Croatia

Saturday 15th September 2018

Holiday time! We had unfortunately booked at 6.15am flight out of Gatwick to Dubrovnik awhile ago and now we were sorely regretting it. We pre-booked a taxi to pick us up at 3.45am so that we reached the airport with enough time to check our bag in. The cost worked out pretty similar with it being £45 ($88.70 nzd) in a taxi and £30 ($59 nzd) plus underground fare (£2.40/$4.70 nzd pp) with a lot less hassle and more sleep time with the taxi option. We were flying with Norwegian Air and despite being a low cost carrier they are far far far better than Ryanair and even Easyjet or any of the other European low cost carriers. Everything went smoothy and we had plenty of time to kill in the airport terminal. We brought some more sunscreen and Lew also introduced me to Pret A Manger or rather just “Pret” if your a local. I had seen this place so many times before but I always refused to buy fast or ready made meals if I can but this place was off the charts good! Granted it is a little on the pricey side but everything is made fresh in their kitchen, its well presented, heathy and even has all the allergens listed! We couldn’t resist getting a cheesy bap for Lew and a tuna wrap for me. The flight left basically on time and Lew slept most of the way whilst I updated by nursing diary (iv kept one since day 1 of my first ever clinical placement as a nursing student so it will be funny to read back on one day and see how much iv grown as a nurse, not to mention there are many cringe worthy stories! - The real life of an ED nurse. The flight time was 2 hours 20 minutes and before we knew it we were touching down in Dubrovnik one of Croatia’s tourist hotspots. Once we got our bag and went through customs we were met on the other side by a driver ready to take us straight to the boat. So Lew’s parents Averill and Paul have come over to visit and have organised an amazing month full of travel. First up is a tour with Croatia Times Travel on a small boat with 36 people (including us) called “Splendid” for 7 nights where we travel around the islands and main ports. Then there is a week in London where we are seeing the famous show Hamilton and eating out in our favourite spots and the next two weeks are based in Morocco where we have a private tour for 12 days. So 20 minutes later from the airport we arrived at the dock the Splendid was parked up at. We had already seen Dubrovniks old town perched on the edge of the water with its huge wall and terracotta roofs as we made our way around. Not to mention there were two massive cruise ships which were here for the day and had dumped an extra 4,000 people into the small city. we were told that the city is better at limiting the big ships this year than other years according to our local Croatian driver. As we got out of the car Averill and Paul were waiting for us and it seemed crazy that it has been over a year since we saw them last. Thankfully with things such as Facetime allows us to see each other often so it didn’t seem like such a long time. They showed us onto the boat in which we had to cross over three others by walking their decks and through their hallways. We were much too early and they were still cleaning it from the previous trip which had just arrived this morning. We changed into some warmer weather clothes since London had been 9 degrees when we left, packed up a backpack and begun the walk into Dubrovnik’s Old Town which took us about 40 minutes. It was a beautiful hot day at 30 degrees and the water looked very inviting below us but we were on a mission to get to old town and find some food. We met the giant fortification wall built between the 12th-17th centuries and encloses the small town protecting it from any intruders. Inside the wall the town is a stunning collection of limestone brick buildings and polished marble squares that are so slippery and polished from all the feet that have passed over them since they were laid. Paul clearly had a place in mind and we promptly begun climbing up the steep stairs heading up to the back of the Old Town where we might find some smaller local diners hiding out for lunch. We came across one called Lady Pi-Pi that had a balcony looking out over the terracotta roofs of the town and grape vines sheltering the balcony from the intense sunlight. It was the perfect place and the smell of fish and meat being grilled on the open coal fire made us walk no further. We all went with something different for lunch including a chicken salad, some sort of traditional meat kebabs for Lew, bread/ham/cheese/meat for Paul and a whole sea bass for me. It was the most relaxing place for us to catch up after a year apart. As we admired our view it was easy to see the changes in the brick on the buildings and encyclopedia Paul begun telling us about its severe earthquake in 1667 but something more recent which would have mean these buildings needed to be rebuild was the Seiege of Dubrovnik in 1991-1992. The old city was a UNESCO World Heritage Site at this point which was supposed to protect it but the war of Yugoslavia was heating up and in December Dubrovnik was bombed for 12 hours straight by the Yugoslavia army and there were many buildings suffering heavy damage with civilian casualties. Of the 824 buildings in Dubrovniks Old Town 68% of them had been hit by shells. Thankfully Old Town has been restored to its former glory for us all to appreciate it today. Once we had finished lunch we made our way out of the restaurant and this is when we learnt why the place was names Lady Pi-Pi. There was a very funny water sculpture of a women holding open her vagina and peeing- hence its name! We walked back down the steep steps and found an ice cream shop at the bottom. Lew was in heaven as the only cost about £1 ($2 nzd) for a very large scoop of ice cream and there were many many flavours to choose from. We walked around the buildings admiring their architecture but next Friday once we return from our trip we have a walking tour of the city which will tells us a bit more about these buildings so we didn’t look into them too much. Wandering around past the boats in the port we could look back in the city and its impressive fortifications before we ended up on the rocks by the waterfront with other sunbathers and swimmers. None of us had packed our togs so we were stuck just putting our feet into the clear blue water. Out a short way away from the mainland there was the island of Otuk Lokrum covered with lots of fauna and flora as it is the local botanical gardens in which you can take a ferry across to it. It was a bit much for us to do today as we were all a little weary from our travels so we decided to walk back to the boat. On the way we discovered a little stone tunnel that ended up taking us to a seaside bar called the Buza Bar which gave us a stunning view over the water where we could watch the boats and kayaks coming and going. We sat down for a drink and relaxed in the sun a little while longer before making the long trek back to the boat. The boat had battened down its hatches a little as there was the sound of thunder and lightening with dark clouds engulfing the city. We were shown to our rooms which were surprisingly large with an ensuite also. Averill and Paul were next to us with Karen (Pauls sister, Lew’s aunty) and her partner Justin across the hallway. There was a bit of deliberating as to which room was the best and where the bed should be positioned due to the rock of the boat as we wanted Averill and Paul to have the nicest room. We ended up staying put as they were basically identical and no one was in the mood to make a pros and cons list for each room. We begun unpacking into the large wall in wardrobe we had. NZ goodies were unloaded from the suitcases and we were give oodles of Wittakers chocolates and lollies we had been missing. Mum had sent me over some hand cream and marmite as requested so we were both very happy. 7pm came around very fast and this is when we were all due for the welcome dinner on the boat so we made our way to the back with everyone else. It was fairly obvious that we were the youngest on the boat and there was a large gang of for lack of a better word…silver haired travellers. We took our seats at one of the laid out tables and were promptly joined by an Auzzie couple Mick and Tricia and it was clear that whilst these travellers may have been much older than us they were all going to have a rich travel experience we could learn from. We were served champagne, soup, salad and a main meal of chicken, gravy, vegetables and some strange crispy ball like things. None of us had any clue as to what we were eating and it was much like a guessing game at the table. Dessert was fresh fruit for me and cake for everyone else. It was clearly going to be a fun boat trip! We were all sat out on the front deck after dinner admiring the view with a cup of tea in hand before we made our way to out seperate cabins by 9pm completely exhausted.

Gateway to Dubrovnik’s Old Town - Pile Gate

Lunch at Lady Pipis…look closer at the statue

Sunday 16th September

We were woken to the noise of the engines at 7.20am as our captain begun the journey out of Dubrovniks port and onto our next destination. There was no way we were going to be able to sleep through that thunderous noise so we showered and headed up onto the deck to watch Dubrovnik slide into the distance. I was surprised to see that basically everyone else on the boat was up including the rest of the Commons family. I honestly thought they would be all keen for a sleep in but it seems not! The boat made its way up North along the Croatian coastline whilst we ate breakfast which included waffles, toast, fruit and cereal. Shortly after we finished breakfast we stopped off at our first swim stop of the day just after 9am. Whilst it was warm it seemed very soon after breakfast and a little early in the morning to put those togs on but never the less we were all out on the back ready to test out the clear blue water in the sheltered cove we were in. We had half an hour and Lew, Paul and Averill decided to try and make it into shore whilst the rest of us relaxed floating around the boat. Once the ship pulled up its anchor and we were off again I went up on the top deck with everyone else and sunbathed on the loungers until lunchtime. We were alerted of lunch by a little bell and much to our surprise it ended up being a proper sit down meal with a starter, main and dessert! The food wasn’t so bad at all but it was a bit of a guessing game as to which type of meat it was which lead to questions of how it was farmed by some people at the table - we decided not to ask. Felix the boat manager spoke to us about the plans for the rest of the afternoon and we had one more swim stop coming up before we headed into the port of Korčula where we had a walking tour before being left on our own to source some dinner and wander the town. Felix handed out headsets to each of us and Lew’s face was priceless, never did he want to be seen wearing one of those walking in a group fill of silver haired people. Well too late honey your part of it!! Felix being a similar age to us just had the funniest smirk on his face when he handed Lew his one and Lew rebutted that there was no way he was wearing that! We would see about that later. The next swim stop was for two hours just outside the town of Korčula in another cove. We were told by the captain that there were strong currents on one side of the boat between it and the land and that we shouldn’t swim to shore. We swum laps around the boat instead with Averill before Lew got bored and decided we would go to shore. We were basically the only ones in the water at this point and I think everyone else was having a little afternoon nap. The currents weren’t so bad but once we were almost at the shore Felix and the captain came out and begun waving at us. We decided we were strong enough swimmers and carried on not actually having any issues with the current. There were small spiky sea urchins attached to the rocks which made it slightly difficult to get ashore as it was clear you wouldn’t want those sharp spikes embedded in your feet. The rocks were also very uncomfortable but we warmed up on them in the sun before half an hour later being waved back in by Averill. We definitely hadn’t spend more that two hours in the spot like they had said but as soon as we were on the back of the boat the anchor was being pulled up and we were off. We cruised past some small islands before the town of Korčula appeared in front of us and it was very picturesque and it would be the perfect little town to explore. Lew had already decided we would be heading out for a run and he was planning it as we arrived into the port. Clearly it was a bit of a mission getting all these boats in at a particular time and the captain did an impressive job of manoeuvring the boat around next to the Sail Croatia (with not a sail in sight) boat which we would be tied too. Another man from the boat from Brisbane, Greg asked us about the run and we ended up bringing him with us. Lew had a 9km loop with some hills and I was a little nervous as Greg appeared in some pretty hard core looking clothing. It was obvious he was a runner also. As we left the boat everyone else was going out to explore and relax whilst we wound our way around the coastline. The heat was oppressive and I was struggling a little as we ran up and down some hills. Looking back over the small fortified city was impressive and many people had small boats tied up around the water’s edge. I managed most of the run except the final steep hill to a look out and decided to head back to the boat myself whilst the boys carried on. I felt a bit self conscious running down the main strip with many other young people sitting down for dinner and a drink whilst I was out running in my sports bra. Returning to the boat there was now 6 tied up in a row including ours and it would be such a pain for the further away boats to get to shore since they have to walk through all the rest of them! The crew were hanging out in the lunch room or the saloon as they called it and I had a feeling we probably weren’t allowed to swim off the back of the boat whilst we were in the harbour. I went down onto the platform anyway and slipped into the water without a sound cooling myself down before climbing back out and using the shower on the back. The boys arrived and came straight to the back as well but weren’t quite as quiet as Lew dive bombed off the back. Felix appeared shortly after and said that no we weren’t allowed to swim as the captain will get a fine. Seems everything fun is not allowed as Lew had of course already asked whether he could jump off the second or third story of the boat but was given a firm no. We showered and got ready for our 6pm walking tour where a local lady called Edith was showing us around. I packed the headsets and cameras and we all met her in front of the main entrance into the old town. She begun telling is some of the history of the small town that belongs to the central Dalmatian archipelago and is the 6th largest Adriatic island. The main income for the island is quite obviously tourism and the locals work between April and November when the weather is pleasant and during the winter it is like a ghost town. The layout of the buildings is in the shape of a fish bone and used to be surrounded by water with a draw-bridge to keep it safe from intruders. The town architecture was influenced greatly by Venetian Renaissance since the Venetians ruled the city from the 11th century until the 14th century and the symbolic Venetian lion is seen around many of the buildings today. Edith spoke about how up until the 17th century the locals were only allowed to live within the walls of the old town meaning that nearly 2000 people lived between the walls compared to the 100 people who now live there so it must have been incredibly crowded. There were many intricately decorated churches around including the Church of the All Saints built in the 14th century which has a lovely bell tower that rings before mass starts and the Church of St Michael built in the 16th century. Edith also told us that many people believe that Marco Polo was born in Korčula in 1254 but there are no birth records to confirm this other than records of a Polo family in the church register in the 16th century but thats quite a difference in time! Marco Polo was a well known explorer, writer and merchant but you are probably more likely to remember his name from the game you played in the swimming pool when you were younger! The tour finally ended at 7pm and we were all starving and Lew and I had lost attention awhile ago after I had found a beautiful art shop full of oil paintings. We had also been googling the best places for pizza in the town as Lew was desperate for some good pizza. We all went our seperate ways and we headed down a small road full of shops selling all sorts of goodies taking note of them for when dinner was finished. The place we had decided on for pizza based on its ratings was called Pizzeria Tedeschi and we found a table for the four of us. Lew, Paul and I went for the large pizza option whilst Averill had the gnocchi and they were all decent sizes once they came out. We had a fun night sharing photos from the day and drinking local beer and wine but the pizzas were a little salty and a little too full of cheese - well Paul did order the four cheese pizza so I don’t know what he was expecting there! We left dinner and wandered around a few of the shops admiring some locally made jewellery and I purchased some lovely organic lavender hand cream. Anything lavender or lemon flavoured/smelling are my weaknesses. We slowly made our way back to the boat grabbing an ice cream on the way and finding some more cash as most places on these islands seem to be cash only. We were tied up next to Sail Croatia and the young people aboard this were rather noisy and clearly heading out to town for a few drinks. We were pleased we were in one of the rooms in the hull so we didn’t have to deal with their noise! We were in bed by 9.30pm and Lew had crashed on top of the duvet still in his clothes. First day of holidays completed with a few more in the sun and on the water to come!

The daily routine of 5 laps around the boat

Our first walking tour…earpieces and all

Running with Greg around the Korčula coastline

Monday 17th September

Today marks our 8th year anniversary and it seems crazy that it’s been so many years since we got together in my final year of high school! Still feels like yesterday but the years have added up quickly! Lew managed to sleep through the boat noise as we left the port at 7.20am again but headed up to watch us leave the port. The other boats tied to us all have to leave first so it’s quite an effort really getting everyone tied up at night and then untied in the morning! We sailed along the coast whilst we had breakfast and we all sat in the sun until we reached a small cove off the island of Otuk Šćedro and one of the crew donned his togs and swam to both side of the shore with a large rope to secure the boat along with the anchor. Croatia is known for its water polo and theres a high chance this young guy was a polo player based on his impressively strong swimming. Lew was keen to swim further than just the bay and had his laptop out plotting a route to the bay around the cove. Felix the boat manager Ok’ed it all but laughed at our inability to stay still and relax. He was reassured by the fact that yesterday we told him we were ice hockey players but we wanted to remind him that ice hockey players aren’t exactly taught how to swim in case the rink accidentally melts! Never the less we were all good to go and we begun swimming around the coast line taking turns using Averill’s goggles to see what was below us. A couple of time we had entire schools of fish following us and I made sure that Lew checked they weren’t pirañas before I took a glance and they were some medium sized cute colourful fish that were very inquisitive indeed. All up it ended up being a 3km swim but we weren’t able to get into land due to the risk of sea urchins so we looked a bit like prunes by the time we had returned and had drunk a fair amount of sea water by accident! We warmed up in the sun for 15 minutes before the bell went for lunch and we changed and headed inside. Lunch was hands down the best food we have had on the boat so far with tuna pate and bread being the starter followed by baked fish in a tied up bundle of baking paper with a salad on the side with crepes for dessert. It was absolute heaven and we all gave the cook Maria a good clap at the end of it. The rest of the afternoon we spent hanging out in the sun and at 3pm we pulled up the anchor and continued for 1.5 hours into the port of Hvar. Hvar is known as the party town in Croatia and we could see its beautiful waterfront promenade and array of bars and restaurants and we came up onto the shore. The boat was having to drop us off at 4.30pm and then go back out on anchor until it was allowed to come back and stay for the night at 6pm. During this time we had a walking tour booked anyway before heading out for dinner so I put a dress on and Lew a nice shirt despite it still being stinking hot. Our guide was another local women dressed in all white and she started the tour just outside the boat by saying that in peak season there can be as many as 14 boats stacked against each other in two rows of 7! It was certainly a popular place. Like all the islands Hvar was inhabited by the native Illyrian and Delmati people but in 384 bc they were defeated by the Greeks who built a large settlement called Pharos which is where Stari Grad is located on the opposite shore to Hvar. They also built a smaller one called Dimos which is where Hvar is located today. The Venetian took over Hvar and the rest of Croatia in 1420 until the Austrian grasped hold of the country in 1797. France also briefly took hold of Croatia for 6 years before it went back to the Austrians and the to the Italians for four years. Finally then the country became part of Yugoslavia 1922 before it dissolved and Croatia became its own country in 1992. What a history of being bounced around and ruled by so many different countries! This year Hvar is celebrating 150 years since its first hotel opened and it became the tourist hotspot that it is today due to it also being the sunniest spot in Croatia. During peak summer season the small town of only 4,000 locals manages to room 16,000 tourist each day and that’s not even including those who are sleeping on boats or those who come into the city for a day trip! Thankfully we are here during off peak season and clearly there isn’t that many people in town today. Our guide walked us around the small streets of Hvar pointing out their large town square which is the biggest in Croatia and was even used to collect rain water back in the day. One of the notable buildings was that of a famous poet Hanibal Lucić who built a summer residence for himself in the mid 15th century. This is now the location of the Benedictine nunnery since Hannibal’s daughter in law bequeathed it to the Benedictines in 1591 of which 8 nuns still live in this residence. One even smiled to us as she peaked out the windows. The nuns also have the Baroque Church of St Anthony which contains a small collection of lacework made of agave threads - an UNESCO world heritage site since they are the only ones in the world who can do this. Averill and I decided to pay the small cost to enter the museum whilst Lew and Paul sat outside enjoying the sun. The intricate designs were so clever and we wondered how they could make stitches so small. You are able to buy some of the lace but Averill and I weren’t sure what exactly we would do with it! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to photograph anything so if iv added a photo it will be off the internet. Up behind the town was the big fortress called Fortica Španjola by the locals and this was built in 1551 when the country was under Venetian rule. It had to be rebuilt in the early 17th century as it was struck by lightning causing its supply of gunpowder to explode and damage the fortress. The fortress now had a collection of items from the middle ages but more importantly has an incredible view of the city below and the Pakleni islands. It was easy enough to get up to the top of it if you aren’t afraid to climb a few steps and took us about 20 minutes if you include all the time we stopped to take pictures. The view of the city really was stunning and we were there just as the sun was beginning to set - golden hour as photographer Lew calls it. The next stop for us 6 - Karen, Justin, Averill, Paul, Lew and I was to find a cute local place for dinner. We walked around the small stone streets checking out menus boasting all sorts of fish and local dishes and decided on one in a beautiful alleyway that could seat all 6 of us called El Pescador. Lew and I ordered a dish called Pašticada which was a local cuisine that is basically a beef stew served with gnocchi and I can highly recommend it if your visiting the area. We enjoyed the evening but the long day was catching up with us as we paid and moved onto looking around the small town. We grabbed an ice cream and also shouted our boat manager Felix one as he just happened to stumble across us at the right time. I can’t believe how cheap the ice cream here is with one scoop and a cone/cup being 10Kr which is only £1.20 ($2.40 nzd)- an absolute steal!! We found a few more shops of interest and Averill brought some boat shoes so she was able to swim and walk on the spiky rocks but Lew and I couldn’t locate a ball to keep him occupied during the swim stops. We also found a very clever wee shop called Atelier Marina Car where the women dyed her own materials and then stitched on beautiful very abstract designs into these small bags. Averill and I admired them for some time as she tossed up her favourite one to purchase as a small make up bag and she finally decided on a yellow and blue one. The women was very grateful and I really recommend having a look in this place if your in need of a gift idea or even just appreciate handmade items. We had a quick look in the building that they used to use as a dry dock that now housed some art before walking down the other promenade in search of a ball. This was clearly where all the bars and clubs were as the music was pumping and the night was only just getting started for some people. No where was selling balls obviously but we walked up the back from the waterfront and found all sorts of food and bars hiding up there. Lew even suggested that we hung out for a drink for a bit but my eyelids were slowly drooping closed and we decided instead to make our way back to the boat.

Lunch paired with some crepes for dessert

Grabbing a sneaky bite to eat ignoring the tour

Spanjola - Hvars fortress on top of the hill

Tuesday 18th September

1 years today since we arrived in London!! Oh how accustom to the London life we have become riding the tube everyday and being used to the hustle and bustle of a big city. But its so pleasant having the opportunity to be in Croatia for a week on a boat. This morning we left the harbour even earlier at 6am and I was incredibly pleased we hadn’t stayed out later last night drinking. The engine droned away but we managed to stay asleep for an hour or so before I thought it was time to get to breakfast. The plan for this morning was that we were heading into the small town of Bol for two hours before making our way to Split for the afternoon and to stay overnight. We arrived into Bol pretty quickly and I had to drag Lew out of bed to get breakfast so he didn’t miss out as the boat begun to dock just before 9am. This was the first small town we didn’t have a tour planned and we had free time to explore by ourselves. Lew and I hadn’t planned a thing so we were lucky Averill and Paul had their Croatia book and had a plan for the morning. Bol is the oldest coastal town on the island of Brač and has many many beautiful beaches which we could see as we made our way into the port. One of the largest and most beautiful attractions of the Adriatic is Zlatni rat (Golden Horn) which is a small peninsula of sand and small rocks surrounded by clear blue sea. As we were dropped off I had a chat to my parents on Facetime as we wound our way around the east coast to the Dominican Monastery. We weren’t able to get into the monastery but it had a beautiful old church overlooking a graveyard full of locals. It was called the small church of St Ivan and Teodor built between the 9-10th century on top of the remains of a building dating back to the 6th century. There wasn’t anything else of note here and we walked back to the main center which was a small sheltered port with local fishing boats of all shapes and sizes moored in together. We hunted through each of these wee shops looking for a ball but only had luck when we walked down to the west side of the island where there was lots of shops selling snorkeling gear and blow up water toys. Purchasing a Croatian volleyball for 70 Kr (£6/$11.80 nzd) we were happy and wandered down past the rest of the stalls under the tree lined walkway. We had to be back at the boat by 1030am to set off to Split so we made our way back catching up with Alice along the way via Facetime and eating an ice cream. The captain took us just off the coast of the Golden Horn where there were lots of boats of all sizes hanging out enjoying the water and sunshine so we could have half an hour of swimming before continuing to Split. Lew got his drone out and flew around the boat catching some footage of us playing with the ball and doing laps around the boat. Finally he got in too for a short time before the anchor was pulled up and we headed off. We spent some time sunbathing and relaxing on the top deck before we begun to approach Split. This place was a lot bigger than I expected and was sprawled across the waterfront with even some modern buildings in sights. We had just finished lunch as we approached the harbour and we had a walking tour leaving at 3pm. We grabbed our headsets and packed a backpack ready to explore. With it being so early in the afternoon it was at last 30 degrees and not the best time to be wandering around the city but it was by far the best walking tour we have done. Our guides name was Anton and he begun the tour by telling us the same things we had heard on every other tour and that was who first inhabited the islands. However, the in 295 AD the Romans made a bit more of a mark on current day Split due to the Roman emperor Diocletian building a palace for his retirement here because of its location close to the large Roman settlement Salona (present day name is Solin - 5km from Split). He lived here until he died in 313 AD and after that many Roman rulers continued to use it as a retreat until it fell into a state of disrepair in the 6th century. In the 7th century the palace became inhabited by civilians fleeing from nearby Salona and this became the place of many local businesses and home. Now Anton showed us a photo of what the place looked like before it fell into disrepair and we could see behind us that some of the walls and towers were still standing. The sea used to come right up to the palace wall so what we were currently standing on was reclaimed land. Anton took us in through one of the main entrances and we admired the high ceiling made of brick and terracotta tiles that had been restored and the underground area now holds markets selling all sorts of touristy items. We walked up some stairs into the main square of Split which was very impressive with 16 columns all reclaimed and brought over from Egypt. There is also a total of 12 sphinxes dotted around the place, one of which we could see in front of us. The strange thing about it was that it had human hands instead of the traditional lion hands. During restoration of the bell tower a large stone fell and split the sphinx in half so it has a large crack in it but otherwise it is surprisingly intact. We followed Anton into a beautiful round building which was the entrance into the roman emperors chambers and is now used for its ambience and sound effects as a local Croatian singing group made up of 5 men sung to us tourists and handed out their CD for a small fee. Averill purchased on to take home. The home was certainly massive as we walked through the remains of the dining room and what is called the vomitorium attached to it. It is thought that during Roman feasts they would stuff themselves silly before taking a trip to the vomitorium and purging before returning to stuff themselves full of more food!! However, doing a bit of googling it seem that this is also the term used as an entrance way into a large stadium or area to house a lot of people and seeing as the dining room was quite large it could have been used for that purpose as opposed to purging. The walked out the exit of the palace where Anton pointed out an impressive structure of a free standing beam made of rocks slotted together that still remain today. Whilst it is somewhat easy to produce a free standing archway a beam is a different story and I can only imagine how they managed to get that to stay upright. We were now on the outside of the palace looking back into it and there was a large statue of a man called Bishop Grgur Ninski who is a hero on the island for he stood up for the local people and believed that church services should be held in local Croatian and opposed to Latin. Anton walked us back down some small streets before the tour ended back on the waterfront and we were to be left to our own devices now. Karen had been recommended somewhere for dinner from the gallery owner she had visited back in Bol so we plugged that into Google and walked the short 4 minutes to try and make a reservation for 7pm tonight. We found it easily but they made no reservations but we vowed to meet back here at 7pm for a table anyways. We headed our separate ways and Lew, Averill, Paul and I went wandering around the old city coming across some very French/Austrian architecture very different from that of the Diocletian palace. We were all feeling a little exhausted as holiday mode had certainly caught up with Lew and I over the past few days. We ended up sitting on the waterfront people watching drinking some Pipi juice which Lew ran off to get. We were intrigued by the fast growing group of local men next to us who seemed to be speaking fast Croatian and pointing out to boats and people passing by. They eventually grew so big that we had to squeeze onto one beach and one of them even got out a magazine for Averill to sit on instead. They seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as we were. Finally it was 6.30pm and we headed back to the boat for a toilet stop and a change of clothes before heading up to the restaurant. We only had to wait 20 minutes for the table at Villa Speiza to become free despite there being 6 of us. The food on the menu all sounded delicious and it was hard to pick something to be honest. We all ended up getting something different - Lew got some sort of steak dish, Averill got some stuffed peppers, Karen got some calamari and I got the shrimp and courgette pasta. I’m not sure what Paula and Justin got since they were at the other end of the table but it all looked and smelt amazing. I would highly recommend this place if you need dinner in Split. None of it is overly expensive either with most of the dishes being between 80-120 Kr (£9.50/$18.80 nzd-£14/$27.70 nzd) and this was a huge portion. Post dinner we of course found somewhere for ice cream and wandered down the side streets. Thankfully we had got into Split at a reasonable time in the afternoon so we were able to head back to the boat for an early night post dinner.

What Emperor Diocletians palace used to look like

Entrance into the Roman emperors chambers and the Croatian choir

My shrimp pasta. Croatia a little early on the xmas decorations…

How we spent our downtime on the boat motoring from one place to another

The interior of Emperor Diocletian palace

Wednesday 19th September

We headed out of Split early at 7am again and we were woken to the noise of the engines. We got up and had breakfast since we were stopping into a small town called Pučišća for 10am where we had the option of visiting the stonemasons school. The town is located in an inlet so its very sheltered from the main ocean and coming into the town we could see the lovely buildings all dotted around the cove. The day was going to be another hot one at 30 degrees so we slip slop slapped and walked the gang plank to begin the tour. This stonemason school was started in 1909 and every year there are two classes of 25 students entering the school to complete either a 3 year craft school to become a stonemason or a 4 year educational school to become a stonemason technician. There are 22 teachers in the school that include multiple engineers and sculptors that hold professional and theoretical classes for the students. The stone that is used is white and called Brač stone which is brought to the school from the local quarry. The designs made by the stonemasons at this school have been used in a few famous buildings including the White House, and both Vienna and Budapest’s parliament buildings. We had our own private tour organised and the man showed us around the finished products which included massive water features which they said would cost around €14,000 (£12,400 / $24,600 nzd) which we didn’t think was all that expensive considering the amount if manual work that goes into each piece (600 hours) and how impressively large this which water feature was. We all wandered around admiring the detail of each piece and we noticed there was some shiny pieces and others were textured. They sand the pieces down by hand to get the smooth texture but the other type they chip away at it individually to make it uneven and raised. There is also a difference between the older stone which is more pure white and the younger stone which has more imperfections throughout it. Both provide an interesting appearance. Once we had finished taking some photos and watching the students work on turning large pieces of rock into masterpieces we headed back out into the sun to wander around the city. Walking along the waterfront there was all the typical touristy stone bowls and items we had seen along the way but now we were more interested in them after visiting the stonemason workshop. I was keen to now buy a bowl to take home but we continued walking along the waterfront as I wanted something that wasn’t just out of a tourist tent. We didn’t find much along the way but the city was very impressive with everything from benches, tables, pavers, and lights being made out of stone so the entire town looked very fresh and new. Karen had found a man and his CNC machine making the stone clocks and other items just off the main tourist drag so we walked up there hoping to get something special. Turns out he supplies the stalls down on the street so I didn’t feel as bad buying something from there as I had my heart set on a particular size bowl that would be ideal for a salad. We chose one for 200 kr (£24/$47 nzd) with a smooth inside and a textured outside in the hope that there was a bit more manual handi-work to get it looking like that. We had some time once we got back to the boat for a swim in the crystal blue water just down from our boat so we left Averill and Paul and walked 3 minutes away. It was almost 12.30pm when we wee due back at the boat so it was a short dip only. The view looking back at the line of three boats and the town behind was just so lovely and Lew decided we better try and get some drone footage. We quickly went back and showered, changed and headed up onto the roof just as the bell was going for lunch. Lew got the drone up and decided he wanted to get a shot of the boat leaving the harbour so we stayed up there whilst I was a little stressed about missing out on lunch - I had been starving since I finished breakfast! The boat begun moving out of the harbour pretty quickly and it became difficult to get the drone back in since it was using it obstacle avoidance. I didn’t realise at the time but Lew turned on spot mode and the thing begun going crazy and ended up hitting a pole and falling a short distance to the ground. Luckily nothing was damaged and I hurried downstairs for lunch. Lew stayed upstairs on the phone and assessing the drone so he was very late. Lunch was an incredible assortment of seafood dishes with pasta and muscles being the entree. Then there was some white fish and a baby lobster for the main course. It was all delicious and we have certainly eaten our fair share of seafood over the past week! Post lunch at about 2.30pm we arrived into another town called Makarska which felt different to the others we had been into with it huge rocky mountains behind and the seaside town sprawling along the waterfront. Most of us were outside on the top deck watching as the boat came into the city port and was tied up at one of the docks opposite the city. We had no walking tour organised which we were thankful for and this meant we could spend the afternoon on the small beach just 5 minutes walk away from the boat. Gathering our swimming items and books we made our way down and ended up perched on one of the rocks since there wasn’t much beach space. We swum, read books and relaxed for the next couple of hours before going back to the boat to shower and change for some city exploring now that the weather had cooled slightly. At 6pm we headed out on the town walking down the promenade and admiring lots of local shops and reading menus of many restaurants deciding what we would do for dinner. It was a lovely town and Felix our boat manager had already told us it’s his favourite place with lots of great places to eat for cheap and a cave bar. We had organised to meet him at the cave bar later on. Dinner was at Hotel Biokovo where I ate fish again, Averill had a risotto and the boys ate pizza! Post dinner we wandered back down the promenade picking up an ice cream for dessert and went back t the boat. I had a nap as I wasn’t to pleased to be going back out to a bar at 11.30pm for a drink but Lew is clearly feeling his incoming birthday and keeps saying we need to have fun whilst we are young! At 11.30pm we made our way back to the beach where we were this afternoon and by night the cave is turned into a club with loud music, cocktails and well to be honest a lot of Australians. We had a drink and chatted for a bit with Felix telling us lots of stories about how busy and crazy this place is during the height of the summer season. It was a little dead with it being a Wednesday night but the cocktails were excellent! Plus converting into pounds it was only £9 ($18 nzd) for a cocktail and a beer - you would pay that for a cocktail alone in London! We headed to bed just before 1am.

Thursday 20th September

The days on the boat are numbered and today we are heading to the national park on the island of Mljet where we will be parking up at Pomena for the night. There is a big boat BBQ tonight and we are able to get off the boat and kayak, bike, hike and swim which we are super excited about. Everything was the same as the rest of the mornings - woken up to the engine noise, breakfast and then motoring to our next stop where we will be able to have a swim before going into the national park to stay for the night. For the swim stop they tucked us into this little cove off one of the islands before we would sneak past Korčula in a small channel. It was very sheltered and beautiful and we all wanted to make the most of the swimming since tomorrow we would be back in Dubrovnik. We stayed here until lunchtime and we all warmed up on the top deck watching some Netflix and tanning on the sun loungers. The only annoying part about lunch is the fact that we have to get changed and sit inside for an hour or so whilst we are served a three course meal! It’s going to be very hard getting used to sandwiches for lunch again! We arrived into the island of Mljet which had a few restaurants and houses dotted around the pier. The captain manoeuvred us around so we drifted in next to the next boat so efficiently there wasn’t even a bump and the boats came together! We all hurried to get off and Felix directed us towards the ticket booth where we had to pay 125 kuna (£15/$29 nzd) for an adult and 70 kuna (£8.50/$ 16.40 nzd) for a student to enter into the park. We then decided our mode of transport for the 6 of us was to be some mountain bikes so there was conveniently a man renting bikes next store that we went to. Karen managed to haggle him down by 10 kuna (£1.10/$2.15 nzd) since there was 6 of us wanting them but actually when iv converted that now it’s not much money at all! Anyway the man was happy with this so we paid 70 kuna (£8.50/$16.40 nzd) each for 3 hours of bike rental. The maps we were given weren’t fantastic and neither was google maps but the tracks were all well sign posted. This National Park is a large area that has two salt water lakes within it that consist of Veliko and Malo Jezero (large and small lake) that stretch about 4km. Within the large lake is a small island (Sveta Marija) with a building of the former Benedictine Monastery erected in the 12th century but this building now is home to a cafe. We all set off along the part gravel and partly sealed roads that continued around the lakes. The water was of course very clear and it felt so nice being off the boat and out of a city in the fresh air. It was a hot day but thankfully a lot of the track was in the shade. We could see the Benedictine Monastery from afar and took a few photos as it was very medieval looking. We decided we didn’t need to take a boat across to check it out even though we are pretty sure that the small boat across is included in the ticket price. The track wound around in the trees and we saw the Monastery from all angles and passed a few of our crew mates coming the other way. There was a beautiful sheltered spot on the side of one of the lakes that we all brought our bikes down too, changed into our togs and had a bit of a paddle. It made things a little difficult as we then had to change and make our way back around the coast the cool off was definitely a welcomed reward. On the journey home we came across a small cafe on the lake front with vines covering its pergola above. It was empty but it was the kind of place we imagined it would be difficult to get a table at during peak season. The local man was very pleased to have some customers and we hung out for half an hour in the sun relaxing before making our way to the boat. On the way back Lew and I took off a bit quicker since there was a bit of a hill and we knew there would probably be a bit of walking from the rest of the crew. Turns out they actually ended up falling over each other and poor Averill was so covered in dirt she had to wash her clothes and backpack! We dropped our bikes off and wandered around the coast contemplating another swim. We kept a watch out for the Commons clan coming back because we were a little concerned they might get lost along the way! They were fine and we all changed and made our way up to the BBQ dinner. Turns out we were seated like we usually were for lunch and dinner the first night and we were served the three courses with the addition of the aperitif - some sort of local liquor that tasted nasty and burnt the entire way down your oesophagus. We were supposed to be getting 4 types of meat which we did but we all expected it to be a bit more relaxed with an actual BBQ and more of a buffet type dinner. Lew was starving and wolfed down his meal which meant there begun to be a chain of unwanted meat heading down the table to him as if he were a rubbish bin! Averill asked if there was anymore but the answer was no so we tried to stuff him full of bread. It was probably the only meal on the boat that was a little bit of a let down since we paid €20 (£18/$35 nzd) per person and we have gotten a feast if we had headed to shore to the local restaurants. Never mind it was too late to do anything about it now! One of the Auzzie couples (Mick and Tricia) thanked the crew for us all and we also had a vote as to what type of dessert we were all eating. Their couple won that also and their reward was that they had to dance first. Our barman Mate had already begun playing some awful 60’s/70’s/80’s music playlist off Youtube so didn’t waste any time getting up and grooving around the floor whilst we all laughed our heads off. Lew and I headed outside as we were sitting right by the TV and the music was terribly loud and from here we could see Averill, Paul, Justin and Karen dancing away. It didn’t last too long as the TV was switched back to the football and the crew and Lew all gathered around the stereo which was supposed to be pumping out music on all levels of the boat for our party tonight. But it was broken and no one knew how to fix it since it was so old. I spoke to Felix about other music options but there wasn’t really any since no one had an auxiliary cable. The boat next to us had its music blaring and its party lights on whilst we had nothing. Finally the sound of Ricky Martin’s Livin' la vida loca began pouring out and the party was back on. Lew and I sipped away at a martini (Paul was adamant I would like these with them being very sweet) and a GnT for Lew and watched everyone dancing. We decided to walk around the waterfront since we weren’t in the mood for dancing as we didn’t know half the songs everyone was singing along too. There were loads of wee restaurants along the harbour and we spotted large schools of fish swimming around in the lit up water. There was even a type of squid we stopped and admired. A women from the local restaurant then brought out a medium sized flat fish and begun descaling it right there on the side of the dock which we stayed and watched for a bit. I need to experiment with cooking entire fish at some point although London isn’t the best place to get fresh fish. We ran into the rest of the Commons crew who were doing the same as us but going in the opposite direction and we headed back to the beach bar. The alcohol on board the boat wasn’t overly cheap and there wasn’t much of a range either. Lew ordered us a couple of cocktails and soon after Averill & Paul joined us. We could see the boat and everyone dancing on it at the back but once we had finished our drinks we called it a night. We were heading back to Dubrovnik tomorrow and the boat was taking off at 6am so it would be an early wake up!

Sitting in the afternoon sun for a drink

Veliko and Malo Jezero Lakes (small and large)

Friday 21st September

Sure enough the motors powered on at 6am and we managed to sleep through them for a little bit or at least until breakfast was being served at 7.30am. I was the first up and sat by myself checking my emails until Averill and Paul emerged. Lew was obviously exhausted and was still in bed for at least another hour but that kid seems to be able to sleep through anything! We powered for the next few hours stopping once for our final swim stop before reaching the mainland again. Everyone was complaining how chilly the water was compared to the other swim stops we had been at so it took a bit of encouragement to get in this time! But how could you not when the days here are numbered and looking at London’s weather it is cold and raining. Lew flew the drone around us again for a bit before coming in himself. We relaxed in the sun post swim reading until the bell went for lunch at 1230 on the dot. We ate lunch stationary at the swim stop for once which was pleasant as we could hear everyone with no drone of the motor in the background. It was tuna for lunch this time which was divine as all the previous meals had been as well! In fact we never saw the poor cook Maria out of the kitchen at all! As lunch was completed the anchors were pulled up and we begun the final journey into Dubrovnik. We couldn’t see the old town as we docked up where we had left from which is about a 40 minute walk from town but we had a bus to take us into town this time. I had organised to collect everyone emails addresses and I had signed Lewis up to take a group photo in which I would send around the group. This was the last time we could do it anyways as a couple of the people were leaving early today for flights or to move into accommodation in the city. Our guide Sanja was already there in her beautiful flowy coloured dress and she took a photo for us. We only managed to get Felix in the photo as the rest of the crew had work to do since we had just arrived which was a shame. Then we were loaded into a big bus and Sanja begin introducing us to the city of Dubrovnik. We had already wandered around last Saturday when we arrived so we were already aware of some of the history but we were driven around the outside of the wall which she said used to be a moat rather than the road it is now. We were dropped off by out bus outside the main city gate entrance with all the other hordes of tourists present - I think it was actually quieter last week when we arrived. Sanja began telling us about how Dubrovnik was its own independent state between 1358 and 1808 until it was abolished by Napoleon. She also pointed out the building that is believed to be the first pharmacy in Europe. Sanja walked us around some of the buildings, churches and the waterfront and we came across a few small lanes with interesting shops we would come back to once the tour was done. Dubrovnik has the second oldest synagogue in Europe (the oldest being in Prague) called the old Sephardi Synagogue and Jews were recorded to be present in the city from around the 13th century as they begun to be expelled from other European cities such as Spain. There were a lot of cats lying around in the sun and I went to pat one of the older looking ones close to where we were walking…she was not interested at all and I left with a large scratch down my hand that was bleeding. I won’t bother trying to get close to the local animals again! Once the tour was over we of course went to see a couple of cute shops that were designers from Croatia and found the ice cream store she also pointed out to us. We decided the day had cooled down enough to finally walk the famous wall surrounding the old town. We had to purchase some tickets for 150 kuna each (£18/$35.40 nzd) of which we had the exact amount of change but the women at the desk refused to take the 10 kuna note that was ripped. I was so angry as we didn’t want to have to get more money out as we were leaving tomorrow but Lew went next door and asked another lady for some taped and put it back together. Lew took it back and the women could tell it was taped and had to get her supervisor to accept it. Thankfully he came out with a couple of tickets for us and we made our way to the great wall! Averill and Paul were with us to and we made our way to the Pile gate entrance and then climbed up the steep steps to where the walk began. In total the wall is 2 km in length and varied in height and thickness at different points with it tallest area being 25m and its thickest being 3m. Majority of these walls were built between the 14-15th century but over the next few centuries they were extended and strengthened. The view over the old town was automatically better than anything we had seen so far since we were high enough to see the entire city and right out to the sea. We walked up the to the highest point on Fort Bokar which took 100 years to built and became a prison in the 19th century when Dubrovnik was under Austrian rule. At the top of Fort Bokar we had a stunning view of the small cove below and the fortress of Lovrijenac which was separate on a tall rock across from us and was used to protect Pile gates from attackers from the land or sea. The wall was a little busy especially when everyone wanted to stop and take pictures from all angles at all times it was so pretty. We overheard one of the English tour guides mentioning to her group about the rubble below us which she said was from the 1991 bombings and it clearly hasn’t been rebuilt. However, it is obvious that a lot of the building have been rebuilt as you can see the difference in the colours of the brick and also with the terracotta roofs. Peaking below us on the right hand side we could see the beach bar we spent some time at last saturday with people jumping off the rocks into the ocean below. On the other side the wall was very steep and we could see right into some peoples houses or backyards or down to a street within the old town. We stopped to take a few group photos over the city as we neared the end which was where the Mincenta Tower is located which was first begun in 1453 after the fall of Constantinople which alarmed the people of Dubrovnik and they decided they needed their own defence system. You can walk up to the top of the tower which then gives you an even more spectacular view over the expansive amounts of red roofs below. This was clearly the favourite instagrammable spot! Feeling a little hot and ready for some dinner we finally made our way down off the wall. We scouted out a few potential options to eat but ended up going to the Taj Mahal which is a Bosnian Restaurant where Averill and Paul ate on their first night here and really enjoyed it. We were sitting in one of the narrow dark alleyways lit up but only a tiny candle as the sun went down behind the wall. We ordered a some traditional food which was some fresh pita bread, Pljeskavica (traditional burger) for the boys, Bamija (veal stew) for me and the roast peppers for Averill. The food was absolutely fantastic and I dont think iv ever had such fresh and tasty pita bread. It certainly was a treat for our final night. Post dinner we had a short walk back outside the main gate of Pile where the bus stop is and there was a private bus for Splendid leaving at 8pm that we would catch back to the boat. They had moved it since we had been dropped off so it was going to be interesting finding it as no doubt there is multiple boats tied up next to each other again. Sure enough we were dropped off by the bus at the new port and we clambered over at least three different boats before we recognised the interior of our one. We spent the rest of the night packing up all our stuff as it would be an early morning tomorrow since our transfer out to the airport is leaving at 7.30am for our 10.30am flight back to London Gatwick.

Black triangles show every house that was hit during the bombing in the old town

View back over the fortress of Lovrijenac (left) and Fort Bokar (right)

Our beach bar where we sat on the first day of the trip

Remains of the 1991 bombings. We spotted about 14 cats down here

Saturday 22nd September

The alarm went off bright and early at 6.30am but it was nice not to hear the drone of the motor for once. We had some quick breakfast, packed the last of our things and said our goodbyes to all the fabulous people we had met over the course of the week. This is where we would say goodbye to Karen and her partner Justin as they were staying in Dubrovnik for a couple nights before heading back to France for a trip. we were loaded into a van, giving our final goodbyes to the rest of the Commons clan before making the journey around the coast back to the airport. We sped though check in, security and customs with no issues and it was until we were on the plane and Lew was tucking the ball we had brought into the overhead compartment that he was told by the airhostess that this was a dangerous item on board and we must deflate it or they would have to offload it. Little did she know we had discussed this in depth the night before as to whether the ball would be ok underneath the plane and we had come to the conclusion that it would be much better in the cabin where the pressure change is less, hence it was carried around the airport and onto the plane! We queries why we had got it though security wiht no questions asked and she said she didnt know but she would be writing an incident report. Lew also used his “im an engineer and it will be fine” argument but we ended up struggling to deflate it using one of Averills sewing needles she had with her as they couldn’t offer us anything to deflate it with. We squeezed it down to 30% like they wanted so we were able to keep it with us. It did inflate a little when we got to maximum altitude but it certainly wouldn’t have popped but it may have stretched the stitching holding the bladder inside. Once we arrived into Gatwick, we passed through the E-gates, collected our bags and made our way to the train station. The weather was a chilly 10 degrees and raining which was very different to what we had just come from and despite putting on some trousers we were all a little under dressed. Once we arrived into London Victoria station we walked Averill and Paul (in the drizzle!) to their Pimlico Airbnb and stayed with them for a cup of tea before heading back to Stockwell since I had an Ocado grocery order due and we were having them back around for dinner so we needed to do some cleaning and dinner prep. We would all be staying in London for a week and Lew and I would head back to work whilst Averill and Paul up with friends and shopped before we leave for Morocco on Monday 1st October. It will certainly be a welcome relief to get back into the heat and sunshine for another two weeks before submitted to another long, cold, sunshine-less UK winter. Some photos below of the week in London with Averill and Paul.

A much needed coffee and chocolate biscuit stop before taking the train into London

Lew’s 27th Birthday Lunch at Theo’s Pizzeria and a comedy show at Club 99 in the evening

Hamilton! The best West End show we have seen so far

ShannenSeptember 22, 2018Croatia, Hvar, Split, Dubrovnik