On the good yacht Sipnata:

As I may have mentioned, we recently visited Croatia and went on a sailing trip with our friends Nathan & Rachel.  Sailing from Dubrovnik to Split with the tour group ‘Medsailors’, we spent a wonderful week on a 46 ft Bavaria yacht called Sipnata. We were even fortunate enough to score the largest cabin, making our stay even more comfortable than anticipated. Lucky us.

So. Having never been sailing before, it turns out I’m quite a fan. Could have something to do with the whole being on a boat, lazing in the sun, going swimming all the time etc. Although, I’ll readily admit to initially being spooked at the prospect of getting on/off the boat via a plank. Found that more than a bit daunting, given my distinct lack of skills in the balance department. But I made it to the end of the week without ever falling in, so that was a definite plus. Looking back, I’d certainly recommend it as a fine way to spend a week (or plenty more if you have the funds). I would be super keen to do it again and I’m sure Murray is probably now scheming as to how he may one day own a yacht. Or one of the mega yachts that we have passed on the way. Seen some seriously Fancy yachts. Yes, fancy with a capital “F”, they are that opulent and grand. I can only imagine how much money they must represent.

We sailed from Dubrovnik with our itinerary being there to Sipan to Mljet to Korcula to Vela Luka to Palmezana to Sesula to Split. Basically, we hopped from island to island and slowly made our way up the coast until we finally arrived at Trogir (not Split… it’s like at least 1/2 an hour away.. why not just say Dubrovnik to Trogir?…).

Sipan:

The Medsailors sailing trips more or less gives you the opportunity to explore at each location (and a little bit in-between). Our skipper Tina gave us the option to either get up late and go directly from destination to destination or start early and get to see more. We elected to see more. So at our first stop we were left to our own devices before being scheduled to eat dinner together. Some went directly to explore the local bar, but we went for a much larger than anticipated bush walk instead. This took us through Sipan’s scrubby forests via some rather poorly maintained stretches of path (more like nature-reclaimed dirt road) past vineyards, olive groves, various ruins and finally through the village. By which time we had a few well deserved drinks at said local bar and ate a fine dinner at a restaurant there also. The restaurant was coated in a climbing zucchini vine (which in turn was thoroughly coated in yellow zucchini), which was quite quaint. I was mostly jealous, since my experience with growing zucchini involves mystery plant disease and a distinct lack of zucchinis.

As it was the first night, we tried to be social and meet some of the others from the yachts after dinner at the bar. We had been thoroughly warned by the skipper that being a small fishing village, that we were to be quiet by 10pm, and silent by 12am. However, I don’t think the local bar got the memo, as things became progressively louder the later it got. Not that we were being noisy – it was the bar staff that continually upped the volume on the music…To encourage people to dance on the empty dance floor, perhaps?

Mljet:

On the day we went to Mljet, we left early and stopped at a spot on the island of Jakljan for a bit of a swim and a bit of exploration. The bay featured a resort that had been abandoned, although at the time we did not know why. There was even a plaque erected in recent years to commemorate the site. We later did a bit of digging on the internet and found that it was due to finding a mass grave from WWII. Apparently over 100 POW’s were executed and buried in a shallow mass grave there at the end of the war. It was a rather sobering find.

…We sailed to Mljet, to explore the national park there. I had wanted to go kayaking there, as there are two large lakes on the island (offering kayaking). However, our skipper informed us that the national park would be too difficult to get around on foot, and strongly recommended hiring bikes instead. As you might guess, I was somewhat less than enthused. For anyone not already aware of my extreme sporting incompetence, bike riding is not my thing, either. In fact, even now I can still count on one hand the number of times I have ridden a bike as an adult. Me on a bike? It isn’t pretty. Nevertheless, I let Murray convince me to have a crack at it. There were no helmets. Hmm. Safety first. So we rode uphill (Murray rode, I rode/pushed/sweated profusely) out to the lakes (impressive – one cold, one warm – flowing from one into the other) and went for a bit of a dip, rode around some more and visited a cave (not so impressive). Didn’t try the kayaking, as the place was blowing a gale and threatening rain. When we went for a swim we also assisted an old couple trying to extricate themselves from the lake. That was hilarious. i.e. They were hilarious. Good on them for going swimming despite knowing they probably couldn’t get out without assistance. Then we rode home. Or more accurately, I got on and off repeatedly for a bit and pushed the bike uphill (much like I did on the way out to the lake) while swearing somewhat copiously. As there was uphill, there was also downhill. Not sure if that was better or worse than uphill. I can happily admit I rode both the front and back brakes the entire way down the hill for fear of death or dismemberment. Neither of which occurred, thankfully. I’m still not positive if I was having fun or not. I think I was mostly mortified. Having said that, there’s the odd possibility I might be convinced to do it again. If there are no hills.

We had a swim in the marina off the boats and ate dinner at the restaurant where our boats were docked. (Part of the deal – we get to dock in a great spot, if we eat at their restaurant. No complaints there. Once again, great seafood.)

Korcula Island: Korcula town and Vela Luca:

We spent two days here – at different points (Korcula and Vela Luca) on the island. Enjoyed gelato while walking around in the summer heat. Went swimming, drank cocktails from the top of a tower, ate dinner on the promenade. Was particularly obvious here that there are Australians utterly everywhere holidaying in Croatia. It’s like you can’t take two steps without hearing that endearing Aussie twang. Plenty of yachts flying the Aussie flag, as well. Had no idea it was such a popular destination, given how far away it is from Australia.

As I mentioned above, we went for a drink at Massimo’s – a cocktail bar in a tower (complete with crenellations). That was nuts. You had to climb a ladder to the very top, and the drinks were hauled up from the bar to the roof via a pulley system. There was very little in the way of safety measures. The rampart even featured large holes which, if you sat on the rampart, I expect you could easily fall through if you were not taking care (with a fall to the bottom of the tower being your reward, if you would be so unlucky). Still, it was pretty cool. Also, ridiculously busy. Plenty of Busabout people visiting that day (one of the giant get on-get off sleeper ferry boats).

Our second night in Korcula was spent at Vela Luca, at the other end of the island.  We didn’t have a spot to moor here, so we anchored up at a buoy and our skipper Tina rowed us to shore. That was interesting. More so on the way back, when the the water level was lower. Bit tricky to get into the itty bitty dinghy. While at Vela Luca, we ate some excellent (and ridiculously cheap) pizza, had a small cocktail party with the Medsailors crew, and walked down to a nice spot for a few more cocktails by the water. We also had a storm. That was exotic. High winds, and the yacht doing 360’s around the buoy made for an interesting night. Bit noisy with the yacht continuously collecting the buoy and some epic thunder/lightning. Fortunately, no damage to the boat, even though all the boats were in rather tight quarters in the marina.

Palmezana/Hvar:

We also stayed at Palmezana (sounds like Parmigana..makes me hungry every time), and used this marina as our home base to explore the party island of Hvar. This required a water taxi, but apparently staying at Palmezana was the quieter & more comfortable alternative to staying at the much busier marina in Hvar. The island was coated in cacti, all in full bloom. It made for a very different feel, as there have been no cacti at all anywhere else we have been. We later heard from an AirBnb host that one woman had planted cacti there, and it later took over the island. I’ll believe that. Clearly more of an upmarket hangout, Palmezana boasted several fine dining establishments and pretty areas to swim. It would have been nice to have had more time to explore this island, but alas, no dice. Instead, after a quick dip & shower we headed over to Hvar, where we had some seriously glorious cocktails and a delicious fish dinner (again, can’t get enough of  it). It was WINDY AS. Rach and I ended up with blankets during dinner, since the terrace seating was rather windswept. Even found a nice spot for some live music. The singer was uber relaxed, and seemed hellbent on reproducing as accurately as possible various covers. To the point that we couldn’t decide if it was meant as satire or sincerity. Either way, it was enjoyable. We did make an effort to check out Kiva (a bar that had been recommended as a popular hangout), but this was less than appealing (partygoers from Medsailors and Yacht Week spilling out onto the streets as the bar was packed to the rafters). The wind continued to be ridiculous. Uncomfortably ridiculous.

So we moseyed home. We caught a different water taxi home (despite being warned that we must take the same one back again). The water taxi we caught accepted our return tickets, and as there were no other taxis there to take us home there wasn’t exactly any choice. I spent most of the journey wondering whether they were taking us to our intended destination (as the trip took much longer), however Murray was able to confirm (using GPS) that we were indeed headed in the correct direction. We made it home in one piece. Thank goodness.

 

Sesula:

Our last stop. No proper docking this time. We racked the yachts together into a giant flotilla and anchored up together. Sipnata was a bit resistant to this, and it took an exceptionally long time to get the anchor right. It didn’t help that we also caught another yacht’s anchor and had to extract ourselves from that as well. As we were last (always first to leave, last to arrive), we were afforded the joy of climbing over all the boats to get to the dock (and back again). I scored an epic bruise from this, clambering over the boats in the dark, but that was to be expected. At least no one fell in.

We had a buffet dinner with all of the yachts (both the Dubrovnik-Split crew and the Split-Split group) and had a bit of a wander about town. Ate some obligatory gelato. Marvelled at some of the ridiculously grandiose yachts. Wandered home.

Had an absolutely brilliant time, and I’m sad it is over. Now I have an unusual tan line to fix, and in need of some serious hair treatment. Very much enjoyed the trip, with the stops to have a swim in secluded bays, opportunities to explore deserted towns (even if they have a sad history) and the newfound skill of being able to assist with sailing a yacht.

Split:

We had a couple of days here with Nath & Rach before they headed home to London. We explored the locale on the Friday night, and had a fantastic dinner at an olive oil bar/restaurant that our host had recommended. The food was delicious and it was interesting wandering through the cobbled streets in the late afternoon sun. Also headed up to Marjan park to enjoy the view of the city. Very nice. However, there isn’t so much to see in the Old City. So, the following day we hired a car and went to Krka National Park.

Krka National Park:

We visited. In my opinion, it sucked. I shouldn’t really say that. It was beautiful. Just not so impressive after already having visited Plitvice. Similar to the Plitvice NP, Krka is a conglomeration of lakes, with many beautiful waterfalls. However, it is definitely second fiddle to Plitvice (or some considerably lower order fiddle in the orchestra of life). Unlike Plitvice, the water levels were considerably lower, meaning some areas clearly normally underwater were dry and dusty. The falls themselves were not as impressive and the water distinctly less clear. The boardwalks were in poor condition in places. It also cost substantially more. There was both an entry fee and a tour boat that we caught to see an island monastery and Roski Slap (another waterfall at the other end of the lakes). We made a mistake in going on the boat tour, as it was expensive and not all that worthwhile (didn’t realise we could have driven there instead). Meant we had less time to enjoy the venue, as the boat ride was quite long (and mostly uninteresting). Probably ended up costing us about $50 p/p. However, it was still a beautiful place to visit.

We went home via Primosten, a beautiful town we had passed previously on our drive to Zadar. Glad we did. Very beautiful. Seems to be a trend in Croatia.

Trogir:

Trogir had looked particularly nice, so we went to spend the day there before Nath & Rach flew out (since it was both close to the airport and to the marina where the rest of our luggage was stashed). It’s a small town and definitely geared for tourists. We wandered through the markets (the fresh fruit and smoked meats looked amazing..would have loved to have run off with a dry cured ham leg) and took the opportunity to get one last fish plate in for our Croatia trip. This one was interesting in that the squid were not cleaned (nor the mussels) prior to cooking. That was a bit disappointing. Either way, still delicious.

Zadar:

We dropped off Nath & Rach at the airport, collected the rest of our luggage from the marina, and headed back up the coast to Zadar. We spent the last 5 days of our Croatia trip visiting the beach here every day (if it is all stone.. is it really still a beach?) and enjoying the quiet life. Our apartment was great, and when our internet wasn’t working properly, our host even came by with ice-cream for us to say sorry for the inconvenience. Definitely had a wonderful stay. Especially good, since it was close enough to walk to the beach. We even made friends with a little kitten one night. We walked past it on the way home and it decided to follow us. (All the way home!) I was sorely tempted to try to keep it, it was so cute.

Made an effort to stake out a local bbq joint before we left. We had been eyeing off the bbq huts the whole trip – they are everywhere (but not, it seems, in the city). Little brick bbq joints on the roadside, advertising suckling pig or lamb on the spit via dodgy signs or by direct evidence (seen more than a few piggies slowly trundling around on their rotisserie). Having seen so many, we didn’t want to leave Croatia and not try it at least. However, none of the restaurants we had been to seemed to serve bbq… Seems to be a more basic dining option, like grabbing a kebab (not really proper restaurant material). So basic we couldn’t even find any joints by searching on TripAdvisor. Their advice was to drive around or visit the industrial park and you’d be bound to find one. Fair advice. So we got in the car and drove. Lo and behold, we ended up passing a few as soon as we got out of town. Were just in time to see one place take their pig off the spit to be carved. Perfect timing. Turned out to be quite delicious, although it didn’t seem to be spiced or prepared in any special manner. Simple food. With crackling. Pigs are definitely the best ever when it comes to meat.

Shopping in Croatia:

We mostly cooked at home while in Zadar, as we were hankering for normal food (or more accurately, not restaurant food). Croatian supermarkets are a bit weird. There is hardly any fresh meat. Only a small amount is prepackaged (e.g. chicken, turkey and about a million plain chevaps), and the rest is cut to order from the butcher part of the deli. (And even then, there was not a lot… And appeared to be cut with very little finesse.) I didn’t know how to order meat from the butcher, so we ended up eating whatever could be purchased in the pre-packs (fish, chicken, chevaps and something I thought was beef short ribs… but wasn’t).

There isn’t any sandwich bread. Just fresh bread or bread intended for toast. (Looks like a sandwich loaf, but I don’t think at any point in its life actually resembled the consistency of fresh sandwich bread. Comes various brands but only in one style: Stale.)

…I have to say that I’m very impressed with how they manage their fresh veggies and fruit (the sort you would weigh before purchase). Here, you type in the number allocated to that item of produce and weigh your product and it spits out a label with the price. (Unlike Belgium where you had to know what it was called or find it in a long menu, which usually resulted in at least 3 incorrect stickers before succeeding.) Made it very easy for us non-Croatians.

There was also a surprisingly large range of Irish craft beer. Even better range than I’d seen in some places in Ireland. Having said that, Murray still managed to scope out a bottle shop and a bar specialising in craft beer. With a good range of Belgian beer. Nice. It’s interesting to note that so far, the prices in Europe (and the US) are very reasonable (unlike Australia, where if you buy an import or a single you get to pay $$$).

Leaving Croatia:

Sad to say, our trip to Croatia did not seem to last nearly long enough. This is definitely a place I would be happy to visit again. Three weeks is not enough weeks. I’ve been very impressed with the friendly people, the food, the environment,… Everything. I’d like to think that we will go back sometime. Hopefully sooner than later.

Our exodus from Croatia was almost uneventful:

– Once arriving at the airport we realised we had forgotten to refuel the hire car and basically had to drive all the way back into town to get petrol. That could have been bad, but we were early enough to spare the time. Thank goodness.

– While we waited to check our luggage, a french visitor in line offered everyone figs to eat. He must have brought like, 2kg, of figs. I can officially say, I have never (previously) been offered food at the airport. Fairly sure it will probably never happen again. We politely declined. However, many did not, and after, there was a sticky mess left on the airport floor, courtesy of some exceptionally juicy & ripe figs. Wonder if he successfully offloaded his fig hoard…

– I also got the most thorough of pat-downs by a female security guard. I guess the zipper on my clothes (or maybe my watch) set off the alarm, so I was awarded the dubious pleasure of a pat-down. This has happened before, but certainly never with such vigour and thoroughness. She even snapped my bra-strap (not sure what I could have possibly been hiding under that). Odd.

– Went to use up the last of our Kuna in the duty free section, only to find all the prices quoted only in Euro. That was weird. Especially since they did accept both currencies. Would have thought it would make more sense to quote in Kuna… Nevertheless, I managed to spend our remaining money right down to maybe <0.50 Kuna. Gold. It was tough, but I did it. Better than essentially wasting it. (Although it did mean we ended up with a seriously gigantic bag of Haribo gummy sweets, since that seems to be the only size of lollies they sell in duty free.)

Aside from the usual dance of trying to fit everyone’s cabin baggage into the overhead lockers and having insufficient space, our flight was uneventful.

Next up: France.