Sun, swim, snorkel

What a life, but with coast as beautiful as this, you would be foolish not to.

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We left the park a little a bit shell-shocked, the sheer number of people at such a glorious place, it was one of those loving and loathing type feelings. I think, we were glad to leave, get back into the sanctuary that is Dora, and drive back to the coast. We tend to find that tourists follow well established routes, you just need to work out where they will be and then find the alternative, off the beaten track.

We found it a few miles down the road, turned off right back into the mountains, and away from all the traffic. It wasn’t the direct route, it was up steep gradients, it was around windy roads, but it wasn’t inundated with frustrated drivers undertaking stupid and dangerous overtaking manoeuvres on blind bends. We left all that behind us.

It is true that we would miss a little of this spectacular coast, but it would be worth it for a little bit of solitude.

We eventually arrived at the coast. The  mountains cascade directly into the sea here, leaving little room for development, just a road perilously close to falling into the green blue waters, and the odd house, hotel or campsite.

You may think our reluctance to use camping facilities is one of meanness and frugality. Well that is obviously part of it, but the crammed in nature, less than 30cm between each vehicle, that is what really rankles. But also the noise, listening to someone else view on what constitutes good music, and wants to share it with the world. No give us a bit of solitude.

Also, it feels like a bit of a waste to camp with a motorhome. You have already all the facilities, all you need is a quiet place to park. SM

We find a perfect spot, quiet and no one else around. Someone turns up, he says he is the owner. We ask if we can stay and he agrees for €10, no problem. I suppose the only problem with this is that it is black economy and we have no real idea whether he was the owner or not, one to reflect on I suppose.

In the morning the sky is blue, the sea is bluer and it is as warm as anyone can bare. We drive north looking for a bit of water we can swim in.

We are back in the tourist rut, so the traffic is hell, but most of it is heading south, we go against the flow. They have got a long long wait ahead of them, what a way to spend your holidays.

At lunchtime we stop in a small seaside town, Novi Vinodolski, nestled against the cliffs. It takes us a while to find a supermarket, Lidl of course. We also find a beach, packed full, just a hair distance left between each towel, worse than any campsite.

The sea is also packed full of paraphernalia, there to entertain the kids. Can’t they go and play on a mobile phone or something, surely all this exercise must be dangerous for them, it might lead to thinness, the price of it certainly leads to thinness of wallets for the parents.

They have very strange ladder systems here, it took us a while to work out what we probably think it is, a lifeguard lookout point ‘Shark Attack!!!!’

Not much to entertain us here in the way of snorkelling, the water is clear enough just not a lot going on under there, too many thrashing children’s feet. We move on.

It was nice and cooling though, so we were glad of the stop.

Now we could just leave Croatia, back to Slovenia and the mountains. There is more there to entertain us, it might also be a bit cooler, but we also feel we wouldn’t have given Croatian beaches the respect they deserve. It seems that there is an island that we can reach via a causeway. It is a bit of a detour, but it would be a nice way to spend a day or two and will break down the mileage.

So it is off to Krk for us.

Now I don’t think Krk will have much of an international tourist population, although it does have a little airport, but we will see.

We eventually find the link over to the island. It has a €5 toll but it passes over two rather high and fine bridges, but you will have to wait for our return, and the next post before you get to see them.

We decide to travel right to the south of the island, to Baska and tomorrow we will work our way back again, stopping off to enjoy the beaches.

Through the centre of the island a road snakes through the hills, rarely giving glimpses back towards the ocean.

But just occasionally you get to see a little further, are those mountains on the horizon part of the mainland?

And eventually we get to Baska and from up here it looks pretty idyllic.

But to tell you the truth, the place isn’t that great, what would you expect from a tourist town. The beach is OK, but when we get there it is obviously crowded.

But the view, now that is stunning. The lowering sun picks out every fold on a nearby island, a piece of rock that juts majestically out of the sea.

And further over, the bit of the Croatian main land which we missed by going up to the parks. It also looks stunning, and we probably get a better view of it from here, well that is what we like to tell ourselves.

Gradually as the sun begins to sink, the tourists retreat back to their hotels, campsites and motorhomes.

And the beach begins to clear for another day.

So we decide to take another swim, the sea is a little choppy up here and the seabed is sandy, so once again the visibility isn’t that great for snorkelling, maybe tomorrow will be better.

So as the sun sets it is time to make our way back to Dora.

One last glance back at that beautiful bit of rock, lets hope that that one stays free from development, it should be there just so we can look at it.

We have found a little private car park for Dora, just €10 per night and we have negotiated a late departure tomorrow. There are half a dozen motorhomes near us, this is the closest we have been to an aire for quite some time. The one nearest to us turns up the volume of their stereo and the middle aged women occupants start dancing with each other to eighties hits. Now this is why we don’t like organised campsites!

GDR