Island Life

Hello again!

So Italy was a good weekend and seeing a bit of the heart of the British Empire has been fun but in May Helen and I booked our first real holiday/tour/visit to Croatia. And then we forgot about it. And then we remembered. And then we got really excited, went to Croatia and had a great time before returning to our little flat in Edinburgh. And somewhere between Croatia and Scotland we lost the Sun.

Being budget travellers we sniffed out a fair deal on Groupon for an 8 day/7 night island hopping, self-guided stay on the Elafiti Islands within sight of Dubrovnik which you may recognise as Kings Landing from "Game on Thrones". The deal was one night in Old Town, Dubrovnik and 6 nights on one of three nearby islands with all equipment (bikes, kayaks and - most importantly - snorkelling equipment) provided. This was through a company called Huck Finn. Naturally Helen and I placed the emphasis on island hopping; the 'tour' operator placed the emphasis on self-guided.

It was an early start on Sunday morning (the 28th of Sept), leaving from Edinburgh airport. Coming in to land at Dubrovnik the first impression from the air is that the sea is made from clear blue glass. An unreasonably long bus ride from the door of the plane to the customs entrance 200m away, a very quick but firm STAMP at the passport desk and we were officially in Croatia; +1 charm to Helen's bracelet.

Magnificent Dubrovnik

The shuttle bus driver dropped us at the Pile Gate which is the entrance to the Old Town, complete with draw bridge - how cool is that! We were given a map to find the souvenir shop in Old Town wherein a lady would give us a key to the building we were staying in. In the building would be an envelope with further instructions about the keys for our room and how to get to the ferry to the island the next day. The stunning medieval architecture and incredible (although somewhat touristy) atmosphere made 'treasure hunt' not just an idea but a reality. The beautiful white walls of the buildings, the huge  fortifications and the abundance of stray cats distracted my navigator and we found ourselves lost in Dubrovnik.

Old Town walls

Luckily Old Town is only about 600m across at its widest point so found our way to the souvenir shop and retrieved the key to the apartment where we promptly discovered the previous occupant had left their bag while they killed time else where before they left and hadn't left us the key to get in. The poor souvenir shop lady quickly went from 'Keeper of the Key - Ad-hoc' to 'Customer Broker and Liason Officer' who spoke something to someone somewhere by phone and then suggested we leave our bags in the hall and come back at around 16:00. It would have been mildly inconvenient if we weren't in Old Town and didn't have an entire medieval city to explore, lunch to consume and cats to play with (Croatian stray cats appear to be more communal pets rather than skulking, sly wraiths of matted fur). So off we set for some lunch followed by exploration.

A side street up to our Dubrovnik room

There's no too much more to say about Sunday. We ate lunch, explored, had drinks at a bar on the cliffs just outside the wall, and explored some more. Tourists and associated money-making opportunities aside, Old Town is an incredibly amazing city that is as old as any of the castles we've seen in the UK but it's still a functioning city the same as it has ever been although it's economics are a little different. The whole time Helen and I were there we kept having to remind ourselves that although everything felt fake and kitch and as though it was a movie set, it was all real and genuine. The makers of the most popular fantasy knights-and-dragons big budget TV series (ever?) didn't arbitrarily choose Dubrovnik and make it an impressive set, it was already that magnificent display you see on TV and that is why it was chosen.

Being tourists!

The next day we headed to the ferry. And we even found the ferry. AND we found it before it left! We're actually quite good at this navigation thing... Our ferry looks fairly impressive as it storms through the water because the captain doesn't really waste time with the view. However, our little WWII veteran vessel did seem a little less impressive next to the bloody great big cruise liners docked in the harbour. ~20 stories of seasick adults crammed in with bratty kids struck with severe cases of cabin fever stuck nose to tail with another floating sardine can; somehow it didn't seem all that much better than our wee little ferry headed out to the Adriatic in search of islands, beaches and ruins from the age of pirates, knights and dragons.

Dubrovnik harbour!!!

The Elafiti islands are a series of islands just off Dubrovnik and I'm sure a geologist could tell you how they were formed if you were interested. But for those of us with other interests we can cope with a bit less information. The three main islands are Kolocep (closest to Dubrovnik), Lopud (the next closest and most populous island) and Sipan (the largest island and the only one with cars) - Helen and I had booked into Lopud. All the way along the water was crystal clear, even in the harbours. Clearer even than Madagascar (for those of you who have been there) - without any significant current in the Adriatic there's hardly any silt or sand washed around.

We were met by our Huck Finn representative who told us a bit about the island which wasn't very much simply because Lopud isn't very big. It's in the shape of a capital (although slightly lopsided) H with the town in one bay and the main road (all 1km of it) from one side of the bay to the other. The main road starts with a quaint little monastery with matching fort just outside the harbour and along the way you will pass THE post office, THE mini market, about 5 souvenir shops, 15 restaurants/bars, THE (fantastic) bakery which also had amazing ice cream and lastly, right at the very end, a gaudy looking hotel which looked like the arse-end of two of the cruise liners we saw in Dubrovnik sticking out of the hill side.

Lopud Island

The are no cars on the island and the main form of motorised vehicle looks like a longer than average but thin tricycle with a 2-stroke lawnmower's engine strapped to the front and a large crate on the back or a golf cart. Vehicles are only allowed in the town 4 times a day to carry freight and bags when the ferry arrives.

With Helen and I were four elderly women from Brighton who had also signed up for the self-guided tour and clearly somewhere along the way the right hand of Huck Finn in its office in Zagreb at the other end of Croatia hadn't told the left hand of Huck Finn on Lopud what the exact accommodation arrangements were to be. Once the dust had settled The Old Ducks ended up in a 3 storey house by themselves with the outside kitchen Helen and I were supposed to have, and Helen and I ended up in a room in the house of Antonov Radic who turned out to be a rather accomplished painter and maker of a liquor which was rather potent! Well, you could be forgiven for thinking that The Old Ducks had the better deal but the joke was on them; the view from our room was fantastic - looking down over the bay and out to sea where we could see the next run of islands stretching up the Dalmatian coast.

The view from our room

After dropping our bags Helen and I went for a walk around some of the town and then went across to Sunj which is the most popular beach on the three Elafiti islands. We had lunch at one of the two restaurants at Sunj both of which have been distilled from pretentious tourist traps full of inflated prices and deflated meals to little more than reedy thatched roofs, good food and the biggest 0.5l of beer I've ever been served.  The seafood in Croatia was refreshingly simple and tasty - it's always best when it was pulled from the sea that morning. But, the highlight of Croatian cuisine (and by extension one of my top 5 moments of the trip) was bruazza which is a traditional tomato-broth based seafood dish. Fortunately for our budget, we only discovered bruazza on our last night!

Back to our trip. After lunch Helen and I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and took our first swim in the northern hemisphere! Just thinking back to our trip and I'm starting to sink into such a state of relaxation it's becoming difficult to keep writing about it. The day we arrived on Lopud was still hot and humid and while it is a stunning region, the word 'excitement' might be rather a strong word to describe much of what happens there. We did try to go snorkelling but apparently a team building group had taken all of the snorkelling gear. We eventually made our way back to town, had supper and did some more serious relaxing. Until in the middle of the night we were woken by the most incredible storm and hurricane winds blowing the island away as the humidity which had been building up suddenly broke and thunderous storm threatened to wash away the entire island!

Relaxing...

The next morning, after recovering my board shorts and boxers from Antonov's garden, Helen and I had breakfast at the house of our Huck Finn representative along with all the other travellers including The Old Ducks, The Walking Group and The Kayaking Group. There was however a conspicuous absence of The Team Building Group but apparently they still had the snorkelling gear. It was still too windy from the storm the previous night to go kayaking. After breakfast Helen and I made our way up to the old fort which sits on the koppie above the town and has views of the town and around the island to rival those from our flat. And kudos to The Old Ducks, as Helen and I were making our way down the hill there they were on their way up. I think Helen and I spent the rest of the day around the town but it was so relaxing I'm having trouble remembering what happened. I think there must have been something in the water (or the beer)!

Beautiful Croatia, view from the Fort

On top of Lopud

The next day at breakfast, with The Team Building Group still absent, Helen and I (and The Old Ducks) arranged to go across to Kolocep which is the smaller island with fewer people (but an extra village) between Lopud and Dubrovnik. It's small enough to paddle around in a day (6 mile trip) and there's a secret cave located along its cliffs that you can swim into. So, with the Huck Finn representative on Kolocep forewarned that the snorkelling equipment had better bloody be there or else..., we caught the ferry over to Kolocep and headed off paddling. The Old Ducks took the clockwise shorter half-route straight to a restaurant at the other village, while Helen and I went anti-clockwise in search of the mystical Blue Cave. We were lucky and found the well-hidden cave by simply aiming for the flattest bit of rock to leave the kayak on. Ariel Helen perched herself on a sunny bit of rock while I grabbed the snorkelling gear and finally got to go snorkelling.

Kayaking pit-stop

While the water is crystal clear and the fish have distinctive markings it is immediately obvious how lucky we are at home to still have the abundance of sea life that we do. It wasn't boring to snorkel against the cliffs of an island in the Adriatic but compared to even the comparatively busy waters around Cape Town the sea around the island was just about barren. The Blue Cave however was very interesting with a very small opening just above the water less than a foot high which then opens up to a cavern about the size of a small room. Looking into the cave is very dark but if you look back out the cave from the inside you can see the sun shining through the clear blue waters and how the cave gets its name.

After the swim, Helen and I climbed back aboard the kayaks and continued our paddle around to the restaurant. By the time we arrived The Old Ducks were already tucking into their lunch and Helen and I sat down to enjoy ours. Helen's fish and my squids were cooked on a braai next to our table and the chef had a novel way of getting it going again when an order came in: a hand hair drier. I can't imagine anyone taking you seriously rocking up at the next braai with your chop, your wors and your Clicks hair drier but it worked really well and I'm not going to argue with anyone who cooks lunch that well. After lunch Helen and I paddled around back to the main town and then hung around at the only restaurant having drinks and listening to the other two tables of South Africans(!!!) while we waited for the ferry back.

Kolocep Island lunch spot

The next day we headed of to Sipan, the largest of the islands. Its the only island with roads and cars and we took the bikes we were provided and cycled across to the far side of the island. We got just out of the town when I got a puncture. Luckily the Huck Finn representative was leaving just behind us and he swapped out the tubes and we were on our way. It was only around 6km across but cycling through the valley down the middle was the first time it felt like we were inland and out of sight of the sea.

Cyclists!

There was a vineyard or two and even livestock for the first time with little shrines to different saints the size of a large grandfather clock along the route. Again, the bay on the far side was very picturesque and we had a picnic for lunch at the mouth of the bay. We even found a friend in the form of a little sole while swimming; he was so friendly he even followed us as we shuffled our feet in the sand dredging up little mites and creatures for him to eat.

Lunch-time swim

Our little friend!

After lunch it was supposed to be a quick cycle back across to catch the ferry. Luckily we left early because Helen got a puncture on the way back so one of us pushed her bike while the other cycled ahead.

Sipan Harbour

The next day we decided to dive below the monastery next to the harbour which turned out to be a hidden gem on the island. Even though we were right next to the harbour, we were just outside and at the base of the breakwater which meant it was facing the open sea but sheltered. This in turn meant that there was much more interesting sea life and more fish to see than around Kolocep. Even Helen decided she could take a break from working on her tan to have a look and it was surreal to be snorkelling in crystal clear water below a medieval monastery on an island in the Adriatic sea!

Under the sea!

Tough life

Happiness :)

Helen then decided she needed to get back to tanning so I kept snorkelling alone. After a few minutes the ferry arrived, docking along the breakwater with its stern towards where we were. I'm not sure why but the ferry captain always left his engine engaged instead of letting it idle which created a backwash along the stretch under the monastery. I was happy to hold onto a rock but unfortunately a lady further along swam out of reach of the rocks and got swept out towards Sipan. Her friends on the shore pointed out the she was being swept away so myself and two other guys headed out after her since she hadn't drifted too far yet. Once we got to her though it became clear that she was okay and in no danger of drowning with the bouncy aids she had escaping from her costume - she just wasn't strong enough against the backwash from the ferry. We got back easily enough and it was smiles and photos all around. I felt I deserved the man beer that evening!

Our final day and we were back in the kayaks and it was off to Sunj beach again - the long way around. And true to form, The Old Ducks decided anything we could do, they could do better so off we set, although with the powerhouse in the back of our kayak we didn't pretend to wait. Along the way we found another cave (although this one was much larger than the Blue Cave) with a handy rock shelf for us to park off on. Helen was back on her rock and I was back in the water when The Old Ducks passed us like the proverbial Tortoise passing the Hare although it definitely wasn't a race at all and we were having fun anyway.

The cave

Sea kayaking!

Another rock, another pit-stop!

After our break we headed off again and carried on to Sunj with informative commentary from the front regarding the faults, limestone and other gneiss rocks. At Sunj, after lunch, Helen put some more serious work into her tan while I went in search of more caves along the cliffs - finding two more before heading back. Then, after a bit of diplomacy, I convinced Helen to paddle back around to the harbour with me and having beaten our time from that morning we treated ourselves to ice cream from the bakery.

And suddenly we were packing our bags and getting ready to head back to Edinburgh. It was incredibly easy to get used to the calm and laid back lifestyle, to learn to appreciate just how fortunate we were to be able to sit along the seafront at the end of a day of adventuring with a (very large) cold beer with supper enjoying the sunset.

Looking out from Lopud

The whole region thrives on tourism and, like home, it's geared towards tourists and there are countless opportunities to sap the money from their wallets in the easiest most hassle-free manner the resorts can achieve. But if you can just sit back and take in the view then you could definitely find yourself in worse places to paddle, snorkel, cycle, walk and explore.

Speaking of worse places to paddle and snorkel stay tuned for our next adventure in a place just as suited as Croatia for walking, cycling and exploring but better suited than Croatia for things like dog sledding, investigating magma chambers and seeing the northern lights... :)