Sleeping under the stars

I will try to be more brief in my writings, i said this a thousands time but i hope i ill now stick to it and relate only events of interest and sometimes my mind state...
We finally slept a night out under the stars and Judith used her mat and sleeping bad :) looking back, I don't think she specially appreciated it. We get the morning ferry out of the tourist main roads and head to Lastovo, a more or less wild island i also visited 2 years ago.

Written updates.

Enjoying the ride
Summertime, the living is easy.

In Ubli, we catch a first bus ride to the main town, get down for a swim at the beach were we find pure real crystal clear water. It is said this island has the purest waters in Croatia and judging by its color it should be right. The Island and its surrounding were turned into a national park since last visited it.

Lastovo town cats, muscled agile, quite wild.

Lastovo roofs.

I remember very well the camping where i stayed a couple nights and had the best fish along with 100% local vegetables. I hope i wont be disappointed like in Korcula. Slightly sunburn, we catch the next bus ride to the camping. I realize i am not hitchhiking so much any more. Am I getting lazy and comfortable? It looks like it and it feels quite good. But might be slightly more boring to you readers, no more crazy drivers, improbable encounters and unexpected rafting rides.
The camping is more crowded and after a slight disappointment, we find a nice spot. Since we have no tent and count on good weather we get in the very back of the camping where we find a little privacy. A little higher, surrounded by the remaining of walls we have a nice flat spot under an olive tree. It is getting late and we are hungry and quite looking forward to the owners fresh fish! Unfortunately we will have to get the fish elsewhere since it is necessary to reserve because it is so frequented at this time of the year. Opusteno, We have a beer and head to the next restaurant.
There we have a massive fish and squid meal along with some prawns, salads and a bottle of surprising vine. Of course we are no longer in Serbia and the prices have changed quit a bit, from a 10 pp euro meal it jumped to almost 50. The walk back to the remote camp is beautiful, the stars are so bright. No light pollution on this island, the moon is not up and we can see the milk way and all those bright stars. We fall asleep under this beautiful stars vault.

The longest day

I did not know this but this was about to be the longest day since the start of my trip. After a short ride taking me just out of the city, a nicer spot where i could watch the sunrise and wait for a better ride. This ride comes pretty soon. Jermio works in a refinery, he does 12h work, 24 h rest then 12h work, 48 rest and this all over the year. When he gets one of those breaks, he goes fishing. Harpoon fishing, apnee fishing. Its his passion and he indeed speaks very passionately about it. Very nice person. He is about 45, he tells me about fishing, a little about family and a lot about Credence Clearwater Revival. which he puts on as loud as it gets in his Renault.

He drops me at the point where he goes down to the see. It is still very early, about 8-9. I m hungry so i decide to drop my stuff and walk a little bit up on of those arid hills around. No track it s a bit like climbing among razor blades. Very nice. I have some of the bread and delicious sausages from the Rijeka market and take a couple pictures..

Shadows... :) The island in the back is pag, they make excellent cheeses there ! the sea was so calm you could see th reflection of pag in the sea !

I the got down and rapidly got an other ride closer to Nin, a place i wanted to visit 2 years ago but didn't have time to. Dont remember why but it was still there in the back of my head. Got to the right crossing with my ride, a cargo ship captain, with an ank tattooed on his arm -for real!- nice man no has a ship for tourists and drives them around. The next guy how will bring me into Nin is owner of bouchery and has 300 kilo of dead meet in the back of his car!

It is about 12 and i find a nice camping and info about a beach where there is a windsurf rental. Go! The place is unfoirtunatlz closes so i go to chat with the guys kite surfing a little further... One of them turns out to be the owner. He has no windsurf gear yet... In 3 days the seasons starts ! shit :) anyway i chat a bit with him and his friend who just got back from windsurfing in Maroco. We talk a lot about ski, surf, and climbing. They recommend the place i past a couple km before. Paklenica, it is a national park, worldly renowned for climbing and one of the guys who was taking a kite lesson drives past it on his way back to Rijeka!

I quikly make up my mind, i will visit this park tonight and sleep in a hut there! But that is an other story, to be told tomorrow :)

Getting stuck in Novi Vinodolski....

I left Rijeka though it was not easy, lots of feeling on my heart..

After a ride with a gay (i think...) guy who wanted to take me to a nice quiet beach on Krk (which i refused with a smile of course) I got an other ride with an old crazy dude (about 80) driving his automatic Fiat panda quit dangerously... He dropped me in Novi Vindolski, it did not know that , but this was the place i d get stuck in today...

The view of smoggy Rijeka from the road.

Beautiful calm and warm Novi Vinodolski.

N.V is a beautiful little Riviera, nice and quite, warm watter, not to many people and this small island with a building on it...

The harbor at sunset, i m still here...

I ll have dinner in a small Konoba, some grilled squid, delicious. And after the snapss on the hous i make my way to the beacj to find two trees to try out my hamac. I find them but the spot is not very wisely choose, young people driving by in scooters all night, too much lights and way to many birds waking me up for the first time around 3-4 and them for real around 4-5... I get up, get my stuff pšacked and get back on the road to get to Split. I decided i have to do some sport, lets windsurf. The girl from the tourist info told me down there is the best spot to windsurf in Croatia. Its called Bol. Lets go!!!

Rijeka with Dejan

The next day, i call Dejan, we meet after his day of work and go to his bosses place. Toma lives in a great house with superb view on the Rijeka bay. He and his wife Lana are parents of two recently borne twins, Max and Lu. Together with Dejan, they build very special parts for ships. And Lana who is a design teacher, designs interiors. They have a company named design Lab, you should check it out Erik for your boat! I ll give you their details if you want! Anyway, Lana designed the interior of their home and it feels very warm. We have a great meal of fish, a specialty, a stew of different fish and seafood with polenta. Delicious.

I had such a great time i didn't think of taking pictures of any of this...

The next day, Friday, we go to Zorans birthday, a nice party by the sea, next to the stadium. Music, vine and people from all over the place, including from Lausanne. Zoran is a film maker, and a pretty crazy guy!

Happy birth day Zoran!

Zoran s crazy car at the end of the night, begining of day. Siting one the road playing songs. Great night!