Day 3 - Sept 4th

Breakfast was an ample self-service buffet & I was back on the autobahn by 9.30.

After an hour or so, I was fed up. The pain in my shoulders had returned and I was desperate for a rest. I purchased an Austrian autobahn vignette for the bike (4.70 euros) and passed through the border.
I checked the map and found a bit of a circular route which would take me over a little pass and through some villages. I took the exit to Rottenmann.

Since it was Sunday most shops in villages were closed. I spotted a harley at a cafe & pulled in. Enjoyed a very nice pasta dish with a huge cold drink for 9 euros. Back on the bike, I rode through the mountain pass, got more petrol then rechecked the map. Unfortunately, I was a little further away from the motorway than expected so I had a blast back towards Graz.
At the next Austrian checkpoint, there was a sign for a Slovenian Vignette so I asked to buy one. She charged me 7.50 euros but gave me no bike sticker, just a receipt. In my broken German, I questioned what I was buying but didn't understand her reply. As I rode away, intuition told me I'd just been ripped off. Bitch.

I entered Slovenia and switched on the GPS & programmed it for Ptuj without using motorways. I'd heard there could be a big cash fine without a vignette.

The original but deserted border control was a mess and the state of the road was terrible, cobblestones and broken up tarmac. I hoped the cars ahead didn't stop.
Despite it being 3.30, the heat was oppressive.

The minor roads to Ptuj weren't too bad. I rigidly stuck to the speed limit & was overtaken by both bikes and cars, ignoring solid white line and blind bends. But I arrived in Ptuj and found the hostel with just 1 u-turn.

It was closed.

However, a woman performing a U turn in the car park, got out to chat to me. Between us and a bit of German, she understood I needed a room. Turned out, her son ran the hostel & 10 minutes later, I had a twin room. The shared bathroom facilities were very clean and there was free internet access but nothing else.

I showered, changed and went for a walk. There were 2 restaurants near the hostel. One appeared to be full so I chose the other - a chinese.

Day 2 - into Germany

The bike had remained upright - a good start. Getting through passport control was easy (he didn't even open my passport!). I pulled over to set the GPS to get me onto the right motorway and head south towards Brussels and then Frankfurt.

My first stop near Liege was at a petrol station which confused the hell out of me. A french man explained I had to pay for fuel first but I had no idea how much the tank needed! So I gave her 10 euros and decided it was their loss I didn't buy a full tank. As I paid the woman explained, if 10 euros was too much, I should return for the change. Typical!

At the gas station, 4 brits on bikes explained they were on their way to the Nurburgring. The day was hot and they were collapsed on the grass verge - said they'd been riding "flat out" since getting off the ferry. They didn't see the irony that I had been on the same ferry.

I headed towards Frankfurt. Alongside the autobahn, I noticed the KPMG offices looked like a gigantic cruise liner. It was a tough ride, the heat was almost unbearable. I had bookmarked an Etap hotel near Wurzburg but as I approached around 6pm, I decided with another 2 hours of daylight I could make it to another Etap at Regensburg - meaning I was 120 miles further south.

At this point, the scenery changed. I was surrounded by pine forests with a great aroma and the farmland was pretty. The temperature dropped and the air felt refreshing. For a while, I was happy I'd made the decision to continue riding. But after an hour, I developed an ache between my shoulder blades which I could not shift no matter what position I adopted.

The GPS led me to the Etap, just a mile from the autobahn & I was happy to receive an en-suite room for 47 euros including breakfast. Miles today: 550

Day 1 - Fri 2nd Sept

My intention was to travel light which, without camping gear, it should have been easy. I packed and unpacked and repacked several times. Should I pack for cold and wet or hot and sunny? 2 yrs ago, also in Sept, I had taken a tour of Austria and spent most of the time riding in waterproofs wearing almost all my clothes.

Eventually, a waterproof holdall contained clothes, toiletries and spare shoes. A top box held electronic gadgets and leads, a few bike things, waterproofs and hi viz vest, first aid kit and a map of europe. Lastly, the tank bag, held immediate essentials - money; passport; gps; phone; glasses and spare contacts; sunglasses and spare gloves.
I set off from the house with plenty of time to spare and took a casual A road route to Hull.

Boarding the ferry was relatively easy, although I dislike the steep and narrow ramp that P&O like to direct bikes onto. These days, they don't help to tie the bikes down either, so I grabbled a couple of ropes and made a vague attempt to secure it to the ground.

I had booked a shared female room & was lucky to find no one in the cabin so took a bottom bunk. But in fact, no one at all joined me which made it very pleasant.
Later, in the bar, I didn't recognise any bikers from the ferry queue so perched on a stool to read my book of Slovenia. A Belgian truck driver began to chat and I then spent a nice couple of hours discussing politics, travel and the hidden gems of Belgium. I declined the offer of a 2nd beer as I didn't want to give him any ideas of anything more than a friendly chat.

Why Slovenia?

For some time, I've liked the idea of touring the Balkans but I've been unsure about going alone. I don't speak the language and wasn't sure what to expect - although, having already purchased a travel book, I knew there was a lot of beautiful places to see.
After spending almost 3 months not able to ride my bike due to a foot injury, I met a young woman who had been touring the Balkans on her own by motorcycle and she inspired me to make a solo trip too.

So, just 2 weeks before I left the UK, I booked the overnight ferry from Hull and did a bit of internet research. I decided not to overplan the trip as I still wasn't sure how much time I would spend in Slovenia - I also liked the idea of going to the Dolomites area of Italy.