Up early to catch the ferry to Korčula… the ticket said 8am, it didn’t show up till 9am. This one was a monster of a ship, I think it comes just twice a week from Bari to Rijeka, Split Hvar, Korčula and Dubrovnik…or something. N&D were there, as were my American friends, with a pack of beer :-), from before looking somewhat hungover….also another German couple on bikes with luggage that looked like something by Samsonite,or a cheaper version of it anyway… bike suitcases with natty purple and green trim. It looked pretty amusing stacked up on the back of their bikes :-) Though perhaps I should not laugh, they probably thought my Ortlieb panniers were dreadfully dull… Wasn’t allowed to park my own bike on this one, the crew were pretty insistent that they had to provide a service (I guess that is what the 121Kn was for,….) by lashing the bikes to rails at the side of the car deck…interestingly they don’t provide the same untying service, leaving the cyclist to sort the mess of bicycles and rope out on arrival….
The ferry ride itself was ace, found a nice shady spot on the deck with N&D from which to enjoy the views of the coastal mountains and islands for the 3 1/2hr ride. Coffee and jaffa cakes (yep, they sell ‘em in the supermarkets :-) provided just enough sustenance to get through ‘till lunch time on arrival at Korčula Town. Korčula Town is yet another one of those elegant little towns that Croatia is so good at….
The three of us cyclists found a great little apartment (no sharks in the loo sadly) to share right in the heart of the old town…it wasn’t hard, all the local landladies come out to meet the ferries. Turned out our landlady was from Široki Brijeg, the town just west of Mostar I passed through last week. Bikes were parked on the terrace with enough room left to kick back with a much needed beer* in the evening after a hot and hilly afternoon of exploring…
Korčula has some serious hills, heading west right of town the road climbs at between 8 and 10% for 16km… OK it’s not quite on an alpine scale but with a temp of 32 or 33 in the shade you do notice it. Could only be bothered to explore about 20km west before doglegging back through the vineyards below some fantastic limestone cliffs and then climbing to Pupnat (great name, the associated harbour way below at sea level is called Pupnatska :-) There was a terrific steep (20% or so) hairpinned descent down a tiny little road from Pupnat to the north facing coast… the sea looked fab and we were pretty damn sweaty so nothing to do but park the bikes on a little boat slip and jump in…. and then head back to town for a beer (it was on our minds… again) before going out for dinner and icecream :-) Quite a nice day really, lol…that is an understatement by the way ;-)
* My friend Ana in Zagreb tells me that of the various Croatian beers Karlovačko is the best. Can’t argue with that tho they are all pretty good to my tastes..
