Kornati National Park

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Up early & walked over the seawards jetty to get our boat tour of Kornati National Park with Mikado tours. We were a group of 20 adults & a couple of young kids (baby & 3 year old) which was a good number for the size of the boat. We set off out to the islands with a 2h45 ride to the first stop, we were given coffee & offered Rakija but we decided it was too early for that! This was followed by breakfast of cheese or cheese & ham sandwiches. After a couple of hours we reached Kornati National Park & the boat went around several islands before our first stop was Our Lady of Tarac church a small 17th century church built on the ruins of an early Christian basilica from the 6th century. From here we climbed up to the ruined Tureta Fort which offered lovely views!

After this we went to Lojena beach, the only true natural sandy beach on Kornati islands. We didn't actually get to the beach but swam & snorkelled off the boat in the bay. The guide threw bread to the fishes so they came close. After this we returned to Suha punta on the island of Kornat (we had stopped briefly here on the way out to drop off supplies for lunch) where we were served a delicious lunch with lots of wine then had time for another swim. Loads of different fish here, maybe a dozen species? Plus crabs, sea urchins & sea cucumbers!

On returning to Zadar we walked back to the apartment for a shower before getting a ride over to old town from the Boat Men of Zadar. Again we found a place to eat overlooking the sea & watched the sun sink beneath the waves (again without a camera!) plus a bloke with a guitar singing to us (luckily he was good!). This time we shared a couple of seafood dishes, It was ok but I'll stick to veggie next time! we were given a free shot of Rakija instead of chocolates with the bill. Too much food though!

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