Friday
28th July
We woke early feeling much refreshed after
a good nights sleep, itchy feet started though so we set of driving down the
island to the bridge which links it to the mainland, We crossed back over then
picked up the TET as it wound up the road towards Karlobag. It follows the
coast all the way, past secluded bays and ‘kiss me quick’ Packlenica before
turning back up the hillside away from Karlobag. A turn left takes a small
tarmac road that is being widened at the moment to a col. From here it’s dirt
for 20 odd kilometres, winding through some beautiful forest with views out
over the surrounding limestone edges and summits. Once back on tarmac, it’s a
short hop to the next dirt bit, this passes through a National Park area which
has some lovely glacial bowls that are now used for accommodation in the old
shepherds huts. Here we saw what we think was a horned viper and several birds
of prey. We managed to pick a load of wild raspberries too, so pudding was
sorted for the night!
The next section was closed off for some
reason, so we had to bypass it and take the tarmac road around to the village
of Olari. Here we climbed up on a really narrow road to a large escarpment
overlooking the bay below. It was a beautiful place so we decided to camp here
for the night and enjoy the sunset over the islands.
A little later in the evening a really
friendly guy and his son turned up, they were staying in one of the huts in the
forest and came out each evening to photograph the wildlife. Snakes, bears,
wild sheep, deer etc. They warned us the horned viper was deadly and there were
plenty around at the moment, so wear long trousers and your bike boots when you
go off into the bushes for ablutions!
