We had a slow start this morning as the rear tyre on Blue Strawberry had deflated overnight. It turned out to be a puncture from a thorn as we’d passed a lot of thorn bushes yesterday. As we were ready to go, Sarina discovered a thorn in Tiger’s tyre and when she pulled it out, the air started coming out, so another puncture to fix.

With two fully inflated tyres on both bicycles we set off to have a nice breakfast on the waterfront.

We’re seeing a lot more cyclists, like this Belgian guy as well as cycle tourists

But our troubles were not yet over. As we set off after breakfast we discovered we had an intermittent rubbing noise on Blue Strawberry’s rear tyre. A quick check and we found the rear wheel was buckled. We’ve corrected this with spoke tension as much as we can, but it looks like we could do with a new rim. Hopefully, Trieste tomorrow can deliver us a good bike shop to rebuild the wheel.

Once we were finally under way, the road was similar to the last few days. Undulating along cliffs and then diving down to sea level every now and again, requiring a big climb to get back up on to the cliffs again. It was hard work, and we were slower than usual, but as long as we get the 80km done we’re still on track.

Entertainment for the day was a powered skateboard speeding past us on the pavement, swerving through a puddle and sliding across the ground into a shop doorway. Luckily he was fine and I could feel ok about my smug giggle to myself. They look a great way to get around though.

Electric skateboard guy about to Have a bit of a lie down

The camp site we were aiming for turned out to be closed. “Chiusu” the man at the gate said. Oh well, let’s find an apartment then, and we found a lovely town down the road, an apartment and a selection of good looking restaurants. That will do.

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Day 217: Senj to Volosko