We’re halfway there! This leg brought us from from Sali, a tiny port town that stole our hearts immediately, through the archipelago of Kornati National Park, and to the ancient city of Split. What a trip.

A single dolphin led our way from Sali’s port almost all the way to Kornati. We were given advice from our host in Sali about a friendly camp on the island of Levranaka. We arrived at a spectacularly aquamarine half moon beach on the island during what turned out to be the three hours in which four tour boats plop hundreds of people there each day. After a smooth quiet crossing and dreamy paddle through the maze of islands, this was quite a shock.

Luckily, we quickly entered a tiny, super mellow camp and met two Slovenian kindred spirits who would welcome us in to this place that they have traveled to for more than thirty years. We spent the afternoon with them and soon the boats left. There were about twenty people left camping on the island and the family that runs the camp. People swam, napped, read on the beach, and hiked the hill for a magnificent view of the islands.

We also had the fortune to meet two kayak guides, one of whom is also a geography teacher. They sat down with us and shared a huge amount of great info, pouring over our maps and cracking us up with stories from the places we have yet to explore.

Our new friends invited us to a pizza party around the outdoor stone oven. We really connected with the people on Levranaka and it was a bit hard to leave in the morning. But the cliffs of Kornati were waiting.

Crossing the Murter Sea was our next big challenge involving island hopping for about 20km trough the open sea. Conditions were perfect for an easy passage through this potentially tricky stretch.

After another day and a hilarious encounter with a group for very drunk German yachties we rounded the peninsula that separates northern and southern Dalmatia and glided into Trogir, a medieval walled city and UNESCO site. Trogir is famous for its long riva where mega yachts like to tie up for the afternoon. We thought, “what the hell,” and pulled our kayaks up. For a short while we had the smallest boats on the Trogir riva!

From Trogir it was a relatively short but very rough crossing to Split. The water was all peaks. One meter high confused seas for the the whole 5km. After a good tossing Split lay before us.

Split is a jewel on the Adriatic. Its old town is ancient and magnificent centering around Diocletian’s Palace which dates to the second century. We wandered the narrow pathways and explored the catacombs beneath the city on our rest day and ate some outstanding food in the open air restaurants that hide in the adorable courtyards of the old town.

We are now in a small village on Brac with 450km of paddling and half a country behind us and another 450km and all of Southern Dalmatia ahead. Halfway there!