It was about two years ago that we decided to go on a kayaking adventure along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. One of my wife's colleagues is Janice, and her husband, Grant, owns Tofino Expeditions, which provides kayaking adventures in various parts of the world including Croatia's Dalmatian Coast; so a decision was made to support his enterprise.
The following is a rendition of the (almost) daily journal I kept of our trip with selected images from the 800+ images I took (and some borrowed from the WWW). There were about ten digital cameras on the trip and we all agreed to share our best of what is probably an astounding number of photos. I'll update and post a link to my web album when the album is finished. If you would like to share, I welcome photo contributions from my fellow expedition colleagues. To view a larger image than what you see in this blog, left-click on the image, then click the back button to return to the blog. Visit my '
Web Album' for more photos (152) of our adventure.
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| The adventurers. |
There were fourteen in our group of adventurers; most are Rebecca's colleagues and a former colleague and their spouses. From left to right they are: 10 yr old Sam, son of Janice and husband Grant; Ed and wife Sally; Steve and wife Reggie; seated is my wife Rebecca; our tour outfitter, Dag, (goes by Doug) who lives in Victoria, B.C., Canada; Janice's friends Karen and Bruce from Vancouver, B.C., Canada; former colleague Patricia and her husband Rocky from Santa Fe, NM; and me. Though this will be Rebecca's and my first trip to Europe, most of our expedition group are well-seasoned global travelers.
For an interactive map of our expedition route
right-click on
Croatia Map to open in another tab or window; don't forget to zoom in and/or toggle between the terrain and satellite settings. If you're ADD impaired like me, you might want to follow the same right-click method to open other links on this page, allowing you to swim back to the surface of this blog after you're deeply submerged in the other links' pages.
And last, to help you put measures and currency into perspective: 1 m = 3.281 ft.; 1 km = .6 mi.; and$1 US = 5.68 kuna (kn), the rate during our trip. Most vendors prefer kunas, although there are a few that take Euros, kunas or both. All times are local time. I hope you enjoy the journey.
Days 1 & 2: Wednesday 06/09/10 & Thursday 10/06/10 (European form)
Our packing list was checked and rechecked numerous times prior to leaving the house. Anxiety level for both of us is high. We thought we'd try something unique (for us) and packed everything into carry-on luggage this trip—a challenge for Rebecca but she succeeded. Both our carry-ons were overweight according to Lufthansa and Croatian Airlines' carry-on policy but we decided to try sneaking them on anyway—the worse that could happen is they would demand we check them through. There was only one instance where Rebecca had to put her carry-on in the cargo hold and that was when we got on the Croatian puddle jumper from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik.
High anxiety persuaded us to push our departure from home back to 9:30 AM. Rebecca's father, José, accompanied us on our rainy drive to PDX and we arrived about 10:45 AM for our 1:26 PM departure to Chicago. (Seems anxiety was actually looking out for us—José commented on our drive home, that on his way back to Salem after dropping us off, there was an accident on I-5 northbound that had traffic backed up for miles.) We got our boarding passes and had lunch at Stanford's before heading to security and the gate. My carry-on was flagged and checked for bomb residue.
The uneventful flight to Chicago arrived at O'Hare International on time—about 7:25 PM. We had a three hour layover until our flight to Frankfurt so we snacked, walked around and Rebecca Kindled. Rebecca's elevated level of anxiety prompted her to say, "I'm ready to turn around and go back home." Our flight to Frankfurt was timely and departed about 10:20 PM. We would next step onto terra firma in Germany around 1:45 PM.
For first-time visitors like Rebecca and I, the airport in Frankfurt can be intimidating and confusing—it's big, with two terminals, and has what seems miles and miles of concourses; not to mention the intimidation of cattle chute-like security. After stepping off the airplane we were bused to the terminal. I think Rebecca's anxiety level peaked in Frankfurt, but being the trooper she is, dodged the bullets, gathered herself and marched on. Again, my carry-on was flagged and checked for bomb residue going through security—what's up with that? Our flight to Dubrovnik was delayed an hour, and our decision to leave cell phones at home, left us no way of warning our welcoming committee and adventuring colleagues of our predicament.
We finally arrived Dubrovnik Airport (located 20 km south, between the towns of Močići and Čilipi) just after 5:40 PM CEST (Central European Summer Time) and stepped off the airplane to sunny skies, warm but humid weather. We were welcomed by Janice's husband, Grant, and promptly driven to Dubrovnik in a black Mercedes taxi.
From the airport, the road to Dubrovnik is narrow, winding and at places, precariously perched cliff-side, descending from a maximum height of 200 m to sea level, providing an exhilarating ride with spectacular views of some of the Dalmatian Islands and quaint villages along the Adriatic Sea.
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| Dubrovnik photo borrowed. |
Except for commercial vehicles, no automobiles are allowed into the old town of Dubrovnik, so we had a short walk over the Pile gate drawbridge, past the town's cistern and down the narrow, limestone-paved streets to Roko House, our lodging for the next two nights. After dropping off our luggage and freshening up a bit, we continued up one level to the rooftop terrace, where we met the rest of our group and our guide, Dag, for introductions, a toast and a brief itinerary of our stay in Dubrovnik. We then walked a short distance to restaurant Steakhouse Domino for a fine Dalmatian dinner.
The Cuisine of Dalmatia
Generally speaking, Croatian cuisine is categorized into five regions in which all have their specific cooking traditions reflecting each region’s geography, history, and culture; the regions are Dalmatia, Istria, Middle Croatia, Northwest Croatia and Slavonia. These five are broadly categorized further into two main regions – the inland and the coastal. There is a distinct difference in the types of foodstuff and styles of cooking between the two main regions. Inland Cuisine is influenced by Central European countries like Hungary and Vienna, whereas the older influence of the coastal regions comes from Greek, Roman and Illyrian styles, and the more modern touch comes from Mediterranean countries such as Italy and France.
The cuisine of Dalmatia and the islands follows the trend of modern nutritional norms. The brief thermal preparation of foodstuffs (mainly boiling or grilling) and plenty of fish, olive oil, vegetables and self-sown herbs found near the sea is why this cuisine is considered to be very healthy. The tradition of grilling and roasting fish and delicacies of the sea has been carried down for generations.
Favorite foods of Croatians include spit-roasted lamb and suckling pig, grilled fish, calamari cooked in various styles, barbeque dishes, mixed grill, prosciutto and sheep’s milk cheese, fish stew and venison. Lamb is also very highly valued, especially boiled or baked on an open fire. Lightly boiled vegetables are also favorite dishes (Swiss chard with potatoes in tomato sauce), and are often a mixture of cultivated and self-sown vegetables, spiced with olive oil and wine vinegar, or served with meat.
Of all the artisan food produced in Dalmatia, there is none as widely loved that resonates in the hearts and souls of the people like pršut (PURR-shoot). If you’re at all familiar with the prosciutto of Italy and jamon of Spain, you’ll know what to expect from pršut. It is usually served as an appetizer with a dry, sharp tasting sheep’s milk cheese, (Pag cheese, made on the island of Pag, a delicacy through-out Croatia, or a similar cheese from Dubrovnik), salted green and black olives, capers and pickled onions.
Restaurant menus frequently included fresh sea fish (dog's tooth, gilthead, sea-bass, grouper, mackerel, and pilchards) grilled, boiled or marinated; mollusks (squid, cuttlefish, and octopus); crustaceans (shrimps and lobsters) and shellfish (mussels, oysters, and date-shells) boiled in a fish stew or as a risotto. (Care to try octopus ink risotto? I tried squid and octopus and thought the taste just so-so, but the texture made the dish less than so-so. Some of our party raved over the octopus salads.) Dried mutton, roast beef, chicken and Dalmatian stew with gnocchi (potato dumplings) are also offered by many restaurants.
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| Seafood Peka photo on loan. |
A Peka, dish under the lid, is a Croatian cuisine specialty which is very tasteful and difficult to compare with any other modern way of baking food. It is a method of cooking whereby the cooking vessel, usually cast iron, is topped with a bell-shaped lid then set atop, and buried under, hot wood embers or coals for an hour and a half or so. I had one of mixed meat (lamb, goat and veal) and vegetables my second dinner in Croatia; it was delicious—although I couldn’t tell which meat was which.
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| Borrowed photo. |
Of the many traditional deserts in Dalmatia, including (English equivalent) baklava, strudel, nut breads, bear’s paw and Croatian pancakes I had a Palacinke, a crepe-like dessert which is often stuffed with walnuts or chocolate and sometimes served with ice cream. But the desert I had most often, as did most of my excursion colleagues, was ice cream, or more precisely, gelato. It was my first experience with European gelato and I must say it tastes way better than American ice cream. I usually got a single scoop cone that cost from 6-10 kn; a little over a dollar per scoop—a genuine bargain! (Photo is borrowed.)
Our usual alcoholic libation during meals was either locally made wine or beer. Dalmatian wines, like olive oil and salted olives, have been highly esteemed since ancient times. Well-known Adriatic coastal and island wines are, from the red wines: Teran, Merlot, Cabernet, Opolo, Plavac (Zinfandel), Dingač, and Postup. The most famous white wines are Malvazija, Pošip, Pinot, Kujundžuša, and Muskat. The Croatian beers most frequently drunk are Ozujsko pivo and Kariovacko pivo. On several occasions we were given complimentary shots of rakiya, the most popular hard alcohol in Croatia.
Rakiya (RAH-kee-yah) is the catch-all term for any kind of spirit distilled from fruit in Croatia, usually home-made, and it pretty much translates to ‘brandy’. Just as there’s apple brandy, plum brandy, berry brandy and so on, varieties distilled from different source materials take more specific names. The shots of rakiya I had during our trip were clear, almost tasteless but very strong; kind of reminded me of gin but without the pine pitch taste.
After dinner, Rebecca and I had no problem falling asleep in our comfortable air-conditioned room. The room also came with a small but convenient en suite 3/4 bathroom. After breakfast tomorrow we will have a guided tour of Dubrovnik, lunch and have the rest of the day to ourselves.
Day 3: Friday, 11/06/10
Breakfast was a short walk to a restaurant just outside Old Town's Pile gate overlooking Pile Cove, which is flanked by Fort Lawrence and Old Town's Fort Bokar. As were most meals in Croatia, breakfast was leisurely and unhurried. I liked our guided tour and history lesson of Dubrovnik, though the weather was warm and humid—85°F with 62% humidity—25 ½ points above the optimum CI (comfort index) according to Rocky.
Town of Dubrovnik
We learned that Dubrovnik (called Ragusa until 1918), has been an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, and was founded 1300 years ago by refugees from Epidaurus in Greece. The city was built on maritime trade and was the only city-state in the Adriatic to rival Venice during the middle ages. It has been home to many mathematicians, painters, physicists, playwrights, poets, and other scholars. Ragusa's slow decline began with the devastating earthquake of 1667 and ended with the conquest of Napoleon in 1806. The 1667 earthquake was one of the two most devastating earthquakes to hit the area of modern Croatia in the last 2400 years, since records began. The earthquake destroyed almost the entire city and killed around 5,000 people. The cities Rector was killed and over three quarters of all public buildings were destroyed. Regardless of its UNESCO status, the city was bombed during Croatia's 1991-1995 War of Independence. Most of the damage has now been repaired or rebuilt but you can still see some ruins and scars on building facades from the shrapnel of exploding missiles.
We lunched on a variety of tasty pizza and cold drinks after the tour and were then on our own until dinner. Rebecca and I opted to cool off in our room for a bit and then I decided to explore and take more photos while Rebecca Kindled.
Around 7 PM we all walked to restaurant Orhan, again, just outside of Old Town down at Pile Cove’s edge; we ate on the outside covered terrace. While Rebecca dined on fish, I opted to have a regional dish consisting of lamb, goat, veal (couldn't tell which was which) and vegetables, cooked in a Dutch oven-like vessel over wood fire coals—very tasty and one of the best meals of the trip. From the terrace you see impressive Fort Bokar just past the clear waters of the Cove. As daylight wanes powerful lights are turned on illuminating the walls of Dubrovnik, creating an even more impressive image of city walls and Fort Bokar illuminated against a raven black background. At dinner’s end each of us, except Sam, were given a complimentary shot of rakija. Very strong drink, and of course not wanting to offend, I did eventually finish the shot after a half dozen sips.
Day 4: Saturday, 12/06/10
Yesterday a few of us had expressed an interest in walking the wall of Dubrovnik in the cool of the morning, just after the 8 AM opening, so asked if we could have breakfast earlier this morning. We were accommodated and most of us were walking the wall by 8:30 AM. We started and finished our walk at the Pile gate entrance (one of three), a steep and narrow set of stairs at a 45° or steeper incline. The one-way stairs descending were the most intimidating to me; not only were they just as steep but they were made of iron that didn't look very stout (click on the borrowed picture to get a better view) and they were only one person wide. The two additional wall entry locations are much less intimidating, for those faint-of-hearts. Regardless of our early start it was still hot, humid and uncomfortable at times.
The Walls
Today's walls, constructed mainly during the 12th–17th centuries run an uninterrupted course of approximately 1,940 meters (6,365 ft.) in length, encircling most of the old city, and reach a maximum height of about 25 meters (82 ft.). The bulk of the existing walls and fortifications were constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries, but were continually extended and strengthened up until the 17th century.
The present shape of the walls was defined in the 14th century after the city gained its full independence from Venetian suzerainty, but the peak of its construction lasted from the beginning of the 15th century until the latter half of the 16th century. The main wall on the landside is 4 m (13 ft.) to 6 m (20 ft.) thick and stretch from Fort Bokar in the west to Minčeta Tower in the north and to the detached Revelin Fortress in the east. The wall is protected with an additional range of slanted supporting walls as defense against artillery fire, especially against possible Ottoman attacks.
The main wall on the sea-facing side of Dubrovnik stretches from Fort Bokar to St. John Fortress in the south, and to the Revelin Fortress on the land-side. These walls are 1.5 to 5 m (5–16 ft.) thick, depending on their location and its strategic importance.
Our walk took about two hours giving us an hour before we were to be checked out and congregate at the east gate, where we would be met by two vans and driven 12 km northwest to Zaton Bay. It's here we were introduced and fitted to our tandem Prijon Poseidon kayaks (3 yellow and 3 red), practiced paddling in the bay, had lunch, drew cabin assignments and then were transported to our mother ship, the Perla, home for the next six days. As we settled into our cabin, Perla was already motoring through the Koločepski Kanal to our first port of call for the night, a small bay on the island of Jakljan (AWKlyan).
The Mother Ship
The Perla is a twelve year old, two-masted ketch with mainsail and roller furled jib (a ketch’s mainsail is flown from the forward mast; a schooner’s mainsail is flown from its aft mast). Perla’s aft mast has no sail because access to the boom is blocked by the T-top covering the aft deck and long table. Sadly, we did not raise sail once during our trip. She is 100 ft. from stern to the tip of her bowsprit, and at her widest (beam), about 23 ½ ft. Perla’s tender is a 14 ft. inflatable Zodiak with a 50 hp outboard motor that was towed as we motored between ports of call.
She has sixteen births in 7 cabins (excluding crews quarters) consisting of 5 double cabins and 2 double + single cabins. All cabins have air conditioning (via a 32 kw generator) and en suite shower, toilet, wardrobe, drawer and mirror. Rebecca and I drew cabin #3; a double + single cabin but we slept in separate births due to the claustrophobic conditions of half the double birth. An optimum arrangement given the humid conditions and restless sleep we both experienced.
Amenities on board included snorkeling equipment (I could only find one set), internet connection, ships mobile telephone, CD player, TV set, sun deck area with sun mattresses and cushions (shared with our fleet of eight kayaks), sun shade awning, cushioned aft deck with a large table (where we ate all our meals), deck chairs, spacious saloon with bar and dining table (used more as an SPA office desk than for dining) and a full galley. The saloon has a refrigerator well stocked with a variety of sodas, bottled water (with or without gas), beer and white wine, but you paid extra for these (about twice the local price).
The crew included our captain, Niko (said he works four months a year); our chef Marko; deckhands Carlo, Niko’s brother who I heard has a dentistry degree, and Willie, a Croat with a healthy sense of humor and spoke the best English of the crew. If you want to rent the Perla for a week this year, depending on the season, you’ll pay from 9900-15500 € (x 1.265 for USD equivalent). My understanding is that the price includes three meals/day and limitless (unrefrigerated) water.
Day 5: Sunday, 13/06/10
On the Perla breakfasts usually started around 7:30 AM and included coffee (the crew accused us of being addicted to coffee because most of us wanted lots of it and right now!), water, hot water (for tea drinkers and hot cereal eaters), fruit juice(s), coffee, a couple different kinds of cold/hot cereals, milk, fresh bread, coffee, scrambled eggs, sausage and/or Croatian bacon (smaller but thicker) and coffee. Breakfasts were leisurely, good and filling.
This morning we all kayaked to the nearby town of Šipanska Luka (one of two ports) on the island of Šipan (shePAWN). The general rule of kayaking etiquette on our Croatian excursion was to have the group sandwiched between our guide, Dag, leading in a single person kayak (makes sense since he was the only one who knew where we were going) and Grant, co-organizer and also experienced kayaker, watching our backs in the other single kayak.
On the way to town we had to cross the narrow straight between the islands of Jakljan and Šipan and the water was very choppy with noticeable wave action. We all paused here and before crossing, Dag asked if we were all okay. Most of us were okay up to that point, but as soon as the question was asked, Rebecca's stomach started to get queasy. On we paddled, however, without incident and a short distance later paddled into a small cove—what I assumed to be one of the town's beaches. We beached the kayaks and walked about 1/2 km into town. With a little over ½ hour before we had to head back, those who wanted could walk the back streets of town or just hang out at in the shade of the local pub terrace until it was time to head back. Rebecca and I opted for the later since it was warm and humid and we were thirsty; shade seemed the best alternative. We returned to our kayaks and paddled back to the Perla and lunch. As soon as our bellies were full we motored to the island of Mljet (meelYET) and the harbor of Polače (poLAWchay), the principle harbor on northern Mljet and our harbor for the night.
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| Ruins photo on loan. |
Of interest to me in the port of Polače (pop. ~125) was the ancient Roman palace dating from the 2nd century (borrowed image @ left). It has disintegrated to about half its original size but I still found it fascinating. Rebecca was not feeling all that well so opted to skip dinner and stay on the Perla with Patricia and Rocky. Dinner at restaurant Ogigija was excellent, I had the grilled pork. At dinner's end, the proprietor complimented us with a shot of 17-yr old rakija that his father had made—clearly much smoother than the rakija at the Ohran in Dubrovnik—it didn’t take as many sips to finish. It was now dark and we made our way back to our point of pickup after a brief detour to view the blue yacht down the dock.
The Perla had backed up to the dock at Polače (as it did in many ports) to let us off via the stern gangplank but later anchored farther out into the bay. At dinner's end, we were transported back to the Perla via its Zodiac tender, which had to be accomplished in several trips as it could only accommodate six or seven bodies at a time. As we motored out we passed a 35 m sailing mega-yacht that had lights below the water line that illuminated (in milky green) the water around the yacht.
One in our party had a mishap on his way back. As Steve was getting ready to step into the tender, he fell backwards and hit his head on a large, old and rusting mooring bollard. Though he had a nasty knot on his skull, he was not seriously hurt and the knot was eased somewhat with a bag of ice. Unfortunately, damage to the mooring bollard rendered it unusable.
While motoring to Polače this morning, several of our group had mentioned our inability to get restful sleep the previous night due to the heat and humidity so had asked if the AC could be turned on, if only briefly (on Perla the AC is run by generator only). We were again accommodated and by bed time the cabins were sufficiently cooled. With the aid of a prevailing breeze, portholes and door open during the night, a restful sleep was so granted most of us tonight. We would follow this routine the remainder of our stay on the Perla, though sometimes not as successful.
Day 6: Monday, 14/06/10
We awoke to a stiffer breeze this morning and breakfast on the aft deck table was a bit of a challenge. We managed to lose only one napkin and one empty 6 l water jug by end of breakfast. Sadly, the napkin was lost to Davey Jones’ locker; but two of the crew, to their credit, manned the Zodiac and rushed to rescue the water jug to the praise, applause and jubilation of all aboard. At one point the wind was so brisk we started dragging anchor and were soon too close ashore for comfort so fired up the engine and repositioned ourselves. After the excitement of morning breakfast had subsided we motored to a group of small islets on the east side of Korčula (KORchula) Island. Those who wanted or were able to kayak (Rebecca was ill) squeezed into their kayaks and paddled among the islets to the medieval port of Korčula. Rocky's wife, Patricia, elected to stay behind as well as company for Rebecca, so Rocky and I shared a kayak.
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| Korčula photo borrowed. |
As we paddled we noticed the Perla passing us to port. By the time we pulled into Korčula harbor the Perla was already tied astern to the dock. We exited the kayaks, freshened up and walked into town for lunch of, yep, a variety of pizza and cold drinks. Dag booked a group tour of Korčula after lunch that I thought was interesting and entertaining but didn't take as long as the Dubrovnik tour due to Korčula's smaller size. We did, however, see the house where Marco Polo once lived, now roofless and full of debris (but there is talk of refurbishing and turning it into a museum). Tour over, there was plenty of time to walk, shop and take more photos.
Day 7: Tuesday, 15/06/10
I arose early this morning to wander, explore and take photos in the early morning light—photography nerds know that the best light for photography is early morning or late afternoon; to capture the warm hues and long shadows. The main photographic issue that I found frustrating about Croatia was that it was always very hazy; not optimum conditions for good land or seascape photos, even with a polarizing filter.
Today we will depart for a five hour journey to the island of Vis, Dag's favorite island. We had breakfast en route and encountered a pod of porpoises off our starboard beam going the opposite direction; so they were quickly out of sight but fun to see never the less.
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| Loaned Green Cave photo. |
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| Borrowed photo. |
We anchored amongst the eastern islands of Vis to allow paddlers to don their kayaks for a two hour paddle. Rebecca would join me on this paddle. One highlight was paddling into Green Cave on the island of Ravnik. The cave has two points of entry or exit and is about the size of a two-story house with a small shelf or beach at the back where swimmers can rest. The high ceiling has a small hole in, allowing in a small ray of sunshine that created a spotlight about 1 m in diameter at water level; brightly highlighting anyone paddling into it. The other highlight was paddling into Stiniva Cove, a small, picturesque and cliff-framed bay that narrowed in a V shape then again opened to a small beach with a few buildings just beyond. Here we again boarded the Perla and motored to our next night's stay—the port of Komiža (koMEEja) on Vis’s western coast.
One of the things Dag had mentioned at orientation was that nudity on some Croatian beaches is common place and that we would sooner or later be paddling by a beach populated by naturists. Our first naturist sighting, a man and woman, occurred on our paddle into Stiniva Cove; this would be our first of several encounters. I thought it humorous that as we paddled about 100 m abeam to the beach, Rebecca quickly picked up her pace. I did not realize how popular and prolific Croatian naturist beaches and resorts were until I stumbled upon a Croatian naturist website. It seems Croatians and perhaps most Europeans have a more relaxed and ho-hum view of nudity.
Komiža is the little Mediterranean fishing town (pop. ~1700) you’ve seen on travel shows or in magazines and hoped to someday visit. A jumble of pleasant 17th- and 18th-century houses crowded around the bay at the foot of 587 m Hum hill. An old fishing port, Komiža dates at least from the 12th century and it was here that the first fish processing factory in Dalmatia was built in 1830. I liked Komiža because it’s small and relatively unspoiled by the lure of tourism though there are a few dock-side vendor stands. Its coziness may be short-lived, however, judging by the fact that the town dock was packed beam to beam with a variety of cruising vessels; it’s clearly a popular destination for the yachties.
Dinner was on the terrace at a nice waterfront restaurant across the harbor. While having dinner we could see lightening flashes on the far horizon and as dinner progressed, you could see that the storm was headed our way. At the tail end of dinner you could smell a change in the air that said you’re about to get wet. Gelato was a favorite desert for many of us on this excursion so we opted to have desert at a Gelato stand instead of at the restaurant. As soon as we finished with our Gelato cones it started to sprinkle and by the time we were back aboard the Perla and settling in, it started to rain, and rain hard. The thunder and lightning show that accompanied the rain was a treat and a fantastic end to a fantastic day. By now my shoulder is starting to complain more loudly for my putting it through the kayak regimen; tonight it would deny me restful sleep.
Day 8: Wednesday, 16/06/10
We motored out of the harbor at Komiža late morning heading southwest, then turned north by northwest to round a broad peninsula before turning east along the northern shore of Vis. After about 4-5 km we nuzzled into the third finger of a three-fingered cove and anchored for a swim and lunch.
Eight of our group shimmied into kayaks for a 3 km paddle to the town of Vis. Again, Rocky and I shared a kayak. The cliffs along the northern shore of Vis are impressive and home to many seagulls and a few falcons. There was even a blow hole along the way to which Ed precisely maneuvered his kayak so Sally could get a closer look and a face full of salty spray.
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| Loaned bunker photo. |
As we paddled around the northeast corner of the island there was a small bay with a crowd of boats at the mouth of what looked like a tunnel. We paddled closer to get a better look and it was indeed the opening to a black hole in the side of the hill with top and sides encased in thick concrete. We paddled into the darkness over 110 units (not sure if the 5 increment markings were in ft. or m) to the tunnels end. It was cool and very quiet; we surmised that it was a WWII bunker for hiding either a submarine, a ship or patrol boats. No markings told us who built it and when; and my subsequent online research came up with nothing except the photo.
We continued to paddle toward the port of Vis and arrived before the Perla. We had but a short wait and watched as the Perla turned stern to dock, backed up, tied off and lowered the stern gangplank. Back on board we freshened up for dinner in town. Tomorrow we will not paddle but instead head for the island of Hvar, a good half days motoring.
Day 9: Thursday, 17/06/10
Again I awoke early, dressed and with camera in hand went exploring. The light was excellent, the air was calm, skies cloudless and the weather was a very comfortable t-shirt and shorts temperature. My exploration paid off this morning with the discovery of ancient Roman baths and a Hellenistic Necropolis.
We motored into another three-fingered bay of Hvar Island, this time anchoring in the middle finger with time to swim and snorkel. We were a little over 3 km from the port of Hvar (pop. ~4000), where we would sightsee, shop and dine, so a water taxi was commissioned and all piled in for the ride. We had a few hours before dinner so most of us walked up the hill on the switchback trail to the Spanish Fortress (Karen and Bruce rented a scooter so they could tour the countryside afterward). Not sure why they call the fortress Spanish because it was commissioned by the Venetians to replace an older fort that was devastated in 1579, when lightning struck the gunpowder magazine and the fort go boom. Hvar was an independent commune within the Venetian Empire during the 13th – 18th centuries with a long and distinguished history as a center for trade and culture in the Adriatic as well as an important naval base.
Down from the hill and into town, we still had some time before dinner. Some of the lady’s wanted to shop so the spouses strolled along the walk at water’s edge. Our restaurant was at the end of the dock next to the popular Carpé Diem nightclub. Our table was on the covered terrace overlooking the harbor. As you walk into the main building you step onto the top of an in-floor aquarium containing crab, lobsters, and assorted fish—I assumed it was where they kept dinner. After dinner was an offering of rakija for the men and desert wine for the women.
Our taxi ride back to the bay was very dark and a little on the cool side. My shoulder complained yet again last night.
Day 10: Friday, 18/06/10
We awoke to mostly cloudy skies and after breakfast we motored to the island of Brač and anchored in a bay on the southwestern tip of the island within the main shipping channel (Split Channel) between Brač and the island of Šolta to the west. Here the group donned their kayaks to venture on the final paddle of the trip to the nearby village of Milna. My shoulder was telling me to sit this one out so I opted to take photos of the last paddle from the Perla.
Milna is a small village with a large deep bay and was settled in the 16th century by shepherds from the town of Nerežišća,from the center of the island, soon after Adriatic pirates were eradicated by the Venetians. It was but a short time after we saddled up to the dock to port that the group could be seen paddling up the bay. We had lunch in town and had some time to explore but exploration was cut short by rain.
From Milna we motored to a large bay on the northern shores of nearby Šolta Island near the town of Nečujam. As we anchored we noticed two wrecks, one on either side of us. To starboard, close to shore, all you could see was a small sailboat mast with stays still attached jutting out of the water at a slight angle. To port was a larger vessel, it looked like one of the Adriatic’s tourist boats submerged and listing almost 45° to starboard with almost half its topside visible. Our captain, Niko, said it had been there but a couple months. A few of the party either swam or were Zodiaked to the wreck to take a closer look.
Some of us passed time until dinner by reading or swimming. From the saloon we could hear captain Niko strumming the guitar that Steve had purchased in Dubrovnik when Patricia called down to him, and pointing starboard said, “We have company!” The captain looked out the window to where Patricia was pointing and shot out of the settee as if stung by a scorpion, promptly dropping Steve’s guitar; all strings reverberated in protest. We were being boarded by the Policija. The air was thick with tension as three of them boarded to review the boats documentation, but tension was soon abated as the crew broke out some beers and chit chatted with the officers. All was good, and after finishing their beers the three climbed back into their Zodiac and motored away.
Tonight would be our final night and dinner on the Perla. After dinner we had a farewell toast with the crew and gave them an envelope with all our tip kunas for them to divide as they wished. Steve gave our captain, Niko, the guitar he bought in Dubrovnik. Niko was very surprised, appreciative and slightly emotional and gave Steve a hug. We also gave Dag a present. He had ogled Rockies powerful, Wicked green laser light, so we all chipped in to purchase the pen from Rocky and gave it to him. He was also surprised and appreciative; had to show off his new toy to the crew. Our last evening aboard the Perla was fun and memorable.
Day 11: Saturday, 19/06/10
This morning we headed for Trogir and had breakfast en route. As we were motoring up the main channel into Trogir Steve broke out his guitar and started singing a song he had just written about our adventures. Several joined him, including Rebecca, in singing the trials, tribulations and praises of our expedition.
The harbor in Trogir was very busy and the dock had boats tied up three abreast. We tied up alongside a twofer, said our last farewell to the crew, passed through the two other boats and stepped onto the dock just after 9 AM.
We walked to Hotel Pašike (paSHEkay) where most would spend one night and leave on Sunday. Rebecca and I will spend two nights due to my misunderstanding the itinerary when I booked flights. We dropped off our luggage and met with the group for our tour of Trogir.
Trogir (Tragurion) was founded in the 3rd century BC by Greek colonists from the island of Vis and has been a UNESCO Heritage World Site since 1997. It is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo and is the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex in Central Europe.
After our tour we had our last group lunch of, you guessed it, pizza and cold drinks. At the tables next to us were seated the next group of kayaking adventurers, lead by Dag's wife, that would board the Perla for their 10-day excursion back to Dubrovnik. I thought it appropriate that the last lunch of our expedition was at The End restaurant. The afternoon was ours to shop, explore, and chill out or whatever. Our last dinner together was at restaurant Kamerlengo where we had grilled fish. We would not see Rocky and Patricia in the morning because they had an early flight out so we said our goodbye’s at meals end and gathered for a group photo.
Day 12: Sunday, 20/06/10
Hotel Pašike is a charming bed and breakfast/restaurant that is divided by a narrow street, with most of the rooms on the south side of the street and a few rooms above the restaurant on the north side. They had a nice variety of food from which to choose with some supposed to be hot, but not so, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. The coffee machine brewed individual cups of whatever coffee you wanted, cappuccino, white (latte), mocha, Turkish, etc. There must have been 6-8 buttons from which to choose. We dined with Ed and Sally on the outdoor terrace and were later joined by Steve and Reggie.
After bidding bon voyage to the rest of the group Rebecca and I explored more of Trogir and its surrounds. Trogir is surrounded by water, the larger shipping canal to the south and a smaller canal to the north. Small boats line both sides of the north canal and there is an arched wooden pedestrian bridge crossing over the canal, one of two bridges that connect Trogir to the mainland. Just past the bridge is an area that has a fruit and vegetable market, small pub as well as vendors for souvenirs, t-shirts, hats, flowers, and jewelry. There was nothing we couldn’t live without.
Neither Rebecca nor I had restful sleep last night, for me it was my shoulder, for Rebecca it was her brain. We decided to turn in early tonight, looking forward to starting tomorrow’s journey homeward.
Day 13: Monday, 21-06-10
We start for home today, yeah!
It rained hard last night and was still raining at breakfast, so this morning we had to navigate puddles on the terrace. Though I tried experimenting with different combinations of coffee, I could find none that satisfied; would have been better off drinking tea.
I talked to the hotel receptionist about checking on our flight status and a timeline for taking a taxi to the airport. Our flight was not scheduled to depart until 4 PM so it was too early to check the status. She would call to have a taxi waiting for us at 2 PM and said the fare was usually 40-80 kn, depending on the driver. The taxi would pick us up at the back of the restaurant terrace. The balance of the morning was spent packing, reading and resting until lunch.
As we were out trying to decide on a venue for lunch the skies opened up with a torrential downpour. We took shelter under an umbrella at one of the restaurants that line the dock. The drain that runs parallel to the dock and through all of the restaurant terraces could not handle the volume of water fast enough, so each restaurant now had their own lake. Rebecca was smart and wore her rain jacket but I left mine in the hotel room and we had no umbrella. Rebecca offered to retrieve mine and while she was gone the rain subsided so I met her half way and we decided to eat at a closer restaurant at the end of the hotel street. We had pizza and cold drinks.
By 2 PM the rain had stopped and the taxi was waiting. It was about a twenty minute ride to the airport east of town. The fare, 135 kn; we got scalped! The past couple days we’d been counting our kunas making sure we’d have enough for the taxi. Luckily we had enough with about ten to spare.
Check-in and security was painless and this time we decided to check two of our carry-ons through to Portland so we wouldn’t have to lug them around. Though the airport was relatively small there was plenty of opportunity to spend our remaining kuna before leaving Croatia. Again our Croatian flight was delayed but it would pose no problem due to our two hour layover in Munich.
We departed Munich about 8:15 PM for the one hour flight to Frankfurt. Instead of booking a flight out of Frankfurt tonight, I’d decided to stay the night at the Sheraton Towers and hope for some restful sleep; neither of us sleeps well on airplanes. Finding the Sheraton was a bit of a challenge but we could walk to it because it was in terminal 1, our arrival and departure terminal.
Day 14: Tuesday, 22/06/10
We’ll be home today, yeah!
The Sheraton Towers is nice but a little pricey. Rebecca said well worth it, though, because she got sorely needed restful sleep. Amen.
We departed Frankfurt a little after 10 AM bound for Seattle. The flight was uneventful but long; I was glad we had our own private screenings to help pass the time. Four movies, two meals, tree cups of wine and ten hours later we arrive Seattle, about 11:30 AM. Our flight to Portland would not depart until 2:40 PM so we had to wait, and wait. Finally, the magic hour arrived and we boarded United’s turbo-prop puddle jumper to Portland. This flight was a little choppier; you know how it is with smaller planes.
We arrived at Portland just after 3:30 PM; it was good to be back in Oregonland! We retrieved our luggage (which must have arrived on an earlier flight because they were off the carousel) and stepped out to the curb. José and Shereen pulled up not three minutes later, facilitating a quick getaway. An hour later we were home. Ah, home sweet home. A quick check revealed that, with the exception of a lawn that needed mowing and plants that needed watering, all was well at the ole homestead. It will be good to sleep? in my own bed tonight.
Epilog: 7/11/10
The plants are watered and happy; the lawn is mowed and Rebecca and I have settled into our usual routine. It took over a week before my shoulder quit cussing me out and let me sleep through most of the night, though it does still throw a tantrum once in a while. The following is a brief description of some of the lessons we learned on our Croatian adventure.
Rebecca discovered that she was born without the adventurer/explorer gene and has no interest in history or architecture. She learned that she actually could be in close proximity to her colleagues for several days straight without calamity. Upon finding the right motion sickness drug, she actually enjoyed being on the water and, get this, thinks she might like to try something nautical again. She learned she's a very anxious traveler and did not truly understand the dread term “terminal illness” until she experienced Frankfurt Airport first hand. Rebecca learned that she is not the type who wants to go back to the land; but rather, the type who wants to go back to the hotel.
On our Croatian trip I dusted off my adventurer/explorer gene but already knew I liked history and architecture. I learned I actually can be in close proximity to Rebecca’s colleagues for several days straight without indignation. I reconfirmed that I’m not a strong swimmer but that I still like being in boats on the water—hmm. I learned I have a low tolerance for a certain someone’s anxiety to long-distance travel, resulting in unsympathetic annoyance. I learned that, even after six years of owning it, I still don’t know enough about my camera to take decent pictures (thank god for PhotoShop). I learned that you will pay twice as much to purchase items from a vendor located near an entrance gate than you will for the same item from a vendor located half a block down the street. I learned I need to ask how much the taxi fare will be before I climb into the taxi. I learned that writing about my travel experiences is tedious and painfully slow; that thoughts flow from my brain like molasses from a steel drum in the Arctic.
We have no immediate travel plans (fancy that) and most likely will not make it back to Europe anytime soon. I would be content to limit future traveling to destinations closer to home, i.e., North American continent for the time being. Don’t get me wrong, had we not made the Croatian trip, think of all the lessons we would not have learned about ourselves.
AFTER DONNING BOOTS, getting our gear together and a brief pit stop we finally hit the trail about 12:15. Tristan decided to have his sandwich as we hiked and I tried to have a snack of veggies, but by then the trail was getting steeper and I could not chew and breath at the same time. My nose was partially stuffy and I could not get enough oxygen through my nose so tried breathing through my mouth, but chewing carrots and mouth breathing at the same time is fruitless. You either suck in little pieces of carrot getting them stuck in your throat and nearly choking, or blow them out onto the trail ahead of you; I gave up.
WE HUNG OUT for about twenty minutes or so before we started back down. TRISTAN, again in the lead, powered his way down. I lost sight of him about ten minutes into our descent. Not far from the summit two teenage couples were, not struggling, but running up the trail! Show-offs. I caught up with Tristan, or should I say he let me catch up to him, about halfway down the mountain where I found him sitting at one of many picnic tables that are strategically placed along the trail. Our descent took us about an hour, and by the time we got to the car, my feet, which had now doubled in size, were screaming, "Get us out of these hot and sweaty boots!"
Not far from the lodge Shayne asked if we wanted to do one more short but challenging (technical) hike to the Medicine Bowls on the Brown River. Getting there was another adventure in itself as the road was narrow and littered with large pot holes, so was very slow and bumpy. At the trail head were parked several cars so we would have company this trek. Portions of the trail were very steep but there was plenty to hang onto. The river runs through a fissure in basalt rock that has been carved into several bowls through countless millennium. This is a popular but dangerous swimming spot for locals. A plaque at the downstream trail head memorialized two young swimmers who lost their lives there several years ago. On our way out, we encountered two other vehicles driving in so had to squeeze by with only inches to spare. Back at the lodge we fell into our aprés hike routine of shower, steam bath, jacuzzi and dinner. 
After yesterdays arduous hike and Rebecca not feeling 100% we were ripe for an easier day and so it was. Our guide this day was Mike Blake of Sea Peak Adventures. He would take us on an easy 4k hike in Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island. But first we had to catch two ferries to get there, the Denman Island and the Hornby Island ferries. Though the hike was easy going we would soon reach a part of the trail that was exposed to the elements, mostly sun on this day so was at times pretty warm. Most of the trail runs parallel to or is on the beach, and being low tide, we were able to search the tide pools for their usual fare. Farther up the beach we stopped for a snack and while I was scouting the rocks I scared off four sunbathing sea otters. Mike saw them too and stated he had never seen sea otters on that part of the island before.
Again I awoke early, dressed and with camera in hand went exploring. The light was excellent, the air was calm, skies cloudless and the weather was a very comfortable t-shirt and shorts temperature. My exploration paid off this morning with the discovery of ancient Roman baths and a Hellenistic Necropolis. 
We motored into another three-fingered bay of Hvar Island, this time anchoring in the middle finger with time to swim and snorkel. We were a little over 3 km from the port of Hvar (pop. ~4000), where we would sightsee, shop and dine, so a water taxi was commissioned and all piled in for the ride. We had a few hours before dinner so most of us walked up the hill on the switchback trail to the Spanish Fortress (Karen and Bruce rented a scooter so they could tour the countryside afterward). Not sure why they call the fortress Spanish because it was commissioned by the Venetians to replace an older fort that was devastated in 1579, when lightning struck the gunpowder magazine and the fort go boom. Hvar was an independent commune within the Venetian Empire during the 13th – 18th centuries with a long and distinguished history as a center for trade and culture in the Adriatic as well as an important naval base.
After bidding bon voyage to the rest of the group Rebecca and I explored more of Trogir and its surrounds. Trogir is surrounded by water, the larger shipping canal to the south and a smaller canal to the north. Small boats line both sides of the north canal and there is an arched wooden pedestrian bridge crossing over the canal, one of two bridges that connect Trogir to the mainland. Just past the bridge is an area that has a fruit and vegetable market, small pub as well as vendors for souvenirs, t-shirts, hats, flowers, and jewelry. There was nothing we couldn’t live without.