Day 11 - Krka National Park and Sibenik

Another early morning departure but we’ve quickly gotten used to the sound of the boat engines and were able to sleep in again for a bit. Breakfast, a bit of lazing in the sun while cruising further up the coast, and before long we were anchored in another bay for the day’s swim stop. This time we had some goggles that we’d bought from the supermarket the previous night so we were able to peer around under water a bit - the ocean is so clear that it seems like you’re just looking through glass. In fact, Barb discovered that she’d lost one of her earrings but one of the other guests had spotted it lying on the seabed about 5 metres down and retrieved it! While we were anchored, the captain offered to show anyone who was interested through the engine room and explain how everything works. Apparently it’s not a regular part of the cruise but he’d been asked quite a few questions so thought it might be easier to just give a bit of a tour. The boat isn’t exactly small but it’s amazing how much gets packed in to run everything (restaurant, air conditioning, showers, jacuzzi, bathrooms, laundry) as well as space for the actual engines. It’s the nautical version of a tardis. After sailing on a bit further, we docked at Sibineck, and then it was time for a change of pace. Rather than a city walking tour, we boarded a bus and got taken to Krka national park. It certainly is beautiful, but it is a reminder of how much we have on our own doorstep that meant that we weren’t as blown away as some others from different parts of the world. Back to Sibenik for free time and dinner. We took the google maps route to a recommended salad restaurant and found ourselves away from the waterfront in back alleys in the residential area. Finally we spotted a sign over a doorway and a menu that told us we had found it. We saw a tiny room through the doorway and were very sceptical, but we’re shown through that room into a courtyard tucked away in a quiet space. The owner and her husband did all the chef, bartender and waiter duties and their hospitality was wonderful, not to mention the food and wine were outstanding. A real gem to find to finish awesome day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 9 - Farewell Korcula, Hello Hvar

After a good night sleep, we had some breakfast onboard and got ready to head back into Korcula for a guided walking tour of the city. Although we’d had a wander around the the evening, the tour was definitely worthwhile - we got a really knowledgeable guide with a very dry sense of humour, and the city was quite a different place without so many people (most of the cruise ships that had been in the previous day had left). We did a bit more wandering after the tour, just to make sure we’d seen everything and then it was back onboard the ship for lunch - three courses! I think we could very easily get used to the idea of lazing around on a boat and having everything done for us….. While we lunched the captain sailed us out of Korcula and up the coast to the island of Hvar. Another walking tour of the old city - again, well worth it (we’ve officially become those disoriented looking tourists that you see wandering around with earpieces in, trying to keep up with the guide). Onto a bus to...
Read more

Day 30 - Cinque Terre

Image
An early start again today as we had a bit of travelling to get to our pesto making class. First a taxi to the train station and then over an hour on the train to get to Cinque Terre where the class was scheduled to start at 10:30. Unfortunately, the whole scheduling and ticketing thing with the trains is not straightforward so when we realised that we’d missed our stop and tried to double back, it was the start of a bit of an issue. We’d left plenty of time to get to Cinque Terre but when we went to the ticket office to try and get back to the correct station, the queue was nearly out the door. Barb tried to order new tickets online but that also seemed to be taking forever. We decided to just board the next train going back (so that we’d at least be on time) but that’s when it all came to a head - we got sprung by the conductor and despite trying to show that we’d tried to buy online tickets, we got a hefty fine. Although it was pretty rubbish, we didn’t have a lot of choice so we tr...
Read more

Day 24 - Last day in Puglia

Image
There were no solid plans for today because the weather forecast was for stormy weather all day. But looking again at the weather apps over breakfast, the report was for fine weather for most of the region (and by just looking out the window, it seemed that the day wasn’t going to be that bad). Barb did some online research to find a recommended beach nearby, and since we had food left from our visit to the supermarket a few days before, we thought a picnic would be a good idea. After making sure our ferry tickets were booked for our trip across to Capri tomorrow, we gathered everything up and set off to find a sunny spot with a bit of sand and some surf. Mission accomplished - we spent a few hours at a beach just south of Monopoli enjoying the sun, having a swim, and eating alfresco. The perfect way to end our time in Puglia - although it is another reminder of how lucky we are in NZ with our number and quality of sandy beaches. After drying off, we all piled back into car to take a ...
Read more