Suddenly it was the last day
of our Croatia Sailing tour. We were headed back to Split, but not without a
final swim stop.
This meant everyone on deck
for a final plunge from the top of the boat. It also meant some hilarious
pictures.
Ready... set...
Gooooooo!
Synchronised divers, kind of
What a splash
Where are you going again starfish?
Solo jump from the roof, ahhh!
We lay out on the top deck for
a last time, pumped some tunes and caught a last bit of sun. But it wouldn’t
have been a proper last day without some rapping from Agenda MC.
Yes, we were about to appear
in a hip hop video – you know the ones set partying on a boat with bikini clad
chicks hanging out in the background? Yep, that was us, featuring Marcus the
pirate cracking us all up.
Dobar dan I’m on
a boat
We arrived in Split later that
afternoon for a walk around town, some sneaky gelati, and to hit up the ATM. It
was time to settle our bar tabs on the boat. Mine wasn’t as bad as expected,
rounding off to about $200 for the week.
Hanging with Gandalf the Grey
We had a final group dinner at
the Goli and Bosi hostel restaurant, where we celebrated Jesse J’s birthday
with tequila shots. It was happy hour and they were so cheap! How could we
refuse?
Bottoms up!
The celebrations continued at
Charlie’s Bar, where we drank cocktails outside on the street and good old
cement mixer shots inside at the bar.
Always a party
Ready to mix cement
Shaaaaaaaake!
Nikki Lab, bartender
Next up was the more chilled
Red Room, followed by a walk to the Beach Club nightclub overlooking the water.
This was probably the busiest club we’d been to all week. We danced the night
away with our new friends before calling it a night and making the walk home to
the boat.
It was sad to think we would
be leaving so many great people the next morning, but have made plans to catch
up with many of them back in Australia. A big thanks to Grace and Trev, Steph
and Andia, Marcus and Jesse J, Cara, Jimmy and Shelly, Emma, Lani, Courtney and
Sally for a fantastic week. And especially to Adam aka Agenda MC, when you
become famous remember us!
I would strongly suggest
picking up a Busabout or Sail Croatia tour around the Dalmatian coast, it has
been an absolute highlight of the trip so far. Everyone I know who has done one
of these trips has had the most fun, and the scenery alone is to die for. I would
definitely consider doing this or a similar trip again, and hope I can make it
back to some of the stunning Croatian Islands. I will miss this place.
Today we would visit two
islands on the Dalmatian coast, Pucisca and Omis. I was still in bed when we
made it to Pucisca and had friends knocking on the door saying we were going
swimming.
Pucisca is the marble capital
of the world, and sure enough we had docked our boat outside a marble workshop.
We swam in a bay, diving into the forever ‘fresh’ water. After lunch on the
boat we were ready to head off to Omis, but not before smiling sweetly at the
captain and convincing him to delay our departure so we could have another
quick swim. Of course he obliged, how could you say no to us?
When we got to Omis we had two
choices; dress for the beach or dress for a hike.
Runners on, sports gear on,
drink bottle in hand – what were we thinking?! We started the hike to visit the
mountain fortress, following our guide Adam (Agenda MC) and some red markers
painted onto rocks.
Yep, we were headed up there
Looking at the mountain or
checking out Agenda MC?
This was the most exercise we
had done since our walk in Gruenau! The alcohol was sweating out of us the
higher and faster we climbed. We went the wrong way and had to go back once or
twice, stopped for a few drinks breaks, and finally made it to the old
fortress.
Wow we were high up. Did we really
hike the whole way up?!
It's a long way to the top if you want a sausage roll
Bop, bop, bop, bop to the top
It was super windy on top of
the fortress, and we could see big grey clouds looming. We climbed up a rickety
ladder unattached to anything, ducked under old beams and cables, and stepped
over old boulders. But it was fun, and we had done it.
Welcome to my fortress, that looks more like a construction site
Hooray, we made it!
The storm clouds were getting
darker and coming closer. With the unique and amazing view, Agenda MC decided
to record one of his new rap videos from the fortress.
Thinking “ain’t no way I’m
climbing down this mountain in the rain”, Ash, Livi, Cara and I decided to make
our own way down the mountain. It couldn’t be that hard, could it??
We climbed down the OH&S
failure of a ladder and started following the red markers down the mountain.
But then there were two markers, and then there were no markers. Where were the
markers??
It was the blind leading the
blind. Somehow we ended up at a dead end, with nothing in front of us but a
huge slope of rocks. Seeing no other way down, we decided to go down the slope.
Extreme rock sliding would be
an understatement. With every step we were slipping and sliding down the rocks.
Laughing and also squealing, falling everywhere. Bear Grylls, who?
This just took us further into
the bush. At the bottom of the rocks was a barbed wire fence, with nowhere else
to turn other than back up the slope. So we really
weren’t supposed to be here. Some of the girls climbed through the fence,
dangerous, I climbed over the fence, equally dangerous.
The fence
Lucky it wasn't electrical
We were the female equivalent of
Action Man, and so far had escaped without injury. And we had made it to a
road! A road? We didn’t cross any roads on the way up?
We found some stairs that we
thought might lead to the bottom of the mountain, and got the fright of our
lives.
A dog! A dog barking so loud
and so close to my face that I almost ran back up the stairs. Did I mention I’m
afraid of dogs? Then we realised we were in people’s backyards. There was an
old man gardening, looking at us suspiciously. There was another scary dog, as
well as an old lady. We managed to ask the lady for directions back to the water,
and we were set on the path home to the boat. We danced and sung when we saw
familiar buildings and shops, and finally made it back to shore.
Clambering onto the boat we
were dirty, sweaty, and dusty with leaves and twigs in our hair, to see
everyone who had stayed up on the mountain already relaxed on the boat. You cannot
be serious!
They were all like, “oh, we’d
wondered where you’d gone”.
How long had they been back at
the boat?! But I guess not everyone can say they got lost on a mountain in Omis
and Bear Grylls freestyled through rocks and trees and nearly got eaten by wild
dogs.
But Agenda’s video turned out
pretty awesomely, despite the storm like clouds, that turned out not to be a
storm.
Agenda MC doing his thang
Time for a shower.
That night it was time to
reveal our special purchases from the day before for our themed Captain’s
Dinner and party on the boat. Yarrrrr me hearties it was a pirate theme!
Bandanas, eye patches, bad
eyeliner and we looked more gangster than pirate. Everyone got into the spirit
of the occasion and we dressed like pirates, talked like pirates, drank like
pirates and played charades like pirates.
Agenda and his pirate hoochies
Yo ho, yo ho
A pirate's life for me
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Captain Feathersword's first mates
Aye aye Captain Birdseye!
Being the better boat that we
were, some of the passengers on our boat bought water bombs from the markets
that we used to attack the other Busabout boat. It was the best fun,
15 of us including our crew sneaking out into the night and throwing water bombs across the dock.
They, of course, did not have
anything to make a counter attack and so our fun was shortly over and it
was off to a bar on the island.
It would have been a sight for
the locals. We were still playing the game; hiding out behind doorways and
under tables with water bombs waiting for the other boat to arrive for drinks.
Great fun.
Planning mutiny
Jolly Roger clad Cara ready for pirate assault
But everyone was exhausted
from the hike, the ambush and the intense game of charades. We walked back to
the boats with our guns, swords, eyeliner tattoos and bandannas, for a somewhat
early night.
Breakfast finishes at 9am, so
naturally I was at breakfast at 8:50am. Booya! The coffee was terrible but so,
so good.
A bit of morning sun, a bit of
pretending to read but actually snoozing and a bit of banter saw a relaxing
morning. Keeping that theme in mind the morning swim stop was easily the most
luxurious.
Have I ever been so happy?
Luxury is my middle name, initials are NLL so it could be true
There was no jumping from the
boat, but climbing down the ladder (who wants to get their hair wet??) and
living the life. It was pure bliss.
We arrived in Makarska shortly
after to explore the shops and market place. We were given strict shopping
instructions for the following night – a themed dress up party on the boat. A
shopping challenge? We’re in.
Hours of trawling through the
market later, we were relaxed at a beach front café drinking proper coffee and
watching beach goers play volleyball in the water. I debated for almost an hour
whether it would be appropriate or not to swim in my bra and underwear – why oh
why did I get changed from my bikinis?!
Spending our day at the Bounty Bar
Playing volleyball or doing the worm?
Surely I can go swimming in my underwear, there's no one here
That evening a stroll along
the beach took us to the restaurant Orka, owned by some players from the
Croatian rugby team. Can I get a hell yeah?!
Menu fit for a king, or a rugby player
Cute date night, with 12 of our closest friends
Family dinner
Waiting for the rugby players to bring us food
Our tour group on this trip
was awesome; we made so many great friends and always had a laugh.
In Makarska we were promised
the best sunset of the week, and Croatia delivered. It was beautiful.
Oh la la
Great looking bunch from "The Better Boat"
How romantic, the loves
of my life
Later that night it was off to
Betty’s Bar, also owned by the Croatian rugby players. Could this night get any
better? The weather was warm, the cocktails were strong – really strong, and we
were with the best of company.
My twin Marcus; same birthday and year, only different parents and country
Ball so hard
Our boat had a drinking
challenge against the other Busabout boat, which we shamefully lost.
Jessie J taking one for the team
Jimmy getting it done
More cocktails, secret
handshakes, hilarious dancing, more cocktails, strange gestures by Croatian men
and it was one of the most fun nights we’d had on tour. It was going to be a
late one, that’s for sure.
After a night partying in
Dubrovnik no one on the boat was feeling fantastic. And it just had to be a
morning of rough sailing.
I don’t usually get motion
sickness or sea sickness, but let me tell you I felt unwell on the boat this
morning.
We were bouncing up and down,
up and down and the weather took a turn for the worse. Everyone felt queasy
with most staying in bed, and lunch was postponed for two hours because the
crew decided everyone would be sick if they tried to eat. Missing out on
breakfast this was even worse for me, I was starving! But it was not pleasant and
poor Livi’s motion sickness got the better of her.
It didn’t have anything to do
with the amounts of alcohol from the night before, trust me.
By the time we had lunch
everyone was feeling better, and we had docked the boat in Korcula for a tour
around the city. I didn’t want a tour around the city, I wanted coffee. Get me
coffee. No more of this missing breakfast bullshit.
Land ahoy!
A Croatian take on a skinny
latte and some Wi-Fi later, we were relaxed at a café. Korcula is known for its
jewellery and stone masonry, with jewellery shops in every direction. But could
you believe we were too tired/ hung over/ seasick to care? Neither can I!
Korcula is also known for
being home to the famous traveller Marco Polo. A childhood favourite game I
was interested to see his house, although I don’t think the coffee or
excitement level had kicked in yet.
The sun, it burrrrrns my bloodshot eyes
The residence of Mr Polo, I think that's him in the doorway
I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat.. no thanks I'm on dry land with food in my stomach
In true Marco Polo Italian style, pizza was on the menu tonight, followed by yummy cocktails watching the sunset from a rooftop bar. Literally a rooftop, where we had to climb up a thin ladder and through a trapdoor to make it onto the old roof. Thank goodness I was wearing a tiny skirt perfect for climbing ladders.
Not.
Good drinks with great friends
watching a beautiful sunset, it was incredible.
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
Thank you kind sir, if it is a blue drink you know it must be mine
Loving life. What hangover? What seasickness?
Croatian sunset, how romantic
But then, the highlight of the
whole entire day.
Watching this Adonis on
Croatian Survivor.
You can be our survivor
Can you come back from Costa Rica for a week while we're in Croatia?
You get the picture??
We couldn’t understand a word,
but we didn’t need to. We were all going for the babe with the six pack. Every
girl on the boat was staring at the TV, listening to him whisper Croatian sweet
nothings. We made up our own rules for what must have been happening in the
challenges, and every time someone switched the channel during the breaks we
panicked we were going to miss whatever it was this perfect human was doing, or
saying.
Sadly once the episode
finished and the hottie lost the challenge, it was off to the bar. After the
night before only Ash, Livi, Agenda MC and I made it out, and I’m not even sure
how we did. But the drinks were delicious and the music was pumping, and we
spoke to possibly the tallest man in the world before heading home and going straight
to sleep. I needed to be at breakfast in the morning to ensure I got my free
coffee.
The yummiest drinks ever, freeeeee for the pretty ladies
