PAKOSTANE TO SKRADIN : 40 MILES

After breakfast on the terrace we head off and climb out of Pakostane. We cross the main road and pass next to the large lake, seeing a few herons on the way. We are soon in rural Croatia, away from the coast, and the first time we have been out of sight of the islands. We now pass through little villages, where everyone seems to keep chickens and produce their own fruit and veg. The bikes seem very heavy and slow today. We get rather lost and I ask for directions with the map, hoping for some helpful sign language, instead I get very detailed explanations in Croatian which leave us none the wiser. We eventually retrace our steps and get on the right road. After a reviving coffee stop we make better progress, though the map seems to bear no relationship to the actual road layout. Our first roadside picnic before descending into Skradin. We find our accommodation and meet Zlatko the owner. He tells us that a lot of the maps of Croatia are inaccurate. He suggests that we borrow some of the mountain bikes that he hires out to get to the first waterfall tomorrow and then use our bikes to cycle on the roads to see others. That sounds fine, though we were probably hoping for a day off tomorrow! He gives us some good advice about fish restaurants for tonight...and we book a table at Zlatne Skoljke - not an easy name to remember! We have to wear bibs and start with a mixture of mussels, Noah's Ark shells and warty Venus clams! and then a local fish which tastes like sea bass, washed down with some Chardonnay. The Noah's Ark clams are weird, and need a special way to open them, taking off a little lid which then enables them to be opened, I have to ask how to do this! They are like a chewy mussel. Plenty of garlic oil so our breath will be awesome tomorrow!