Susac 16:53

My first day on the little island. I woke early and did my shopping in a small butcher and then a slightly larger "supermarket". It'll be interesting to see if I have enough to feel fed for the entire three days. I understand that I can buy fish from the keepers, but I'm a little skeptical about that. 

There may be another guest staying at the lighthouse, it's not really clear. They changed keepers today, and it's hard to know if all the people who were here were related to that exercise or not. In any case, I also believe now that there is a Shepard of sorts, living in what I thought were abandoned houses in the middle of the island.

I didn't managed to say goodbye to Marinka, who had been very nice with me last night, giving me two shots of an orange liqueur that she made herself, plus two crepes with orange filling that she also made. The apartment was huge and modern, despite the appearance of the building. It had internet, but only in the bedroom. Still, better than here. No internet on the little island. Oh, well, probably good to finally get completely off the grid.

I ate breakfast in a restaurant, 50 kuna for the buffet. I figured it's probably best to save the food I bought for the island. I left the apartment at about 8:15 because we had agreed on 8:30 for the transfer to the island. I struggled to find the travel agency, but only because my map told me it was on a little side street, but it was actually right on the Main Street (big sign). 

I was able to park my car far into the city in a small lot after dropping my bags off at the boat, a little "water taxi". The travel agent drove me there and back. I need to remember to call him the day after tomorrow to agree on a time for him to pick me up. 

I actually enjoyed the boat ride, which took a little over an hour. I stood the whole time, holding onto a rail with one or two hands (pretending to wind surf). As we approached the island, the fog was so think that it took a while before it suddenly appeared. To get from the boat to the island, all my luggage and myself had to transfer to another little boat, and then jump from that boat to land, because the waves would not allow us to put the boat right up against the "dock", which was really just a slab of cement. 

The keepers have a little tractor and trailer to bring luggage up to the lighthouse, which was great. I had left all my dirty laundry and some clean socks and shirts in the trunk of my rental car in an extra duffle bag I brought. I think that was a wise move. 

Once we got up to the lighthouse, the keeper showed me to my apartment, which is on the "first" floor (up one flight of stairs). It has two bedrooms, I'm in the larger, a good sized kitchen and a bathroom with a real bath. Ah! I just took my first. 

I unpacked all my things and made the bed. I had arrived at about 10am, and decided to explore the island when I had finished all this, so I packed a lunch, towel, sunscreen, and water in my Swiss army side bag and headed out. This was when I saw others arriving. I thought one was another guest, and perhaps he is. He seemed American. I have not seen him since though, so perhaps he was actually a keeper, or perhaps he left. No sure, doesn't matter.

Off I went, after waiting to see if the keeper would give me any warnings. I explored first on the left side of the island, and found a small walkway down to a boat launch, then back up to the middle path, all the way to the mostly abandoned stone buildings. There I heard a radio in some newer buildings that appeared in bad shape, but is probably home for the Shepard. There were a few goats wondering about and baa'ing. I found that a bit spooky, actually, not the goats, the radio. I didn't see anyone but left quickly. 

Then I walked down to the one beach I knew about in advance. It was easy to find an is fairly nice, although unfortunately there is a lot of trash that has probably washed up during various storms. Mostly plastic bottles and other junk that I expect has not been left by visitors but rather has just escaped from some other location and made it way here on the high seas. 

I spent a little time exploring a bit. There were a couple of buildings that were obviously temporary shelters for people who probably come here periodically, one actually included a tent, though I didn't check to see if there was anyone in it. 

The water looked beautiful, despite the garbage on the beach, and I started looking in earnest for a location to both lay out and go into the water. I picked a spot, but, after checking the water and confirming that it was warm enough to get into but not so warm as to invite jumping in with no concern for the shock, I took off all my clothing and slowly looked for an entrance, ending up at the beach so that I could walk in slowly. Climbing out at my spot was easy enough, however. I actually climbed back in to see if this was a good entrance, and decided against it, but I didn't go in the water again.

Instead, I ate lunch, then lathered sunscreen on and laid down for a nap. Ah! It was very nice.

I probably stayed there for about an hour, perhaps a little less, then walked back up to the houses, down to the other side of the island (cool that I could move from the East coast to the West coast in minutes. The West coast, unfortunately, does not seem to have any potential beaches. I think the rental description claims that there are two beaches, but I only found one. Also, there is a fence at this point in the island, and I'm not sure if that's just to keep the goats from heading over to the other side or the tourists too, so I only explored a little on the other edge of the fence. I need to ask the keepers about the other beach and whether it's OK to go over the fence.

I returned to the center trail then went down to the East coast again and followed it all the way back to the original harbor. I think there are plenty of places where I can make interesting HDR shots. I need to make a to do list. 

After getting about as far as I could, I returned to the lighthouse at about 3pm. By then, I was pretty hot and tired. I wanted a cup of coffee, but the stove did not have an electric pilot, so I needed to ask the keeper for a lighter. They thought it was out of gas, but it had enough and the keeper gave me his lighter. Too bad he had to carry a new gas bottle all the way up, then all the way down again.

Lunch was two bananas, a cup full of cherry tomatoes, and a protein bar. I drank the coffee without anything else, and now I'm eating a yogurt. That leaves me with...

5 bananas, 4 yogurts, 3 protein bars, a half of bag of pistachio nuts, a full bag of peanuts, 10 eggs, 3 100g packages of cold cuts for omelets and sandwiches, two baguettes, 8 sausages, cheese, milk, coffee, sugar, butter, mayonnaise, about a third of a 500g package of cherry tomatoes, and one very stale roll. Will that keep me fed for tonight, two full days, and my final breakfast? I hope so, but there is the option for fish on the last night if I need it (I hope). 

Let's see, how do I ration?

• Tonight
  Dinner: 2-4 sausages, Scrambled egg?, Half a baguette and butter?
  Dessert: Pistachio nuts

• Each other day
  Breakfast: 2 egg omelet with ham and cheese (first day on the toasted stale roll), Coffee, Yogurt, Banana
  Lunch: Half baguette sandwich with cold cuts, cheese, and mayonnaise (or butter), Protein bar, Tomatoes, Snack
  Afternoon: coffee, Banana, Yogurt
  Dinner: 2-4 Sausages, Scrambled egg, Half a baguette with butter

That should keep me fed. I probably won't even lose weight.