20 August 2025 (sunny and hot) 40km

Woke at 5.06am this morning.

Wanted to get into Makarska, old town/harbour that I knew from years ago. Of course in those days it was the old Yugoslavia, and the harbour was filled with old fishing boats, catching just enough to supply the family and maybe some to sell on the wharf. 

Now it's full of fancy cruisers, yachts and luxury ships. I hate to think how much money was sitting on the water in that little town this morning.

It was quite nostalgic eyeing up shots from a similar perspective as so long ago. Of course, these shots will all come out, compared with the five or six from a 24 or 36 roll. And that's only focusing correctly. What about if the roll didn't wind onto the reel, then, no shots at all. But that's part of the nostalgia. 

Left there at 6.30am heading down the coast to Zaostrog. Riding once again on main road, busy but nothing we didn't expect. Minimal trucks and busses.

Came off into the village of Podgora, where we bought breakfast and found a place to eat, under a shady tree overlooking the beach. From our perch we could see all the tourist towels that they leave out overnight with rocks at each corner to stop them blowing away. They have them in all the shady spots, so even when they're not there, they're stopping anyone else from using that space. Incredibly arrogant really.

Podgora was still a tourist town, but not as big as Makarska. It still had untold eateries, cafe's and bars and clothing shops and trinkets. Not really our pace.

So we rode around the bay a little and found an empty beach, where we set up shop for a couple of hours of swimming, yoga and stretching and some bodyweight exercises.

The sun was warm, but not the excessive heat we've had lately and it was very pleasant. We talked about staying here for the day, and this has become one of our biggest problems.... leaving when you've found paradise.

We also had the bonus of a free shower after our swim, as over the past few days you have had to pay for showers on the beach. It was 50cents for 30 seconds at one beach.

So we rode up the hill to check out the campground, but not enough shade, so we kept moving.

Main road again, options being limited along this coastline. Steady climbing and a blustery headwind on this stretch of the ride heading for Drvenik. Pretty great views though.

Fresh fig from a roadside tree. 

Ju here. We were able to deviate off the main road into the village of Drvenik.  Cycled along the bay to the far side where there were cars waiting to go on a ferry. We went past them down a lovely shady path which looked down on the clear aquamarine water below us.

I wanted to park the bikes and swim there and eat lunch, but Pete was convinced they were private beaches for the very nice homes perched above the footpath. Also the path was pretty narrow with not much room to park the bikes. I had to concede that point. At the end of the path was a really steep path back up to the road. Didn't fancy pushing the bikes up that, so returned along the beautiful path to the now empty ferry terminal. There were six park benches, all of them empty, three in the shade, spaced out along the empty road. There was a beach just across the road with a handy changing room.

So we parked the bikes behind a shady park bench and went for a swim.

After the swim, we were crossing the road and see a grandmother and grandchild, seemingly headed straight to the bench. I sped up to get there before then and touched the bench in a subtle gesture to say, we've got this one, (which seemed obvious with bikes parked directly behind it). All the other benches were still empty with nothing at all parked behind them. 

We were stunned when she sat down and started making herself at home. I mean, we were right there! I said to Pete, "We'll just go to that other one shall we?”

Not sure if she understood English, but she finally realized that we had planned to sit there and got up and moved to the next one.

Really......#!@* Back to Pete.

It's now 1.30pm, we've just had lunch and we have a ferry load of cars sitting, waiting to board a ferry, whilst we sit in our wet togs, writing. This could be my streaking opportunity.  

As soon as they board, we'll have another swim and ride the remaining 4kms to our camp. 

So we rode the last kms to Viter camp

Euro 42 = NZ $84

It is right on the beach and the pitch is in a nice spot, except for the German kid across from us.

Only child, definitely entitled, absolutely dead by morning if he keeps going.

Walked up to the big new Plodine supermarket and bought half a hot chicken, a small container of chips and a salad for our dinner and a cold beer and cider. Had dinner as soon as we were back at camp as we didn't want the food to get cold and the drinks to get warm.

We are finding the Croatians very dour, not a friendly or interactive society.

Drivers are extremely impatient and dangerous and you are always alert on the roads. No taking eyes off the job in hand.

Had a chat with Toff just after 8pm. Good to catch up. Sorry we can't arrange times, but we never know if we're going to have wifi or not, (last night as an example).

So, just to finish. At 9.15pm, I'm just finishing today's effort. Whilst Ju is editing and doing the 19th.

We see the guy from reception walk past our tent, which requires you to come up steps, under our washing line and hopefully avoid standing on any of our stuff outside.

He has some new campers with him and shows them the small spot behind our tent. (What they could see of it as it is now pitch black). We hear him ask where he can park the car and the owner shows him the space at the base of the steps on the other side of our tent.

Seriously mate, you could have put them in the middle of the camp road and it would have been less awkward.

Brains 0 Common Sense 0 

So it's 9.45pm, they are positioned ten feet from our tent.

We are up at 5am and so will they be, if they keep us awake....sorry, did I say us?