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Published: November 16th 2007
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From Budapest we flew directly to Split Croatia. We spent one amazingly hot night in Split before heading out to the islands. We stayed in a room with a Croatian family not far from the water and after quickly realizing how much it cost to stay in Croatia we managed to pick some cheap camping gear for the rest of our trip. We had a swim at a nice beach a kilometer or so from Split in the afternoon and enormous pizza slices for tea. We explored Diocletian’s Palace in the evening and wandered the small atmospheric streets.
On the island of Hvar (Havar) we avoided the tourist overrun town of Hvar and camped a few nights in the village of Stari Grad. It was a beautiful old little port town with rocky beaches and a tiny harbor cutting the town in half. Getting back to nature took its first blow at both of us on our first few days of camping… Jacqui in the tent one evening sat on a bee and had a swollen bum for a few days (lovely in a bathing suit) and Leigh after just telling Jacqui off for being worried about the urchins stepped
on one of them and had the needles in his foot for days.
A spectacular bus ride through the island over mountains and along cliffs with great views brought us to the town of Jelsa. There were three campgrounds a hot sweaty walk out of town, the first two kilometers away, each of the next staggered a further few k’s and the further ones had the better beaches. We made it to the second after an agonizing walk and Jacqui getting less and less enthusiastic about the possible potential of the supposedly “nicest” campground. We spent a fantastic few days exploring Jelsa and swimming and reading on sandy beaches, a rarity in Croatia. We soon got used to the afternoon siesta that is followed religiously after the first few times going into town to find everything closed!
To get the next Island, Korcula, we bused to Hvar town to catch the ferry. It was full of Australians and we weren’t disappointed we had bypassed it. We had another amazing bus trip to the town of Korcula at the other end of the island from where the ferry docked. The old town of Korcula was surrounded by fortress walls
jutting out into the harbor. Our campground was right on the beach across the bay from the town so you had to catch water taxis to get into Korcula. One of the highlights of the trip was hiring a scooter and exploring the island. There were some spectacular views driving along the coast and from the hills in the interior as we crossed the island. Jacqui was packing herself on the back of the scooter the whole time. The town transformed into something amazing at nighttime and one night in Korcula we experienced an amazing lightening storm and were running around trying to get shelter from the winds. We found a beautiful bar up in the fort walls that was full of “beautiful” people and some interesting toxic cocktails!
After three days on Korcula we ferried to the much smaller Island of Mljet (Millyet). The campground was supposed to pick us up from the port but never came, luckily a local bus came past and we caught that to a smaller campground. The main attraction on Mljet is the national park at one end of the Island but the campgrounds were 20km away towards the other. We soon discovered
Korcula
Inside the old town. that with a population of just over a thousand, the transport network wasn’t exactly extensive. The only way around was hitching in the 40 degree heat. We cannot thank the Croatian man and his poor children in the Mercedes who picked both of us up smelly and sweaty after unsuccessfully walking the road along the island after the day at the park! The national park surrounded two salt water lakes which were great to swim in, especially from an island in the middle on which were the ruins of an old Benedictine monastery. In a town nearby we were able to see how the rich and famous spent their time, as at one of the ports the private boats were stupidly luxurious.
Our last stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik where we stayed five nights. A few nights were in a private room as a present from Leigh’s parents for his birthday and we camped the rest. We spent plenty of time enjoying the streets of the old town of Dubrovnik. Entirely walled in and enclosing a small port, the old town has beautiful old buildings and streets and juts out into the ocean with fantastic views in all directions.
Mljet
The campground beach You could walk the circumference of the walls and see views of the coast, the cruise liners in a bay nearby and notice the different coloured rooftops of the old town, an indication of the amount of reconstruction after Yugoslav shelling in 1991.
Jacqui finally had enough of the strange skin reaction she had been having since getting to the hotter weather and so we taxied to the hospital to get some help. After the nurse told Jacqui she was allergic to the sun and injected her butt with two massive needles, they sent us on our way. Unfortunately they neglected to mention the side effects of the needles and minutes later Jacqui ended up back in the hospital room legs in the air having a ‘wish I was at home’ moment to herself… In the end it all ended ok, with the doctors telling us that Jacqui needed to stay out of the sun (easy to do in Croatia!!) although Jacqui was wishing she hadn’t done anything as her butt had copped another blow.
The next day we took a boat tour to some of the nearby islands. We were both a bit surprised by the boat that
came to pick us up as it was no larger than a large speedboat and definitely did not go as fast. The driver was a cheerful man who sang out loud with some Croatian oldies while passing around home made Croatian wine and drinks on the trips from island to island. At one of the islands we attempted a long trek to the other side to a beach with still water and sand not rocks. The walk was definitely worth it as it was beautiful, and it was definitely popular not only for the beach but also because half of the beach was designated for nudists, with a makeshift screen attempting to make a division on the sand.
We left Dubrovnik having had a fantastic time island hopping to our own schedule and having our little tent as a base.
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