Day 11: 4th September

Eleven days in Croatia and here we are, this is it, my final blog entry. Many miles later, and I am waiting for another plane in Dubrovnik Airport and wondering what would be a good way to conclude this trip. I suspect it is raining back in England although it will be nice not having to worry about sun cream, sweating and dehydration whenever we go outside. What might be less appealing is the fact the next time we get back in a sea kayak will probably be on a canal in Scotland in February!

What with this being a school trip and everything, I having expecting term to start for a long time now. So long that in some ways I am looking forward to it beginning. I think however that a good way to conclude this journey would be to quote the last verse of the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. However, I would substitute one word. I would change “sadder” for “gladder” so that the last verse reads:

“He went like one that hath been stunned,

And is of sense forlorn:

A gladder and a wiser man

He rose the morrow morn.”

Day 10: 3rd September

A lot happened today. Having left the place we were staying at and taken the ferry back to Dubrovnik, we drove to the Old Town. Today is the culture day (its popularity varies from person to person). The Old Town in Dubrovnik is hotspot for any sight seer and an essential destination for any tourist and believe me when I say that there are lots of them round there. The largest single part of the Croatian economy is all around you when you are there.

We all went off in groups of three to explore. Opinions varied over what to do. The gold group found a nice high cliff by the beach and spent the afternoon jumping off it, three of the silvers spent the afternoon in a restaurant and Major Billington chose the sun tanning on the beach option. As for my group of three, we had lunch and then chose to tour the Old Town.

We started by going through the Pile Gate. The draw bridge which you cross to enter the town was once lifted u every night and the key given to the Crown Prince. We shuffled through the crowds of tourists to the War Photo Gallery. This gallery seeks to “expose the reality of war...and the injustices committed to combatants and innocents alike”. They have a permanent exhibition on the Bosnian War and also had an exhibition on the Arab revolutions taking place at the moment. No photo will ever fully reflect the turmoil and suffering war creates I don’t think. A photo of a line Libyans praying with tanks surrounding them can only move you so much. However, if you take the time to look at it, to put yourself in their shoes, you can begin to appreciate the not so obvious truth that wars are always bad. The Bosnian man smoking a cigarette outside what remains of his shelled home reminds you how insecure what all are and easily everything you hold dear can be snuffed out. The Serbian soldier kicking the defenceless Croat in the head while the child looks on crying reminds you that even if you did nothing wrong the devil aint a loser and actually we have it all. The soldiers fighting in the rubble while above them “Welcome to Sarajevo” has been sprayed on like graffiti reminds you that this was once a great city before the fighting broke out, it reminds you that this could be happening here...

The walk along the walls of old Dubrovnik could not be more different. For one thing, the museum was air conditioned while up on the walls it was boiling! And yet, twenty years ago it was these walls which were being shelled, these walls which received 155 direct hits and it was 68% of the buildings within these walls which were damaged by it. However, walking along the top of them and looking out over the red tiled roofs of the old town and beyond that the turquoise sea, it looks like anything but a war zone. Repairing Dubrovnik cost a mere $10 million and it really makes you wonder what we could achieve if we were not spending literally trillions of pounds a year on “defence”. However, the walk along the walls is definitely worth the money and you can do a lot worse than gazing out over a UNESCO world heritage site for an hour or longer.

Unfortunately, we only had an afternoon to look around Dubrovnik which is a shame because there are so many places that are worth visiting. However, when all is said and done, not many people are too concerned about comparing the differences between Franciscan and Dominican monasteries and such like. Interestingly enough though, there was a wedding going on in one of the churches and two of the musicians performing were the same ones as had performed for us at the restaurant on Lopud on Tim’s birthday.

 Tonight we are camping at the same place we spent the first night at. Apart from certain individuals getting lost on runs (not me again), the day has run smoothly and I feel a good night’s sleep may be in order as we have a fairly early start tomorrow. It is a shame as I was just about getting used to the hot weather round here.

Day 9: 2nd September

Today was essentially a chance for us all to relax and recuperate. The gold group went out on a small paddle and came back with their three star kayak qualification. We have not spent enough time on the water to be assessed for it yet so we stayed on the island.

During the morning we played cards and met two very lovely ladies who were on their break from university at Durham. We decided to take the bus to the other side of the island so that we could have lunch there. We ate at the same restaurant we had eaten at the day before. (Did you know they sell blow jobs here for forty Kuna, though it is only another drink I am afraid). Dan the gaper had caught a wasp in a jar. It was the largest wasp I have ever seen. It was a good inch long and having it buzzing round the inside of a glass on our table was quite impressive. We decided to leave the wasp for the waiter to deal with as revenge for the long wait and tiny salad. However, in accordance with the law of Karma, the bus had left about a minute before we got there and it was not coming back for a few hours. The gold group had rented bikes for the day and good ride them back. In the end we were forced to walk.

However, having gone about 150 metres, a car drove past. It was not because we were lazy or because we were scared by the signs which warned of wild boars but because we simply thought that the man in the car needed company. So we stuck out our thump and hitched a lift for the five kilometres back to our accommodation. Walking that far in flip flops at 30 degrees might have been quite an effort.

It is easy to see on Sipan why the 15^th century Dubrovnik aristocracy built their houses here. The place is small and remote enough to be an escape and yet is large enough to grow food and not be dependent on the mainland. Driving through Sipan was actually the first time we had been inland for the whole of the trip and it was interesting to see it. Forests and shrubs seem to dominate the vegetation and there are no groups of houses except on the coast.

Day 8: 1st September

Yesterday, after we had finished dinner, we went for a quick forty minute night paddle. It’s very strange paddling at night; you are a lot more aware of everything around you. There was also almost no light pollution so gazing up at the stars yielded a much better view than almost anything you get back in Britain unless you live on top of a hill in a national park or something like that (or possibly Hull where they do not have electrical power!)  

Anyway, today was our last day of proper paddling. We did about six kilometres in the morning and a similar amount in the afternoon. I learnt two things today. The first one is this: A “Salade Caprese” is not a proper salad. A proper salad is a salad which is made up of lots pieces of lettuce with bits of tomato, mozzarella and such like adding flavour to it and has been covered in olive oil or another dressing. It is not supposed to be something that costs ten Kuna more than a twelve inch pizza and yet is made up of ten slithers of mozzarella and ten slithers of tomato and some olive oil to make it “filling”. If I ask for food, I expect it to contain more than one and a quarter calories!  Sorry if that is too much to ask for.   

Anyway, that was what happened at lunch today on one side of Sipan Island. In the afternoon, we paddled around to the other side of the island where our accommodation was. We, the silver group, are staying in a bed and breakfast about ten minutes inland by foot. Personally, I really like it. Unfortunately, I do not think that feeling is shared by our landlady. One hour was all it took for a complaint to be lodged against us following water being dripped on the floor and in a sofa bed, a person sitting on a table and a small(ish) incident involving myself, a loo and a lock on a door which no one could open except our now very annoyed land lady. That was the second thing I learned today: Do not trust loo doors which use key to lock their doors unless you want to end up like Norris in Coronation Street!

Day 7: 31st August

It is hot today, even by Croatian standards. The gold group are off doing twenty kilometres for their final day of assessment, and us? I am sitting in an internet cafe by the sea digesting the largest pizza I have ever eaten waiting for them to return so that we can have dinner and rub it in to them. Oh look, their back, “What did you get up to today lads, another hard day’s paddling at 37 degrees? Good. Good. Oh, me, what did I do? Well...”

Because we are not on assessment, Major Billington decided that after four days of exerting ourselves it would be a good idea to do no paddling today. Yes, that is right: zero. So, after the gold group had set off, we continued to relax on the beach until after midday when we decided to walk the three kilometres from our camp site to the town of Slano. However, the midday sun was oh so strong that we had to drop into the first hotel we saw to use their pool and bar. It was here that I experienced the awkward feeling I get when you and the barman do not understand each other and a queue of disgruntled guests begin to appear behind you, good times.

In Slano, we sat down in the best cafe we saw, ordered pizzas and begun the daunting task of uploading photos from cameras and this blog on the internet. And so remained until now. Dinner is on the way and it is finally beginning to cool down outside.  We will walk back in the dark to the camp and tomorrow shall journey to the Island Sipan on another  20km paddle.  Self sufficiency is over and tonoght we dine very well!

Day 6: 30th August

Because we are not, like the gold D of E group, actually being assessed on this trip but are only practising for it, we have the advantage of not needing to be self sufficient 100% of the time. We reaped the benefits of that today. After seeing the gold group off, we set out as well. However, after only about an hour and a half on the water, we decided to pull in at a beach we had found for an hour in the sea. Of course, we did not realise until we were quite close in that this was a “plage naturiste”. Thankfully, Pat, Tina and Major B were good enough to let us stay.

Moving swiftly on and at lunch time we found another beach, this one with a restaurant on. Several pizzas and even more drinks later we emerged to get back on the water. Did you know that in Croatia you can buy a “Slȃg” for eight Kuna? Before you get your hopes up too high, I should point out that it is only a drink.

We powered through the afternoon part of our twelve kilometre day, stopping only to take a lesson in towing which proved popular with exactly half of the group. I wonder why? During all this the gold group had had to take a six kilometre detour unaccompanied which meant that we had plenty of news to rub in their faces when we joined them at the campsite. We are staying here tomorrow as well so I am looking forward to not having to take it down in the morning. Another sea kayaking group is camping right up next to us and from what I can here (which is quite a lot!) they seem to be having the time of their lives. Who would have thought that for once Shrewsbury School would be the quiet group in the campsite!

Day 5: 29th August

“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”

Or so it does seem. As we paddle onwards, the sea appears constant in the distance and yet all around you it is moving and buffeting your kayak. It is always changing in reality. And yet, when you look at it from above, it appears to be just a great blue carpet shaking in the wind. You have to journey down and into it to sea its full complexity and untouched aura.

Take this afternoon for example. We parked our fifteen kayaks on a hotel beach for lunch (much to the annoyance of the management I suspect). Looking down into the sea with goggles, there are fish all around you. Swim out a few metres and the can be a good few inches long. This came as an annoyance to Ollie, Dan and Tim who despite this fact had been unable to catch any using James London’s fishing line and their kayaks. Tim and Dan even tried diving down and grabbing them with their hands. However, fish are fast: one second they are there and the next they are not.

The journey was only about fourteen kilometres today (only!). Our campsite is in the town of Trsteno. Once again, it is on the mainland (It is illegal to camp on the islands due to the fact you cannot get fire engines out there). The killer bit though is getting to it though. You have to climb about 150 metres of steps with your luggage from the journey to get there.

However, the night time round here is lovely. I am sitting here writing this at 9:30 in the evening. I am only wearing trunks and yet it is still warm. The only sound to be heard nearby is gentle whistle of the grasshoppers and the crickets. They do indeed take the lead in summer’s luxury and are never done with their delights as Keats would say. And yet now I too must rest my head beneath some gentle weed (a tent canopy actually). I would quite happily not return to the tent and instead sleep out underneath the stars if it were not for those damn ants and mosquitoes!

Day 4: 28th August

Today was the day we bid farewell to Lopud. No more Ollie Darrington teasing bewildered Croatian waiters or stealing birthday candles because for the next four days we must be self sufficient. Everything was packed in the kayaks and so we set off into the great blue yonder.

This landscape needs to be painted. There are essentially five bands of colour surrounding us. The turquoise sea is the lowest of the bands. Above it is the dark grey rocks which are wet from the waves lapping upon them. Above that is the dry white rock of the cliffs then the green grass of the vegetation on the trees above that. Finally is the pale blue of the sky topping it all off.

About half way through the day, we stopped by a cave to see inside it. While we swam over, we had the opportunity to look at what was actually below us. When you are in a kayak and the water around you is opaque, you think of it almost as solid and that nothing goes on beneath it. However, when you look through it with goggles, you realise that it is a whole new world. Boulders line the surface and in between them long grasses wave about and fish swim about. Hovering above it all, you feel like you are floating above an alien planet. You understand why people spend lifetimes studying it all, learning what lives between the rocks, trying to protect it all from the trawlers and chemicals which use it as a dump.

22 kilometres later, we arrived at our camp site on the mainland town of Zaton.  Supper was pasta all round and a well earned night’s sleep is soon to follow. Hopefully the three campsite dogs that refuse to leave us alone for want of food and attention will keep out any unwanted intruders.

Day 3: 27th August

It was a lot more pleasant sleeping in a room with a fan last night. Today was dedicated to refreshing our basic kayak skills and becoming accustomed to the boats themselves. The sea kayaks are perhaps three metres long and can store about 130 litres of luggage within them. After a slightly slow start, we were in the water and decided to split into two groups of six. As well as Major Billington, we also have two assessors, Pat and Tina, who took the other group. The gold D of E group was each assigned particular strokes and techniques to teach to the silvers.

We stopped for lunch and in the afternoon paddled around about the island. The guide books were right about the monasteries. I think I have seen five on the trips round the island. It was also interesting to see why sailors many years ago gave so much attention to crossing the point between the bay and the open sea. Once we had passed the headland, the waves must have been four to five times bigger and you really have to work to keep your boat pointing where you want it.

One of the gapers, Tim, who is taking part in the gold D of E trip, celebrated his birthday today. At breakfast this morning he was treated to a modest two slices of bread with candles in it. However, come evening and a full cake was prepared and we were treated to a musical rendition of “Happy Birthday” in various different languages. Tim even found time to do a dance and make a speech.”Great times, good music” was quite the sound bite for us take away from Lopud.   

   

Day 2: 26th August

Lord Byron described Dubrovnik as the “jewel of the Adriatic” where as George Bernard Shore dubbed it “Paradise on Earth”. Today we really got to see Dubrovnik as it is with the orange and green hills on the mainland complementing the turquoise (and turquoise it really is) sea out of which spring the emerald forested islands, thousands of which line the Dalmatian coast. The humidity means that they fade with distance so you can never be sure if you are looking at open sea of if there are more islands hidden by the moisture. The city is like nothing I have ever seen before. We in Britain are familiar with the nucleated grey expanses of London, Birmingham, Glasgow and such like. However Dubrovnik does not smother the landscape; it moves with it. Buildings occupy the valleys and dales between the hills and a great asymmetrical bridge in city seems to have grown out of it rather than have been built.         

We were “acclimatising” today. What that actually means is that we were shopping for food for the expedition. We then took a ferry to the first island we were visiting, Lopud.  While we were waiting for our ferry, we got to stare at various private yachts and re-adjust Christmas lists. We saw four cruise liners including the British “Queen Victoria” and the American “Oriana”.  Imagine Buckingham Palace on water if you want to get an idea of the size of these things. On Lopud Island we relaxed at the beach, browsed souvenir shops and had dinner at a restaurant again, hard work to say the least.

Lopud reminds me of Calycarie (I have almost certainly spelt that wrong) island from Mama Mia. We are staying at a youth hostel which, along with all the other buildings with their cobbled alley ways beaches and locals, could be further south in Greece and would not look out of place. It is one of the Elafiti islands and is home to various old monasteries, bars and absolutely no cars apart from the small electric buggies that ferry the tourists from the jetty to their hotels. There is plenty of room on the beaches for both us and the Speedo clad European tourists, some of whom like to get very friendly with us on the ferry.

Some of us are already beginning to show tan lines and “panda eyes” are a worry. Apart from that all is well in Croatia!