An Unplanned Year

1st September – 30th September

1. Scenery in Albania

The scenery in Albania as we’ve driven around has been STUNNING. From turquoise beaches, to forests, to rocky cliffs and mountains, to glacial rivers, it has had it all. And we didn’t even make it to what is supposed to be the most beautiful area in the country around Theth!

2. Djerdap National Park

The day we drove from Golubac to Tekija along the Danube, then took a boat trip through the gorge to view some old and new landmarks was a definite highlight. The scenery was stunning with steep rocky hills dropping into the river, autumnal colours in the trees and a glorious blue sky. The drive was a little like the Great Ocean Road drive, but with another set of hills a few hundred metres away instead of the ocean.

3. Week at the beach Albania

We loved our 6 days of doing nothing but swimming, sleeping and relaxing on a hillside overlooking Radhime, just south of Vlorë.

4. Shooting range

We went to a shooting range in Belgrade and fired seven different types of guns; five pistols an AK-47 and a shotgun. It was an experience! Obviously Kevin shot guns whilst in the army, but I’ve never even touched a gun before. Kevin found it more relaxing than in the army where he was having to pass a test every year, whilst I had sweaty palms and had to take a breath before pulling the trigger each time as it was scary and so loud! We both hit the target more often than we missed!

5. Golubac Fortress /Iron Gorge

At the edge of the Danube, guarding the entry to the Iron Gorge, the fortress perched on rocks is intimidating! Climbing to the top of the central towers was challenging, but we were rewarded with panoramic views over the river and from Serbia to Romania.

6. Le Petite Chef

We’d seen ads for Le Petite Chef even before we left Australia and had it on a “one day we should” list. When we saw it was available in Skopje and was almost 40% cheaper than going when we get home, we jumped at the chance. It was a fun, interactive evening with nice food too.

7. Cooking class

With 3 days to kill waiting for the original registration to reach us in Tiranë we booked into a cooking class. We made burek, a delicious yoghurt based beef dish and a sugar syrup cooking dessert. All accompanied with delicious home-made wine-made by the chef’s dad!

8. Gallipoli

Although our tour of Gallipoli Peninsula was only short as part of our Türkiye tour, and a dedicated tour would have been better, it was memorable to be on the ground and see ANZAC Cove and Lone Pine, places we hear so much about in Australia.

9. Border crossings

Not necessarily a highlight, but the border crossings have been memorable this month!

Attempt 1 to enter North Macedonia: turned around because we didn’t have the original car registration document (we had a copy that has been accepted at ten previous border checkpoints!) We missed four days in Ohrid because of this!

Attempt 2 to enter North Macedonia: with the original rego document in hand, we joined the usual queue for cars, got to the front and were told that as our car is a commercial vehicle we had to re-enter Kosovo and leave via the truck/freight crossing on a different road. So we queued up between B-Doubles. When we got to the front our car windows were WAY below the windows that the guards use to communicate with truck drivers in their cabins. A guard took our passports and had to stretch up to pass them in the window. (The officer’s heads poking out the window, looking puzzled as to why we were there was funny, but no photos for obvious reasons!) We then had to stop on the weighbridge- I know we’ve been eating well, but that felt a bit rude and judgy!😆 – go up a flight of stairs to another window at truck height and show every piece of paper in our two folders of car documents (they’re a bit OTT on paperwork here, we don’t even need a rego sticker on our car anymore in Australia!!) Then it was off to another building to get a piece of paper that stated our cargo hsd been checked and that we were allowed to bring it in. Mind you, at no time did anyone actually look in the van at this border or ask us if we had anything in there! Crossing into Serbia: this was the most in depth investigation into our belongings yet. Thankfully I’d primed Kevin to NOT get annoyed and he answered all the questions including how many knives we have, what was in my knitting bag, how we get so much paid leave in Australia, where highland cows come from…

10. Saint Sava Temple

This massive church is the centre of Serbian Orthodoxy. It is stunningly decorated with mosaic tiles, most of them gold!