We
set off in Smarty just after 9:00 to take a trip round the island of Krk. First
stop was the town of Punat situated on the south side of the bay opposite Krk
town. We parked and walked down to the quay where we wanted to take a water
taxi over to the islet of Košljun to visit the Franciscan monastery there. We
found a small ferry that was leaving with a party of tourists at 10:00 and we
could travel with them if we were prepared to wait.
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| Punta Fishing Boats |
It
was a while after 10:00 when a busload of German women boarded and we took the
kilometre trip over to the island.
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| Our Ferry |
First stop on the island was a small museum which had an
eclectic series of exhibits including a two headed, six legged lamb in a jar, a
one (Cyclopsed) eyed sheep and a collection of banknotes from countries that
included the old Yugoslavia, Austro-Hungary, Australia, Scotland and England.
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| Lamb In A Jar |
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| One Eyed Sheep |
We wandered around the monastery’s cloisters and visited the church with a
beautiful and very detailed fresco over an arch above the altar and a fine timbered roof.
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| Church Interior |
We
walked a series of pathways around the island taking in a number of small
chapels with frescoed walls on the way.
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| One Of The Chapels |
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| Chapel Fresco |
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| Seen in Monastery - Photo For An Early Caption Competition? |
We
took the ferry back to Punat from where we drove to Stara Baška on the island’s
south west coast. The scenery was very reminiscent of Cornwall we thought. On
the way we passed Camping Škrila operated by the same company as Autokamp
Jezevac. It was a much smaller and quieter camping ground than ours and
situated on a promontory in a bay with an attractive beach. If we had known
about it we would have stayed there. The camping ground is at 44° 58’ 00” N,
14° 40’ 25” E.
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| Camping Škrila |
After
passing the camping ground the road became progressively narrower and wide
enough only for a single lane through the village of Stara Baška. The road
ended at a small harbour with a few boats tied up there and anchored offshore.
From
Stara Baška we retraced our route almost as far as Punat before heading to the
town of Baška situated in a bay at the southern end of the island. The town is
a rapidly developing resort on account of its two kilometre stretch of one of
the best beaches in the Adriatic. Our guide book poetically informed us that from a distance the beach looks like a long crescent of demerara sugar but goes on to say
visitors won’t be able to appreciate that in July and August because its entire
surface is covered with parasols, beach towels and pink-hued north Europeans
contentedly roasting themselves in the sun.
We
contented ourselves with a visit to the town lying to the south of the beach.
Jane poddled along a row of tourist shops on a pedestrianised street
overlooking the sea while I was happy taking in the view. Having done enough
poddling we took a seat in the shade at one of the many restaurants in the
street. We chose the 50Kn special lunch of garlic soup and a main of plaice and
squid with potatoes that was also heavily laced with garlic. Fortunately, we
didn’t have any important meetings to attend that afternoon.
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| Jane Poddling In Baška |
After
lunch we walked down to the waterfront past a small shingle beach and around
the large harbour thronged with boats and a semi-submarine similar to that we
had seen in Murter. One side of the harbour were wall to wall restaurants with
their offerings listed in German.
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| Baška Town Beach |
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| Baška Waterfront |
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| Baška |
From
Baška we drove north and then over to the east coast to the town of Vrbnik
perched on a cliff high above the sea. The town is best known for dry white
Žlahtina wine and there were plenty of wine cellars in the town offering
tastings. Instead of tasting wine we chose to walk through the town’s maze of
picturesque twisting narrow cobbled streets.
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| Vrbnik House |
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| Vrbnik Street |
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| Vrbnik Restaurant |
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| Vrbnik Bar With A View |
As
we set off for Krk town Jane noticed Smarty was low on fuel, it always seems to
happen when we are driving in remote areas. We made it back to the town without
any problems stopping at Konzum on the
outskirts for supplies. We found a filling station in the town and filled
Smarty before heading back to Mabel.
We
played two games of Banagrams that I won and we didn’t fare too badly with the
quiz.
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