Four days biking through Croatia’s Istrian islands, complete with kayaking and camping with Kimmy's Slovenian cousins.
After landing in Ljubljana, we had one afternoon to build our bikes at her cousin’s flat and tour around the city a bit before catching the train to Rijeka the next morning. Made a beeline for Kimmy's favorite klobase sausage place.
Pics start with the heat wave day. Slow old train to Rijeka and bike to camp with Kimmy's cousins on the island of Cres. The train chugged along slowly through the countryside for 3 hours (plus a couple delays), passing through a village that her grandpa is from, Koseze. It was the tail end of Europe’s June heat wave, and we weren’t really heat acclimated. We biked along the coast and across the island of Krk and through mazes of stone pile fences. At one point the wind was as hot as a hair dryer. We cooled off whenever possible, stopping to swim and dump water bottles on ourselves at random countryside public fountains that are probably for goats.
Our starting point of Rijeka
SO HOT. Swimming spot.
My garmin said it was 118F in the shade. Probably a little lower.
Međimurska gibanica
Island hopping
Days 2-4 Euro-camp
The heat wave lasted another day, so we camped two nights with my cousins and swam in the crystal blue water. The Euro-camp was deluxe - it had laundry, wifi, electricity, and refrigerators! The beaches even had metal ladders to get in & out of the lava rock basalt sea cliffs. Lots of families stay here for multi-month-long holiday. The islands used to be occupied by Italians so we ate lots of pasta, pizza, and fish dishes in this region.
Beautiful swimming spot near camp!
Italian restaurant (Jože and Kimmy)
Lightning
Campground
Morning swim
Days 4 and 5
After saying bye to Jože and Manca and Fillip, we biked south to the island of Lošinj and the town of Mali Lošinj, a medieval port town dating back 12,000 years packed full of aesthetically pleasing, pastel-colored buildings and endless beaches.
We found a kayak guide shop and kayaked out to a couple of the tiny rocky islands around the Lošinj archipelago, stopping to snorkel and explore an abandoned lighthouse that is now occupied by goats. How rad to get to kayak in the middle of a bikepacking trip, without having to lug a kayak with us the entire 500 miles!
Ancient walls for sheep herding
Mali Lošinj
Kayaking tour
After kayaking, we biked around town and I got my first flat tire from taking us up the hike-a-bike sharp rocks trail. Pictures of the town are Veli Lošinj, which has been inhabited for many thousands of years.
That evening, we hopped on a 2-hour passenger ferry ride back to the Istrian peninsula on the mainland of Croatia to continue our biking.
Olive trees
Veli Lošinj
Had lots of this stuff
