It's going to be very hard to describe exactly how amazing Croatia is. I'd let the photos speak for themselves, but I don't even think they do the place justice.
Croatia doesn't have the huge monuments like the Colosseum, it doesn't have the fancy streets like the Champs Élysées - everything about it is just naturally beautiful and peaceful. The water is crystal clear and bright green, the beaches are full of shells and little crabs, and the shops are all lined with little market stalls selling cherries and jewellery.
We boarded our Katarina Lines sailboat, unpacked our bags into our little cabin and headed to the top deck to get know our group (again, mainly Australians). Within an hour or so we anchored for the first time in the middle of the ocean for a swim stop - which meant jumping off the roof of the boat (3 storeys up) into the water. It was the coolest experience, and the water was so beautiful and clear. 8 days later we still weren't sick of jumping off into it.
Things we've loved about Croatia:
- Having a familiar face from home on tour with me - it was so good to see Jaimee from work as we had a lot of gossip to catch up on.
- Exploring Hvar on the first day, and hiking up to the old fortress for awesome views over Hvar. I am pleased to confirm that a champagne cork was popped from atop that cliff.
- Exploring Korcula, the home of Marco Polo. This little fishing village island is so pretty, we just got gelato and sat next to one of the ancient walls that surround the city to overlook the ocean.
- Arriving into Dubrovnik, the 'Pearl of the Adriatic', and seeing the ancient city walls that surround Old Town. The medieval walls and fortress are beautiful, and the white marble and stone streets inside Old Town are full of souvenir, clothing and jewellery stores, restaurants and a lot of gelato.
- Our walking tour of Dubrovnik. We were a little bit worried about this as it hit 40 degrees that day, but it was only an hour long and was really interesting. That's not to say we didn't almost die from heat exhaustion, but I'm glad we did it.
- Sea kayaking around an island just off the coast of Dubrovnik. Despite this being hard work, we wouldn't have missed it for anything. It was 7km of arm-deadening paddling, but we got to stop in a little cave for some lunch, snorkelling and cliff jumping halfway around. We didn't cliff jump as one guy perforated his eardrum doing it. It's mean but I'm glad he jumped before we did. There was also a dead snake in the water but the guide told us it wasn't a sea snake, it was just a silly land snake that had slipped and drowned. Didn't really make me feel any better though.
- We loved the tiny island of Trstenik. There really is hardly anything there, other than a general store, a few cafes, a beach bar and a whole lot of beach. Which was perfect because we had something pretty cool happen on our boat that day. There was a South African couple on Contiki who had been engaged for over 4 years and didn't want the hassle of organising a wedding. It turned out our Captain was ordained and able to perform weddings, so he married them on our boat in Trstenik. It was pretty cool, Contiki people picked flowers from the island during the day, we had a couple of hairdressers on tour so they took care of the bride, and we all went to watch and cheer up on the deck. I'm pretty sure their wedding photos will be incredible.
- Our pirate and sailor party on board that night. Arrr.
- Unfortunately we had an unforgettable moment in Trstenik when we realised the luxury boat next to ours was an adult swingers cruise. About 30 middle aged couples were dressed up in togas, spanking each other with brooms and tying each other up. We thought they were just being weirdos until one of them extended a highly inappropriate invitation to one of our Contiki guys. It's a pretty strange day when it's not the Contiki group behaving the worst in the Harbour. I wonder if the kids of those people knew what kind of cruise their parents were on.
- Docking in Makarska and heading off to check out the kilometres of beach and markets all the way along the coastline. It was another scorching day so we spent our time dashing between markets and the water to cool down. Makarska also takes the cake for the best mussels I have ever eaten in my life. Or 'mushels' as they call them. They're famous for mussels in Croatia, and they don't disappoint.
- We had a great final night out with our group in Split. We headed off to an outdoor club to dance, and were blown away when John Farnham started cranking out of the speakers. There are so many Australians in Croatia, and everyone went absolutely nuts when You're the Voice came on. I know you won't be impressed Dad, but it was a pretty crazy vibe to have everyone belting that out in Croatia.
I know I am going to have Croatian withdrawals after this trip. I've loved every second, particularly the fact that the Croatians all have my nose. We will definitely come back here one day, and I hope that it's just as unspoiled and beautiful as it is now when we return.
Hvala Croatia!
Kobi & Brian
xxx
Hvar
Contiki sailboats
Inside the ancient walls of Dubrovnik Old City
Buza cliff side bar, Dubrovnik
Trstenik
Split antics
Hi, Great blog. To get to know Croatia, start on the coast. Croatia itself is known as the country of the 1000 islands. travelers,go island hopping by sailboat, hiking in the national parks and many more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog. activesailing
Hi, Awesome images. Croatia and also Hvar, Dubrovnik are the best location for sailing in the world. To explore Croatia, it is best to do in a kept holiday luxury yachts.
ReplyDeletecroatiacharter
Thanks for this post.
Sailing Holidays Croatia you live every moment of, experiences you’ll love forever and areas that this fascinating country has to offer.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely worth to sail in Croatia because of the beautiful islands, you can hire a yacht with a skipper or go on an organized trip
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