Day 61 – Korcula (Croatia)

We left Hvar early in the morning, and let me tell you. It’s the best feeling ever not having to quickly pack your stuff and run for a bus in the morning. I woke up to the boat already sailing off to our next destination, Korčula. And I was on it!

Korčula is in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of 279 km2 and is 46.8 km long and on average 7.8 km wide.
It only has aroud 16,182 people and I can imagine in Summer it would just be full of tourists.
However, when we got there it was pretty much a ghost town.

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I don’t think I even took that many pictures of Korčula because there just wasn’t anything to show. (I will however add some pictures off Google Images haha)

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It had stopped raining when we arrived so we all headed off the boat to look around Old Town Korčula.
There were barely any people, most restaurants were closed, there was 2 Gelato stores with only half the cabinets filled with gelato and the odd souvenir store.
We ended up taking a stroll and then going to one of the restaurants that was open for some food.

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We do get food on the boat (the chef makes us lunch) but to be honest, I’m such a fussy bitch and I was not a fan. I think that day it was some type of meat with some potato and knowing me if I didn’t eat it, some mushrooms or zucchini (not part of my food group)

Instead, when we sat down I had some fries (my go-to food when I don’t know what else to get)
And one of the girls got a pizza.
We basically sat there and used their free wi-fi while nibbling on our food and then headed back to the boat after a few hours.

I’m writing this blog a week later so I’m just trying to remember what I did now…
I probably had a nap on the boat or something haha.

When it got to around 7.30pm, our group went to a restaurant that Sail Croatia has a deal with. We basically get free welcome shots and 10% off our meals.
Being honest, the shots were probably Robitussin Cherry liquid forte because that’s what they tasted like.

measuring cough medicine

When we got to ordering our food, we sat outside and I order a chicken burrito thing which I defiantly could have made better myself. I ended up feeding it to the cat that was sitting at my feet (Croatia has a thing for cats walking around everywhere)
I don’t think she liked it very much either.
*sigh*
The drinks were cheap though 🍻 By this stage, I’d out done myself on the Somersby Apple Ciders and my mouth just tasted like sugar from the night before. 😩

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We all headed back to the boat to drink some more after dinner (and attempted to play beer pong but had not enough cups) then when it got to 1am we headed to a ‘street party’

Our tour leader said in the Summer it goes off and it’s so much fun.
However when we went, we were the only ones there. Haha! 😑 I ended up getting drunk though and calling my best-friend in the bathroom at some stage to tell her my mares.😁
Then kept hiding in the bushes when we walked back to the boat at 3am. Someone’s gotta have some fun!

I think everyone got bit drunk that night, even though it wasn’t a full-on night I think we all still had a good time.

Xx

Day 60 – Split to Hvar (Croatia)

10th October 2015

This was my first day of my 7 day Sail Croatia trip!
I checked out of my hostel just before 10am and lugged all my gear downstairs to the taxi (and played with the cutest kitty while i waited)
I wasn’t sure exactly what time I had to be at the boat which departed from the Split harbor so I had to quickly use one of the hostel computers to check my documents online as the Wi-Fi in my room hadn’t been working the night before.

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Apparantly I was on a boat called Tuna and I had to be checked in by 10.30am- 12pm 🙂
As it was raining and I had alot of gear, it was kind of a struggle to find the bloody boat. On my confirmation e-mails, it didn’t exactly say where the boat would be waiting because they only get told on the day where to dock.
After walking around for what seemed like forever, I finally found The Tuna and boarded!

A couple of other people where already on board so we did a bit of introductions and filled out a bit of paper work. The next hour was spent talking to all these new people I’d be sharing the next 7 days with 🍸🍺🍹
I was doing something called The Navigator Cruise which is advertised as a party and relaxation cruise for 18-35 year olds for 7 days.
“You Spend the days cruising, swimming and eating with your awesome on board crew preparing breakfast and lunch for you each day as you enjoy life Croatian style with a cool drink in hand!” The trip begins in Split and goes around the Dalmatian coast, returning to split 7 days later.”

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The first day did not look like a day to be swimming and lying in the sun as it was pouring with rain. 😣😣
Instead, we sat in the boat and ate the food the chef had prepared for us (a meal of soup, bread and some type of meat thing with veges) then we headed off to our first destination. Hvar.

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Usually, if it wasn’t raining we’d stop for a swim at one of the hidden bays on the way to Hvar. Instead, we had a very rocky boat ride to Hvar with a few people getting sea sick on the way.

Unfortunately Hvar was raining when we got there too. We all started drinking anyways and got ready to go out for dinner. Since we didn’t dock at the harbor where the company usually does (due to bad weather) we had to take a bus for half an hour to dinner/the clubs.
Dinner was all good, we ate at an Italian type restaurant and I had a really nice Lasagna.

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Afterwards, we headed off to a club and all got pretty drunk. Maybe one of us got a little too drunk and had to be taken home but I won’t say who…
When it got to 2am, we headed to another club called ‘The Club’ (very original I know) And finished our night off there.

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The bus came to get us at 3am and we all headed back to the boat around then.
Usually nights like that would finish at 5am but as it’s getting colder in Croatia and it’s coming into Winter, there’s not really any other cruises out at the moment but us and maybe a couple of other Busabout companies. (I knew this when I booked but I was still hoping for there to be some good weather!)
Even though it was raining I think we all ended up having a pretty good night! 😄

X

Day 59 – London to Croatia

London

After a very rushed morning and missing out on breakfast at the hostel, I had my bags packed and ready to head to the airport.
Maybe I packed them wrong because I was defiantly struggling with the amount of luggage I had.

I called an Uber and paid him to take me to the Airport train station. It cost about £19 for a one way ticket to Gatwick Airport which wasn’t too bad.
Once I’d met up with Kara (as she was leaving on the same day as me) we hopped on the train with all our stuff and headed off to the Airport.
It was about a half hour train ride but I’d defiantly recommend using the train if you can because it’s heaps cheaper than paying for a taxi.
It takes you straight to the airport as well so when you hop off, you just need to go and find your check in desk by either walking or taking another short train shuttle to a different terminal.

Kara had to take the train shuttle as she was flying back home to Australia. We said our goodbyes and I promised I’d come visit her in the gold coast. Which I defiantly will as it’s so close to home anyways.

I had a few hours to spare so I went and got this Cornish pastry thing and sat down to eat it while I waited for my check in desk to open.
I also went and bought some UK treats to take back home with me which I’m still trying not to eat haha.

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When the Croatia Airlines desk was open, I went and checked in and got told that my luggage was a bit too much over weight. 😯
I always try to be super nice to airport staff so maybe that’s why she let me off the hook this time.
I did however have to go and take my bag to the oversized luggage drop off.

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Once that was all done, I waited around to board my plane (which didn’t take long at all) then set off for my flight to Split, Croatia.

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Croatia

I can’t remember how long the flight took, maybe about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I landed when it was dark and took a bus to the airport terminal (which is really small by the way)
And collected my luggage.

As I had lots of stuff and was tired, I took a taxi to my hostel. (It’s good to book some transport before you arrive I think) I didn’t organize anything or even research how to get to my hostel before I arrived so when I left the Airport i kind of just looked aimlessly around hoping someone would take me into town.
It probably wasn’t the best first night in Croatia.
When I got to the hostel, the street was all dark and I had no idea I was even at the right place. The building looked all closed up but the taxi driver insisted I was at the right place.
I pressed the buzzer on the Intercom and the guy at reception buzzed me in.
I walked up the stairs with my stuff and checked in at the very small reception area at Cro-paradise Hostel.

As I had booked my own room, the receptionist took me across the road to a different building and carried my bag up 5 flights of stairs.
The poor guy was like sweating and puffing carrying my stuff. I felt bad. But not bad enough to take over…
The room I was staying in was actually pretty cute. It had its own little kitchen/bedroom with a TV and they provide a laptop if you need it.
The bathroom was small but nice with good water pressure.
Not bad for like $80 NZD for the night.

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Once I’d put all my stuff down and charged my phone for a bit, I realised the Wi fi wasn’t working so went in search of food hoping it’d work by the time I got back.

No such luck on the food or wi-fi problems an hour later.
There was like no food places around, just a couple of bakeries and that’s it. I wasn’t feeling like a pastry at all, so I walked back to my room and sat on my bed watching CSI (the only program in English) eating chocolate and feeling very lonely as the Wi fi still wouldn’t work and I had no one to talk to 😥
Even when I went to get food, not many people spoke English so it was hard asking where to eat. Everything seemed to pretty much be shut and no where accepted money cards so I couldn’t really buy anything either 😦

Eventually I went to sleep to prepare myself for my Sail Croatia trip the next morning ☺

Xx