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After an early start, we drove from Plitvička Jezera to Zadar on the coast and caught the ferry to an island called Dugi Otok, an hour and twenty minutes away. The sun was shining, the sea was like glass, welcome to Dalmatia... We drove north from the port of Brbinj, winding our way up over the hills, being treated to magnificent views of the islands with Zadar and the mountains in the background on one side and on the the other, vast expanses of the Adriatic all the way to Italy.
Dugi Otok means "Long Island ", it is 43 kms long and about 4 kms wide and has no permanent water. We assured our hosts, Miriam and Gianni, that we know how to use water sparingly, - we are from Australia! They are are so lovely and can't do enough for us. They are also great cooks, does this sound familiar?
Yesterday, we booked an "excursion to Kornati Islands with a motorboat".... What a memorable experience it turned out to be !
We had to be at Sali, the southern port on the island, by 9am. Our fellow passengers met us there, two men from Northern Italy with no English at all, a couple and their three year old daughter from Eastern Poland and Dilia and Luis from Portugal,who lived in Luxembourg and were over for the weekend. Our skipper, Marko, was very relaxed and friendly and helped us all climb on board with a strong arm! We squeezed into the cockpit and some of us went and sat on deck as the boat was quite small.....
Five minutes underway and Marko brought out the plastic cups and Grappa!!! I kid you not, at 10am !!! Of course we all accepted, as you do, (except for the mother of the three year old) and we were off to a flying start!
Roughly 150 Islands comprise this national park, mainly marine. They are mostly barren and some have a light covering of grass but they have the most amazing cliffs, cracks and rock formations. It looks like a giant has thrown all these giant rocks everywhere - they are stark white against the blue sea. It was so easy to imagine the Roman galleys rowing past, especially when we looked up and saw the ruins of an ancient fort. Ulysses also came to mind.... (That grappa was good, ...)
It was heaven, the wind blowing in our faces and even a pod of endangered bottle nosed dolphins graced us with their presence. At one stage, Marko left the wheel and disappeared into the galley. A few minutes went by, we all looked at each other and, no Marko.... The cliffs were looming , so Geoff quietly steered us through, much to our relief. Marko emerged ten minutes later with a plate of salted anchovies and olive oil , a loaf of bread and a big old fishing knife, two bottles of wine, white and red more plastic cups and a roll of paper towels. ( I do have a photo...) he looked at Geoff and said "ha! Capitan!!!
We were a merry bunch by the time we berthed at an island for a delicious lunch of grilled fish and kupus (cabbage) salad and freshly baked bread. More wine flowed and we spent a very pleasant two hours lounging on the beach, some swimming, some exploring, others (namely Geoff and me) trying not to doze off in the shade of an overhanging olive tree.
The wind had blown up by the time we left and we were soon drenched sitting on the deck, but, hey, who cared? Marko was still dispensing grappa and wine and the trip home was very jolly! His favourite word was "bravo!" We made it back to port just after 7 and were in time for another delicious meal of grilled squid and blitva- our favourite!!!
(Photos and video to come.....)
- comments
Lu Sounds like heaven!! Meant to be meeting your Mum today but her arrangements got changed so.......Keep up the good work, enjoy!! oooxxxxx
sue I love that salted anchovies, olive oil, wine & bread are more important than steering the boat... excellent priorities! Your joy continues to inspire xx
Joel Sounds amazing! What's blitva again? Captain Geoffro!
Theresa Silver beet