South of Crikvenica​ – Road to Zadar

After a long drive and a night of sleeping like a stone, I opened the door to what would become my morning exploration. Fresh air and a somewhat direct view to the Adriatic sea. I made it further than planned yesterday which gives me a little bit of space for today.

A few meters behind my van was an abandoned construction site. Well, there was a paved road in front of my car so there has to be a way down there. Packed my camera, a bottle of tea and some breakfast and off we go.

Just around the corner, the paved road started. As I discovered it was not just a single way but a whole network. Not so visible at first glance but after a few minutes of looking for my mojo –
– I realized that this was an abandoned camping site. The buildings damaged, worn down through nature and trespassers it was a little bit surreal to think about how the place once looked.

Wandering around I apparently found the first mistake I made so far: Jeans – It started to get hot quickly, and I was walking around in long Jeans. Yay me! Driven by curiosity, I was making my way down to the sea. Tourists will need some way of accessing the sea.

Loads of small paths led down to the water, some of it seemed risky, some safe. Separated by rocks, there were several bays, some of them marked with red spray paint to be nudist spots. Luckily for me, the place was abandoned entirely. If not it would have been somewhat weird when a grinning guy in jeans would get down to the beach, camera ready “Ah don’t mind me, just taking pictures.”
No seriously, the coast was stunning, so I found myself a bay for breakfast. After strolling around, I had to get to the van and start driving towards Zadar. 

 

Road to Zadar

I had two options: Highway or coastline. With enough time on my hands, this was an absolute no-brainer: Highway!
Now, everybody reading the article and believing this for just one second: Are you mad? Get a grip mate!

 

 
Coastline it was. 

With an average speed of 60 kph on a surprisingly excellent, almost pristine road. To be honest with you I don’t like driving cars in general, and for a road like this, there is usually just one choice. A Bike, something 600ccm or a little bit more-ish, with loads of torque. But since I have not really a destination or big plans today I enjoyed my leisure-cruise. Some villages had clearly seen their best days and were left to be reclaimed by nature. Others busy as a beehive.

As the day passed, I went off the road for a while, just to get a break and some food. I can tell you there are loads of parking spots without limitations on the side of the road. Some occupied with camper vans, bikes and what not. The ones that are not made out of concrete or asphalt are calm, not in a direct line to the road. That was where I went.

I did drive to Zadar airport, on the way there was I sign which did indicate that there was a restriction on taking pictures. Turned out to be a military installation – large fence, barbed wire on top but I think the MiG-21 behind the gates gave it away if nothing else. What an iconic plane – Russian quality – if a bird gets sucked into the engine the plane probably demands some potato juice to wash it down instead of falling out of the sky.

Well, here we are, waiting at the airport. I am not sure where we will set up for the night, but you will be able to read it the following days.