We said goodbye to Hum after a breakfast of truffle infused scrambled eggs, and began to make our way slowly towards the sea. The roads were blissfully quiet and wound their way through forest, small villages and gorgeous views.
Stopping to take a photo in one town, Matt said a friendly hello (in Croatian) to a man walking by, which resulted in a 30 minute conversation with two local men. We finally managed to say goodbye and cycled about 30 meters on, stopping to check our map, when one of the men cycled past us and beckoned for us to follow. He took us to the old abandoned local castle, perched at the highest spot on the hill, and proceeded to take us on the least informal ‘tour’ we’ve had to date.
We cruised down into the valley, along quiet back roads, enjoying the sounds of village life (donkeys, women sweeping, dogs barking)
The road then climbed and turned a corner and we were met by stunning views of the sea and the Island of Cres (our destination for the following night). 
We sat down on a well placed bench for a quick rest, when the cutest little kitten introduced himself. Matt had to wait for a patient half hour for the kitten to get sick of pats and cuddles before we could move on.
Cycling along the coast was beautiful, but tainted somewhat by the idiots out for a Sunday cruise. Motorcycles would hoon past at ridiculous speeds and busses passed leaving less than a metre gap. The worst part was when the wanker club roared past. 6 porches in a row, engines revved to the max. Thankfully, we weren’t on the road for long, and soon arrived at our gorgeous accommodation for the night in the town of Brseč.
The next morning we caught the ferry to Cres, and ran into Henric and Louise again (the Canadian couple we had met in Groznjan). We spent the ferry ride chatting, and rode with them for the first few kilometres up the climb leading from the ferry.
Unfortunately, they’d had to quickly change their plans and were heading home. We were really sorry to hear their news. They were the fist cycle tourists we had met who were following a broadly similar path to us, and we had been looking forward to borrowing dos and don’t on their way down from them (and maybe running into them from time to time). Henric and Louise – if you’re reading this, hope you’re doing well!
The cycle to Cres town, although hilly, was magnificent. After the first 10km climb, the road ran along the spine of the island, with views of the island and the ocean from both sides.
We got into Cres town at the incredibly civilised time of 2:30pm. Enough time for a beer and a swim before we checked into our apartment at 4pm. Perfect!
4ks an hour 