Very cold last night, we had our own sleeping bags and I was still cold! Today we had the optional extra to go to Plitvice National Park (it was highly recommended because there was not anything else to do at the campsite). We all arrived and choose the path we wanted to do, we chose the 4-6 hour walk which ended up only taking us 4 hours with stops included. Another group did a longer walk which was meant to take 6-8 hours (it was 21 km) and they came back 30 minutes after us saying they managed to walk 21 km as well as having 2 half hour stops... I don't think anyone believed that they actually managed to complete 21 km in such a short time... CHEATERS!!!!!! We were picked up again at 5pm ... read more

It was a nice sleep in this morning!!!! Steve and I ended up cooking breakfast for everyone (eggs and sausages with a bit of help from the cook... you would think it would be the other way round but somebdy wasn't feeling too well!) Today was a free day so after breakfast we did some washing – we handwashed an entire load of washing because we Dutchy and Scottishman refused to pay the equivalent of $15 NZD for 1 load of washing. After our bonding session of washing clothes we Skyped our families (finally managed to have a good connection). By lunchtime we made it to the bus stop to go into Dubrovnik. We looked around the shops and then went and had lunch (Me- Pizza and Steve- pasta). At 2.00pm – the hottest part of ... read more

This morning we were up at 6.15am so we could clean our boat before leaving (we had to have inspections)... problem was we were such a great team that we had the boat finished and emptied in 45 minutes... I stood guard of our luggage because our friends (the 'town dogs') may have tried to steal something! After packing up we drove to Tirana, Albania. It is crazy to come from such a pleasant, rich place (Plataria, Greece) to this incredibly poor country. We stopped at a shopping mall and I was not feeling so well. Steve told me I would be ok and I wondered if I had just been sitting funny on the bus... 5 minutes after getting back on the bus I was vomitting into a rubbish bag... not very nice but it ... read more

This morning we were up and gone by 7am because we had to drive to catch an overnight ferry. Apparently we had to be there early because the boat was a Greek boat and they run on Greek time and for those who don't know what Greek time is... they never run according to plan and they are rather lazy people. We got to the boat at lunch time and when we boarded the lady at reception was a real cow! She was sooo rude to everyone! We didn't get to pick our rooms but that was ok, I knew the girls and I am about to have to spend 3 days on a small sailing boat with these 2 girls so it was all good! It was a very long time on the boat because ... read more

Up early, packed up then set out to the city for a walking tour with a local tour guide (because our tour leader can be fined if he takes a tour here). He was hilarious... as you will see from the pictures he was very geeky. All tour guides have something to hold up for the group to follow... normally an umbrella or a paddle with a number on it... not this man... he had a monkey on a stick and kept saying 'Just follow the monkey!' The end of our tour took us to a leather factory were we say how we can tell the difference between fake and real leather... and it is not the smell! We also say how a leather box would be made and it takes a long time just to ... read more