From barefaced rocky mountains to lush green vineyards, the
Dalmatian coastline we passed by and Adriatic islands we visited on our 7 day
journey from Split to Dubrovnik were simply stunning. Each town or village we stopped at had a
different feel to it and loads of history to boot, not to mention amazing fresh
food and tasty local drinks. On this
trip we had the perfect combination of swimming, relaxing on board and land
exploration. Below is a brief outline of
the excitement each day brought for us.
Day 1 Split-Makarska
We left busy, bustling, dusty Split early afternoon and
enjoyed a hearty lunch after a quick meet & greet whilst heading south down
the coast to Makarska. En route we
stopped for a quick spot of swimming off the back of the boat before continuing
our journey, hugging the spectacular coastline.
Once docked in Makarska we made a beeline for the beach and
enjoyed the first, of many to come, dips in pebbly beaches before finding a
restaurant with a lovely, leafy secret garden in which to enjoy our dinner.
Day 2 Makarska to Stari Grad
No need for an alarm, at 7am sharp the engine started and we
were on our way. We cut across from the
mainland coastline to cruise alongside the island of Brac for a while before
then heading over to an inlet on the island of Hvar for a lengthy swim stop. Danielle floated away a couple of hours on
her throne-like li-lo whilst Julian had
all sorts of fun; jumping off the boat, swimming across to land and
investigating the sea bed amongst other things.
In the afternoon we docked at Stari Grad-the old town of
Hvar. A cute but lively village where we
quickly located their main beach to cool off before heading off on a 3 hour
guided cycle trek of some of the island.
The tour took us through the UNESCO listed Faroe vineyards and across to
other side of the island to a fishing/holiday village where an ice-cream stop
was called for! After a slight mountain climb and rewarding downhill run with
views across the wine fields we joined our fellow cruisers for a meat fest.
Day 3 Stari Grad to Hvar
Big day of swimming!
We left port shortly after breakfast and found a secluded little bay not
too far away where we anchored in for a couple of hours of swimming time. After a couple of warm up jumps from the
middle level, Julian progressed to leaping off the top level much to the
delight of fellow cruisers!
After lunch we headed closer to our destination for another
swim stop in quiet bay to enjoy the sunshine and pass the time till the boat
was permitted to dock in Hvar. When we
eventually docked we made a beeline for the fortress, steadily climbing the
stairs and making the sweaty ascent to the top to be rewarded with spectacular
views of the town of Hvar and the islands surrounding it.
Day 4 Hvar to Vis
The journey across an open strait from Hvar to Vis, the
outermost island of the Adriatic group, was a little turbulent and made
everyone all the more grateful when we anchored in yet another secluded bay for
some swimming. Unfortunately we had to
leave our piece of paradise after a few short hours as the wind had picked up
and the captain was a little nervous for his boat so we headed for the port in
Vis a little earlier than planned. No
great drama though as it meant we had time to hire some bikes and cruise around
the lengthy promenade, explore the monastery and huff and puff our way to the
top of a hill to see an old fortress.
 |
| Looking down from the fortress |
Day 5 Vis to Korcula
The weather was not in the spirit of sailing Croatia at all
with grey, gloomy skies and quite a hit of rain. The boat was very quiet, with everyone taking
the opportunity to get a significant chunk of holiday reading done. Eventually after lunch, the sun came out just
enough to make a swim stop somewhat enjoyable but it was only a quick one as
the port authorities were demanding our presence in our destination,
Korcula.
This was a gem of an island town, with a gorgeous and well
preserved old town in which we spent a bit of time just ambling up and down the
narrow cobblestone alleyways and exploring the nooks and crannies which these
places have in abundance.
Day 6 Korcula to Mljet
Well this would have to have been our busiest day so
far! We were up at an ungodly holiday
hour to be breakfasted and ready for our kayaking trip by 8am. On said kayaking trip, our guide took us
paddling to a small island where we stopped for a snorkel and sea urchin
tasting before being whizzed back to our boat with a lovely (and possibly too
early?) wine and antipasto treat.
Our boat had moved out of port and onto greener pastures, no
waters (hehe) to our loveliest swim stop yet where everyone from the boat just
floated about the turquoise waters in the dazzling sunshine. Shortly after lunch we docked in Mljet where
we wandered through the national park, which dominates the island, caught a
ferry across a lake on the island to an island on the island (phew!) where a
monastery is situated. We then returned
back and floated about the almost bath like temperature lake for the afternoon
before enjoying sunset cocktails by the water.
Day 7 Mljet to Dubrovnik
There was a big, collective sigh of sadness on our last day
of the trip. We left Mljet early in the
morning as we had a fair bit of motoring to do in order to get to Dubrovnik by
mid-afternoon. We made a quick stop for
our final Adriatic Island swim/float about before lunch and then made a beeline
for the port.
Once in hot, hot Dubrovnik we did the 2km wall walk which
took us right around the old town, literally on top of the wall which encloses
the city. We took advantage of a bar
which was located on the rocks between the wall and the sea and Julian made the
most of the opportunity to take a jump into the water from this bar! A bit of a
wander through the town, a quiet dinner and drinks on board with fellow
cruisers was a lovely way to spend our final hours after seven glorious days
away.
 |
| The bar by the wall, complete with rocks to jump off into the water |
No comments:
Post a Comment