Porec to Novigrad

Well, this is our Croatian swan song. We've spent about 3 months sailing north along the Adriatic coast. We've found marked differences between the three Croatian regions. The southern Adriatic, from Cavat to the delightful M'let and Ston, was peaceful and fairly quiet. The middle Adriatic was wonderful with all the off shore islands, the Krka waterfalls and the majesty of the Kornati National Park. However, it was full of charters and tourists. Istria, the northern Adriatic was devoid of charterers, but absolutely full of shore-side tourists. The whole coastline is one huge holiday camp for  most of Europe.

Megan on the night of her 58th birthday

We had a delicious sea food meal.

I won't show the 'after' photo.

However, we found some lovely places. The first was Porec, north of Vrsar. First task was to celebrate Megan's 58th birthday which we did in great style at a sea food restaurant. We enjoyed wandering around Porec all day, but when the port authority came to charge us, we were aghast at the price. We said an emphatic 'No thanks', and promptly buggered off just south of Porec to a very sheltered lagoon, called surprisingly, Laguna. Apart from the towed ski field and the loud live rock band, it was a good anchorage.

Porec main harbour, with the island Sveti Nikoli behind

Porec promenade

Megan checking out the grockle district

Porec central square

A red carpet wedding

Main church in Porec

Porec buildings

We spent a day just surviving the heat in the lagoon, but then we got the message that Megan's camera had been repaired and was waiting for us in Ljubljana. That meant we didn't have to idle around in cheapo Croatia any more, so all haste, we made to depart. That meant a trip to Novigrad. We snared another harbour buoy, with the idea of buggering off again at night, before the tax collector came. However, Novigrad turned out to be a delightful place, so we paid our money and stayed on the buoy. We checked out with a very helpful and sympathetic harbour master, who kindly printed some documents that we needed.

Pavvie on the buoy at Novigrad

Are they expecting a sudden shower?

Inner harbour at Novigrad

We are looking forward to making our escape from Croatia, and Italy is beckoning. Early in the morning, we'll complete our check out (the police are open 24 hours, but you have to attend with the boat, as they actually want to physically see you leave. Isn't that weird. Its about 22 miles to Grado, and we've booked into a little marina in a canal. We can then leave the boat and travel by train to Slovenia. Yeah!, another adventure.

Beautiful mosaic above the church gate.