Earlier start than usual with breakfast at 7.00 am although our original plan had been to leave the hotel at 6.30 and forgo breakfast. ( More of the repercussions of this decision later )
Leaving the town of Buzet we almost immediately started the long climb up out of the valley. Along the way we came across a fellow who had spent 5 years in Melbourne and who wanted to have a good long chat about all manner of subjects. His father soon appeared to join in on the conversation and we managed to converse through a mixture of Italian, pigeon English and one or two Croat words.
Gail was delighted to receive a Mother’s Day phone call from Craig about 6 kms into our VERY long climb up to a plateau. Gail explained after the call that she was exhausted from eating a Twix bar and rushing to find her mobile when it suddenly rang.This came as a bit of a surprise to the rest of us as we always assumed that, in common with the others in our team, the fatigue was a result of the 150+ kms we had covered through some very tough terrain! Craig highly amused to be told that we had covered less than 5 kms in 2 hours!
Eventually, we pass very close to the border with Slovenia and then continue on to the aptly named town of Slum in the area of Cicarija. This region apparently has a harsh climate and is now a very sparsely populated area.
More climbing up to the plateau, soon reaching Gorna Nugla from where we had our first rather hazy sight of Istria’s highest mountain,Vojak ( 1396 metres )
At 18.1 kms we arrive at the lovely town of Roc,inhabited since prehistoric times.
In the Middle Ages Roc was the centre of Glagolitic writing. Glagolitic was the first Slavic alphabet and does not correspond to any European or Asian script.
Roc is a beautifully maintained town and on this day market stalls lined the streets, presenting a real carnival atmosphere.
Sadly, time constraints prevented us from spending more than a few minutes in Roc when we really needed a couple of hours to do justice to this fine town.
Shortly after leaving Roc we enter the Glagolitic Avenue, which covers an area of 7 kms and is dedicated to the scholars of Glagolitic writing.
At 25.7 kms we find ourselves in the town of Hum, reputedly the smallest town in the world . ( there are no doubt many attention-hungry towns which make a similar claim. )Nevertheless we enjoy our picnic lunch in this very picturesque,touristy town,perched high above the surrounding areas.
Boljun is reached at the 40 kms mark and this ancient fortified town was once the setting for the film ‘The Last Road to China’.
By now the weather has taken a turn for the worse and we are hit by a severe squall and the ever-darkening skies bring on the realisation that we run the risk of not completing the full 80 kms to Rabac before darkness ( the bikes have no lights ).
However, we press on to Vozilici and Krsan and decide to see if we can reach Nedescina, where we would make a decision on whether to call Alan, the tour operator, for an emergency pick-up to take us on to Rabac, our destination for the night.
The general consensus is that we should make the call, as it is now clear that we will not make Rabac in time. Alan arrives to collect us from Krsan and we duly arrive in Rabac at shortly after 8.30 pm.
With benefit of hindsight, the pick-up call was the only option as apart from the lack of daylight and the fatigue of the group the road down from Labin to Rabac proved to be very dangerous for cyclists.
Average meal at the hotel and then off to bed at the end of a very long day ( 64 kms covered ) with the news that Chelsea have lost to Man U 2-1, assuring the latter of their 19th Premier League title.
Moment of the day- When we arrive in Hum I come across a group of Germans having their photographs taken in front of the Hum sign. I make a comment to them in German and one of them remarks that I must be Swiss ( not the first time that my slightly Swedish accent when speaking German has confused people ). Sitting on my bike I tell them that I have in fact come from Australia. “ surely not all the way from Australia on that bike” one of them shouts out! I am still not sure if he was joking.
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