Action Men,Croatia

Today was to be a relatively easy drive along the coast from Dubrovnik to Split in Croatia but things never quite go to plan. We headed off at 7:30 am and   six kilometres into the drive Red Car, our car, ceased on a downward incline. Ken knew it was the fuel pump and luckily for us we were able to pull off the road at a wayside stop overlooking the Adriatic. Guess if you are going to have to do running repairs it is great to have a view to die for, especially if you are the passenger.

Kerith and Peter in Yellow Car, which is going like a steam train I might add, were behind us and they pulled over. We radioed Dave and told him the problem. He did a rapid U turn and came back to check out our prospects. Peter insisted on staying to help and Ken suggested that the other four cars continue the drive as it is much easier to complete the necessary repairs when you don’t feel the need to rush as others are being held up. We would meet them in Split later.

Peter and Ken worked like the “bobsy twins” and once again everything was out of the boot, tyre off and Ken laying on his back under the car with Peter working from inside the car to fix the wiring. The power of two! It was fortunate Pete had given us a spare fuel pump two weeks ago when we had some earlier problems. Anyway forty minutes later we were good to go with a new fuel pump in place.

Yellow Car and Red Car were off. We followed the beautiful coast road stopping for coffee and lunch at Poice and Gradac. At Gradac both car drivers received 40 Euro parking fines. Who knows how we pay them?

Superb spots and no tourists; except for us. Lots of children and families; frolicking in the water, sailing, boating and just generally enjoying the summer break. The beaches consist of the tiniest and whitest pebbles and the two and three story houses are built right on the shoreline. Pink and cerise oleander and purple and red bougainvilleas make a beautiful contrast against the white buildings set so close to the sea with tiny sea craft  anchored in the shallows.

We passed what we thought was an inoperative road toll. We drove though without stopping and waved to the friendly official. Peter and Kerith following behind did likewise. We continued about twenty  kms and repeated the process. Us, slowing down, smiling and waving but failing to stop.

Some five minutes later Kerith on the CB announced ” I have just consulted the map and I think we have just driven through Bosnia- Herzegovina” Interesting as we didn’t even know we were going to traverse through this little country. It hadn’t been listed as one the countries we would pass through and it wasn’t on the side of the car.

There was great merriment about the fact that we had lost Macedonia, two days ago and found Bosnia- Herzegovina today. Did Dave know, we wondered.

Later Dave rang to see how we were going and he too was full of the Bosnia- Herzegovina story. It hadn’t been listed but guess what, he had a flag for that little country.

We now know that Bosnia- Herzegovina is landlocked except for 26 kms which borders the Adriatic Sea and divides Croatia into two parts and presumably gives the country sea access. The things you learn when you do a drive through!

We rejoined the group thanks to Ian M’s excellent spotting skills. He was sitting at a beach side cafe looking up at the road which winds down the mountainside to the town and he sighted two little MGBGTs. A phone call from Dave and we rejoined the group and made our way into Split. Hard to get accommodation here as the Split Festival starts tomorrow, anyway after a lot of wheeling dealing, and that’s another story, we had a place to sleep.

Croatia

Seashore,Croatia

In bloom,Croatia

Little charmer,Croatia

Albanian flag flies high at Rozafa Fortress

Shkodra, Albania

Ladies on their way to church, Albania

And the fellows eat and drink Albania

Blue Car and Orange Car with no room to move. Albania

Just when we thought we were in to the easy bit of the drive we hit the narrow, steep, pot hole filled roads of Albania. A real challenge for the drivers. With Albanian drivers who knew no boundaries or ordered direction and every car an old, diesel Mercedes speeding along the narrow, mountainous roads with the flimsiest protection barriers imaginable, it was quite a hair raising experience. Two of the cars reported near misses on the “S” bends and one unnamed, and usually calm and composed passenger, alighted from her car clearly shaken and not happy with the drive.

The roads were consistently worse than anything we had encountered elsewhere because when we hit poor roads in China or The Stans there seemed to be a sense of an unmade section road for x kilometres which was in the process of being developed. Here it was just roads which were neglected, poorly positioned and constructed with no sense that anything, apart from filling the pot holes, could or would improve them.

Like The Stans countries, livestock, donkey carts and in some places bikes are a hazard. We saw one lady, dressed in a grey skirt, floral blouse, white head scarf and carrying a black bag, herding her milkers down the middle of the road in a main town. Around Lake Ohrid young lads, selling fish stood on the side of the road waving eels and their freshly caught catch at the passing motorists.

Roadside memorials complete with inlayed photographs of the deceased and flowers punctuate the roadside boundaries of the Skanderbauf Mountains, a grim reminder of those who had met a sad end.

On our drive out of Shkodra, as last car in the convoy, we were stopped at traffic lights and an old Merc ran into the back of us. Thud, but nothing as bad as the hot air balloon landing. We hopped out and the guy drove off. The result is that the car has a slight indentation in the rear and the back mud guard is very tight.  Ian M joked the reduced size of Red Car   will make it easier to fit three MGBGTs in one container to transport back to Australia.

A Sunday morning coffee break in a small town was a real eye opener. All the women and girls were making their way to the church while the men, and hundreds of them, stood on the side walk or sat in cafes eating and drinking coffee or beer and watching the world go by.

In one section of the journey hoses a bit like shower heads were spilling water on to the road  everywhere. We worked out that they were for a quick, roadside, car wash but the water waste was something very foreign to the “water wise” Aussies.

Albania seems to be a land with a conflicted past and many contradictions. We saw some children begging and many of the buildings were neglected. Our hotel served crème caramel as one of the breakfast offerings and yes it was good. Dotted through  the fields were enormous concrete bunkers built as protection against the Russians. The country has run the full political gaunlet and aligned itself with all the major superpowers at some stage in its recent past.

The drive to Montenegro with Yellow Car in the lead had lots of diversions and asking for directions. Orange Car’s driver said this part of the drive was “beyond his wildest dreams” and Yellow Car’s navigator said it was  “the best scenic drive they had ever driven”

We followed a tight, winding road into Podgorica and then after lunch at a beachside cafe we drove the narrowest road, almost  a one way road  around the villages and towns of the  coastal inlets. As we climbed to over 1500 metres we looked back a saw the most spectacular sight. Huge mountains surrounded the inlets, the sky was a brilliant blue and the stone houses with their red tiled roofs were such a contrast to the grandeur of the natural environment.

We finished our drive in Dubrovnik, Croatia. We have spent the last two nights here. Very nice, but for most of us, too many tourists and much too commercial after the unspoilt magnificence of Montenegro its neighbour.

White Car on the road in Montenegro

Beautiful Montenegro

Cherry Car is behind. Montenegro

Montenegro

Dave and Laurel consult a map

The road less travelled and there's a little donkey under that load of hay. Albania

The role of lead car has been rotated which is great and a bit of fun. Mary and Reg had done a sterling job with some  help from their Tom-Tom. Leaving Edessa, Greece, it was Dave and Laurel who said they would do a turn as lead car for the drive into Macedonia and then on to Albania.

I happened to comment to Dave that we didn’t have Macedonia named as a country on the side of the cars. His response was it must have been an oversight as he had planned the route via Macedonia. Dave has done an amazing job planning and coordinating this drive and he has spent countless hours making contacts wherever it is possible to highlight the MG marquee. And it is all coming together for him.

We had a great drive and another unbelievably easy border crossing, just a quick stamp in our passports. Shortly into the drive and after the border crossing  we were all a bit confused as the lake on the map was showing up on the wrong side of the road. Still not to worry.

We stopped at a restaurant by the lake for lunch and Dave proceeded to sort through his national flags so he could hoist the flag on to his car as he drove through Macedonia. After a brief consultation, the waiter pointed to the national flag flying near the restaurant and  it became apparent we were in Albania, not Macedonia. Laughter all around.

We had taken a slight deviation and missed Macedonia all together. Not a problem as it was one less border crossing, the trout lunch was delicious and we had chosen to take the roads less travelled with no sign posting so we could see the real sights.

The following morning Dave was heard to say on the CB to the new lead car “don’t worry if we take a wrong turn as we are all here to enjoy the drive and yesterday I missed a country”

True Dave and we are all very relaxed and enjoying ourselves. It is great to have the freedom we didn’t have in China and the Stans where we couldn’t deviate from the nominated route. Plus the list of countries on the side of the car is exactly the way we have driven but Dave wont live this one down!

Friendly officials at the border and they will even let you take a photo. Greece

Our new friend Mary

The border crossing from Turkey into Greece was notable because of the ease, efficiency and friendliness of the police and customs officers. Only slight hiccup was the validation of our third party insurance policy which was sorted out quickly. No five plus hour crossing but the officials were still armed because it is the major entry point for illegal aliens into the EU; but they were smiling and charming. No sweat here.

The drive through northern Greece was pleasant with lots of picture post card shots one associates with Greece and good freeways. The cars were running well and after lunch we decided the highways were too boring, so we headed off down some secondary roads and through some smaller towns with Reg and Mary in the lead car role.

Our first night was spent at Kavala at Hotel Philomena overlooking a sweeping valley with views down to the port and inlet. We appeared to be the only guests at the hotel until we met Mary, a fifty eight year old lady from Athens. She came into the lounge area and started chatting in broken English. She told me her husband George was in their room watching the football on television and she wanted to socialise. I asked her if she would like to sit with us for dinner and she readily accepted but she explained that she had had dinner earlier.

Mary loved to talk, in that Greek way, lots of gestures, eye rolls and facial movements especially when she was expressing her apparent frustration with George.  She engaged Ken, Peter, Dave and I in conversation or should I say a lot of listening. For someone with broken English she was very competent at expressing herself. By the end of the evening she was telling me how much she loved me and the group. “I love you, I love you, my little one, my little one” as she blew air kisses around and tears welled up in her eyes. She was enthused that we were driving as a group and that we would go home “full up with things we had seen” furthermore in her view it was important to travel as “soon you are no more” She loved “Australies” because George  had six cousins living in Sydney.    She insisted that in the morning we should visit a nearby archaeological site, Fillippos which was constructed in the third century BC and was also linked to Saint Paul’s ministry.

Next morning at seven o’clock breakfast there was Mary all dressed and ready to go. George was in tow. We explained that we would be making a brief visit there as we had a long drive ahead. When we arrived at the site and Mary and George were in the car park. Again we explained we would be doing a quick walk through. Mary was an ambler. She said “don’t worry George don’t want to come here but I told him he have to come here because my people are coming”

We did a rapid run through, and we “her people” farewelled Mary and George with kisses and handshakes, leaving them with Aussie flags and koala bear key rings with Mary,  her hand on her hand on her heart, continuing to declare her love for all of us.  Presumably George could now spend the day as he wished.

On ward to meet the guys: Elias, Thomas and Max from the MG Car Club of Greece at Edessa north of Thessalonica. They had driven in their MGBs some  500 kms from Athens to meet us. The original plan was to have lunch with them and then drive on to Macedonia  but a fantastic traditional Greek lunch at the beautiful waterfall restaurant turned into a mellow event and everyone agreed we should join Elias, Max and Thomas and spend the night at Edessa. Great to have a flexible itinerary. Elias made some quick phone calls and we were all booked in to traditional hotel in gorgeous old stone buildings overlooking the stunning valley. Sitting on the terraced deck watching the sunset and then the full moon rise we knew we were on holiday and doing the social bit of the journey.

The guys were” bon vivants”, proudly Greek and had lots of hearty historical tales and political observations spiced  with much robust laughter; and they didn’t always default back to car talk. They are working to build up their club and have made good international contacts. We are all invited to return to Greece anytime and just contact them. They tell us that roads in Albania and Macedonia are not good and very dangerous……..so we will see.

Our stay at Edessa 89 kms west of Thessalonica was delightful and a place we would all love to return to. Situated on a plateau between the Vermio and Vora  Mountains in the province of Pella once the home to the Macedonian kings: Phillip and Alexander with a population of 25,000 people  and the remains of ancient buildings from the fourth century BC  and with a human presence which dates back to the Copper Age. 

Our small boutique hotel was enchanting and our hostess Anastasia made us so welcome with bowls of the biggest and plumpest cherries I have even eaten, the size of plums and a traditional breakfast with Greek pastries filled with cheese and fish spread. The pleasant rooms had brass beds, beautiful antique linen and of course the picture of Our Lord above the bed.

The people we talked with   tell us that although the Greek government is bankrupt  some people are still doing OK just like in the state of California, where the state is in trouble but some private citizens have their own ways to manage . People are concerned with high levels of unemployment and the effect this has on their country. Some of the economic issues have been exacerbated by the EU framework whereby countries are virtually told what to produce and this has impacted severely in the agriculture sector.

The drive from Edessa  was according to Kerith, Targa standard (for those like me who didn’t know what a Targa is…it is an annual race around Tasmania where cars go at unimaginable speeds). We traversed up to 1500 metres and around sweeping bends, through the what would be the winter  snowfields and down again.

 The idyllic trance was broken when we pulled up for petrol and Ian M went to the WC behind the petrol station and was viciously bitten on the leg by an Alsatian cross  on a long chain.   He has nasty gashes and is on a course of penicillin but being a real trooper he was soon making jokes about the welfare of the dog. Not good and you don’t expect something like this at a petrol fill.

PS: Yellow Car yet again another new fan belt…….how many will it take to get to the UK? Peter is still prone to leave the convoy with a CB call “will catch up” We know he is just checking out the auto stores for another, you guessed it………..

Elias, Max, Thomas with the ladies from the Aussie Team

Moonshine, Greece

Edessa,Greece

Just how many fan belts does Peter have?

Another new fan belt

Yellow Car has had recurring problems with the fan belt due in part to some modifications which were made to enhance the cars performance. The old adage of never modify a car seems to be working here. I reckon the mechanic and air conditioning installer could be in for an earful on Peter’s return to Mornington.

 Peter has spent hours trying to remedy this issue. He has toured many spare part areas looking for the right size fan belt and even had one made to order back in Tianjin, China. It is not unusual for him to be off in a taxi to see a man about a part. He usually returns with some new bits to enhance his cars performance, a good story and some local knowledge.

Very frustrating as Peter is always one to want things running smoothly. The bonnet and boot of Yellow Car is often open as Peter adjusts and tampers with something.

Yesterday the fan belt broke. So Action Man went into over drive. All the tools were out on the side of the highway and out came the supply of fan belts. Not one or two but there must have been twenty or more. With some help from his friends the job was done and Yellow Car was up and running again.

The funniest thing is watching the speed and method of execution. Peter goes into over drive. His purposeful walk becomes a run and the  swing of the arms reminds one of a ferret on amphetamines. Nothing gets in his way. He has a job to do and he’s lovin it. He’ll beat this machine into submission so it purrs ! Then he’s packed up and off again, pleased with the result and on the CB saying “let’s get on with it”

The question is : how many fanbelts does Yellow Car really  need to get to London?

Near the Blue Mosque Istanbul

Istanbul was great, a lively cosmopolitan city on the beautiful Bosphorous. You can refer to a a good guide book for the usuaual photos…just sharing a couple  of mine.

Into the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

We have seen a few of these little guys dressed up for a school ceremony, I think.

I climbed the mountain to get this photo of the Ishak Pasa Palace

Fashion at the Palace

Once over the border and into Turkey everything changed.  It seemed like the world was back to normal. The convoy is no longer the huge source of interest, enjoyment and excitement, to the locals, that it was in The Stans and China. People pass us and may wave, just as they might if we were driving down the highway in our home state, but it is nothing like we experienced in China, and particularly in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It was just incredible the response that the convoy generated in those countries.

The convoy has driven East to West in northern Turkey following the coast along the Black Sea and driving through the beautiful, rugged Pontic and Georgian Mountains. The driving has been good and the diversity of the country is extensive with grain, maize, rice, barley and a huge variety of edible crops for the table being harvested.

The contrast between Turkey and Iran is remarkable. Both have similar size populations, great resources and superb and diverse scenery with lots of inland lakes and mountain ranges.

But that’s where the similarities end. Turkey is a developed country with a per capita GNP just a little lower than Australia. Turkey is keen to get into the European Union as we are told that the country has a view that it can be a bridge between the East and the West.

It appears that one of the biggest problems facing the country is social and political unrest with the PKK, a subversive group, mounting random attacks. Since we have been in Turkey there have been reports of attacks which sadly have resulted in loss of life in Istanbul and in southern Turkey.

The Turkish people we have met are superb. They are happy, sociable and so courteous. Everything seems to be done with a light touch and lots of smiles. The males are charming to women guests in their country.

It has been refreshing to see the personal and religious freedom of people in this country. We have heard the call to prayer five times a day and note that people respond in different ways. Some of the women are in full Islamic garb while others often in the same family are in western gear. I saw one grandmother in full hejab, her thirty something daughter in trendy glitter and slacks and the granddaughter in skimpy shorts. They were walking down the street holding hands. It would have made a great photo. Guess that’s what is possible when you separate the church and state.

The highlights of Eastern Turkey have been the Ishak Pasa Palace, the  Sümela Monastery and the Black Sea.Ishak Pasa Palace out of Doyubayazi is an Ottoman ruin started in 1685. After the Topaki Palace in Istanbul it is the most famous former administrative palace in Turkey.

Situated on a rugged mountain with three sided steep slopes it provided great protection and included a massive complex of administrative office, dungeons, harem , libraries and dining halls all of which were once rich with frescoes and other adornments

The Sümela Monastery stands at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere Valley  approximately 1200 metres and  is a major tourist attraction

 Founded in the year 386 AD legend has it that two priests undertook the founding of the monastery on the site after having discovered  icon of the virgin.

The Monastery was seized by the Russian Empire during the occupation of Trabzon in the years 1916-1918. The site was finally abandoned in 1923.

Today the monastery’s primary function is as a tourist attraction. Its place overlooking the forests and streams below, make it extremely popular for its aesthetic attraction as well as for its cultural and religious significance. Currently restoration works are underway.

Sumela Monastery Eastern Turkey

Frescos at the Sumela Monastery, Eastern Turkey

View from our room. Fatsa on the Black Sea

Spices for the Silk Road

Mr Jeremy Fisher checks out carpets in the Grand Bazaar,Istanbul

Love tea in the Spice Bazaar,Istanbul

The three friends have travelled along the ancient, 8,000 kilometre Silk Road from Xian in China to Istanbul, formerly Constantinople in Turkey. Like the travellers from times long ago, they have experienced heat, rain, a snow storm, dust and sand storms, rugged unmade mountainous roads, a number of break downs but luckily many of the roads have been excellent and provided for a comfortable ride.

They have   listened to guides and heard the team talking about the Silk Road and they learnt that the Romans, the Parthians and the Byzantine empires all sought to control this important trade route.  

 They know that the term the Silk Road was only coined at the beginning of the twentieth century and that there is not a single road but numerous roads and by ways that have been used for centuries as people have moved goods both ways, from east to west.

Unlike the little MG convoy, haulers would often only travel part of the way. There were never single haulers. The camel trains used to travel for about thirty kilometres a day and then arrive at caravanserais which were like permanent haulers settlements along the route. Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny have seen so many serais along the way. Some have even been converted into markets. Serais are marked on every map in the team’s possession the friends noted.

Mr Jeremy Fisher has done some background research and told PR and BB that once sea travel became an option, in the fifteen century, the Silk Road was abandoned as it had become very dangerous with robbers and bandits , so sea trade was much safer.

The caravan tracks of the Silk Road have now been made into roads and highways which  thread through some of the highest mountains and the harshest deserts in the world. Beautiful country but it must have been impassable in winter Jeremy thought.

Anyway the friends decided to check out the bazaars of Istanbul  and would you believe it they found all the things in the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar  that have been traded for centuries: spices, carpets, silk, silver, gold, porcelain and perfumes.

Benjamin Bunny had a wild time sniffing the essential oils which are the base for perfumes. He was particularly taken with the Istanbul Rose and the old Tea Rose. Peter Rabbit scurried around all the spices and saw lots of saffron, different teas and peppers. A bit heavy on the nose he thought and not much good in his diet.

Mr Jeremy Fisher was drawn to the carpets and was plied with endless cups of apple tea as the carpet vendors expounded the virtues of their carpets. The number of knots, the quality if the silk and wool and the fact that they were handmade. It was all a bit much but these guys do the “hard sell” with such style and charm, plus the apple tea is very refreshing.

Where does this road really end was Mr Jeremy Fisher’s big question and how did folks in the old days get goods back to Europe from Istanbul. This was a question he would have to work on as the convoy travelled into Greece and beyond.

Perfumes and essential oils

Six MGs in Cappadocia, Turkey

Dan just slipped away with no goodbyes or roasts, while Simon’s farewell included a “hat” dinner with an epic poem written by Ken, the Bard, Kerith and Ian M outlining some of Simon’s more memorable moments on the trip. Simon had a number of nicknames, but at some stage he said he was like Teflon. So the “Teflon Man” was ribbed for losing his wallet, credit cards, directions to hotels and his 360 degree spin out. It was all good fun and Simon took it very well.

We will all miss Simon’s companionship, humour and navigation skills; when all else fails or when in doubt ask the locals , not once, twice but numerous times.  I am sure Maddie and the family will be thrilled when he touches down in Melbourne.

We dressed in hats which we were told had to be made and not purchased. Denise won the hat competition with a hat covered in luscious cherries while Dave’s headdress was underpants inscribed with “who wears the pants” written on the back which  may have had something to do with Laurel’s arrival. Joking!! Dave  said that comment was for Kerith and I as we questioned him so much for the first couple of weeks but now it is ”the burghers” who seem to do the cross checking. The dilemmas of leadership.

My hat was a construction of my three friends: Mr Jeremy Fisher, Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit.  Mr Jeremy Fisher even had some Quotable Quotes which he had written down along the way. Most members of the team were quick to recognise their quote.

Dan joined the trip as Dave’s mechanic and he has been generous with his time and knowledge in supporting all of the driver come mechanics. The cars still have a long way to go and according to Dan there are still some interesting idiosyncrasies about the cars, including the Orange Cars need for another wash before it gets to London.

Dan just disappeared. We had prepared an epic poem for him but he was fortunate to be able to procure an immediate and  direct flight home. So best wishes Dan, we will miss you and now there’s no one to monitor the verbage on the CB and when it gets too much turn it off.

We welcomed Laurel and Lorraine to the team. Now we have a balance of males and females. It has been interesting to see the team forming, doing a bit of storming, norming and performing as team theory dictates. With each leg of the trip there has been different dynamic when you consider that there have been people coming and going and different guides bringing a new perspective and influence to the group. All really fascinating and  it is great that the team has been very unified and accepting.

Wearing funny hats.