Before we left for Hvar Island, we had another delicious breakfast at our Dubrovnik hostel. There was a big group of Australians there, who had spent the night before drinking at the hostel with the owner. The owner came out to join us in the morning, wanting everyone to try his homemade liqueurs. Loren and a couple of the Australians obliged, and had an early morning drink.
The drinks turned out to be absolutely delicious. One of them was made from plums, and the other was made from young walnuts in their shells. He showed us some of the ones that were still fermenting. He found out that Loren had a Croatian grandfather, and assumed she spoke Croatian. He spent the next 10 minutes explaining the process of making the liqueurs in Croatian. Loren just nodded and smiled. She wished she understood though, as they were so tasty.
With full bellies and a little bit of a buzz, we regretfully left behind our lovely hostel and friendly hosts, and started our drive to Hvar Island. We were so involved in a conversation that we missed the town where we were supposed to take the ferry. We found it again soon, and bought our tickets.
The drinks turned out to be absolutely delicious. One of them was made from plums, and the other was made from young walnuts in their shells. He showed us some of the ones that were still fermenting. He found out that Loren had a Croatian grandfather, and assumed she spoke Croatian. He spent the next 10 minutes explaining the process of making the liqueurs in Croatian. Loren just nodded and smiled. She wished she understood though, as they were so tasty.
With full bellies and a little bit of a buzz, we regretfully left behind our lovely hostel and friendly hosts, and started our drive to Hvar Island. We were so involved in a conversation that we missed the town where we were supposed to take the ferry. We found it again soon, and bought our tickets. 
The ferry wasn't to leave for another 40 minutes or so, and we couldn't see a line of cars, so we decided to do some grocery shopping. We eventually found a little one, and got back to our unticketed car just as the ticket inspectors were coming around. We drove to the place where we were supposed to wait, and discovered a queue around the corner with about 60 cars in it! As a result, we didn't make it onto the ferry, and ended up having to wait 1.5 hours for the next one.
It was a nice ride, when we finally got onto the boat. We stood on the deck and watched the scenery go by. There were beautiful mountains all around the water, and not many houses to be seen. It was so peaceful.
Statue at the port, which looked like Pope John Paul II
We drove off the ferry at the other side, and pitied the huge line of cars that was waiting to get on. This ferry was the last one of the day, so whoever didn't fit onto it was stuck on the island. There was at least 3 boatloads of cars there, so many people wouldn't be leaving that night.
We still had 50km to drive along the island before we reached Jelsa, which is a little town that we had booked a camping site in. The roads were very thin and wound in and out of the folds of the mountains. There were no barriers at the edge of the roads, and sometimes the area beside the roads dropped away to a cliff. Other parts of the road seemed to be built about a metre higher than the land surrounding, so if you drove to far to the side on any of these places, your car would either topple over a cliff or do a flip off the edge of the raised road.
It was difficult to go more than about 50km/h on these roads, but we were determined not to go less than that. We didn't want to set up the tent in the dark, and we didn't want other people taking the best camping places before we got there. So we overtook all the slow cars and caravans from the ferry, and made it to our campsite well before any of them.
The campsite was really nice. It was located along the side of a hill, with little flat terraces for camping on. It was filled with pine trees and at the bottom of the hill was the sea! It wasn't the closest camping site to Jelsa, but we liked it that way, as it was more private. It was also nice to be able to relax in the forest and forget about organising accomodation and transport and rushing from town to town all the time.
That evening, Loren cooked some dinner by the light of a nearby lamp. It was our first real camping meal, cooked on our little stove. We were very hungry, so we were watching its progress very closely. The ground under the table and chairs was pretty uneven, so it was difficult to keep everything balanced.
Just as the meal was starting to look ready, Loren's chair flipped over, and the table went flying with our dinner on it. The table caught fire from the flame and our food was splattered on the dirt. We put out the flames and picked up the table and chairs, but our food was gone. Loren thought it was quite funny, but Artur's hunger made him grumpy and he wasn't impressed.
We still had more ingredients for other meals though, so Loren just cooked something else. Soon we had a fabulous meal of fettucine with basil pesto and tuna. It was delicious, and well worth the wait. Jelsa Town
The next morning, we drove to Jelsa to buy some sunscreen, as we were keen on spending a good deal of time at the beach. It seemed to be a lot further than we thought. However we found a much quicker route on the way back, along the water.
The next morning, we drove to Jelsa to buy some sunscreen, as we were keen on spending a good deal of time at the beach. It seemed to be a lot further than we thought. However we found a much quicker route on the way back, along the water.
Jelsa was small but very pretty. It was filled with little old houses and shops, and the water all around was filled with boats. The weather was nice and hot, and people were even swimming at a little stretch of beach just next to the town. The place was so friendly and everyone was happy and enjoying their holidays.
When we got back to the campsite, we made our way straight to the water. It wasn't a beach, it was a section of huge flat rocks that led down quite steeply down to the water.
It was perfect for lying in the sun though. We made the most of our first opportunity to relax, sunbathe, and read books. The water was freezing after you'd been in the hot sun, but once you were in it was fantastic. We spent several hours just enjoying ourselves in the sun. Evening in Jelsa
In the evening, we decided to walk to Jelsa along water's edge. The sun was just setting and the water around us was absolutely beautiful. We discovered a real sand beach along the way, which was still filled with people, but we decided our less populated rocks were better for relaxing.
There was a music festival happening in Jelsa while we were there, but we couldn't figure out where they were holding the events. We weren't interested in all of the shows that were on the schedule while we were there, so we didn't look too hard. Instead we decided to stop for an ice cream at one of the many ice creameries.
The one that we chose had a huge menu full of exotic sundaes and fancy glasses full of delicious looking icecreams. We chose one each, which was pretty brave. When they came out, we were overwhelmed by their size. It looked like they had us confused with giant size people. Somehow we managed to finish most of them, but after that Loren couldn't look at those kinds of ice cream glasses anymore. She went back to ice cream cones, which were a little more managable and less rich.
The next day, we got up and went straight to the beach. We spent the whole morning there sunbathing and reading. Artur had borrowed some snorkelling equipment from his dad, so he spent a lot of time in the water, inspecting the fish. There were quite a few of them around, and the water was very deep.
Stari Grad
After indulging ourselves at the beach, we decided to go to another town, called Stari Grad, for lunch. It wasn't too far away, only about 11km. It was another gorgeous little town that was filled with old buildings and little stands selling lavender oil and other local produce from the island. The town was right at the waters edge, and surrounded by yachts of all shapes and sizes.
After indulging ourselves at the beach, we decided to go to another town, called Stari Grad, for lunch. It wasn't too far away, only about 11km. It was another gorgeous little town that was filled with old buildings and little stands selling lavender oil and other local produce from the island. The town was right at the waters edge, and surrounded by yachts of all shapes and sizes.
We did a bit of shopping at the little stalls around the town, and ended up buy some beautiful lavendar oil. It is great for burns, so we used it to treat any sunburn that we acquired. We also bought some things for the beach. We both got some snorkelling gear, as Loren didn't have any, and Artur's was leaking water. Loren bought an air mattress for floating on the water, as they were quite cheap and pretty popular on the island.
We also bought some local wine, which was sold all over Stari Grad and Jelsa. It was in big barrels, so if you wanted to buy some, it was put in a plastic water bottle for you. We bought a litre of red wine for a great price. They also sold white wine, dessert wine and some other locally distilled spirits.
When we got back to the campsite, we had some dinner and then decided to go for a swim. It was dark, so there was no one at the beach, but the moon was almost full, and lit our path. The weather was still warm at night, so we enjoyed the water, and the thrill of swimming alone at night. Another Morning in Paradise
We woke up fairly late the next morning, as we had been woken up several times by some very noisy dogs. Artur was so frustrated by them, that he went off on a walk in the middle of the night to see what was going on. He found a house not too far away that had a vineyard attached. Outside, there were two dogs chained to a post, and they were very excited or distressed by something. He knocked on the door of the house several times, but no one answered, so in the end he gave up and tried to go back to sleep.
When we finally got out of bed, and went straight to the beach again. Loren was keen to try out her lilo mattress, and we were both excited about our snorkelling gear. We spent more time in the water than out of it this time. It was the first time Loren had tried diving really deep, to see the ocean floor and the fish down there. Artur gave her some tips, and soon she was picking up stones from the sand below, at least 5 metres deep.
The town of Hvar is surrounded by huge 13th century walls, and has several beautiful Gothic palaces. The streets of the town are paved in huge marble blocks, and like those in Dubrovnik they have been polished by the feet of its residents and visitors.
There was also a long promenade by the beach which was filled with bars and restaurants. This formed the nightlife district of the island, and was filled with backpackers and rich tourists alike. We could feel the holiday atmosphere emanating from every corner of the town.
After wandering around the the town for a while, we decided to climb up to the enormous Venetian fort, which was at the very top of a huge hill. The temperature was about 40 degrees, so our climb was slow and difficult.
We couldn't find any signs pointing to the path that lead there, so we made a rough guess and started climbing. The steps were very steep, and they seemed to go on forever. As we neared the top of the old section of town, the path stopped suddenly, telling us that the rest of the path was private property. Since it lead through someone's garden, we decided to heed the sign, and climb back down to find another path. We ended up walking on the road, which was much longer than a path, as it wound back and forth to enable safe driving, instead of rising directly via a staircase.
By the time we reached the walls of the fort, we were fairly hot and bothered. We didn't realise that the walk to the top of the fort was still a journey of its own. The path here wound in a similar way to the road, rising on a gradual gradient rather than offering staircases. This made the walk a lot longer and quite frustrating. The garden areas between the paths were filled with cactuses and the hill rose quite steeply in between, so we decided not to risk taking a shortcut.
Eventually we made it to the top, where we were able to climb up the steps of the fort itself. We went to the edges of the fort to see the view over the town. It was just amazing. Every angle looked just like a postcard, and every picture that we took turned out looking like one too. The ships filling the harbour sparkled in the sun, and there the ones that were moving left trails of white foam behind them. The islands that filled the harbour were beautiful, and we spent a while trying to figure out which was which.
After admiring the view, we decided to explore the fort itself. There was a dungeon located beneath the fort, so we went down to explore it. There were still cells there, carved from rock, with iron bars blocking entry or exit. The lights had a green tinge to them which created a spooky feel in the place.
There was also a musuem, which displayed a collection of jars and clay pots that were salvaged from several underwater shipwrecks. They were quite old, and we from merchant ships that had crashed along Hvar's coastline.
On our way back down from the fort, we found an old path that was much quicker, but fairly treacherous. It was covered in loose rocks, and the slope was very steep. It was much more enjoyable than the other long and boring path though.
Back in the town again, we went searching for the ferry timetables for Korcula Island. Loren's Grandfather's brother still lived there, and we wanted to try and visit him. We also heard that Korcula was extremely beautiful, from Artur's dad who had been there on a sailing trip with his mates.
Unfortunately, the ferries only ran once a day, and the one that would leave that day was leaving in about an hour. If we wanted to go, we'd have to leave and stay there overnight, without packing anything. We also wouldn't be able to return until the following evening, and we were planning to leave and drive to Split.
We woke up fairly late the next morning, as we had been woken up several times by some very noisy dogs. Artur was so frustrated by them, that he went off on a walk in the middle of the night to see what was going on. He found a house not too far away that had a vineyard attached. Outside, there were two dogs chained to a post, and they were very excited or distressed by something. He knocked on the door of the house several times, but no one answered, so in the end he gave up and tried to go back to sleep.
When we finally got out of bed, and went straight to the beach again. Loren was keen to try out her lilo mattress, and we were both excited about our snorkelling gear. We spent more time in the water than out of it this time. It was the first time Loren had tried diving really deep, to see the ocean floor and the fish down there. Artur gave her some tips, and soon she was picking up stones from the sand below, at least 5 metres deep. Hvar Town
After our beach session, we drove to another town called Hvar. This was the biggest town on the island, and the most populated by tourists. It was quite a pretty town, although our quiet Jelsa still remained our favorite.
The town of Hvar is surrounded by huge 13th century walls, and has several beautiful Gothic palaces. The streets of the town are paved in huge marble blocks, and like those in Dubrovnik they have been polished by the feet of its residents and visitors.There was also a long promenade by the beach which was filled with bars and restaurants. This formed the nightlife district of the island, and was filled with backpackers and rich tourists alike. We could feel the holiday atmosphere emanating from every corner of the town.After wandering around the the town for a while, we decided to climb up to the enormous Venetian fort, which was at the very top of a huge hill. The temperature was about 40 degrees, so our climb was slow and difficult.We couldn't find any signs pointing to the path that lead there, so we made a rough guess and started climbing. The steps were very steep, and they seemed to go on forever. As we neared the top of the old section of town, the path stopped suddenly, telling us that the rest of the path was private property. Since it lead through someone's garden, we decided to heed the sign, and climb back down to find another path. We ended up walking on the road, which was much longer than a path, as it wound back and forth to enable safe driving, instead of rising directly via a staircase.By the time we reached the walls of the fort, we were fairly hot and bothered. We didn't realise that the walk to the top of the fort was still a journey of its own. The path here wound in a similar way to the road, rising on a gradual gradient rather than offering staircases. This made the walk a lot longer and quite frustrating. The garden areas between the paths were filled with cactuses and the hill rose quite steeply in between, so we decided not to risk taking a shortcut.Eventually we made it to the top, where we were able to climb up the steps of the fort itself. We went to the edges of the fort to see the view over the town. It was just amazing. Every angle looked just like a postcard, and every picture that we took turned out looking like one too. The ships filling the harbour sparkled in the sun, and there the ones that were moving left trails of white foam behind them. The islands that filled the harbour were beautiful, and we spent a while trying to figure out which was which.After admiring the view, we decided to explore the fort itself. There was a dungeon located beneath the fort, so we went down to explore it. There were still cells there, carved from rock, with iron bars blocking entry or exit. The lights had a green tinge to them which created a spooky feel in the place.There was also a musuem, which displayed a collection of jars and clay pots that were salvaged from several underwater shipwrecks. They were quite old, and we from merchant ships that had crashed along Hvar's coastline.On our way back down from the fort, we found an old path that was much quicker, but fairly treacherous. It was covered in loose rocks, and the slope was very steep. It was much more enjoyable than the other long and boring path though.Back in the town again, we went searching for the ferry timetables for Korcula Island. Loren's Grandfather's brother still lived there, and we wanted to try and visit him. We also heard that Korcula was extremely beautiful, from Artur's dad who had been there on a sailing trip with his mates.
Unfortunately, the ferries only ran once a day, and the one that would leave that day was leaving in about an hour. If we wanted to go, we'd have to leave and stay there overnight, without packing anything. We also wouldn't be able to return until the following evening, and we were planning to leave and drive to Split.Cloud above Stari Grad on our way home, looked like a nuclear explosion.
The only other option was to take an expensive day trip, which would also come back late in the evening, and wouldn't allow us to visit Loren's family. We decided it just wasn't worth it and we didn't have enough time to take it slowly and enjoy it.
The next morning, we had a lovely long sleep in, and then went to the beach. We had some more fun playing with our snorkelling equipment and floating on the lilo.
Unfortunately we come to the end of our relaxing holiday from travelling. So we farewelled our beach and packed up our tent into the car. It was hard to leave it all behing, as we'd had the most relaxing 5 days that we'd experienced in the last 5 months. If you ever need a quiet paradise to escape to, come to Hvar Island!
The next morning, we had a lovely long sleep in, and then went to the beach. We had some more fun playing with our snorkelling equipment and floating on the lilo.
Unfortunately we come to the end of our relaxing holiday from travelling. So we farewelled our beach and packed up our tent into the car. It was hard to leave it all behing, as we'd had the most relaxing 5 days that we'd experienced in the last 5 months. If you ever need a quiet paradise to escape to, come to Hvar Island! To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Hvar Island pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment