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Well out trip has been good. We are in a net station waiting for our 3 hour delayed flight in Budapest. For some reason the enter key doesn´t work. Will update what we have been up to when I get home.

Our Croatia photos are here

Our last Croatian destination was Dubrovnik. Our accommodation was a really nice apartment next to the old port and we spent all our time in the old town. The old town is very picturesque with full with white stone walls and terracotta roofs. There are patches off roof tiles that you can tell have been replaced after the shelling from the war but the city wall built in the 13th century and also completely intact.

On Friday we went to Lokum Island which is about a 10min ferry ride from the old port. This island is where Richard the lion heart is meant to have been shipwrecked. It was really hot and we spend most of the day exploring the little island.

We came back and sat at our dinner table watching people pass by as they walked along the city wall.

On Saturday it was even hotter. Well it may have just seemed hotter but because we just looking around and not hoping into cold water sea water all the time. We walked around the city wall and got some great views of the city. The rest of the day was a bit of a struggle as we were both looking forward to getting to Budapest.

Our taxi was an old silver Mercedes. There was no boot lock or seat belts so we are a little nervous speeding along the mountains to the airport.

Croatia over all was really nice and probably our top country after Italy. We felt really safe the whole time we were there and I could definitely recommend it to you. Next time I think I would like to sail around it.

In Mljet we stayed in the only hotel on the island. Most of the island is a national park. We woke up early and rented bikes for £10 a day and rode the 4km around the lakes on the island. The scenery on the island amazing and it was great riding around early before too many other people were up.

The two lakes were widened by monks so they could build a mill. They also have a monastery on an island in the middle of one of the lakes. The little island of the monastery didn’t take long to get crowded. Especially as it was the main attraction of Mljet. So after an hour or so we took a ferry to the mainland. We were pleased to find our bikes were we left them especially since we didn’t have anything to lock them with. The whole of Croatia has felt very safe especially compared to countries like Italy or Spain.

We then rode around the other side of the lakes and found a nice inlet called Vrata Solina. There was a cross at the point and plenty of sea urchins which we done our best to avoid.

Our trip to Korcula wasn’t so well planned. We arrived on the wrong side of the island in Vela Luka. However so did a pile of other Kiwis and Aussies. There was a bus to take us to the right side of the island so about 70 of us crammed into a bus so that we were spewing down the isle.
The 1 ½ hour trip was a little arduous with 70 hot and sticky antipodeans, it didn’t helps that we kept picking up locals at each town on our trip too. We were unluckily enough to be standing sandwiched in the isle but fortunately enough to be next to the sunroof getting some fresh air. This stopped as from passing out as many of our fellow travellers did. Susan often feared for her safety on the windy bumpy roads, not helping was the girl behind her who looked like she was going to chuck.

Our accommodation in Korucla was right next to the sea. We wasted now time making use of our location. The swimming was good about from Susan’s obsession that she is going to get spines in her feet from every black thing that even looks like a sea urchin.

That night we went to a cocktail bar on top of a turret. The only way you can get up there is by a steep wooden ladder and they bring the drinks up by pulley.

The next day we went on a glass bottom canoe trip around some bays around Korucla and the island Brac which used to be a quarry and provided the stone for the white house. We also rowed to a monastery on the island of Badija that had been there since the 14th century but was damaged during the war and was only really starting to be repaired now. Our tour guide had been on the front line during the war. Although he didn’t like to talk about it he was telling us that many Croatians had ammo stores as a result of the war. Although no-one seems edgy that things could blow up again there seems to be an attitude of “I worked hard to get this ammo, I’m not giving it back without a fight”.

Sunday was pretty quiet. The sun must have been up for at least 5 hours before we crept out of bed. Our main purchase today was some beach/boat shoes. As all the swimming spots are rocky and there are often sea urchins, it pays to have some water shoes to protect your tootsies. We then found a nice beach to test out our new purchase and rest in the sun for he afternoon after such a strenuous day.

For dinner we found a rustic Croatian Konoba (small family owned dining spot) called Kod Joe. It seemed like the local joint, the fish came out to you when you ordered so you could choose which one you would like cooked. I tried plum brandy (traditional Croatian starter) which burned all the way down.

Hvar the Croatian Madeira
In the morning we popped into our local bakery for some 30p donuts for the ferry to Hvar. The ferry ride went really smoothly, we even arrived in Hvar with 20 minutes to spare which made Susan a little anxious that we were in the right town. After brushing past the becoming all too common accommodation vultures we got to our really nice private apartment.

Hvar is the up and coming be seem place. It’s nickname ‘Croatian Maderia’ is party because it gets the most sunshine hours in Croatia.

Back in town I wanted to rent a boat and look around the islands. Susan not so confident in my skippering abilities made us pay for a water taxi to Zdrilca which is in the Pakleni Islands.
A 15 minute boat ride and we were on a minili beach on this small secluded island. The water was crystal blue there was an island bar and the whole place was really peaceful. After lounging in the sun for a while we dragged ourselves back for dinner.
For tea we found another quaint Konoba. It was a cosy little place that had stools for chairs and wine barrels for tables. For lighting there was a solitary candle on each barrel and the food reminded me of a tapa restaurant served in bit sized platters so you could eat it with your hands. I rounded of the meal with drunken figs although I think the figs get there name for their effect of the consumer.

On Tuesday morning I dragged Susan out of bed so we could look at the Franciscan Monastery and climb to Fortress Spanjol before we left for Korcula. While on top of the Fortress we meet 2 kiwi couples from down south. They were doing a 30 year anniversary of Croatia sailing tour. This gave me a plan for 30 years from now.

Leaving Bristol
Bristol airport was absolutely heaving at 6am as we arrived for our Easyjet flight to Budapest. It was the first time we had ever the queue for Easyjet check in was outside the building. While standing in the queue an announcement rattled through the terminal that our flight was delayed for an hour due to technical difficulties with the plane. This was not good as our flight from Budapest to Split in Croatia only had a small window. As you can imagine this left Susan and I were nervously waiting in Bristol departure lounge trying to decide whether we should get on the internet and book a train from Budapest to Split. However we had a sigh of relief when 20 minutes before our flight was due to leave Easyjet announced it would be on time.

We arrived in Budapest with plenty of time to spare. Our Sky Europe plane looked a lot like and old easyjet plane and as it creaked up the runway I could help be reminded of the “old”.

Our first look at Croatia
The minute we got off the airport bus in Split city, we were bombarded with old ladies offering us accommodation. We weren’t to realise as we are on the shoulder of the tourist season this would be the routine for the rest of the ports we visited too.

We were pleased with our pre booked private apartment for roughly £30 per night and spent no time waiting to get changed into shorts and singlet. The weather was great and it was still warming at 10pm. Town seemed to be characterised by two groups of people.

1 Aussies and the occasional Kiwi.
These guys has all also read lonely planets recommendation for Croatia as the place to visit for the year. Most of them were lying on their packs and waiting for the next ferry to Hvar.

2 Bronzed Italian families who had been coming to Croatia for years.
Generally there would be:
A wrinkly grey haired man in speedo’s playing chess or cards with fellow wrinklies.

A buffed up Italian stallion play handball (like hacky but with your hands) on the beach with other good looking guys. If not in speedo the second apparel choice could be a pair of particularly tight and crutchy beach shorts.

A mega bronzed mum who had been in the sun a bit too much and was now starting to look a little like a prune. The good news (or bad news depending on your point of view) is that she would often be topless as she was working on tanning her breasts.

A bronzed teenage girl who insisted on wearing a bikini although probably not quite well enough endowed to.

And finally a couple of olive coloured kids