TE Croatia Middle 2024
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Our Barcelona friend Anna and Marcia’s sister in law Cheryl joined us in Trogir for the journey up to Zadar. Leaving Trojir we headed for Skradin where we would visit the magical Krka National Park with its multitude of waterfalls, lakes and wooden boardwalks. On the way up the river we passed oyster and mussel farms and stopped at a cute floating ‘farm stand’ for fresh oysters and mussels.
Next stop was a marina in the Kornati National Park on Murter with swim stops along the way….the water was warming and now in the mid 70’s. On to Otok Zut where we stayed in the ACI Marina. ACI has several dozen marinas in Croatia and this was not one of their best. We then headed around the north end of Kornat, about 15 miles long and run south on the east side. The southern end, including a number of small island on its eastern side form the Kornati National Park. Swim, snorkel, anchor up, drink wine, etc.
Traveling up the west side of Dugi we spent the night at Veil Rat before heading into Zadar with a lunch stop anchored up on the west side of Ugljan Island. After a day exploring the city with its magical water organ powered by waves, Anna and Cheryl departed. We had ordered a water pump in Trogir that had not arrive when we left, so we doubled back to get our backup pump installed, then headed back to Zadar.
Headed North again, it was a 54 nautical mile run to the walled city of Rab with its great fortress. It was then on to Rijeka or so we thought. This is the fourth largest city with a population of about 100,000 and the waterfront is totally industrial. We decided to go to the neighboring smaller city of Opatija with its ACI marina. Arriving about 5 pm, we were assigned a space with a shore power plug we had never seen before with 5 pins instead of 3. As we planned to leave the boat for another road trip, we needed an adapter. At 10 pm an electrician showed up and made us a custom adapter, things we love.
On the road again with our first stop at the Pitvice Lakes National Park…many of these parks were created by Tito and are spread throughout the country, many with campground or inexpensive lodging. This was another park with magnificent waterfalls and a great boardwalk around the park. Continuing on to Zagreb we crossed the fertile plains of Croatia that are mostly agriculture.
What fascinated us most about Zagreb was its Museums, of Broken Relationship, of Illusion, of Hangovers, etc. Palaces, old world charm, great food and the wines! Time to get back to the boat.
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