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.