It was a very rainy morning and it didn’t stop until lunchtime. We actually enjoyed taking it easy reading and doing crosswords. It’s about the first time we have been so lazy. We are usually dashing around like blue-arsed flies.

Once the rain stopped and the sun came out we jumped on our bikes and went to explore a couple of ancient landmarks.

We stayed off the main road and went up the farm trails that had small cycle trail signposts. They were good for cycling and passed olive groves, vegetable fields and fruit trees.

A few kilometers away was the Fantazija quarry that has been used since before the Romans by the Histri tribe. They built many stone forts along the coast. The rock quarried here is very hard dolomite rock that is good for building solid things but too hard for carving. The quarry was used until 1964 but stopped then as the rock tended to split when cut into thinner slices as required these days.

This is Croatia’s first geological park and the EU has spent some money on it to make it into a place to visit and to increase understanding of its significance. It is unique in being able to see all the different layers of carbonated rocks with different textures and structures.

The set up is very new. There were 4 new containers used as a museum, toilets etc but only 1 was open with someone looking after it and giving out some very expensive brochures. It was all free. The souvenir shop had no souvenirs yet.

The many layers of rock are represented in a stone column created by a Croatian geological expert. One side has been polished and another side is raw to show what it looks like.

We then went down into the quarry to see the rock layers in situ.

It was easy to see the stripes in the rock.

After checking it all out we then went to find an old ruined fort up on a nearby hill called Kula Turnina.

It was a bit of a climb with the last kilometer on foot but we made it.

A hillfort was first constructed here in the Bronze Age. It was then replaced by a rock castle in the 9th century. It had been added to since then to 4 floors. It’s only 2 levels now.

It was a good strategic spot – there is a good 360 view. Rovinj with its big bell tower can be seen on the coast.

We had a good look round seeing only a group of boys there.

We retraced our steps to our bikes and then found a good cycle route all the way back to the campsite. It was very enjoyable as it was downhill a lot of the way – we had done the hard graft earlier!

We went past large fields of tomatoes and more olive groves. Olive oil is sold everywhere here and it is of very high quality. There are olive oil tastings- we may have to do one soon.

Once back at the campsite we went for a swim in the pool to cool down. We were the only swimmers and there was one more couple there on the loungers. It’s always very quiet there.

I had a Hugo cocktail – new to me – and Glenn had a beer . We felt very decadent sitting beside the pool enjoying these.

We then had a quiet night in getting ready for moving on tomorrow.