We enjoyed our 2023 Island Hopping tour, (Dubrovnic to Split) so much last year, that we booked another for this year. Smaller Islands this time, some connected by bridges, and also a bit of Inland Croatia to visit a National Park, and our final day also inland through spectacular mountain scenery, to reach our destination of Trogir. Another excellent trip booked via Insulhupfen.
THURSDAY JUNE 20TH
As we approached Split Airport, the flight captain announced that the temperature was 39 degrees. Agghh. Much too hot! A 15 min taxi ride to Trogir to our overnight hotel, which thankfully had very efficient AC. But of course, we ventured out to investigate the immediate area of old Trogir, which is a UNESCO Heritage site. We spotted our Motor Yacht Magellan. (named after an Explorer I am told!) We had an amazing seafood platter for dinner in one of the waterside restaurants.
FRIDAY JUNE 21ST
Embarkation was not until 1.30, but we were able to leave our cases with the boat crew after we checked out from our hotel. We had another wander around Trogir and a lunch, finding shade as much as possible. One of our fellow passengers later asked me if Croatia ever gets blue sky? OH YES!! As we wandered, we spotted Matt, our bike guide from our trip last year! Small world. He was on the sister boat this year, but we saw him at the start and end of our tour.
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A day in Trogir, but soooo hot and sticky.
Our boat and sister boat alongside. |
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We had lunch next to this beautiful building. Lots of school kids arrived
carrying flowers. It was last day of term so were bringing gifts for their teachers.
We later learned that this was one of the many Palaces, in old Trogir. |
A few more images around Trogir....
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| View of our boat from the bridge. |
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This tiny courtyard offered welcome shade.
(one to paint maybe?) |
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| Another possible painting subject. |
We met our fellow passengers and crew, before we set off at 3pm for a 2 hour cruise heading to our overnight stop in ROGOZNICA. We were a little daunted to learn that we were sharing the ship with a group of 17 Americans from Colorado, who were all family and friends........ and another group of 11 friends, also from Colorado! 😕 There were 2 more passengers, mother and daughter from Newcastle. Very different to last year's trip, when we shared with guests from at least 6 different countries.
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The weird lettering of the Bartenders name, which
I think was pronounced SHIVKO. |
The captain dropped the anchor part way, and the first of several opportunities to swim off the back of the boat. I took some persuading, but did go in for just few minutes. It was very buoyant and not at all cold. Bliss.
A few minutes after we all got back on board, a couple of Dolphins swam past, and also a very strange craft ......like something out of a Sci-fi film..... a guy on a hoverboard.
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Arriving in ROGOZNICA for the overnight stay.
We docked around 6pm, were served a delicious 3 course dinner, and later a stroll around town. |
Tonight's briefing announced that the captain would start the engine at 06.45!!! Since I suffer occasionally from seasickness, I needed to UP ON DECK before we left port.
SATURDAY JUNE 22ND
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| Leaving port with another day of grey skies, but the sun is breaking through. |
We cruised around 3 hours to VODICE, where we would start our first bike ride. 31 of us had booked ebikes, and Larry opted for peddle power. A brave man in this heat. (Larry when you read this, you may be interested to know that our trip last year was 141 miles and 11,000 feet, so you got off lightly with only 7,231 of climbing 😉)
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| Morning briefing at 8.30, from Alen and Lucia |
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The bikes had to be offloaded and reloaded each day, from the middle deck,
which was hard work for the crew, but they had a system which worked well. Hats off guys!!
Our first ride. Split to the south, Zadar to the north. |
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| Our ride started by riding along a pedestrianised path, along the coast. |
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Continuing to Tisno, where we crossed a bridge onto
the Island of Murter.
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A brief stop to regroup as we arrive on the island of Murter.
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Views across from Murter.
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| Murter stop. |
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Helen and daughter Jasmine.
The only other non-Americans on board. |
A few miles on more major roads, before we joined very quiet roads, passing through a couple of camping areas packed with camper vans and tents. Lovely riding next to the coast.
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| A drink stop for 30 mins or so next to the sea, on Murter Island. |
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| Our boat just around the bend. |
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| First ride ends where we join our boat in SLANICA. |
Another swim off the back of the boat, before a delicious lunch on board, and an afternoon cruise to KORNATI National Park. A beautiful approach, with some narrow channels to negotiate.
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| This was just the starter! Shrimp Rissotto with Parmesan crisp. |
We cruised through this narrow channel into the National Park area. Boats need to pay to enter, so all VERY quiet beyond this point.
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Tonight's Mooring. Telascica Bay in the National Park.
 | An amazingly peaceful mooring.
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Our guides then took us on a circular walk, initially climbing to a cliff viewing point.
The late afternoon light was beautiful. |
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| A climb to the high point. |
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| We were told that Peregrine Falcon nest along the cliff. |
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| Pinecones, which often cause hey-fever symptoms. 😔 |
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| Team photo by Alen. |
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| Strange Stone sculptures like the Canadian Inukshuk but smaller. |
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As I photographed the sunset, BATS were whizzing all around me.
(which means there are biting insects.... time to get inside! Captured them on film I hope) |
SUNDAY JUNE 23RD
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Our route most of the length of DUGI OTOK Island (Long Island)
to our boat in the bay of Bozava, for our crossing to ZADAR. |
Our bikes were all offloaded before breakfast, so that at 9am we began our 20 mile ride across Dugi Otok Island. It is virtually car free and we all loved the peaceful ride initially along the coast before climbing to enjoy some amazing views.
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| Ready for the off. |
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| Alen explaining about the start of our route. |
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We were all warned to get into TURBO and lowest gear to make it up this
initial climb, setting off in pairs. |
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| No cars and great scenery. |
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John taking a photo for 4 of the American Group.
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| I pulled over for this shot framed by wild Clematis. |
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| These circles in the sea are fish farms. |
Since there were almost no turns to look out for, we were left to our own pace for several miles, meeting up at a large solar panel installation. From there, we would take a right turn, but when we arrived at the port, we were 2 short! Kris and Rebecca eventually realised there was no one ahead, and turned around. Alen went off in search of them, so they did a few extra miles today. 😂
Also, we had beaten the boat to the harbour, and having had no cafe stop enroute, we were grateful that the small port cafe was open for business.
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| The harbour at BIBINJ, near Bosava. |
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| Port cafe. |
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| Loved the fishing net decoration. |
Our boat arrived within 20 mins, and after the crew loaded up the bikes, we moved a matter of a few hundred yards away from the port, and the captain dropped the anchor for us to swim.
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| Our barman took some video of me in the water.... proof! 😍 |
Lunch on board and a lazy afternoon, as we cruised to the much larger city of ZADAR. A guide was meeting us at 5pm. We had been to Zadar last year as part of our Venice cruise, but were happy to see it again. Our guide was a little quiet, (and a live band were setting up for a show), and so was difficult to pick up on all the information. Not a problem, since I would instantly forget it anyway. 😂
A few images from ZADAR. After our tour, we were left to chose our own restaurant for dinner and hopefully enjoy a sunset... if our meal was over in time.
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| Very nice meal in ZADAR |
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We skipped dessert since we were getting close to missing the sunset
and almost ran through the streets to get out to the coast. |
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Shame I only had my mobile phone camera,
but was happy with my fisherman as a focal point. |
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| Loads of people just hanging out to watch the sun go down. |
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As it got darker, the solar installation lit up. It's right next to the "ORGAN PIPES, with music
created by the movement to the waves. Great end to an excellent day. |
Back on board, and a boat moored next to us, was having a rather noisy musical "Name That Tune" quiz, so we headed to the peace and AC of our cabin.
MONDAY JUNE 24TH
The engine started at 07.00 as we left ZADAR, for a breezy but short crossing to the facing Island of Ugljan, to the small port of PREKO.
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| Full praise to our excellent Captain. |
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I was intrigued by this tiny orange, hand oared ferry boat,
which seem unperturbed by the large ferries and boats coming and going!
I saw it in the opposite direction as we arrived yesterday. |
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| Leaving ZADAR next to the organ installation and "Solar System" panels. |
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| Light improving a few minutes after we leave port. |
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Relaxing in preparation for our upcoming ride.
LtoR. Chris, Jo, Dawn, Kenny, Larry & Maria. |
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The start of ride leaves PREKO along the East coast of the Island.
It was pretty breezy! |
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After a few miles, we crossed this bridge and onto
the Island of Pasman, heading to VODICE. |
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| Cafe and swim stop ahead. |
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| Magellan waiting for us in TKON, on the island of PASMAN. |
The information for today on the Whatsapp group.....
When we arrived in Tkon around 12.45, John said he was going ashore with his camera for a few minutes. I had a shower. When I came out, I thought I heard the engine start. Then it got a bit of throttle!! OMG John was not back. It was only just after 1pm, and we were both sure we were leaving at 1.30... as per the "plan for today". A mad few minutes of panic, I alerted the crew, tried to call him, no answer and Alen and I both decided to go look for him, whilst the ropes were being untied. It turned out John had decided it was too hot, and had NOT gone ashore, but was on the upper deck. Thank you John!! 😠
A relaxing afternoon cruise, to Vodice, where we had also spent an overnight on Day 2. A Croatian lesson from our guides, in preparation for the European Football game against Italy this evening at 9pm. The only thing I remember was a mention of a greeting that sounded like a chicken. 😁
It was difficult to find a restaurant WITHOUT a TV screen in Vodice, but John & I managed, since not interested in watching TV in a bar. We did some "people watching", as more and more fans dressed in Croatian colours gathered in town.
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| Dinner in Vodice, with no TV! |
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As the sun was setting, we were on the looking out for a subject,
but nothing stood out, other than this Sculpture. I thought it must have
been a regular symbol in Croatia, since I had already seen one....
... before I realised that was because we were here 2 days ago! 😄
( I wasn't the only one to get confused btw!)
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| Other side of the harbour. |
Not a spectacular sunset tonight, but nice enough. Back on the boat, we could hear a few cheers from time to time from the football fans, but would have to wait until morning for the result. Sooooo close.
(Croatia drew but got knocked out by Italy in the last minute.) But Croatia put up a better fight than Scotland who were already out.
TUESDAY JUNE 25TH
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| A SURPRISE THIS EVENING! |
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No Island cruising today, as we head inland to SKRADIN
where we will join a boat trip. lol.
As the bikes were being unloaded this morning, the heavens opened! But it only lasted about 5 mins. So we were soon setting out for today's 24 mile ride inland.
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A few main roads today, quite different to cycling on the smaller islands. We split up a few times into groups of 5 to allow the traffic a chance to safely pass, and at one point regrouped at this old building. Alen then told us a bit about it's history, as a Serbian school. But as people left due the most recent war, the building was left to fall into disrepair.
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| Pink Oleander flowers add some colour to the sad building. |
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| And some yellow Verbascum ( I think) |
Just a couple of miles further and we stopped for a drink opposite this unusual church building in Cista Velika.
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| Not so pretty, but did the job. |
We retraced our route just a short distance, but continued gradual climbing overall, as was the theme this morning. (Poor Larry who was on peddle power). Eventually we headed down a massive hill, and regrouped at his Vineyard, to take a right turn into much quieter narrow roads.
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| And opposite. |
A few miles further and the sky was once more looking rather threatening. I couldn't resist stopping to capture this little scene. John and guide Luci stopped too, whilst everyone else continued.
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| This house looked tiny against the huge sky. |
Would it rain? About 1 minute later, yes it did. John and I stopped to put rainjackets on for the first time this week. Luci had forgotten hers. But I felt too hot immediately, so was glad to get the jacket back off when we caught up with the rest of the group. Some of whom has also put jackets on... then off again.
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An interesting approach to the charming Skradin, ending with riding through the
tiny streets to meet our boat at the harbour.
Lunch onboard at 1pm, then some free time until 3pm, when we took a boat to the nearby KRKA Waterfalls and Canyon. Really quite spectacular. |
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| Tonight's mooring in SKRADIN. |
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| Lovely colours |
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| White Oleander |
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| Steps leading to the top.... maybe later when its cooler! |
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I loved this building. Maybe one to paint?
(in watercolour... not emulsion )
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| Entering the Krka Canyon, on a tourist boat. |
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Pretty impressive, but this was just the start. There were hundreds of different size of waterfalls
and pools on the circular walk, which started with uphill of course!
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| The power of the water! So how do those trees stay upright? |
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| At the top. |
The route down was mostly on decked walkways, over more waterfalls and streams, many with plenty of trout, and also an abundance of blue Damselle flies. Beautiful. (Took plenty of video, not so many photos).
The boat back was on the "half hour" according to the information, and since we knew we would struggle to comfortably get the 4.30 boat we had an ice cream at the top, the also bought some water at the bottom, thinking we had a while still to wait for the 5.30 boat. It was 5.10 when we went to join the boat queue only to see to see it leave! WOT!! So, it turned out the boats were every 20 mins (Grr), and in the end we got back to our own boat at 5.55, just as everyone was leaving to walk to the " Surprise" evening. We followed about 10 mins later.
It was to a local restaurant called a KONOBA, who produce their own drinks and some food too. We were served Prosciutto, Cheese, Bread, Olive Oil and wine. THEN 10 different Schnapps to try, passing the small glasses around our group of 10.
A few photos from the Whatsapp group....
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Larry holding our tray of 10 Schnapps to try. Can't remember all the
flavours, but Cherry and Fig were the favourites on our table. |
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| Jasmine. Happy with this one. |
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| John not so impressed. 😅 |
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| Scot also not so sure. |
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| Chris doing the sniff test first |
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| Dawn not rushing to taste this one. |
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One half of the group at 2 tables.
(photo by Alen) |
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And the other half.
(photo by Alen) |
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| Oh dear! |
It was a fun couple of hours for 15Euros each, and of course we had enough food to keep us going for a while. Time now to climb to the fortress before dark?
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| Almost at the top. |
WEDNESDAY JUNE 26TH
The schedule today was supposed to be a non-cycling day, cruising to SIBENIK, for a morning tour, but then also cruising to PRIMOSTEN where we would have free time to explore. But the Captain could not get the docking he needed to offload bikes the following morning at Primosten. So instead, after our visit to UNESCO city of Sibenik, we would cruise a little further down the coast to ROGOZNICA, where we had docked for an evening previously. But not ridden from. (it gets confusing at times!!)
Our guides felt it was shame not to visit Primosten, so they hoped that weather permitting, they would lead an extra ride later in the day for us. We would find out later.
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| But first, we leave Skradin, under the bridge. This is a freshwater river at this point. |
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| Luci and Alen... not in cycling clothes this morning. |
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| Our arrival at 9am for what looks like a very pretty port of SIBENIK |
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Through the narrow gap as we left SIBENIK
The anchor was dropped in a quiet spot, and most went swimming, but not me this time. 3 boats were also visited by a Police vessel. Not sure what they were looking for, but we were all amused when a package was handed over. 😂
 | Michael and Randy off the top deck!
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We continued cruising during our 3 course lunch. We started with Minestrone Soup, followed by Chicken Roulade, followed by Chocolate Pancakes!!! THEN we had to go cycling! (This was not the original plan of course). But we didn't leave until 3.30. Phew.
 | Another delicious lunch onboard. How the 2 chefs prepare
all this food for 32 guests and crew in the tiny kitchen is amazing. Chicken Roulade
with cream cheese filling, with Pistachio crumbs.
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Starting our ride at 3.30 for a there and back trip from
ROZENICO TO PRIMOSTEN. |
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| Climb, climb, WHEEEEE. Then, climb a 15% gradient to get back up. |
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Fabulous views enroute.
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Our destination in the bay.
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BIG downhill, which we had to also come back up.
No problem with ebikes. Not so easy for Larry!
Another very charming port, so BIG thanks to our guides for getting us there on our bikes, or we would have missed it. (We would repeat the first few miles tomorrow, before heading inland, but not a problem.) |
A few scenes that caught my eye...... with a blue theme.
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| PRIMOSTEN |
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| PRIMOSTEN. Even her dress is blue! |
Larry was not so far behind us at the top of the brutal climb back up, and got a well deserved cheer when we joined us. We then stopped for a photo in the evening sunshine on our way back. Back to the boat at 6.45. Another great day.
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| The benefit of a late ride is the low sun! |
John and I had a meal out in the town in the evening, once more trying to avoid TV screens of football matches. (not easy!)
THURSDAY JUNE 27TH Our last ride and final day. 😢
Our route today was 28 miles to TROGIR, with over 2000 feet of climbing, so once more we were happy that we had made the choice to book ebikes. (I rode 8000 ft over 4 days a couple of weeks ago in the Cotswolds, on my Gravel bike, but with the heat mid 30's its hard work!")
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| Alen loading up the batteries as we prepare to set off for our final ride. |
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| Video screen shot. Getting ready for a group photo.😎 |
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photo by Alen
(John wearing his club teeshirt for a photo.😅) |
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Up, and up some more, through amazing scenery.
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I stopped here for a photo. Loved the roofs of the buildings.
Regrouping somewhere out there.
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The planned cafe stop next door was shut!
So a few went into the supermarket to buy something.......
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I joked about his being my shot of the day. It was used by several of us!
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| Larry passes as we finally reach a downhill. Wheeee. |
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| Regrouping once more before a right turn. |
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We go off the right here, and where a little terrier dog came
chasing after me, and was right at my ankles. Frightened the life out of me.
TURBOOOOOO!! 😨😨😨😊 |
We reached another BIG downhill, but this time on the main road dropping into Trogir. Viewpoint marked on this map.
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| Our final descent into Trogir. |
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| One week later, back at the start. 12.15pm |
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Our excellent guides Alen and Luci. Thanks so much for a fun week.
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Will attempt to name everyone.
BACK ROW
Kris, Rebecca, Marie, Eric, Michael, Cathy, Murray, Debi, Sam, Carol, Helen
Mark, Diane, Amy, Chris&Vicky, Gary (behind), Jo, Vanessa, Kenny, John, Maria, Larry
KNEELING
Jasmine, Randy, Michelle, Luci, Ed, Lori, Dawn, Anne. Scot.
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| Well done Larry!😇😇😇 |
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Then down to the serious business for the "scrap booking sisters"
Vicky and Chris, who will be checking my notes!! 😂
A 2 course lunch at 1.30, some rest time, before a city tour guide of TROGIR at 5.15. It turned out to the be SAME GUIDE that John and I had in Split last year!! She is great fun. A final 3 course meal on board, with celebratory drink to finish an excellent holiday.
Thanks to everyone for your great company over the week, and to the Crew of Magellan who took such good care of us in every respect. |
