Into the hinterlands
Date: 24 May 2025
Small travel tip: don’t ask for a double shot coffee in Korčula in an effort to get one you can taste. Seven euros each – nice view, though.
What a pretty island. We screeched to a halt not far along the mostly-quiet–on–a–Sunday main road that runs along the spine of the island when we spotted a stacked-stone hut. We’ve seen these before – borries in France (very old and round), and similar ones on Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula (not so old, also round) – but this one was rectangular, with proper headroom, and fairly new. Interesting, I thought.
Then we saw another, this time beside tiny fields fenced with more stacked stone, then terraces cascading down the steep hills. When we looked more closely at the ground, we realised the whole island is thickly layered in flat stone slabs, about 50 mm thick, so to find soil they have to stack. In some places, each olive tree had its own small area carefully boxed in by hand-laid walls. It occurred to me this is probably the greenest form of architecture we’ll ever see – no transport costs, no manufacturing, just generations of hard, skilled hand labour. And these structures will last forever.
We zigged over to the southern coast for a view of the outermost nature reserve islands, then zagged back north for a swim at a deserted beach. After that, we followed the increasingly built-up coastal road to Lumbarda on the eastern tip of the island, followed – naturally – by a typically Jill-guided return journey through backyards and goat tracks.
25 May
We found a cute private jetty to wait for the 1.00 p.m. ferry to Split – basking in the warmth and solitude while watching locals tinker with their boats. Like all tourist towns, the old part of Korčula has almost no permanent residents – just rental properties – so if you want to people-watch, you have to step outside the postcards.
Outside is where we are now, in Sinj (pronounced Sinny). We stocked up in Split, because once you’re out of the tourist zones, all retailers – including supermarkets – close on Sundays. Everyone gets a day off except public transport workers, hospitality staff, and bell-ringers.
Freedom to shop any time you like is not a thing in much of Europe which doesn’t suit bike travellers as we prefer to buy the daily provisions near where we’re staying, rather than lugging everything around all day.
We’re actually on the Trans Dinarica route now, riding along the Dinaric Alps – though we’ll backtrack up through Croatia for a few days, since we missed starting at the top.
Max elevation: 346 m
Min elevation: -1 m
Total climbing: 1027 m
Total descent: -1019 m
Total time: 06:23:08
Battery use: 47%
Max elevation: 385 m
Min elevation: -2 m
Total climbing: 765 m
Total descent: -472 m
Total time: 09:33:36
Battery use: 73%
128 km includes the ferry ride. I can’t be bothered editing that on my phone
Korcula, pretty spot indeed. The nights are getting longer and cooler here in NZ. Fire will be going on for the first time this winter. Keep cranking those pedals.