Northern Dalmation coast

---

---

The comments on the website when we booked our accommodation at Sv Petar did include someone writing that the traffic noise from the main road was excessive.And they weren’t wrong.!!Had we had an apartment closer to the water it may have been different.
The traffic volume did decrease as the evening went on but the cars and trucks seemed to go faster.
The settlement we are staying in is in the process of development and as yet there aren’t any traffic signs to slow the speed of the cars and buses passing to and fro on the main road.
A bonus here was that we had a frypan and a egg slice so Gretchen could have her favourite poached eggs.Everything went well until it was time to get the eggs out and then the egg slice failed her.Never mind,you have to break the eggs to eat them I say.!!
With our one night stops we only take in what we need and leave the suitcases in RR so packing up in the morning is quick and simple.
So it was that we were on the road shortly after 9am with a distance of just over 200km for the day.
Overhead and to the north,where we were going,the sky was cloudy although to the south it was clear.The short thunderstorm of yesterday didn’t come to anything and it doesn’t look like its cleared the air as we have experienced after previous thunderstorms.The forecast for our destination is partly cloudy to sunny and 26C.
So far in splitting the trip up the Dalmation coast we have had two days of rather contrasting coastal scenery.The stunning mountains set off against the blue Adriatic when we left Dubrovnik and then yesterday one of beautiful small villages and towns hidden below the road but an absence of the mountains.
We were only a short time on the road and we came across a scene we have seen a number of times since we crossed into Hungary and perhaps we will only see it in this part of Eastern Europe.Coming towards us is a local riding a cultivator,that you would normally walk behind, with a small trailer behind.Our second favourite TV comedy series(after Fawlty Towers)’The Good Life’was about a couple who decided to give up the stresses of modern life and take up subsistence farming but did it in their Surbiton home.Tom Good brought an old cultivator to plough up the front lawn for vegetables to be grown but also turned it into transport when they sold their car as it was part of the modern life they didn’t need.Each time we have seen a local riding his cultivator along the main road we cannot help but remember the TV series.
We have been on route #8 since we left Dubrovnik and we will stay on it until we turn onto the island of Krk where we are going to stay the night at Njivice.
Just out of the big,ugly city of Zadar which seems to have a lot of development going we came across one of the icons of the old Yugoslavia,’a Yugo’.
The Yugo was to Yugoslavia as the Skoda was to Czechoslovakia and there are still a few of the originals on the road as we can attest to.They look like a Fiat and must have been modelled on them.
A little further on just after Posedarje the road, now heading inland, took us across a new bridge built to span what is effectively an inland sea.The gap is 300 odd metres and the bridge is 50 metres above the water.We parked RR and went back onto the bridge to take photos of another large and impressive bridge that spans another gap further on where the highway runs.This new bridge was completed in 2005 and from information at the parking area was built to replace a bridge destroyed in 1991 that would have been an early casualty of the war.
There is a facility on the bridge and an advertising sign promoting bungee jumping from the bridge although it had the appearance that it hadn’t been for some time.
We noticed,as we stood in the centre of the span,that the carriageway seemed to move when trucks and buses went past where we were standing.Needless to say we felt more comfortable off the bridge than on it especially with 50 metres to the water.
As the road turned north again to rejoin the coast it became clear that today’s coastal drive would be different again from the previous two days.Again we had mountains up to our right although not as steep as the day from Dubrovnik but still impressive all the same.And to our left was a finger of land that started at Zadar and ran for 70km or so parallel with the road we were travelling on.
What made it quite different than the islands that were adjacent to the coast further south was that the finger of land was quite barren although from the map there was at least one main road on it and a few small towns which you couldn’t see from the road we were on.
Looking across,it seemed to be one mass of sand with almost no sign of vegetation.Except we knew it couldn’t be sand as there wasn’t any on this coast that we had passed.So it must have been rock,a silver colour the same as on the beaches.
With the sun coming out from time to time as we headed north the finger of land gave off different light making it quite photogenic at times.
As we passed Gradina we noticed a car ferry coming across from the finger of land giving some confirmation that there were settlements and a road on what looked like a totally inhospitable part of the country.
The coastal strip since after Zadar had had only a few small towns and the occasional isolated house or restaurant in between but as we got north of Senj inhabitation became increasing more populous and so did the traffic.
By early afternoon we reached the turn off point to the island of Krk and we paid the K30 toll to cross another magnificent two bridges to get onto the island.
Njivice is located 12km after you cross onto the 30km long island,on the western side.
We had little problems following the Google Map instruction and arrived at the apartment building which ominiously looked all closed up.We walked up and down the road to make sure we had the right place and even asked a local who confirmed we were in the right street.But there certainly wasn’t anyone around or a reception office!!Was this going to be anotherTrogir or Venice incident??
So it was back to RR and out with the laptop to scrutinise the instructions again after all we had both checked the instructions on how to get here!!
It pays to read the small print,especially where it says ‘Important Instructions’!!
We were supposed to collect a key from a Travel company in the Njivice village down the hill !! hence no reception desk!!
I think Gretchen feels sorry for me on this one as she has only deducted half a strike from my one strike left to keep me on the team,just!!Perhaps she feels a little guilty in not reading the small print too!!
The travel office was closed for the afternoon siesta so we took a walk along the beach to check out the numerous restaurants for dinner while we waited for the siesta time to pass.There was a good selection to choose from with mostly Italian dishes on offer.We decided on one that had its dining area out over the sea with great views across to the islands off the coast and as long as the weather remained dry and warm it would suit us quite nicely.
We collected the key and headed back up the hill to the apartment which turned out to be very well appointed with two bedrooms and a terrace for us to relax on with a quiet drink before we walked back down the hill for dinner.
We have been annoyed by the "German" wasp at meal times since we arrived in Europe and to date have fended them off without being stung.They seem to disappear once it becomes dark but prior to that they have been a menace settling on or in one case in our drink especially our vodka and orange,when we have had one to drink.
Tonight one of them struck!!
Gretchen was resting her arm on the side of the chair and felt something touch her skin and in the process of brushing it off the wasp stung her.
We have almost everything we need for ailments but no antihistimene.After running the sting under cold water for a few minutes the pain eased and there was not much else we could do but wait and see if there was any other reaction.
Needless to say we withdrew indoors to finish our pre dinner drinks before walking down to the beach and the restaurant that we had chosen earlier in the afternoon.
Gretchen didn't have any further reaction to the wasp sting as we enjoyed a pizza each and a bottle of Croatian wine looking out over the water at the activity on the water of a few boats that passed by the restaurant location.
Heres hoping that Gretchen doesn't swell up from a reaction to the wasp sting overnight!!Tomorrow its off to Slovenia for 3 nights.

---

Comments

[Russ]

Bridge north of Zadar
Love the photos, I have a photo of that bridge being built, we sailed under it. Impressive engineering.

[Russ]

Bridge north of Zadar
Love the photos, I have a photo of that bridge being built, we sailed under it. Impressive engineering

[Whiskers]

Magnificent structure
Yes,it was certainly a magnificent structure