Sail Week Croatia: Split & the End…

So this is the end… what can I say to get to Split we had a crazy day on the boat. The water was not calm in any way to say the least. We only had one person be sea sick though and that’s because the boat was bucking like a broncho. I managed alright, surprisingly considering I was hungover. When we finally did make it in Split we all practically ran off the boat. For our last group dinner we all waited for everyone to shower and get back together, but once we finally got our Skipper to join us it was 9:30ish. So we didn’t end up having our last meal till about 11. But that was ok because we were all together.

The next day we all “split” up (haha, oh I’m so clever) and headed to our own hotels and apartments. We all made sure that they were luxurious compared to the boat, so A/C, normal showers and at least twin sized beds. We’ve gotten so high maintenance I know… ha. For Helen and I exploring meant some wandering, some shopping and up to the top of the Bell Tower of St. Domnius. The view from the Bell Tower is stunning and the best way to take in the entirety that is Split. Helen and I also of course could not resist one last stop at a beach. Although the one in Split that we went to was concrete, it was still really nice and breezy compared to the rest of the hot city. That evening we met up with most of the group for one last dinner without the skipper who hated us and who’s company we didn’t care for either. The dinner was lush at Uje a olive oil and wine bar and it was the best dinner of the entire trip. But great food and great company what more can you ask for. So that is it for our trip to Croatia. If you read all of this hope you enjoyed it at least a little, because I totally loved it.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

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Sail Week Croatia: Hvar

Hvar is the St Tropez of Croatia, supposedly. But I mean I’ve never been to St Tropez, so what do I know. I do know it is extremely beautiful. First to make it there we had a day of sailing and I’m pretty sure that this was when we stopped in the bay from the last series of photos, but hey oh well close enough. We arrived in a Marina outside of Hvar and took a dingy to the larger Marina to get cleaned up for our night out. So Hvar is more expensive then the other places we when to, but it’s worth it. The group got all gussied up and we were picked up from our boat by water taxi. Which sounds more glam then it was, it was like a teenager with a boat that had us hop down like 3 ft from our boat on to his (and then do the reverse to get back on, chaos). But we ended up in Hvar had another lovely group dinner and started drinking. We found a place with Happy Hour and stuck around there for a bit. We wanted to go to Hula Hula Lounge, but if you want to do that remember it’s a daytime thing so it was only open till 9. 😦 That was ok though because the other place we wanted to go was Carpe Diem, which we needed to get another boat to get to. The club had a good combination of guys half naked dressed as wolves and house music to create a very interesting fun atmosphere.

The rest of the sailing trip continues here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Sail Week Croatia: Scedro

So I’m 95% sure these photos are after we left Scedro and not on the way there, because I got my well deserved sleep in Scedro. But I wanted these photos in a different place from the rest. Scedro was a really quiet bay where we stayed the night, we didn’t do much per se, but with this bunch you can’t really be bored. These photos are from a different bay where we all stopped for lunch and a swim. I had a Garmin underwater iPhone case so I was able to take really cool underwater photos of Pete swimming.

The rest of the sailing trip continues here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Sail Week Croatia: Korcula

Korcula is supposed to be the Birth place of Marco Polo, who knows if that is the case, but it was our next stop. It was one I wish would could’ve stayed at longer to explore more. It was a great stop. We stopped in the Marina and our Skipper had arranged a wine tasting, which was nice because there were very few times he seemed to think about us. But this time he really got it right. We all cleaned up and dressed up, had a quick wander of the town which was sweet and reminded me of an Italian town. The winery was adorable and we tried white, rose and red wine along with various potent liqueurs and snacks to nibble on. The night ended with a trip to Boogie Jungle which was a night club “in the jungle.” We climbed into a party van/taxi with a shag roof and disco lights and ended up in the woods some where. Yeah it wasn’t much of a jungle, but it was a fun night of dancing with cabin mates. 😀

The rest of the sailing trip continues here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Sail Week Croatia: Mljet

Mljet was the next stop in our adventure and it seemed to be the most “adventurous” day according to the itinerary. This day seemed to fit the bill. There was sailing (like actually with the sails up 🙂 ), kayaking, mountain biking, paddle boarding and swimming. I was smart enough to stay away from the biking, because I would’ve fallen of the bike and died. Ok yes I’m being dramatic, but I would’ve injured myself for sure. So I stuck to kayaking which I thought had lower odds to me hurting myself. Before Kayaking we hopped on a boat and headed to an island within the National Park which had a beautiful small monastery. The monastery was partially converted into a cafe and gift shop, but the stone work and turquoise water made for an impressive scene.

The rest of the sailing trip continues here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Sail Week Croatia: Sipan

The first stop on the sailing tour was the quiet island/ city of Sipan. We had a great day sailing and bonding then arrived in a tiny little city where we sat and had a fancy group dinner. I’m not going to lie I normally hate doing group tours and group dinners, because it’s either forced or a nightmare for the restaurant staff. But our dinner was complete with delicious plates full of appetisers, that we didn’t actually order,  and great chat about life. Sipan was covered in stray cats that watched me while I ate, which was less then ideal. The dinner was amazing and the Island of Sipan was a good and chill first stop.

The rest of the sailing trip continues here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Sail Week Croatia: Dubrovnik

Ok so before I possibly get into a rant (I’ll make it quick I swear) about all the things that went wrong, I want to say it was an amazing week filled with great laughs, tons of chat and beautiful surroundings. That being said toilet paper, food and water were luxuries. But hey it was called an Adventure Sailing Week. Honestly I think our issues were due to our Skipper focusing more on getting laid than helping us out (but we’ve all been there so no judgements). We didn’t starve, we used the toilets fine and although we bought a lot of our own water we didn’t shrivel up into raisins. So all and all a success. For the week there were 2 boats each with 10 people plus a skipper per boat, headed from Dubrovnik to Split. I wish I would’ve seen more of Dubrovnik, because the first day in Dubrovnik was spent in the Marina and the next day we were off. My boat of 10 was surprisingly  all UK based, so in theory we should all stay friends :D.  They were all a funny group with interesting lives all 24 to early 30s. We really bonded quick and got along the entire time.

**Also disclaimer for the following posts I am doing my best to place the right pictures and explanations to the right days, but I have probably gotten something wrong so don’t hold it against me 😀 **

So the following photos are Dubrovnik pre sailing:

The rest of the sailing trip continues here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Driving to Dubrovnik

So that was Croatia Rocks, which meant we were off to Dubrovnik. The trip from the island of Pag down to Dubrovnik was anywhere between 4-6 hours, depending on if you took the scenic route. We decided to do something in between. We didn’t want to spend all day driving especially after the long night of dancing to Fatboy Slim. This meant that we drove down the highway (with tolls, which are pricey but manageable).  Which was still extremely scenic and pretty darn quick considering we basically went from one end of the island to another. Don’t believe me? Well here is my map again:

First off I have to say the roads in Croatia are amazing! Like 95% of them were perfectly smooth and easy to drive on. Yes they were steep and windy at times but overall they were great. The trip went really well, just a few minor spats about driving and getting gas/ trying to to break down.  But after spending 24/7 sharing everything together we were glad to not be killing each other. The road to Dubrovnik is a funny one, because you are driving in Croatia and then all of the sudden boom you are needing to pull out your passport so they will let you into BOSNIA. It was like a 5-10 mile stretch of driving where you were simply in Bosnia. Everything went smoothly, but it was strange having to cross the border twice. From Bosnia it was a super short drive to Dubrovnik. Simply over the bridge and there we were.

Interested in my sailing trip? Lots of beautiful people stuck in close quarters on a Sailing boat for a week… what could go wrong. Check it out here.

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Croatia Rocks: Thursday

 Ok so the closing party was Fatboy Slim. I’m not sure what else I can say about this. It was one of the most amazing nights of my entire life. With a great show, really cute company and dancing till sunrise, I really could not have imagined a better night. That being said I’m just going to post these photos already below.

Well that is it for Croatia Rocks, time for the drive down to Dubrovnik!

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)

Croatia Rocks: Wednesday

Wednesday started off with a little adventure we got sick of going to the same beach, which seems totally spoiled now that I’m sitting in Edinburgh freezing my butt off. We drove down the island, got lost in a tiny little town and ended up going down a dirt road to an amazing small beach. It had a bar, but seemed to only have a few tourists. So with bottles of water and a few snacks we were set for the day.

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Then again the night shows were what we’ve been looking forward to for weeks. We got a little bit disappointed when I talked to the VJ who was announcing all of the acts and he told me Years & Years weren’t coming. But it followed with Clean Bandit giving the best performance that anyone could imagine. They were fantastic and even played through the rude guy that through a cup at the back up singer.

After Clean Bandit, Hannah Wants was a nice 180 from large band to her being all alone on stage. She was completely in control of a huge audience. She was fantastic.

Check out the next day of Croatia Rocks here!

(Missed previous Croatia posts? They start here)