Wednesday 4^th April

Today we would go to Solta which only has an area of 22 square miles being about 10 or11 miles long and 2 wide. We hoped to hire bikes. Apparently many people from Split have holiday homes on the island.

As we waited for the bus, house martins from nests in the eaves of the houses dived over our heads. There was room for us to sit as we rode today and we were glad of the patterned glass which kept some of the sun out.

It was a smaller Jadrolinija ferry than to Brac. It was old and the toilets were a shock- just a ceramic hole- not the best design for ladies to use on a boat! I wasn’t sure my balance was good enough so I crossed my legs instead!

We arrived in Rojac 12.05 after almost an hour of slow travelling. Buses were actually waiting so we took one to Maslinica, 9 km away, where, we read in the Lonely Planet that we would be able to hire bikes.

After just 2 km, up a steep hill with sharp bends, the bus stopped at a village, Grohote. Everyone got off and we were advised to go for a walk. We went to a bar,( choice of 2) luckily with toilets (what a relief) and after a cold drink we looked around the stone houses and their allotments. Several houses were in a bad state of disrepair ( without roofs) but this added to their charm.

 

Poppies were in abundance and potatoes seemed to grow well too. Wild flowers and wild oats were everywhere so no wonder the first sign we saw was advertising honey.

 

The bus left at 1 to pick up the junior children from school and then the driver dropped them all off at their individual houses.

Maslinica was beautiful in the sunshine and so very quiet. Obviously the season hadn’t started here yet so it wasn’t a surprise when the promised bike hire shop not even the tourist information place appeared to be closed or not apparent.

 

Maslinica is a tiny harbour fronted by tiny islets. Tiny fish swam in the clear water and we could see sea urchins on the rock just under the water’s surface. These are the reason why bathers should wear some foot protection as they have poisonous spines. They looked like cute little water hedgehogs. We saw a lizard sunning itself on the stone steps and an iridescent green beetle trying hard to take off.

We walked by a garden with an outdoor bread oven. It was a lovely smell- better than UK barbeques! We were tempted, as the home cooking seemed to be for paying guests, but decided to try for the other side of the island.

We had to go back through Grohote again and then on to Stomorska on a bus the size of a small minibus and this time it was full of large school children. The terrain here is extremely hilly and we were glad there were no bikes for hiring! We stopped at a coastal place, Neculjarr and then more inland, Gomieselo. We wonder what the children had to do beside homework as there didn’t seem to be any leisure facilities.

 

At Stomorska we confused the driver by getting off then getting back on as we were worried about missing the ferry.

 

 We have seen several donkeys, one fitted out ready for carrying a load. We noticed wine-tasting advertised and there are plenty of vineyards and olive groves.

It was back to Grohote again and we decided to walk the 2 kilometres down to the ferry port. We bought food in case there wasn’t anywhere to eat remembering how small Rojac seemed.

We had noticed a lot of similar church towers on our bus rides here. They all had serious bell mechanisms. At Grohote it said that the church tower (only rebuilt in 1950s) and others around would use different peals for important events in the lives of the villagers- fire, death, festivals and so on. A sign also said how grape vine disease in the 1940s affected the population causing massive emigration.

As we walked we were hardly passed by any vehicle. There are no pavements but the views are lovely. At Rojac workmen are using Brac limestone to create an imposing harbour edge. It’s such a fabulous colour in Croatian light. We had to walk out of the harbour for about half a mile to find a restaurant. We had nearly an hour and a half till the ferry left so we ordered sea bream with vegetables and chicken wrapped in bacon and cheese with chips. It was delicious though fairly expensive. We had been spoiled by our all- inclusive deal at the hotel.

It felt a cheat to ride buses here but the steep hills would have taken a severe toll on us if we had been able to bike and there certainly wasn’t enough time to walk this terrain.