Days 16-26

June 20-30 Croatia

After a morning of messing about in Cavtat, we were slightly concerned about how busy Dubrovnik was going to be (now that Game of Thrones has made it a must see location for its millions of fans) and we weren’t sure whether to go but as we desperately needed to do some laundry and refill our gas bottles (oh the glamour!) we decided to risk it…and we weren’t disappointed!

We arrived into ACI Dubrovnik Marina and started some boat chores whilst the kids mooched about and temporarily adopted a cat which they nicknamed Marina.

We got the bus into the Old Town for dinner and a wander and had a lovely time meandering around the cobbled streets, eating ice cream, popped into a Dali exhibition (yes, we did feel like smug parents educating our darling children until we realised that all they cared about were how many bums and willies they could count….who can blame them!)

We left Dubrovnik and made our way to the beautiful island of Mljet to a bay called Polace, where we met up with some friends we made in Montenegro. The kids spent the whole afternoon mucking around on paddle boards, fishing and playing Lego and then we had a delicious dinner altogether in the bay whose specialty was slow roasted goat. Clearly we didn’t tell the kids what the meat was and told them it was pork which they all devoured. It was absolutely delicious. A lovely evening was had by all.

The following day we all made our way to a different part of the island and moored on one of the restaurant quays. The dinner was pretty good, great company, the kids were running around until late and once again, we all had a lovely evening. The following day we took the bus up to see the gorgeous saltwater lakes Malo Jezero (Little Lake) and Veliko Jezero (Big Lake). The lakes are connected by a channel, which acts like a lazy river between the two, when the larger of the lakes empties into the sea making the lakes subject to tidal flows. It was great fun drifting between them and having a splash around…not so much the walk back down to town where once again the kids whinged the entire way.

Grandma Sue (Matt’s Mum) was arriving that evening so we made our way back to Polace which was close to Luka Sobra where her ferry was arriving (having flown in to Dubrovnik). There weren’t any taxis from Polace so a local grandad (reluctantly) took Matt to meet Sue and they made it back onto the boat around 9pm. It was a tiring day for Sue but she’d made it safe and sound (along with the million items we’d asked her to bring with her!)

We then had a chilled few days on the boat before making another clanger of a mistake!

We decided to head to the island of Korcula, specifically Korcula Old Town and made our way there on Tuesday….along with the entire “Croatia Yacht Week” flotilla. God help us. We arrived and it was pretty busy but as the afternoon wore on, more and more boats arrived in the bay just outside the old town. It was insane. Surely no more boats could squeeze into this bay….oh yes they could! Anyway, it was too late to move anywhere and we put all our fenders out just in case so we took the kids for a play on the inflatable water park. Great fun until Matt trod on a sea urchin. Ouch. A few hours later and a rather manky looking foot and we jumped into a water taxi and wandered into the old town where we had our favourite dinner yet at Aterina and rubbed shoulders with Bon Jovi.

Unfortunately the wind decided to pick up during the night (not so bad for us lot who went to bed at 11) but not great news for Croatia Yacht Week who had been partying until 3am. At 5.30am when people started appearing on deck to check anchors were holding, there were a few bleary eyed blokes scratching their heads and wishing they hadn’t had the “one for the road”! We witnessed a catamaran drag and subsequently crash into a power boat and shortly after that the bay started to empty out. We were left in peace.

We made our way round to a bay called Loviste where supposedly a turtle hangs out and as we approached, we saw the “circle of doom”.

This isn’t my photo obviously but it’s basically what we met in Loviste. To be fair, they looked like they were having a ball and back in the day I would have gladly joined them but the thought of a thumping base line until the early hours isnt too appealing when you have kids so we thought we might need a plan B. Luckily they all packed up and left around 3pm and we were left in peace once again. It was a beautiful bay, there were a fair number of nudists (much to the kids amusement!) and we enjoyed a quiet night playing games (but no turtle unfortunately).

We left Loviste the following day and sailed to the island of Hvar. We decided we needed some electricity and water so moored up on the town quay in Stari Grad which was a really chilled little town. The vibe was super relaxed, hippyish and we had some tasty Mexican food at a place called Fig (nice to have something a bit different) but had a terrible nights sleep due to more howling winds picking up in the early hours!

The following day we went to the island of Brac and found a beautiful little bay with crystal clear water. We had it mostly to ourselves and were excited about having a quiet nights sleep..but then the swell started. We’d done all the research into whether it would be protected from certain wind directions, the weather was pretty calm so why on earth had a swell built up!! Didn’t sleep a wink. At 5am Matt and I decided to bring up the anchor and get the hell out of there and we arrived in Trogir (close to Split airport) at about 10am.

Sue flew home this morning and we’re all going to miss her loads. She was brilliant fun and a great help on the boat, wasn’t afraid to get stuck in (she did get a fish hook stuck in her leg at one point!) and we’d love her to come back again soon. Love you Sue!

We kept ourselves and the kids entertained this morning exploring the island of Ciovo on quad bikes. Was pretty hard work actually, hot and dusty but we loved it. We’re going to be spending the next 10 days exploring the more remote islands of Kornati and the Krka National Park before Pops and Sash arrive on the 10th! Can’t wait to see them!