Day 64 – Mljet (Croatia)

Wednesday 14th October 2015

While we were in Dubrovnik on the Tuesday, we were told that as the weather was going to be getting worse over night, we would probably have to skip our next destination Mljet, and go to Korčula again instead (the really quiet island we went to a few days ago)

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A few people on the boat weren’t happy about that (because there was absolutely nothing to do in Korčula at that time of year) so on the Wednesday morning before we departed at 4am (and I was sound asleep) 7 people from the cruise hopped off and hired a car to go to Bosnia instead.

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Bosnia

The rest of us set sail to Korčula but in a turn of events, we actually ended up going to Mljet. Our captain braved the choppy waters in the end and we arrived safely just before lunch time.
The chef on the boat cooked us some lunch when we’d docked (which I didn’t end up eating as I had a sleep instead) and then myself and a couple of the girls went across to what looked like the only hotel on the island to check out their day spa.
There was one girl working that afternoon and we were all keen for a massage so booked in one after each other for 4pm.

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I was pretty hungry as i’d skipped lunch and as there was only 2 really small grocery stores I had very limited choice on what to eat.
I was sick of eating sugary food and all I felt like was some rice crackers and hummus 😐 However that was way too hard to find so I settled on the only crackers that they had in the store and Millie bought a bag of crisps which we shared back at the boat.
Probably one of the most average meals I’ve eaten in my life haha.

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At least my massage was good. I’m probably the worst person to massage as ever time I get one on my back I end up giggling and moving the whole time.
I know it’s because my neck isn’t quite right and i have a weird disc in my neck which makes getting back massages in certain places really ticklish. I think from sleeping on buses and using crap pillows everywhere I go it’s made my spine all out of place.
Think I’ll have to book a chiropractic appointment when I get back home to New Zealand.

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That night the chef was probably feeling pretty sorry for us as we were all bored out of our minds with nothing to do that he cooked up a BBQ dinner for us.
Yay for french fries!!
After dinner, a few people started playing cards and I watched a bit of Orange Is The New Black on my tablet until it started to run out of battery so I went to bed.
Today was a very very quiet day. I’m not going to lie either, it was probably one of the boring-est days on the trip.

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We were told if the weather was still crappy we may have to stay in Mljet for another night which we all were not keen for! We just had to see how the weather turned out.

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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! 😄

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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 ☺

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