Day 04 - Krk, Croatia to Zadar, Croatia

If you're going to stay awake for 21 or 22 hours, you might as well do it on the longest day of the year. We started the summer solstice with a 10km ride to catch the 7:15AM ferry from the Croatian islands of Krk to Cres. After a quick breakfast at 5:30, we headed out for what turned out to be a rather tricky 10km: lots of uphill (190 meters), and a shocking number of bugs buzzing around the olive trees, whole swarms of them getting stuck on our sweaty, sun-screened faces and arms. Despite the early hour, there was little respite from the hot sun. As you may have gathered by now, heat is a major topic (and concern) for each day. Likewise drinking enough water and finding any available shade.

The first ferry of the day was uneventful; paying for it in the last minute was quite frantic, but we all made it aboard with no problems. 25 minutes later, we were deposited on the island of Cres, where we now faced considerable amounts of climbing. Somehow, early calcualtions were off, and we were surprised by several long, gradual, and for many, withering hills. By the day's end, we had climbed a total of 1,280 meters in the heat, which combined with a distance of 94km, made Day 4 a tough challenge.

After a long stretch of barren road, we stopped in the conveniently named town of Osor, since many of us were "Oh so sore." Just 5km before reaching the stop, Irene had a sudden encounter with a lizard who darted into her path. She slammed on her brake and landed on the ground, acquiring some nasty road rash in the bargain. (Good news: the lizard went unharmed.) From Osor, it was a 23km ride to Mali Losinj to catch our second ferry at 4PM. On the way, we hit 8km of road construction and numerous shifting gravel paths, along with back hoes and big trucks. AJ took a spill on the tough terrain, and joined Irene with the war wounded. (Despite some discomfort, both are still in fine form.)

Our ferry was 90 minutes late, giving us ample time to explore the lovely city of Mali Losinj, hugging the Adriatic with its long strips of land. The problem with the late ferry, though, was that it was already getting us in to Zadar quite late: a planned 10:30PM arrival. We made the most of the long ferry ride, enjoying the views, playing cards, eating snacks in lieu of dinner, and relaxing, but now arrived at midnight, and unknown to us, at a different terminal than expected. All this made for some interesting debates about how to get to our lodging, which we thought was 3km away. In short we were lost. Riding at night with several lights on our Cokers, we navigated the dark streets in vain, until finally a driver took pity on us and offered to be our vanguard, leading the way. He was not entirely sure of the best route, either, but did eventually get us there at about 1:30AM. After desperately needed showers, we were in our beds some time in the wee hours. Thank God we have a day off tomorrow to recover!

Croatian Fun Fact (courtesy of Lonely Planet)
The ball-point pen and fountain pen were invented in 1906 by the Croatian Slavoljub Penkala.

Quotes of the Day
"We're not in Switzerland anymore."
-Andy, lamenting the difference in organization in lodgings and ferry schedules between a previous tour and this one.

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Created: Saturday, June 23, 2007 08:28