Day 10: Island by Bike

16.03.23

Wake up, pack your things, have breakfast. Shorts are ready for today, finally. I laid them out the night before with anticipation. Luckily, the weather forecast was reliable.

Left Bürsti in a parking lot at the harbor. Hopefully, it will still be there in 2-3 days.

A bit pressed for time, I go packed with the bike to the harbor. The ferry to the island of Dugi, specifically to Brbinj, one of the small villages on the 'long island', leaves at 12:00. I'm not sure what awaits me there. It is said to be one of the most beautiful Croatian islands, located in the Adriatic Sea. That alone is enough to pique my curiosity. I have also read about mighty rock formations and dreamy sandy beaches. On the island, there are only about 1700 people. Hopefully, that also means a lot of untouched nature.

Bright sunshine and not a cloud in the blue sky. On the deck of the ferry, you have a fabulous view of the mainland, the snow-covered mountains behind it, and the islands on the other side. A small flash of happiness during this magnificent ride over the open sea. Incredibly beautiful. Already my highlight so far.

The crossing lasts about 1.5 hours on the Juraj Dalmatinac. From the landing place, it goes uphill right away. I already have a premonition about today's route. I will have to earn the evening, wherever that may be, with significant elevation meters. On the almost 30km route to Sali, at the other end of the island, it feels like 27km of it is uphill, even though that probably doesn't make sense mathematically. Greetings to tomorrow's muscle soreness. I would have loved to have a speedometer on the descents. That was fast, man.

Despite the sun, it is quite chilly and naturally windy. The panorama along the way is priceless, and even though I am on the main road, I don't encounter more than 10 cars in total. It's really fun to be on such an island.

In the afternoon, I reached Sali. A picturesque village with only a small shop and one or two restaurants. At this time of year, I'm probably the only tourist here. At Tommy's, the mini supermarket, I bought some snacks, and then I slowly began the search for a place to sleep.

To be honest, I thought it would be easier, and I assumed I could easily spend the night at one of the dream beaches. Wherever they may be here. Instead, the somewhat annoying search ends somewhere on a mountain, on one of the many olive plantations. I can at least still catch a glimpse of the sea from here. Well, I've had worse places to sleep.

Just before 7:00 p.m., my hands freeze while writing. But it's nice and cozy in the tent.

Tomorrow, I'll give the national park around the corner another chance...