Croatia diary (1st-8th Sept)

Fri 1^st

Well after a rough start to the week with food poisoning from Aachen in Germany, we had finally got the room packed up, our bags packed and a mini cab out to Luton Airport. After spending 10 minutes queuing in the wrong line we, changed and spent another 30 minutes waiting in that one. Bags checked we were officially on our way.

The flight was uneventful; we flew Wizz air, which was in a very pretty pink and purple plane , once we stepped onto the tarmac in Split our first impression was one of warmth. It seemed that the last week or so in London the days were becoming much shorter, colder and threatening rain, appearing that summer was officially over. So to get off the plane in sunshine and 26 degrees with nothing but blue sky….. wonderful.

There was a shuttle bus from the airport into the main bus terminal, and from there we lugged our bags following the slightly confusing directions to our very tiny but comfortable hostel. Once checked in we walked down to the market square and back to the marina. We both bought hats and beach towels.

Split is lovely and relaxed, where nobody seems to be in a hurry to do anything or go anywhere. We explored the beautiful Diocletian palace, a remnant of the Roman history in Croatia, which has now been gracefully incorporated into their town, as houses hotels, restaurants, shops, galleries. The church within the palace was quite small but still impressive. It seemed raw and crude compared to some others that we had been to. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos in there so you will have to come and visit yourself.

In the hostel we met an American who was also about to tour the Islands. He was doing it a little differently thought. While we were going to be sitting relaxing on a boat, he and his group will be swimming from island to island. Craziness!! He was an interesting man and in the afternoon showed us an area behind the palace full of narrow intersecting cobbled streets, which would be wonderful to get lost in, as there was so much to see within them.

We sat on the lawn on the promenade watching the boats come in and out, as it got later we headed to a small little restaurant which had been recommended to the Crazy American, as a lovely inexpensive but local place to eat. Buffet Fife – wasn’t a buffet as we know it – but the food was excellent.

By the time we finished dinner dusk was falling over split. The horizon was a gentle shade of pink and a half moon was out. Truly spectacular. The city took on a whole new feel in the evening time. The palace and many of the buildings were illuminated, and many of the small shops stayed open. While sitting in the main square of the palace a lady soprano began singing opera, and later as we walked toward the back of the palace within its walls, a group of female acapella singers entertained us, they were standing in almost a turret or gate house within the actual wall. The acoustics were very good.

We spent quite a bit of time playing with Duncan’s camera and the night setting, before heading back to the hostel.

Saturday 2^nd

When we surfaced we packed our bags and leaving them at the hostel walked down to the marina to see if we could find our ship. We found this little vendor that sold really long ham and cheese and salad rolls for about a pound, we thought to ourselves that this would be a good thing for breakfast, probably a bit much for 1 person, so we would split it.

We found the Viktorija, went and got our bags and trundled back. Our room was number 10 which was ready early. We were glad to meet several other young couples relieving our fear that we would be the youngest on the trip.

Our room is (as said in the brochure) very small. It consists of two bunk beds, and a small toilet with a hand held nozzle. It wasn’t until later that we discovered that there was only one temperature of water that came out of that nozzle and it was not warm. We unpacked our bags a little so that they would fit under the bunk. I wanted to grab some snorkels before we went so we jumped off the boat and headed back into Split.

Shortly before 1 we boarded again, and went upstairs where we introduced ourselves to the rest of the passengers. We are quite a mixed bunch from Australia, New Zealand, America, England and Scotland, and of quite mixed age groups, from university students to grandparents.

Sometime after 1pm we set off, the weather was beautiful blue skies not a cloud to be seen, and I was well prepared with my sea sickness bands on!!! The dinner bell rang and we went into the dining room for dinner.

I am not sure what I expected for lunch but I don’t think I expected to be provided with a three course meal. Soup then meat and vegetables (cooked Croatian style of course) followed by fruit.

Later that afternoon we anchored in a small bay and went for a swim off the boat. The boys set the bar high early by jumping off the top of the boat into the sea. I thought that I would work up to that a little more slowly. The water was surprisingly cold. For some reason I expected it to be a lot more tropical and warm. It quite literally took my breath away.

Our first port of call was Hvar. The city of Hvar on the island of Hvar (pronounced Havar). A group of us (Christy, Todd, Adam, Lindsay, Duncan and myself) walked up through some back streets and found ourselves inadvertently heading up to an old fort. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed for a wedding but the views were amazing down over the town and the walk up past all the market gardens, vineyards and olive trees.

The Lonely Planet recommended a small restaurant right on the Marina called the Bounty. It didn’t disappoint. We had a lovely meal and Kristy and I shared some beautiful local wine as recommended by the waiter. I had some home made sausages – a couple from beef a couple from pork and a couple from lamb. Of course we topped dinner off with some ice cream as a night cap.

The cards came out at night and a good UNO time was had by all.

Sunday 3^rd

We left Hvar early in the morning, the sound of the engines starting was our alarm clock. However it is amazing how quickly you become used to the rumbling hum and fall straight back to sleep again. As was to become routine we stumbled out for breakfast between 8-9am.

The boat dropped anchor around 11 for a swim. With the memory of the freezing cold water all to fresh in my mind, I decided that I would sit this one out.

Our afternoon destination was Mljet, a very small island with a small channel that creates and inland saltwater lake. We arrived there around lunch time and after lunch on the boat set out to explore. The recommended destination was a small island in the middle of the large lake. On this island is a once abandoned monastery, which is now being restored. A small motor boat ferries tourists out to the island, which you can walk around in about 15 minutes. Yes it is even smaller than Rottnest!

While waiting for this little boat, we decided to go for a little swim off the jetty. The group of us stripped down to our bathers and left our bags while we went for the swim. The water was a little warmer, I guess it wasn’t as open and susceptible to the tidal variations and as it is also a little more shallow. There was a “love tunnel” which really wasn’t a tunnel and had nothing to do with love, but a narrow channel between two sections of the lake where the current zipped you down.

The monastery was very small and very pretty, its isolation was quite obvious in it’s architecture and design. Around the island there were additional various shrines that had been built. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the church.

We found a lovely bar on the water front afterwards for ‘refreshments’ but alas when it came to pay the bill Duncan and I realised that we didn’t have a wallet. Arrrrrgggghhhhh!!! My wallet was in the cabin on the boat, but had not money in it. All over our Croatian currency was kept in Dunc’s wallet. Needless to say we were at panic stations. We almost ran the 15 minute walk back to the small ferry to the monastery. Early on in retrieval operation I said to Duncan, “you go ahead” my short legs and sore foot were just slowing us down. So while he powered on I stopped all the tourists that were walking back in the other direction asking them whether they had seen a wallet or heard of anyone that had found one. Telling them all that we were on the Viktorija if they found it.

We were very lucky!!!!! Cutting a long story short the angry little captain of the ferry had it. There was no Croatian currency left in it (we had lost about 60 pounds) but whoever had helped themselves had not bothered to look in the zip section so we still had all our euros, and all of the credit cards and bank cards – pheweeee!!!!

We celebrated that night. Duncan and I celebrated finding our wallet, and Ann and Jeff (Kiwis) celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary. The restaurant was on the marina the food and company was excellent.

Monday 4th

After our routine breakfast, and morning swim we sailed into Dubrovnik as we were finishing our lunch. The marina that we anchored in was about a 10 minute bus ride from the old town. The old town of course was where we wanted to spend the majority of our time, so as soon as a bus with room on it came by we crammed on and headed off.

The bus terminal was right outside the walls of Dubrovnik. As I stepped off the bus I was so distracted by the sights of the old town that I completely missed Duncan falling out of the bus and onto his bottom. (hee hee). No serious injuries were sustained, his big toe came off the worse for it.

Dubrovnik is beautiful. Stepping through the walls is a little like stepping back in time. The buildings and streets are all made from Dalmacia stone, which is a lovely creamy white colour, and was also used to make the White House is the US. The streets maintain their medieval charm while the buildings are now filled with modern shops, hotels, bars and restaurants.

We spent the first couple of hours exploring the streets, seeing some art galleries and museums, churches and monasteries. Once the weather cooled down a little bit, we went up to the top of the wall and walked around the city. I had an audio guide, which when it worked educated me about the history of Dubrovnik. In its long life it has suffered various regimes and battles, the most recently when it was under attack between 1992 – 1995 for no other reason than its historical and sentimental value.

It was and is a beautiful and fascinating. Dubrovnik like every other place in Europe has lots of churches but I have been surprised fining them very understated in comparison to other countries and cities.

After drinks with Christy Todd, Adam and Lindsay, Kristy and Todd went back to the boat to get changed, whilst Adam and Lindsay and us found a nice cheap little restaurant in a little side alley for dinner. Dessert as has become tradition was ice cream.

The cities are particularly charming after dusk, the smooth light coloured stone seems to glow in the street lights.

Tuesday 5th

I have never been on a holiday before when I have had to choose how I a was going to spend my time doing nothing. This sailing was very relaxing and I have learnt that you can have a good holiday without seeing every one of the attractions on offer.

So most mornings after breakfast and before swimming, or after swimming and before lunch I was left to choose out of the following; I could take up my relaxing on the top deck, the middle deck, the lower deck or the front of the boat depending on the location of the sun and wind. And while there I could sleep, read, sunbake (which I didn’t do much of at all), do crossroads, do sudoku, listen to music, or talk to the others. Decisions, decisions!

Of course after lunch though we were generally in port somewhere which left some sight seeing and exploring today. Today was no different and our port was Korcula on the island of Korcula.

Our itinerary had been a little changed to what was originally advertised. And it was for this reason. Celebrated in Korcula on this day once a year is the Marco Polo festival. Now I can’t for the life of me remember what ‘nationality’ Marco Polo was now but he held of the Venetians for quite a while, while being greatly outnumbered by a number of big ships and galleys. Once captured he was held in prison in Venice for many years.

So on this day many of the cruise/sailing ships around including ours, participate in a mock battle in the same bay.

With local actors, they reinacted the battle using smoke bombs and canons to simulate battle, and we sailed out into the harbour armed with water bombs and pistols, which despite much urging from the crew we didn’t really get close enough to any of the other ships to throw. Nevertheless it was quite a moment standing on the top deck with sailing in the bay with all the other ships. On the overlooking cliff face, they had some very powerful speakers which were playing music out over the water.

Needless to say our warfare took up much of our afternoon. We did have some exploring opportunities. We found a small store selling local wine, out of vats. We sampled some of the local wine and as it was at a very reasonable priced we decided that we would buy some. It came in recycled plastic bottles :) Fantastic!!

After a picnic on the boat comprised of some local stuff from the supermarket and our local wine, we headed down to the festival party, where dancing and free wine was to be had by all. The dancing was entertaining with a fairly good mix of English and Croat music. Although I have to say that although I like the song “I Will Survive” I think that they had possibly the longest version ever made. It went on and on….. and that is just not cool.

It was a great night although, the wine did smell a little like meat juice… therefore we abandoned that idea.

Wednesday 6th

We spent Wednesday afternoon and night in a town on the mainland called Makarska. Written up in the guide book as a place not enjoyed by everyone it sounded very resorty, and I got the impression that in the high season it is packed with tourists enjoying their holidays. The guide book was right in a sense apart from the beach, and a plethora of restaurants and bars, there was not a lot more on offer here. However as we were out of the high season, it was a lot more laid back and pleasant.

While others headed around to the beach to go swimming Dunc and I took a wander through the back streets it was siesta time so not a lot was open but we found some ice cream :)

We headed down to the beach and watched the sunset, then got some take away pizza to eat on the back of the boat. While down at the beach the boys spotted some bars which had very cheap beer, and decided that this was an opportunity that had to be made the most of. So after dinner we all headed back there. I didn’t stay long because I had a cold – which I always get when I let myself get really dehydrated – you would think that I would learn.

Thursday 8th

We arrived at the island of Brac quite early this morning and were able to spend quite a bit of time here. Anchored just off the coast at a place called Bol we had the opportunity to swim at a quite unique place. Apparently it is one of the only places in the world where the beach runs perpendicular to the coast. Sticking out like a bit of a tongue into the water the tip of the beach curves a different way depending on the ocean’s current.

Unfortunately this where the digital camera broke, so we don’t have any pictures. But hopefully we will be able to grab copies off some of the other people.

Don’t be concerned though folks we are currently rectifying the situation so that your pictures will not be far away.

The beach at Bol was like all the other beaches a pebble beach however they were nice smooth Dalmacia pebbles, and they were small so quite comfortable, not like the big ones at the south coast of UK.

That afternoon we sailed to Omis on the mainland. Apparently a hub for water sports and outdoor activities, as we sailed in we were greeted with Para sailers and jet skis, well not personally greeted, but you get the idea. We enthusiastically celebrated the opportunity to get out and get sweaty by playing cards on the boat :). A riveting and large game of cheat had captured everybody’s attention.

Omis really has no historical or architectural drawcards that we could find, and in the absence of night time sports and recreation we found a pizzeria in a back street for dinner. Afterwards we wandered the markets sampling some of the local produce including a pear liqueuer Rajaki (sp??) we decided that we quite like it and split a bottle with Adam and Lindsay for our night cap.

One night cap and a game of Uno later, we retired on our second last night on the boat.

Friday 8th

Seasickness bands discarded on day 2 or 3, the smooth seas have been wonderful. We couldn’t have asked for better weather the deep blue sea mirrored by the cloudless sky. Only in the last couple of days has it been slightly marred by a haze accompanying an increase in temperature and drop in wind.

Duncan and I had a sleep in this morning. Many of the others had decided to go rafting on the Cetina river in Omis. However as it was quite expensive, and we still have a fair bit of travelling to go we thought we would save our pennies. That plus they are quite tame rapids, and being the thrill seekers we are won’t settle for anything less than a grade 4 :).

We took a stroll in the town in the morning before the others returned. After lunch I was very lucky as my husband had not forgotten my birthday and had organised a birthday cake for me on board. I know it was a day early but it was nice to celebrate it with all our new friends. That evening once back in Split we all went out for drinks at the Luxor hotel in the Palace then dinner, then down to another bar.

It was such a nice evening. Although there was one strange bit. On our way to this bar after dinner we stumbled across some Aussie blokes who were stopping a young girl from jumping off a bridge onto the train tracks. They had contacted the police and while we walked by the police arrived so hopefully all is ok now......