Croatia Sailing: Omis

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.

Surprise! Pirate gottcha!

The Wolfpack does pirate night

Long Nikki Silver