Mljet - Boats

After Hvar we went to Mljet, which is largely taken up by a nature reserve. We went to see the salty lakes in the reserve, which were created by some Monks who flooded the valley via a sea channel, in order to protect themselves in their island monastery from the angry villagers. Sounds like something out of Frankenstein, but I can't recall exactly what the villagers were angry about.
I loved all the quaint boats around, so decided to go for the arty black and white old boat compilation.

Jump Jump!

One of the highlights of the trip was the daily stop for swims in the lovely warm clear sea, and of course, pulling off some great jumps off the boat.

William, the master of the bomb drop in action.

Say cheese!

Rowan with a twist.

Ashley shows his somersault skills.

Ow, Andy thats going to hurt!

Nice backflip!

Lining up for a multiple assault.

How not to do a somersualt with a twist

Group dives.

Kylie is the epitome of grace and elegance!

Will and I

Hvar

Our first stop was the island of Hvar. Hvar tends to get more sun that most others, and if you get more than 4 hours rain in a day, all hotels will give you a discount on your bill, and if it snows, your stay is free!

The main square

After lazing on the boat deck all day (hard work!), I thought I'd better get some exercise, so walked up the hill to the old fort, while the others shopped and drank beer!

Here are some views from the hill.

That evening we went out to a fish restaurant, and boy did they have the bigggest tuna steaks I have ever seen in my life! A bit fatty though. It was quite a challenge eating for some, as the table was on the old cobblestones, so wasn't very straight, so whoever had a very saucy dish would have their sauce spilling over the sides onto the table! The local house wines were delicious, provided you enjoyed drinking vinegar!
That night everyone went down to the local party bar, but boy was it crowded, so I didn't stay very long.

Scenes from a boat

After Split I went on a 7 day boat cruise around the Croatian islands. Our group was the envy of all the other boats, as we had the pirate boat, The Lav. Aaaarrrgggghhh!
We would head off early in the morning each day, and what a pleasure to lie in bed with the rocking of the sea!
We were lucky with some fantastic weather, so we would stop every day for a swim in the sea, have some lunch on board and then get to port each day to explore the town we were staying in.

One day after stopping for a swim the anchor had hanaged to catch a sunken canoe! We couldn't haul it up so the crew had to go down in a small boat to get rid of it.

Wow, this was an impressive looking boat we saw en route.

The Captain tends to his herbs

This old witch looked over us all in the dining room

Some sunsets and sunrises from the boat

Our permanent friend the seagull sits patiently on the steering wheel every day!