Days 27-45

July 1st -18th Croatia – Italy

We left Trogir and headed north to Krka National Park, just north of Sibenik on the mainland. The approach was stunning, almost fjord-like, and we even managed to buy some fresh mussels for our dinner that evening…they don’t get fresher than that!

We’d read that the waterfalls were one of Croatia’s most beautiful sights so as soon as we reached the marina in Skradin, we jumped on a ferry and headed along Krka River.

The waterfalls really were magnificent, they were huge and powerful and it was amazing being able to swim so close to the waterfall itself. I can’t believe how busy it was though. So many people in one place! We timed it badly and should have arrived first thing in the morning but hey ho, we jumped back on the ferry and spent a lovely evening in Skradin which was a really cute little town with a chilled out vibe.

We would have stayed here longer, hired bikes and explored the park more but the temperature was so bloody hot (36 degrees) that we left early the next day and headed to the Kornati Islands to feel the sea breeze again.

There are 140 islands here, 89 of which belong in the Kornati National Park and we made our way to Levrnaka Island where we’d booked to moor on the quay outside Levrnaka Restaurant as a treat to celebrate our 15yr wedding anniversary. (I’m not sure how that happened as surely I’m still only 20?!)

Mooring the boat was interesting..I’d read that the guy who helps with the lines was really shouty, even putting experienced skippers in their place so I was intrigued to see whether he lived up to his reputation. Yup. Started yelling at Matt, telling him what to do but Matt being Mr Calm, just popped the boat in its place whilst realising that we only had 30cm under our keel! Shit a brick. Mr Shouty said we’d be absolutely fine, not to worry and they had a boat which could push us off if we did get grounded. Hmm…would prefer not to go down that route but after some reassurance from another guy saying the tide rises from now on, we felt more comfortable, grabbed our snorkelling gear and walked across to the beach. Being a national park, the wildlife and sea life are protected so the kids had an exciting time snorkelling as they saw their first octopus! Amazing. They’re like little fish themselves these days with all the swimming they’re doing.

After a delicious meal that evening, we left the following day and made our way to Zadar, a large town on the mainland. It felt good to be in a larger town with a buzzy atmosphere, lots going on. We hired a car and left at 6am the next day and drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park (they love a national park don’t they?) and arrived at 8am hoping to avoid the crowds.

This place was just incredible. Number 1 spot for us in Croatia and one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen. There were huge lakes, connected with waterfalls, hundreds of ponds and streams flowing underneath boardwalks, mossy trees, pine forests, dragonflies and butterflies everywhere…it was a magical watery world which we all absolutely loved.

That evening we walked into the old town for dinner, had a mooch along the waterfront but by this stage, having walked 24,000 steps that day, we were all fading so headed back to the boat whilst watching several lightening storms in the distance. Getting into bed was going to feel good….hold that thought. The wind had picked up and before we knew what was happening, the storm of all storms had decided to hit Zadar. Jeez Louise. We were totally unprepared. I went outside to help Matt bring down our awning which in 60mph winds and rain feeling like needles, was really miserable. The kids went into meltdown so I stayed below deck, made sure we were watertight, put everything away that could fall down as we were rocking all over the place. Poor Matt was outside in his boxers and a t-shirt securing the boat, tying down the dinghy, generally making sure we were safe and after 20mins or so, it felt like the worst of it was over. Looking like a drowned rat, Matt finally came inside happy that the boat was safe and we all fell into our rolling beds absolutely shattered.

On Wednesday 10th, we were back in Trogir awaiting the arrival of Dad and Saschja. (I was thanking our lucky stars that they hadn’t arrived a few days earlier to witness the storm!)

We couldn’t wait to explore some new places with them and after speaking to a couple of people in the marina who’d recommended the same place, Sveti Klement, just off the coast of Hvar, we ditched our original plan and headed there. Great choice. The restaurant setting was really romantic, great food, our waiter was rather easy on the eye but the funniest part was getting picked up from our boat which was anchored in the next bay by the owner in his insanely fast rib, who absolutely floored it! We almost took off! So funny. Coming back the same way in the pitch black was hilarious.

From there we went to the island of Vis which we all agreed was one of our favourites of the week. Being one of the furthest islands, it was less busy, relaxed, had a nice little beach, lovely vibe. Tying up to the mooring buoy in the bay was interesting. Mooring buoys are provided and maintained by the owner of the rights to that particular bay and in this case it was the port authority. It’s an easy process, I drive the boat as close to the buoy as possible, Matt ties us on. Voila. I went downstairs to make lunch and Matt launched the dinghy, fixed on the engine, etc. Suddenly a German guy arrives on his dinghy to see if we’re aware our boat had floated halfway across the bay…..what?! The mooring buoy could have only been attached by a thread and had come loose. Oops! Luckily it hadn’t happened in the middle of the night. More lessons learnt.

We anchored the following night in a secluded bay on the island of Scedro. We went for a little wander, did a beach clean, had a swim and played some card games. Sebby’s tooth came out and thankfully the tooth fairy managed to find him so he was a very happy boy.

The following day we went to Korcula Old Town to show Dad and Sash how pretty it is. We had a lovely meal and then left the following day and headed to Mljet. We took them to see the lazy river between the lakes and were enjoying a nice cold beer on deck when a charter boat decided to smack into the side of us as he was mooring on the restaurant quay. It sounded a lot worse than it was but was highly irritating to say the least! We said we wanted to give Dad and Sash the full experience whilst they were away and they definitely got it!

We arrived back in Dubrovnik on the 16th and had our final farewell meal at a gorgeous restaurant in the Old Town called Gradska Kavana Arsenal. (Being a Spurs fan, Dad was not happy about this much to our amusement!) We’re really going to miss these guys but hopefully they’ll come and visit us again along the way.

We all said goodbye to Croatia on the 17th and I’m writing this looking at the East coast of Italy at 6am on July 18th. We’ll arrive in a few hours in Otranto where we’ll begin our Italian extravaganza!