Return to Dubrovnik

We had one heck of a storm last night - the second last night on board. I had hung out some washing on the line outside the cabin. When I realised how bad the storm was, I feared the washing would blow away. I didn’t fancy some fish coming across my shorts and pink undies so I headed out of the cabin. Oops - no clothes! - no pegs either! Oh well! When I surfaced this morning here were my articles of clothing back on the line! Tony - one of the crew - had collected all the washing and then hung it all out again for us! All of the crew were so thoughtful and wonderful.

As we departed Sipan I took some more photos of the island - such extremes from the elegant hotel to the delapidated huge old villas! There was no doubt that fishing is the island’s main employ.

We were fortunate to have smooth sailing conditions as we headed back to our starting point, Dubrovnik. There was nothing to do except relax on the deck!

As we approached Dubrovnik the captain veered slightly from the program by sailing past the Old Town. This was a wonderful opportunity to view the city walls from the sea. It inspired us to head to the fort once we had docked!

As I have said before, the boats dock side by side. We ended up being the 4th boat out until one had to leave - they then did a reshuffle and we came into 2nd position. After going searching for a pharmacy to purchase some cold and flu tabs - Liz is the 3rd one of our group to succumb to Croatian Flu - we boarded a bus to the old town and proceeded to climb the fort.

What a stunning view! We kept telling Ron there were only 10 steps! - he has ankle trouble and is deterred by lots of steps! He was a real trouper and kept on climbing up and then down again - which for him is just as difficult!

After our expedition we sat down for refreshments - John and I had tea with rum (for medicinal purposes!). Of course, that provided Liz and I with the stamina to do a little shopping! Ron bought Liz a beautiful addition for her Pandora - gold and silver - for her birthday. I had no special occasion but still bought a pair of gold earrings.

I wanted to purchase some croatian embroidery and needed to enter many shops to ‘sus’ them out. I struck the jackpot by finding a shop where the woman made most of her own work. She was busy at her craft when we entered her store. Embroidery is a dying art - her granmother had passed the knowledge on to her.

Arriving back at the boat we soon decided that a light dinner was in order so all the ‘girls’ put into kitty and went to the supermarket to ‘gather’ our supplies. (Ron has a saying about ‘hunters and gatherers’!).

We ‘gathered’ a scrumptious selection of cheeses, cold meats, olives, breads, mixed salad, pates, various other spreads, strawberries, cherry strudel and only just went over budget! We were very fortunate to have Rose (the croatian passenger) to assist in working out exactly what we were getting - even with Rose, it was a challenge as her English is minimal - but much better than our Croatian - of course the pictures on the labels were useful too. Needless to say we enjoyed our meal. The crew were again wonderful allowing us to use their plates and cutlery - Leanne and Mark assisted Vlasta (the cook - she is actually an English professor) with the washing up in the galley. The crew joined in with our celebrations. Dancing, singing, drinking, laughing - a great time was had by all! That night we were the party boat!

After a good night’s sleep it was up to pack and enjoy our last breakfast on board. Today is Liz’s birthday and also Slavko and Rose’s wedding anniversary. The crew presented Liz and the Croatian couple with flowers! John and I gave Liz a magnet written in Croatian that says ‘a journey travelled with a friend is never long’. Not a real surprise that it was a unique gift for Liz.

We disembarked at 9 am and again, like in a conga, but with suitcases, headed 200 metres across the road to our hotel, Petka, where we will spend 3 nights. The view from our room is superb. We were able to see ‘our’ boat, Papa Prvi, from the balcony of our respective rooms.

Liz and I both needed a laundromat but after asking questions from many sources we had ‘found no joy’. I had one of my few ‘wow’ moments and suggested we try one of the villas offering accomodation. ‘Joy’ at last on the first go. A lovely lady (with a lovely dog) was happy to assist. When we took our washing to her, she also gave us a tour of her apartments. We were very impressed and would have tried to organise staying there if we had known about the place prior to booking the hotel rooms.

We all ended up at a little restaurant very close to both the villa and the hotel for a happy hour and then dinner.

Liz has excelled herself with her organisation of this trip. I highly recommend her if you wish to plan a trip!!!- travel agent extroadinaire! Tatjana, our Slovenian guide, suggested Liz contact her friend, Tony, to do a day trip to Mostar and Medugorje. Liz contacted him and organised a great deal! We are being picked up at the hotel at 9 am in the morning for a full day excursion.