Sail Croatia

August 16-25, 2007

On a hot and sunny Saturday morning, 1 Scot, 1 Saffa, 1 Kiwi, 2 Americans and 17 Aussies piled on board a Croatian sailing ship called Mihovil, in the port town of Split in anticipation of what was to come over the next 7 days. We had met up with Janey and Greg for another chapter of travel adventures together.

The skipper got the ball rolling by handing everyone a glass of his potent home brew stuff flavoured by rosemary sprigs and carob which also doubled as a reserve fuel supply for the boat if we ran out of diesel. Then as everyone gathered on the top deck Fi and Janey were first seen stretched out on the lounge chairs sun baking, Jop was the first to have a beer in his hand, Johnnie and Davo were already talking about Transformers (Yeah, High 5, Woo!) and the scene was set for what was to come.

The crew included the skipper, his wife as cook, his 2 sons (one adolescent age heavily into the same 4 or 5 techno songs and one cheeky and mischievous 10 year old nicknamed by us 'Little Chicken') and one extra random as deck hands. They were our guides, cooks, waiters, drinks bitches, DJs, toilet cleaners and friends for the week.

Basically, our day involved getting up, eating breaky if you were up before 9.00, sitting on the deck sleeping more or reading a book, stopping for a swim (in the aqua blue, crystal clear, warm water), having lunch, stopping for a swim (in the aqua blue, crystal clear, warm water), stopping at a port somewhere on the coast of Croatia or on an island, having a look around, eating dinner and going to bed in our little cabins on board the boat.

At any stage during a normal day the beers would start, sometimes early, sometimes a bit earlier. Unfortunately for a few people, some days the beers didn't start at all thanks to a bit of food poisoning going around. Davo and the boat railing became good buddies one night.

Our port stops included Makarska and Peljesac. At Peljesac, we docked next to 13 other boats which all needed to be climbed aboard before we could reach the shore. Here, the skipper treated us to a traditional home cooked Croatian BBQ while his wife made dessert, which were both amazing.

Our southern most port was Dubrovnick for which we were given a whole afternoon to explore. A highlight was the ancient city wall, built as a fort in the 3rd - 6th centuries. We spent about 1.5 hours walking around it on the top and got some great views and photos.

Leaving Dubrovnick the following morning, we were pursued by some pretty fearsome looking dark clouds. Out of nowhere off the port side, (note the sea jargon), we spotted 2 funnels of water sprouting from the clouds and reaching out for the sea below. They were mini tornadoes, or in Croatia they are named after a creature similar to a centipede due to its coiling action like a tornado. The skipper and crew were untroubled. Besides, the sun was still shining and the weather otherwise reasonably calm, a bit of wind and no rain. The tornadoes continued sprouting but even when one formed directly in our path in front of us and again only metres from our starboard side (note the sea jargon again and also the picture as evidence) the skipper was still calm as a cucumber. The rest of us had our cameras on rapid fire.

So it was that we made it to the other ports of Korcula, birth place of Marko Polo, Starigrad on the island of Hvar and Bol. Here we had a second BBQ in celebration of Naomi's birthday and dressed up as sailors, gym instructors, karate kids, Pippy Longstockings and gay Mexicans... as you do!

A highlight of the trip for us was just being on the boat and being able to stop for swims (in the aqua blue, crystal clear, warm water). We saw different levels of enthusiasm when it came to jumping off the boat and also different preferred methods of entry including the dive, the summersault, the horsie, the gassie, the cannon ball or the one and a half twist face plant which gave Jodie a nice shiner to take home with her.

Another hightlight was the unique way in which we were able to explore a new country and its culture. But a big highlight was the people we spent the week with and the friends we made. We'd become a mini family in a way and are already talking about doing a repeat cruise in the Whitsundays one day.

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, especially Janey and Greg, who we now probably won't see until they are back in Australia at the end of the year. Then again, I'm pretty sure either Davo or Greg won't want each other's company this coming weekend as the Hawkies and the Crows meat in the first round of AFL finals! Go the Hawks!

Norwegian Wedding

August 9-13, 2007

A Norwegian wedding! What more can we say? It was awesome.

We were fortunate enough to be among Quinny and Line's guests who could make it to Norway, but we certainly hadn't travelled the furthest. Some of the guests who came from Australia endured mammoth times in transit.

Quinny and Line's 7 month old daughter, Isabelle couldn't stop smiling the whole weekend and definitely has picked up the good looking genes of the pair!

I guess you're wondering what makes a Norwegian wedding different? Not much, but we were belting out a lot of songs in Norwegian during the reception. We all did our best to pronounce the words as accurately and as loudly as possible while trying somehow to keep up with the tempo and at the same time sing the right tune. I think the wine helped us sound pretty good?

The bucks party involved the lads jumping off a 12 metre cliff into a lake. We took it to another level when we followed the young locals and jumped off a tree on a cliff. Then we took a ferry to Sweden and back again, enjoying some fine Scandanavian quisine.

The hens night meanwhile involved go-carting and eating 5kg of shrimp and salad in the sunshine.

It was great to catch up with some college friends who we hadn't seen in a long time.

Bath

5-8 July, 2007

From here on in, our blogs are probably going to be mostly pics and fairly random stories. We're on the road for the next 6 months, jobless and homeless, and will be updating the blog whenever we have a spare few hours waiting for buses, laundry or when it's free!

The journey begins in Bath, the one place in England that we hadn't yet visited and probably one of the places highest on the list for us to see.

It definitely lived up to expect-ations. The whole city is heritage listed (it's the only one in Britain). The architecture was amazing and unique, especially that in Royal Avenue (pictured) and the Circus where the outsides of the houses are all pretty much the same and cannot be altered by the owners, it's council law, but the back yards are all unique. Most of the city's architecture can be credited to John Wood 'the elder' (not Tom Croydon) and his son, John Wood 'the younger'. There are a lot of trees in the way of some of his buildings, hence the saying, 'can't see the wood for the trees.' (You learn something new every day!)

Obviously, we visited the ancient Roman Baths. It's what you do when you visit Bath, apparently. We spent hours looking around learning interesting facts.

• 1.17million litres of water comes from the spring every day.


• It's thought to have healing powers.


• Other stuff, but we can't remember right now because our brains are frizzled!

One of the highlights of the baths was tasting the water as we left the complex. It has a rediculous number of minerals in it and it tastes pretty ordinary, but it's meant to be good for you? Davo had to skull it.

For anyone planning a visit to Bath, they must do the walking comedy tour. The funny guy pretends to drown a fluffy rabbit teddy bear called Stu in the river, then he borrows a wedding ring from an audience member, ties it to a helium balloon which he accidentally lets go of and we all watch it float over the massive Bath Abbey, we all think it's gone, and then Stu comes around the corner on a remote control car and has the ring in a little package. Very tricky and Fi and I still can't figure out how it all worked.

After Bath, we spent a few hours waiting for a bus back to London in Bristol. We used this time to sit in a pokey little pub called the White Hart and eat some 'pie minister' pies (best pies in the world). Davo finished reading Harry Potter, quite appropriate given the surroundings (in a pub with the atmosphere of the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade and named after a white stag!)

We spent the night in London catching up with Cookie who has just moved to London from Hong Kong. Hence the photo of us and Cookie! Nice one!