The day started off exactly how it was planned. A lazy start, a late breakfast and a few hours relaxing around the pool. We had a nice lunch and then finished off getting ready to go.

Having checked out, the group was underway. Our first stop would be in 50 miles or so to fuel up, we would first need to cross the Bosnian border. The ride would be coastal all the way to Split, Ten miles or so in Bosnia and the back into Croatia.

There were many roadside stalls selling their goods back in Croatia, so when I stopped to take a picture I bought a large bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice to share out at the fuel stop. Once at the garage it was time to relax, get some fluid on board, have an ice cream and drink the orange juice! It was now 30 odd degrees and getting hotter!

The next section of the journey was just as spectacular, fast sweeping bends all the way to Split. Once in Split the pace slowed as we made our way to the port, the roads congested as locals made their way home after a day at the beach. We filtered for almost ten miles as we wanted to arrive early enough to meet up with Deeds.

He was waiting at a junction just near the terminal and joined in behind us. The check in for the ferry was disorganised chaos, they really didn’t have a clue what they were doing by the look of it but after changing two bike registrations with a UK company before departing over a week ago, all was okay.

After ensuring we got enough tickets for everyone, all we had to do now is get on the ferry. We each had a ticket for ourselves, a ticket for the bike and a cabin ticket to present at the Information desk once on board. It wasn’t too long before we embarked on the chaotic boarding regime, once on the boat they put rope loosely over the bikes in an attempt to secure them! God knows what they will look like if we have a rough crossing, that rope won’t save them falling over.

After finding our cabins and grabbing a shower to cool down, we converged at the bar. We had a couple of well earned beers to continue the cooling down process and went to have a meal in the restaurant. The ferry was very old and rickerty, so were the staff and it looked like the food really needed to be updated too. It was pleasant enough but I think the boat was doing the same food and service it had been doing for the last 50 years.

We were all feeling tired and retired to bed before midnight. We were going to be up early to dock in Ancona and would need to be ready to disembark about 07.00am the following morning. Next stop, Ancona in Italy.