Yeah, that was my thinking on my way to Dubrovnik and seeing it for the first time as I travelled along the coast. It was also my thinking as we drove down the coast and hit a traffic jam. When we finally managed to drive through, I thought it was a wash out or a water main burst and covered the road with water. No. It was the Hydroelectric damn and had appeared to have cracked and leaking, so yeah, was a bit intense to drive past thinking it might just burst and send you over a cliff.  Seems I’ve had great, random things happen at the start of my tours….
So back to the trip. I had a few days up my sleeve before I joined my tour group. And stayed at a wonderful hostel that overlooked the harbour.  The family that run the hostel as so warm and friendly. Treated everyone like their own children. They even have a dog Jojo that lives there and reminds me of my boy buster back home.

Dubrovnik and really all of Croatia can be summed up in one word. Beautiful. Walking through the old city and was absolutely amazing, went for a walk with another kiwi (Yes there were finally other kiwis everywhere!) And looked around and spotted some G.O.T places and scenes from the show.



While we took a break got randomly asked if we wanted to do a three island boat Tour for a day. Had nothing else planned so signed up! Even got a discount because they had just finished the boat.
So the next day for $50 NZD went on a day trip to the three Elafiti islands with a couple new friends from the hostel and had a great time. We got to spend a hour on two of the islands and the were also given a full lunch and bottle of wine included in the cost. After which got to spend the afternoon swimming and sunbathing on the third island before making our way back. To finish off went for a swim down at one of the rocky beaches and was such clear water, was hard to believe.





The next day was my last day before I joined up with my group I spent my remaining time again in the old city and walked the walls and also saw the museum’s. Tip: don’t do the walls during the day either early morning or evening otherwise you will sweat from the share heat and walking around. Also if you want to come to Dubrovnik then do it early June. Old city was absolutely packed and this wasn’t even high season.


It was finally time to join my last tour. And was happy when I saw this amazing boat I’d call home for the next week. I was advised it was a party boat and usually a younger group so was prepared for it. But they were actually a good lot. To be fair some times even I was shaking my head thinking WTF but for the most part they were good boys.



Our tour guide Hayley, which later we found out is another Kiwi from the Tron! We also have mutual friends there, small world! I also managed to have a room to myself on the upper deck with epic view!
We headed straight out and our first stop was the island of Mljet and walk the national park and to the two lakes on the island. It was a nice walk once past all the noise and beautiful to see these lakes and an indication of what was to come.


This was also where I got an epic shot of both the unfinished and the moon while on the horizon!
Now I’ve been asked for more pictures of food so I will post so don’t be jealous and give me crap for it Hahaha.  This was the start of what would be amazing food all trip and some of the best seafood food I’ve had in a long time….

Next day saw us go to Markarska and the start of a few late nights and a bit of drinking but was a great way for everyone to go out have some fun and again the captains bell rang a few times before we left… thanks boys…



The next day was Split. Was stoked to wake up to going zip lining today. Nothing like flying through forests at 80kph on a 700 meter line. Well that’s what I was thinking. Don’t get me wrong had a good time and all. I guess I was expecting more of a rush. But that’s me. If you have never done it before, it is one of those things I recommend to say you have done it an to be fair some beautiful views doing it in Split.



That night I decided to just go for a walk and have a look around the old city and look around. Split is a really lively city and so many great places to dance and drink or even little hidden gems like this little Jaz bar right in the centre.  Was a great place to relax and enjoy a couple whiskeys and good music and stupidly deleted the photos I had for it ?
Next up was Hvar island and that was to be the first of a couple big nights. But first off always was like each day on the amazing cruise was park up the boat and go for a swim. Soo good to have a swim in such beautiful waters. When we arrived at the island we went to the fortress at the top of the hill and saw some fantastic views. It’s truly amazing that these old builds are not only standing but look so good. Was great to appreciate their architecture.



That evening was a massive night. Hvar lives up to being a party island. We had five top deck ships all docked together so least a 100 people from our group converged on the island. They even have a bar that is on a small island that you can go to. I managed to find myself there. But can’t say that was worth it. Much more fun on the island.
Of that day I learnt a couple of things. Firstly the tour guides know pretty much everyone including most of the bar tenders and owners. So when you’re getting a large jug of a cocktail and tell him it’s also to share with set tour guide. Well they take all restrictions on how much alcohol they pump into that.

The second is these guys!
This is the Crew that took care of us, minus Nikola. They are some of the most awesome guys you will ever meet! They run the Dalvin, the ship that I like to call home and they made everyone feel like family. You have the Captain, Mario on the left, Silvio in the back, Branko in front and Antonio on the right.  I love these guys and consider them family and they consider me as such which I’ll get back to down the line. They also know how to party when not working and can drink any person under the table. You also never say no when you’re offered a shot or six….

The next day saw us enjoying a great way to recover from a hard night by beautiful sea, air, sun! More importantly Branko’s cooking and Silvio’s espressos! Those alone I’d get up after any hangover for.

We eventually arrived at Korcula which is a nice and peaceful island which we were advised to not be too rowdy as they were close to being banned from docking their in the future… didn’t help we also were going to have a pirate party that night. Funnily enough the other top deck boats were also there but we were the only ones dressed up. But hey we stood out and had a blast.

Suffice to say was a good night very lively party and somehow managed to not be banned (as far as we are aware) even though the crew pumped up the music late in the evening ?

Next day saw us make a choice to go to the island of Sipan. It wasn’t the original destination but was a nice place to follow to and just go for a lovely walk and climb up and get a good view of everything.
Also Kina as far as the eye could see all along. Was like seafood paradise!



Unfortunately by those point I got a lovely ear infection that was being a pain in the butt. luckily we arrived back the next day to Dubrovnik. While the others went to look around the old city gave me a chance to see a doctor and get some drugs to help fight it off. Which I started the next day as it was the last night and we had a lovely dinner and drinks to finish everything off.

Was a late one for sure but was a great time. Loved every bit of this adventure and was an amazing way to finish with a great groups and fantastic guide and crew. Though it was the end of the tour it was not the last of my time in Croatia. Was time to finally go explore this beautiful place and go do a bit of exploring on my own….