We enjoyed settling into the new rhythm of our days with breakfast, a bit of sailing and then a swim stop in some nicely secluded bay. The water was so clean and deep, although you had to watch out for sea urchins closer to the shore. I set myself the challenge of standing up on a paddle board and managed to do so after three days for about 2 minutes. Tougher than it looks! We stopped overnight in one of the smallest islands on our journey called Bisevo and stayed in the harbour of Vis. These places were just so picturesque and again there was another balmy night at a waterfront eating delicious seafood and enjoying local Croatian wine; became a bit of a theme on our journey through the islands.

The next morning we sailed on towards the famous Blue Cave which is natural phenomenon caused by a small erosion of the limestone rock allowing light to penetrate the cave. We were told to listen out for our wake up call around 7am but for some reason the speaker system didn’t work in our room so we literally nearly missed the boat. Luckily they saw us waving and came over to collect us at the last minute so we got to see this natural wonder. It was definitely worth the panic!

The weather also impacted our final day of cruising as we were supposed to slowly make our way to Dubrovnik, stopping at the Elaphiti Islands for a swim before sailing past the Old Town walls of Dubrovnik. Instead the wind had other plans and we motored past all of that and ended up in the port of Gruz under an enormous bridge. This port is about 20 minutes outside of the old town and is as glamorous as you can imagine. The weirdest part was hearing intermittent screaming nearby which I soon worked out was coming from bungy jumpers insanely diving off that huge suspension bridge above us. We made the most of this last day and caught a bus into the town to orientate ourselves and also find our apartment as we were going to be staying on an extra 3 nights. In the afternoon we had a walking tour so got to hear the history and see the main sights. Our guide was really informative and was the first we have who spoke openly and honestly about the devastating impact of the Yugoslavian War on Dubrovnik. The whole town was under siege for eight months and there was widespread destruction, injuries and deaths.

There were many photographic memorials around the city serving as important reminders to this very recent trauma. Even in the street we stayed in there was photographs showing that almost every house had been firebombed by the missiles. I kept thinking how many of the middle aged Croatians we saw throughout our journey had their 20s robbed by this terrible conflict. It is also so great to see how they have risen up and transformed their country, rebuilding lives and buildings in relatively short time.

Dubrovnik Old Town is completely walled. It was founded by Roman refugees as Ragusa in the 7th Century. They were fleeing nearby Epidaurus which was under siege from Slavs. It has been fiercely independent free state for centuries (except when taken over by Venetians in the 12th Century), supporting itself as an important trading city and learning the art of diplomacy to keep Ottomans at bay. They made the most of their seaside positions and built some incredible secular and religious buildings. Of course now it is also known as the place where “Game of Thrones” was filmed so Glenn sang the theme tune on high repeat everywhere we walked.And did the walk of shame down the famous Jesuit steps. It is also very, very busy with tourists so we soon learnt the streets and times to avoid the crush. There are only a few magical times where you suddenly find yourself on a completely empty laneway.

We bought a three day Dubrovnik Pass which gave us access to 12 museums, unlimited bus rides and most importantly a walk around the city walls. It was pretty good value and while some of the museums were underwhelming, it included enough good stuff to make it worthwhile. I have a rather unnecessary bank of knowledge now about Dubrovnik’s maritime history.

After we had farewelled our boat crew (who were all going off in different directions – Greece, Italy or back home to the US, UK, NZ or Australia), we relocated to the Old Town, staying in a gorgeous little apartment right in the heart of the action. We even embraced the local life and hung our washing outside our window (Glenn’s Aussie Bum undies proudly on display to all).

We really enjoyed rambling around the town, stopping into an art gallery or museum as part of our pass. The city walls walk was awesome as you get the best views all the way around and it takes around an hour and half. Loved watching all these young guys jumping off a precarious cliff overlooking the seaside of the walls. As well you got to see lots of the main buildings below from a bird’s eye view.