🇭🇷 Senj

After visiting Zadar we drove out along the dramatic mountain landscapes to Senj for a one night stay over the ocean. The road was very dramatic to say the least. Full of winding hair pin switch back bends that wound us down into the valley floor. Another word for these roads is ‘Serpent road’!!! I think this is what the locals call them!!! We could also think of some other name as well!!!

Well the drive in along the serpent switch back mountains was definitely worth it as we had the nicest host who graciously made us feel extremely welcome. He told us a lot of interesting facts about the area. Chats with the locals can really make your stay so much more enjoyable and our host was so willing to share his time with us. Through our chats we learnt about the deadly winds called, Bora that can rip through the channels at speeds of 240 kilometres per hour. Highest recorded wind patterns on the highway tunnel measured 304 kilometres per hour in 2003. No wonder we struggled driving on some of the high mountain passes out of Split!! The picturesque limestone islands that our terrace apartment looked out onto were bare of any forms of vegetation due to the bora winds. No boats were in the passage as the bora winds had been present here in Senj for the past seven days. Even an experienced sailor could easily die in these waters. Not only does bora cause freak deadly wind storms but with it comes a deadly salt cloud called, ‘sea smoke’ which reduces visibility and can choke you. The experienced seamen have a special saying, ‘When the bora sails; you don’t!’ Houses in these areas are built densely together with narrow streets for bora winds they also have rocks on the roof.

Our apartment was just beautiful and it had drop dead stunning views over the ocean. Oh and the wind patterns had just began to calm. The water temperatures due to the winds had been reduced from 28 degrees to around 19 degrees.

We were eager to do a walk and explore Senj. Senj was littered with quaint picturesque cove beaches for us to explore. It had a beautiful stony beach front promenade giving swimmers a variety of accesses into the clear cool waters. The view out onto the vast naked islands across the water way was extremely tranquil. The island is used to grazing cattle and also houses bee hives. The honey produced is award winning.

We strolled through the town harbour and did the climb up to the top of the fortress to capture some amazingly stunning afternoon views. On our way back I just couldn’t resist…..bit by bit I inched my body into the cool calm jade ocean waters. With crocs on I ungraciously stumbled and sank into the stony waters …but I could only withstand these cool temperatures for a short time. Rob watched from the shoreline, not willing to be frozen solid from the melting bora water temperatures.

We really wished we had have booked for longer in the hidden gem!! The sunsets were heavenly, just an array of colours and to add to the Mediterranean feel grapes hang in abundance from many street terraces.