Pero and his bike

nedjelja, 09.02.2020.

The Island of Hvar - First attempt 2016, Part three

You can come back on the previous part of this travelogue here.


The boarding on the ferry was followed! According to the instructions, I'll call him organizer, we parked our bikes, climbed to the upper deck where the passenger seats were. From that deck, we watched the mix of speed, confidence and practicality of the organizer as he arranged vehicles on the ship to get as many vehicles on board as possible. To us from continent, it was interesting and fascinating.

The boarding of the vehicles on the ferry

Looking from the boat, I decided that there was a nice promenade by the sea. I just thought it would be nice to ride a bike on it when I noticed the stairs.


When we moved away from the mainland, we saw in front of us how it all squeezed under the hill, and the Adriatic main road by which we came to, the place itself, and the main road that continues toward the Makarska town.
Before the Drvenik place (where we came from)

The Drvenik place

After the Drvenik place

Looking for inspiration around me with a camera in my hand, I spotted a compound that could be Paradise on earth - the sun and the most beautiful sea in the world.
The ride takes less than half an hour - a little, considering how interesting it was.

The first thing we saw from the island of Hvar was the lighthouse on the cape in front of the entrance to the port of Sucuraj.


That port was a bay sufficient only for one ferry, and some of the remaining space was used by smaller boats.


Somehow it seems to me that the more concrete the job, the lower the earnings. While the fishing boats looked decrepit and rusty (left in the lower image), the tourist boats shone with grace and splendour ( right in the lower image).


And we stepped onto the island of Hvar.
We suppressed the euphoria because of the need to solve the overnight stay problem, so we first looked for the Tourist Office.
And we found it!
I let her negotiate with a clerk in the office and I stayed outside with the bikes and watched the place.
According to Wikipedia, the place had a population of 463 in 2011. Like Zaostrog and Drvenik, in these summer times, they have a much larger crowd. It would be interesting to visit them at the end of January!
Sucuraj looked so fluttering and warm on this twilight today.


She came back with a half-disappointed expression on her face. She told me she found a room for 300 kuna (40 €). A little more than we expected, though at that moment it became questionable to us what we were basing those expectations on. I shrug, we have to accept that. We were too tired for a ride to a campsite that, as the roadmap says, is 4 km away. Especially as I'm confident that these miles are not straight.
As instructed by a tourist office clerk, we went in search of our room. Up to the exit from the village, then to the left, then down (again) to the sea, to finally we found a house, not more than a hundred meters away from the tourist office. A strange sense of space of the staff at the local tourist office!
A separately built cube in front of my bike is our lodging for this night

The left is the dormitory…

… and to the right, the kitchen, otherwise both integrated into one room

It's only been 7 pm, so we've had time to rest and unwind, and maybe take a swim in the sea. At least she did, while I preferred to spend time observing the place.
The location was close to the sea, just across the street. Only the beach is a little further away so she had to recreate herself by walking a little bit.

Right next to our apartment was a street…

… and across the street was the sea

Today's kilometres was not very high, but it was more than interesting by the content. Considering that we came before night and arrived at the end of the day (even some was swimming in the sea), I conclude that there was no need to hurry.


For a good night, I left the room, crossed the road and filmed the game of the moon and the sea, which the two of them continued deep into the night. The showered and settled in the evening, we fell asleep to the dream of the righteous in anticipation of tomorrow. Unfortunately, that day will not be anywhere near what we were expected and hoped of it.





Therefore, we sit in the thin shade, on a hill, 7 kilometres from Sucuraj. She was curled up, she was breathing evenly, and to this day it is not clear to me whether she was sleeping or whether it was just a minimum of life functions due to excessive fatigue.
"Now what !?"
Still, with the misty lack of definition in my head, more on it own than as a rational decision, my hand reached for the timetable of the ferry we sailed to this island last night.
And I see the salvation straw!
The Drvenik ferry leaves in just over half an hour.
With this ferry, as something that goes together, like one and one is two, as an ancient axiom that has no anyone suspicion, the camp of yesterday with curved pines came on my mind.
Extremely considerate, quiet and gentle, I told her about that possibility.
She wearily raised his head and, with a heavy look of gloomy eyes, quietly said, "Yes!"
We got up, sat on our bikes and at lightning speed, within fifteen minutes, we came in the ferry port.
Again.
Amazing, almost unbearable was the easiness of descending those 7 kilometres. If this downhill had not been preceded by that painful climbing, maybe the enjoyment would have developed, even flared. Like this, this left only confusion over so small, extremely narrow, the proximity between anguish and enjoyment.
After purchasing the tickets, there is still time left in the unexpected observation of the Sucuraj ferry port this summer morning.






And here it was! He had to dock first, then it was needed to tie him to shore, for unloading.




While I was watching this process with keen curiosity, I did not even know why, I remembered these remote places in Dalmatia in some ancient times or during the winter when the arrival of a ship was the only event of attention and respect that disturbs the apathetic, monotonous and dull everyday life.
She watched all this hustle and bustle and fuss around ferry from a safe and reliable shade by a view in which life was gradually returned, as well as serenity and optimism.
We survived, then! (The bike in the clip below is not hers).


Again, fast and efficient boarding was followed, guided by the reliable index finger of the boarding organizer. I again fell into the life of a ferry sailor and found myself that regretting the interruption of riding around Hvar and returning to this tin vessel was completely disappeared.




That the island of Hvar, with its Sućuraj place, did not angry on our abandonment of riding, evidenced by the greeting in the form of a colourful, with the soul and meaning of the done, inscription on the pier, the last part of the island before leaving for the open sea.


As we sail on the sea toward land, we passed a sailboat where everyone was preoccupied with their jobs. Hers was a reading of an interesting and, above all, interesting text, whose reading our presence did not interrupt.
Or it was a cell phone! If it is, my idyllic image of the lover of the written word fell into the water, that is, into the sea, and it was replaced by a modern form of addiction, almost identical to the drug addiction.


Like the story of a hand that is the softest, softer even than a pillow, so a man (often) puts it between his head and a pillow, so my lap receives a special, most pleasing softness, along with humpback seats on the deck.


The mainland again, the Drvenik place again, ferry port again. All the same as yesterday, only this morning sunny on the other side.
From Drvenik to Zaostrog

The Drvenik place

Again the Drvenik place, just a little closer

We split those 3-4 kilometres to these sloped pines in half, and between those halves, we stopped in the shade, still fresh from last night, because today's sun has not yet succeeded in warming it. We consumed large, juicy, real Dalmatian peaches. They brought back our strength and cheerfulness as if we had swallowed a Super Goobers (peanuts) (if anyone still remembers Super Goofy).


We reached the campsite and picked a spot in the shade of pine. The camp I thought we didn't need yesterday and the visit to it was a waste of time.
While she was resting, I got myself into the job of building our residence (erecting of the tent).
We stayed for a couple of days at the camp enjoying the sunbathing and lounging. A little tour of the camp, a little swimming, a little resting, and then again from the beginning.




The more I watched, the more I was impressed by this pines. In addition to the shade and the smell, I was impressed with the pines trees, like the one at the entrance to the restrooms.


The beach is just across the street. There are no crowds, and there is a choice - who likes gravel or who likes concrete, as he wants.
When you from the campsite, …

… by crossing the road …

… you come on a pebble beach and to the left of it is …

… concrete beach

Particularly sympathetic were the three white benches set in the shade of the pines, from which, as much as one wishes, one can observe the sun on its way to the west.


What was makes this camp special and extraordinary unusual, was its water spring. The spring of abundant and cold but very cold water. A true gift of God, especially in the heat of summer.




And that was the end of this day, which will remain permanently inscribed in our memory to us as special, extraordinary and unusual. Both in the positive and in the negative sense.








It remains to solve the problem of how to get to Imotski field and get the car from there and bring us all, together with our bicycles and equipment back home.
But that is already a topic for another story.

Dnevnik.hr
Gol.hr
Zadovoljna.hr
Novaplus.hr
NovaTV.hr
DomaTV.hr
Mojamini.tv