Camping on the island of Lošinj

One of the benefits of living in Slovenia is that one really has lots of beautiful destinations in the driving range of only a few hours. From Ljubljana you can reach Venice, Hungarian plains, a random Alpine valley or a nearby Adriatic island in under 3 hours. However that is something I hardly ever take advantage of.


This time it was different. We (that's M. and me) decided to visit the Croatian island of Lošinj. We did something similar in the last September so we knew what to expect. I mentioned that trip in this post.


Last week we decided to do a short four day trip. It was well worth the effort. We chose to camp in Camping Čikat, which is probably the most expensive camping on the island but in our opinion you definitely get what you pay for.
Since August is the busiest time of year, we were expecting to find some not so clean toilet and shower facilities. To our surprise almost around the clock there was somebody taking care of cleanliness and everything was as clean as it could be in the given conditions.


I really enjoyed snorkeling in crystal clear water full of fish and watching cormorants do their daily fishing. Apart from that, the island of Lošinj is also famous for its pleasant climate. The scents of pine trees and Adriatic sea are always present in the air. It's an aroma therapy hard to beat!

This time I am posting some photos that don't really capture what we were up to in these four days. I hope you like them anyway.

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What's been going on...

I didn't want to break my Egyptian adventure apart by posting about other stuff. That doesn't mean nothing was going on since we got back to Slovenia.

Actually quite a few things happened that are worth mentioning. Almost immediately after returning home, I went to the seaside for a week together with my girlfriend. You know how it is - we needed some time off after a vacation in Egypt. ;)



No matter how funny it may sound, there is at least some truth in that last statement. I can't remember the last time I went somewhere and just took it so easy. Our destination this time was Mali Lošinj (Croatia). Lošinj is an island in the northern part of Adriatic Sea. This time we went camping and we were hoping for nice weather. We got lucky - it was sunny most of the time.
The only thing bothering us were swarms of very aggressive mosquitoes. The little blood-suckers were bitting even during the day. Quite annoying.


That wasn't our only trip to Croatia recently. In November we also went to the island of Pašman

Like the last time we went to Pašman, this was also a fishing trip. As some of you might know already, we did one such trip during the last Spring. We went to the exactly same location as then and mostly with the same folks.
If you are interested, you can read about our spring fishing trip in this post (with some more clicking around, you should be able to find some more).


The sea temperature at that time was around 17 degrees Celsius, but that didn't stop us from jumping in. That's what I call an invigorating experience!

This time I didn't catch so many fish as the one time before, but luckily I could count on others. After a while I once again had a chance to eat as many fish I could. Delicious!

Here are some photos from both of the trips mentioned above. Enjoy!



Oh, and by the way... I'm going to Trevalli later today. That's somewhere in Italian Dolomites. It's gonna be my first taste of skiing this winter. More about it next week, when I get back.

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Climbing the highest peak of Pašman island

This was one heck of a climb! So kids, don't try this at home (unless you are an experienced Himalaya-hardened climber).
We decided to do this without renting a local Sherpa. Friends tried to persuade us not to go, but they didn't succeed. The mountain was calling us!

The climb started at our base camp at 0 meters above sea level. It took us two days to get used to such extreme height.

We went on our way sometime in the late morning. There were three of us - every one of us being an experienced climber.

Our first stop was somewhere on the half way up, at a point where the narrow path was replaced by a wider gravel road. We considered our options for moving on and after a while we took the road towards the top. We decided to continue without crampons.

After a while we reached the top of Mt. Veliki Bokolj with its staggering 274 meters above sea level. We took some time for photos and enjoyed the view (the Kornati natural park looked as beautiful as ever). The most enthusiastic hiker of the three of us had a stamp-pad on him (he usually does). We used it with the stamp, which is available at the top.

After some 20 minutes we decided to head back - we were afraid of some unexpected snow blizzard. You can never be too careful!

Besides seeing a couple of snakes, the descent went on without incidents. We were back at our base-camp just in time for lunch. To our great surprise it was sea bass on the menu again. It was delicious!

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Passive night fishing

After (not very successful) few hours of night fishing some of the eager fishermen also tried passive fishing. Results were expected. :)

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Ante Gotovina graffiti

All over Croatia various graffiti in support of general Ante Gotovina can be seen. He was accused of war crimes against Serbian population. After some time avoiding arrest he has decided to surrender himself to Haag.

Our night fishing spot was also marked with one of them. It reads: "Long live Ante Gotovina".

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A typical fishing day on Pašman, Croatia

I have finally found time to share our daily routine during the five day vacation.

Most of the time we took it easy. Our only goals were to catch enough fish for everyday lunch and to have a good time in the process.


Usually our day started with a late breakfast and some sunbathing. Twice I even managed to summon up enough courage to go for a swim before lunch. Water was about 18°C, which is quite warm for this time of year, but still not warm enough to enjoy soaking in the sea for a long time. It was invigorating.


As hours went by, hunger was creeping in. One of our everyday routines was making fire and grilling fish. After that, lunch took place. We ate like it was our last time. I think it's safe to say that I ate about a kilo of fish a day. And it was delicious!


After lunch we started preparing for fishing. We had to attach some fishhooks to pieces of fishing line. Before I was able to do that I had to learn a few basic knots.

Most of the fishing we did was night fishing. Every time after sunset and again just before sunrise fish were biting like crazy. So most of the nights were spent by the sea holding a fishing stick. We were using live fish bait and silicon ones. Both kinds of bait worked fine, but live ones were still a bit better.
We caught 15 to 25 fish each night. 90 percent of those were sea-bass (brancin). Some were more than half a meter long and weighing over a kilo.


Usually we went to bed at daylight. Once we also managed to clean the catch but on other occasions the non fishing part of our party did the cleaning.

This kind of working hours completely messed up my biorhythm. As a consequence my first day at work was not too productive.

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Fishing photo collage

I just got back from a fishing trip. Weather was nice, fish were biting like crazy and as expected we had a wonderful time.

I am posting a photo collage made by Google Picasa. It will have to do for now.

I'll write a proper post or two on the subject in the following days.

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Gone fishing

I already mentioned in one of the previous posts that I am going fishing. The departure time is approaching fast.

I still have things to pack and hit the road in the early morning. The plan is to get up before 5AM and head for Croatia.

I'll be gone for five days. After I come back I hope there will be many beautiful photos and interesting stories to share with you.

Enjoy! I know I will. ;)

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A fishing story

Once upon a time on a sailing boat not so far away, seven eager Sunday sailors were getting bored due to a lack of wind. They have dropped anchor in a lonely bay on island of Vis, Croatia and were relaxing in the sun.

One of them finally decided to put an end to that and grabbed his fishing stick. He dipped various bates into the water, but with no success whatsoever. One of his mates decided to go take a look if there are any fish swimming around. He put on his diving gear and jumped in. It was not long before he came to the surface and announced that there are fish below, but aren't even remotely interested in his hook.
After that he slowly swam to the other side of the bay.

After a while loud cursing interrupted the peaceful atmosphere. It was our fisherman ranting about his hook, which apparently got stuck on the bottom. Luckily for him there had to be a diver somewhere nearby. We signaled him to swim over and soon he went bellow to save the hook. In a couple of seconds he was back on the surface again, shouting "Quick! Fetch a strainer or a pot of some kind!"

For a couple of moments we just stood still and looked at him. Then I ran inside to get a strainer and passed it to him. He dove back into the water and soon came back up again – holding a strainer with an octopus inside, attached to the fishing line. The poor thing accidentally got caught on the hook and couldn't get away.


This catch was clearly more a product of luck then fishing skills and sadly the only one on that trip. Nevertheless it made a great octopus salad. Yummy!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...
And they sailed happily ever after.

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Going fishing

I finally made plans for a short vacation starting at the end of this week. I have decided to go on a five day fishing trip together with my girlfriend. We will be joining a friend of mine on an island of Pašman (Croatia). Probably there will be nine of us. I don't know most of other guys, but I am pretty sure it is going to be a blast.

I have never been on a fishing trip before, so I don't know what exactly to expect. If nothing else, I am counting on at least one seafood meal a day. Regarding that I love fish and other seafood dishes this surely is something to look forward to.

Some of my other friends are going sailing at the same time and there is a strong possibility that they will be sailing just by our rented house on Pašman island.

Last time I went with them we also tried to catch some fish from the sailing boat. We tried various kinds of bait but nothing worked. Then one of my mates thought of a new approach – he kneaded some dough and put it on his fishing hook. I don't know what it was, but the fish went wild. This was followed by a delicious dinner.

Next day we tried the same thing in another bay. Strangely none of the fish seemed interested in our dinner plans.

Both of the photos were taken on that sailing trip.

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Spring sailing in Kornati, Croatia

I decided to post a photo from the last year's sailing trip to Croatia. Our rented Bavaria 37 is anchored in an idyllic island bay in the Kornati region.


For the last few years I went sailing twice a year with a group of friends. It has become more or less a traditional event.

There is only one general rule to this event - no mater how nice they beg - we have all agreed not to take our girlfriends/wives with us. There are other occasions when they are very welcome to come sailing along, but this is a none negotiable one.

Every year we have chosen an early spring and a late autumn date. That means that the first one this year is approaching fast.

Unfortunately a couple of days ago I was informed, that we are looking at a few extremely busy weeks at work.
Sadly this means no spring vacation for me just yet. I hope it is going to be a bit sweeter when it eventually comes to it.

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