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.

Mostar and surrounds

Mostar is famous for its Ottoman bridge that joins the two sides of the old town that flank the Neretva River.

It’s beautiful by day and by night. Especially when there is a full moon.

The river divides the city not just physically but also culturally with the west bank of the town being primarily Muslim and the east bank Christian.

The bridge was destroyed during the cival war and its reconstruction has become a symbol of the cities resilience.

The scars of the civil war are still evident on the buildings.

But in the housing estates in the new city, the power of art, in the form of murals, provides some salve.

It was wonderful to see an artist at work.

Around 15km from Mostar is the Vrelo Bune or the River Buna Spring at the village of Blagaj.

The spring is one of the largest in Europe flows from a large cave in the limestone cliffs.

The ruins of

At the cave mouth is an old Sufi Mosque, the Blagej Tekke. A beautiful place of silence and beauty built is the 16th century and a place of pilgrimage for Sufi pilgrams from Pakistan.

You know you are in the east when the Italian espresso machine gives way to …

Bosnia and Herzegovina is sandwiched between Serbia and Croatia and was invaded by each army in the civil war.

There were many atrocities.

The ruins of Pocitelj, an old Ottoman village, its stones tell the tale of the endless battles fought.

Croatia 3 – the south coast and Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik was only about an hour from the Montenegro border on the return trip to Split after from Turkey. It was late September, and the high temperatures had moderated. Also there were a lot fewer tourists visiting.

Hence, it was a good time for this tourist to visit this famous city.

While the old city is the tourist focus of Dubrovnik, the new town is vibrant with lots of cafes and access to beaches.

Heading north along the coast toward Split in late September was a beautiful ride. In mid-August, an attempt to travel south from Split just led to gridlock and frustration.

There are beautiful views of the offshore islands and quaint villages and yacht harbours along the way.

One of the beautiful small towns is Omis. It’s only 25km south of Split and sitson the estuary of the Certina river.

Unfortunately, the skies opened (one of only a few wet days I had in 3 months of travel) at Omis, so exploring the town and its beaches was limited.

That put me back in Split, and as September was drawing to a close Iqas on the night, ferry back to Italy.

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.

Croatia 1 – northern mountains

The overnight ferry from Anconna arrived in Split on a hot Croatian morning.

With very hot weather forcast for the Croation Coast, I decided to head to mountains of Northern Croatia, in particular the Gacka Valley.

The cleat water of the Gacko river flows through the valley.

The Gacko Valley sits between two natural attractions in Croatia; Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Samograd Cave.

The Plitvice Lakes are a spectacular series of lakes and waterfall.

Entry into the National Park is strictly ticketed, and given it was the peak holiday season, there were large crowds. I, therefore, took a walk around a forest trail that overlooks the Lakes. As you can see, it gives good views of the lakes and puts you at the top of some on the waterfalls.

The Samograd Cave goes deep into the limestome mountains, and the 8c temperature inside the cave quite a contrast to the 35c+ temperatures on a hot mid August day.

Access to the cave is ticketed and is underaken in small groups with a guide.

The motorcycle riding through these mountains is beautiful.

On a hot summer, the mountains are about 4c less than on the coast. For me that meant low to mid 30s and opposed to high 30s.

But don’t worry, you can still find a place to swim if you get local advice. I was given directions to this lovely swimming hole between Gacka and the Plitvice Lakes.