city, Split didn’t have the history or beauty of Ortigia (which I found entrancing). But it is well placed for visiting other Balkan countries and for accessing the many islands on the Croatian coast.

Dorgali to Santa Maria Navarrese on the west of Sardinia.

Dorgali is a sprawling city in mountains on the west coast of Sardinia.

It has some beautiful street art and if you are prepared to walk up some steep steps wonderful views to be had.

But it’s the road south through the mountains on the western side of Sardinia that is the real reason for going to Dorgali.

This road is in perfect condition and the views sublime!

Santa Maria Navesse is a beautiful coastal village. There are a number of good quality camping grounds right on the clean beach.

Just a beautiful place to end an amazing ride.

For those considering the ferry from Cagliari to Palermo then it’s a nice ride to catch the evening overnight ferry.

The quiet of Santa Maria Navesse was in total contrast to the absolute chaos of the Grimaldi Lines ferry to Sicily. But that’s a story for another blog!