Our first week cycling with a puppy in the Uvac Serbia

With new-found time to spend in Serbia, thanks to the addition of Tara the puppy, we set out to circumnavigate the meanders of the Uvac River Gorge.

It was a week of learning about how to travel with our new little friend while also experiencing the special nature reserve, full of gorgeous views and Eurasian Griffon Vultures. The route was full of gravel climbs and descents as we head down less traveled paths (as per usual) on this part of our journey across Europe.

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👉 Watch Part 8: https://youtu.be/wn_Zjz1chkU
👉 Watch Part 10: https://youtu.be/Za8YXZp3DRE

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🎵 Music:
‘Effervescence’ by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

[music] After finding a stray puppy on a mountain pass in Serbia, we perhaps a bit audaciously decided to take that puppy with us on our bike packing trip across Europe. We found ourselves as a result with a bit more time to kill in Serbia than expected. >> Good girl. >> If you haven't seen it already, you can see the full story in our previous video. >> Puppy. Puppy. She's just trying to help. >> Okay, let's load the puppy in. Come. With this newfound time, we set out on a loop around the UAC special Nature Reserve, known for the preservation of the Eurasian Griffin Vulture and a steep meandering river gorge. >> Very grubbly. [music] >> It's probably the biggest inconvenience of taking a puppy with us so far is like well while riding is that she has to stop for puppy pee breaks all the time like every half hour. >> It will get better. >> It will get better. Yeah. As per usual, we mapped out a route along the back roads of gravel, which led us to more elevation than we probably needed. But the quiet roads and views make it all worthwhile, especially as we learn to travel with our new little companion. >> Successful pea break. [music] Good girl. [laughter] She's like, "What the did you just put in here?" >> Yeah, I think she's playing with it. >> Feed the dinos. >> Yeah. Yeah. 1,348 moo. Good girl. gravel. [music] I just don't want to risk her. I'm just going to walk across this. It's okay. We're fine. Thank you. This is nasty. He's whining at you. That's not happening. You want a walk? [music] Good girl. Oh my gosh, she's a cute. Hey, little one. [music] The first few hours, Tara's been up and watching the road, [music] whining every so often to pee or let us know we were going too slow or that she just wanted [music] to stretch her legs. >> Hello. By late afternoon, she was fast asleep, completely unaware of the gravel or anything else. [music] Five more. Wo! Oh my god, there's so many dogs. Okay, I can see at least 10 dogs. What? Oh my god. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Oh my god, there's so many more. Oh my god, it's tiny. >> It's immense. >> Seeing the dump out here was so unexpected. riding through gorgeous forest and as close to pristine nature as you can get along a bulkan road. And then suddenly we're smelling burning plastic and rotting food scraps while being surrounded by dogs. Questionable whether it is bad that they're there because they have access to everything they need to survive there. I would not be surprised if there was 50 in that yard. We're going to camp down here, but we're like what 4 km if that from the dump. Our cook is not working properly. We think we deserve a bought dinner. Probably an apartment or something. The amount of strays out here made us so aware of how few there are in New Zealand. It also made us feel stronger in our decision to take Tara, even if she is just one of thousands. probably >> the leash is more like to make me feel better. I think >> it could probably also shove treats in there. >> Put that fleece up on her. >> It's a parking [music] lot breakfast kind of day. >> She's out of it. >> We stayed the night in the town of Zenica, finding a few extra things to help with Tara, but none of us felt comfortable staying there very long. So before we knew it, we were back on the back roads heading towards the main meander of the [music] UVAC River. >> She cries. She means it. She needs to pee. She needs to poop. >> Drink. >> She needs to drink some water. And a very occasionally she'll cry because she's hungry. Yeah. [music] Oh, maybe you've just come down the [music] cattle break. [music] >> [music] >> Oh, come over me. Just every time I hit a bump. The plan [music] was to find somewhere to wild camp once we had climbed up onto the eastern hills, but we ended up toughing [music] out the gravel and hills on an accidental long way round to a free campsite beside the UAC Canyon viewpoint. We were absolutely exhausted. Miss afraid. [music] Please tell me we go on that one. >> Good. Wow, that's like an actual road. This road sucks. How much for the campsite? [music] How much do I owe you? >> Yeah. >> He said, "Oh, it's free." I was like, "Okay, I'll get a drink then." >> Yeah. [music] >> We found it just in [music] here. >> Yeah, sure. >> Into the tent. >> Oops. Yeah, papa. Money. [music] That is it. [music] Good girl. [music] >> It's been half an hour and we still [music] don't have boiling water. What are [music] you doing? [music] >> Oh, wait. No. With time to kill and nowhere to be, we decided to stay another night on the hill. [music] >> Wait. Okay, good. Gross. you. >> You're such a good help. >> What we hadn't anticipated was the wind. [music] We spent most of the day sheltering in the trees, knowing we probably should have moved on, but silently agreeing that we both couldn't be bothered. >> We'll see if that holds. >> Crunching. Probably crunching. [music] >> Caving in a lot. Oh, it's hard. Let's put the rocks back on there. It's a pretty view, but that wind's pretty harsh. They must have come over here. [music] Ollie's hat is not a hat anymore. I'd say that's actually been inside the stomach. And the bike's down. [snorts] >> Grumpy octopus. That's how we [music] feel. And all we did was get out of the wind. They didn't know that your hat wasn't food. [music] >> That is so heavy. >> No. That is so gross. Who knew cows would be so distracted? Found Ollie's sock in the field. Half eaten by cow. She's taking it home. Oh, good girl. You're so good. We can find the other sock. >> My question is, was it the same cow that ate your hat or is it a different cow? [music] >> Hey, sweetie. [music] >> I think it's a sort >> that just came [music] off the plate out of the cheese. >> Dinner on the maggot. >> Dinner on the maggot. So, we [music] just ate for free at the free campsite. >> So, $0 day. >> $0 day. >> Zero. >> Whilst eating out. >> Hello, puppy. >> And with a good view. >> And we have [music] a little puppy. >> And we have a puppy. Leave her alone for the first time. We got to gone total of an hour 22. [music] >> [laughter] >> She leaped at you. >> The weather forecast changed rapidly the next day. [music] We rushed to pack up and made it to an Etna village just before the storm rained. Sleepy baby. [music] The guy I bought out raia. I don't remember what it is, but it's not >> plum. >> Plum. >> Plum, >> but very strong. >> Ollie says it smells like, [music] what do you say? TS methylated spirits. >> This is a big shot glass for me. I don't drink [music] very much. And it's 12:00. [laughter] Post storm runs. Runny runs. Hey Where's Sy? >> We were feeling a bit directionless and by [music] the next day decided it was time for a proper rest. Booking a week off the bikes in the [music] city of Zidabore. We finished our circle of the UVAC in one big push to the outer skirts of the city. 65 km and 1,200 m of elevation gain. Flies are mad. [music] Just everywhere. [music] We have to cross this creek. And it's got a wire over it. They're almost invisible. >> Tada. He's coming back. Damn. Boots. Just some mud. Luckily, the path became less rough as we hit the main roads after leaving the nature reserve. >> The landscape and vultures were cool to see, but we were both glad to be heading into a break, giving us more time to focus on learning Tara before heading off again. Normally on a gas cooker, that would be roaring on its highest setting. That's it. We're cooking on the fire. that Ollie made because our cocoa doesn't work. Ollie has sausages and tin foil and we're doing onion and mushroom with the tiniest bit of garlic that we had left over. >> What do you rate this meal out of 10? Six. But it loses a point for not having any protein for me and then gains another point for being able to be cooked on a fire. [music]