CABIN FEVER

Cheeky! Us gleefully heading down to the beach near our accomodation in Paklencia and me loosing my sarong at an inopportune moment!! we charged into the water to discoveron the way out it was infested with sea urchins!! amazing fluke noone got speared!! Sea urchins are very common incroatia and if you getone of their needle like tallons in yourtoe you will sure as hell know about it! Alfie was one unlucky victim and despite our best attempts with tweezers and various other extraction methods it stayedfirmly in place.
Bella the resident pup of the house where we stayed in Paklencia pictured below
The rambling old mansion where we stayed in Paklencia- too cool! And this is the view from our Balcony...

Looking up at the rest of the crews quarters- Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your golden hair....
I thought this was too good just to passby a great example of some of the quirky homes in Zadar
My last day in Zadar was spent blissfully here on the steps of the sea organ-an amazing idea! music comes through the slats in the steps- as the waves lap they strike the notes of the organ concelaed below creating a constant eerie medley of pipe sounds- absoloutley beautiful. You can see my orange striped sarong and backpack.. I got my morning coffee on the house from the friendly bar owner Robbie who let us leave all our backpacks in his garage offered us a free nights accomodation any time and entertained me with stories of his friend who is a witch from who lives in Australia and various crazy travellers tales! I then sunbaked read and spend my time floating on my back in the ocean in time to the organs music- tough times!
The Bells of the Zadar bell tower!
View from the top of the Bell Tower in Zadar- see below..
This is me fulfilling a Croatian dream! I had spied so many of those church bell towers dotting the Croatian horizon and was determined to be able to go up inside one and climb to the top and for 2 kuna in Zadar I was finally able! I dont know if it is just flab and a flattering angle of the sun but check my Arnie-esque backpacker bicep!! hehehehe
Me standing out the frontof an old Monastry in Zadar. the ladies specialise in Doilies and little knitted booties i really wanted to send some home for you poor melbournites battling the winter chills but they only came in small sizes!
Verity and Jini in the courtyard at our place in Zadar. Our second and last day. We spent the first night in a crazy Croatian ladys house she spoke only german and her persistant body odour had the most impressive staying power wed encountered- one breeze in and out of a room was enough to taint the air for the rest of the evening.. hence our new digs at this place. the three of us had to share a bed but we figured a small price to pay for thefreedom of our nostrils..


Aye aye me hearties! Me as captain for about ten minutes hehehe lots of fun bit hairy when other boats come and youre trying not to capsize but we masde it back to land ahoy

Sarah Simone and I munching into a whole watermelon which we bought from a stall down on the street corner. Stock standard local produce seems to be Moonshine or Raiki as it is locally known -wine by the litre and an assortment of fruit. Pretty much anyone will sell you a litre oftheir home made brew in the very special packaging of a recycled plastic bottle. Needless to say there have been quite a few casualties from the old Raiki..











Me chilled out on bed after a big days hiking in Paklencia We ended up walking in peack heat for most the day but the hike upto the caves was well worth it. temperatures inside were a deliciously cool 10 degrees! a lovely respite from the heat before setting off the day again.
LAST SUPPER
this is our last meal together at our accomodation inPaklencia before Simone andI left at 11.45pm to try and flag down the bus back out to Zadar. Paklencia prooved to be a Croatian version of HOTEL CALIFORNIA -you can check in but you can never leave.. details of that sorry story to come but the risotto Simone whipped up for 9 hungry mouths was scrumptious !
Bon appetite!
Simone sans baggage at Belgrade in Serbia Montenegro. We were so relieved to make it to this point! By this stage we had spent an hour hitchhiking with a Truckie -please dont freak out dad we were left with no choice!!-half a night sleeping on a bus station floor with the cockroaches and a bunch of aussie backpackers and then nine hours on a bus. We are here sinking beers in preperation for the ten hour overnight train to Sofia in Bulgaria. So this is about a third of the way into the epic journey to Istanbul.

To explain the hitchhiking.. basically none of the bastard bus drivers would stop for us. we left ourselves with three buses as we thought it could be risky relying on the last one to stop for us given the very unhelpful nature of croatian bus drivers and our reservations poroved well grounded- we had a choice of the 11.45. 12.45 and 2.00am so wecould be back in Zadar to catch the 7am bus to Belgrade. The first bus went past pulled over then drove off the second stopped arguedwith us for fiveminutes and drove off- it seemedit was too much hassel to put two girls and their bags on the bus at 1am in the morning so we cut our losses and took up the lorry drivers offer of a lift. He was an old Croatian who spoke no english and whos single profession turnedout to be driving trucks and thankfully not chopping up backpackers stupid enough to hitchhike in the middle of the night. there was a brief panic attack when he took the wrong exit duringwhich my mind quickly turnedfrom relaxed self-congratulation at beating the bastard bus drivers to oh my God what have we done we are going to be tomorrows headline and tonights prize for some truck drivers stopover.. but he was really just missing the tolls. It was a great way to travel! you get a fantastic view and it beats paying for the bus!

Do we look relieved__!!! Neither of us have had any sleep at this stage..

At least the Serbian beer was yummy..
Simone and fellow couchette bunker Alesshandro. He turned out to be a very valuable addition to our cramped sleeping quarters for six on the train thankfully the next room was free so the German man who was also meant to shack upfor the night moved next door- was very cosy in there! Alesshandro spoke several different languages so was our translator and therapist for the trip- he was ableto soothe our nerves when passport control took off with our passports then cameround asking for them again! we thought we had been robbed but it was just a rather messy system.. Our train rideincluded all the adventure you could expect*- we were robbed by gypises ripped off there was a dramatic arrest of smugglers and I was hideously sick with a combination of travel sickness sheer exhaustion and the remains of the infection from my flu- i have never been so comatose since that infamous wisdom teeth operation and somehow i had to intermittenly saddle up with backpack and bags and catch buses and trains and get around -so so grateful for saintly simone who dragged me about and kept me lucid enough to make the journey!!
The sunflower fields of Bulgaria and Turkey- this photo doesnt do the view justice but thankfully you arent privy to the smell-the rivers that we passed provided a rather fragrant backdrop the trip... best not to think about exactly whats surging along those stinky channels !!


Fairy tale Istanbul!
woops so jsut remembered that images loaded first will be last to appear on blog so better change order.. although now i have remedied situation you will be reading this in right order and this whole spiel will unnecessary jibberish- thanks for listening
This is Simone standing on the street in turkey which leads to our


OK so just to step back in time a little .. here are
some more pics from Croatia.. no commas so bear with me while everything is followedby an ellipses no idea of spelling of that either hehe .. OK so this is me and half of Alfie sailing the seven seas at Hvar we hired a boat for the day and despite near capsizes caused by larger faster boats powered by a whole herd more horses than our little putput we managed to get out to a few islands and back again no worries mate

PAKLENCIA NATIONAL PARK

The posse! Tomorrow we catch thE 7am bus to Belgrade, Serbia, hoping to spend a day in Bulgaria.. OK gotta fly, post more pics soon!


Me on the balconoy of our rambling old southern-style mansion at Paklencia national park- best accomodation yet- and super cheap!

Hvar

Me at the gorgeous Hvar- check the colour of the water!!

i am leaving to go the national parks tomorrow night, looking forward to a bit of hiking, then it is across to Bulgaria via Serbia >Montengro, hoping to spend a night in Bulgaria and hike acorss the sand dunes to a monastry.. see how we go for time!

Bog from Croatia!! (hello from Croatia, not as rude as it sounds..)

Here i am in the dungeon of the fortress at Dubrovnik, tiny little cells but at least they have a great view!!
one of the charming alley ways of croatia, featuring of course the lovely Gini..
This is the wall that encloses the old town of Dubrovnik, you can walk the full length of it. hard to imagine this town was devastated by war some 12 years ago.. the ruins blend into the regenerated city to create a sedcutive blend of chaos and tranquility... peering from the great wall into the small intricate maže of the town is amažing, anywhere there is a flat roof top there is a chair and table, making the most of the view and the sun. clothes lines bridge across perilious gaps in walls, from one impossibly high window to another- how they get their washing on there i would love to see!! knowing the croats, they probably tight rope walk it..

This was a great place that we stayed at in Dubrovnik, it was run by a žippy little croatian man who despite being thirty years our senior raced around up and down those treacherous croatian steps.. those croatian senior citižens put us to shame!! and when you are traipsing half way up and down cliffs every day i am not really surprised- one way to keep fit!!
From left to right we have, Alfie, Simone (kiwi i will be travelling to turkey with) Sam (from new york) Jack, Eiamer (sorry again for spelling!) me, Gini, Sarah (canadian, another fab travel companion to turkey), Verity, Allistair..
and here is my pommy posse! from left to right, Alfie, me, Verity, Gini, Allistair and taking the photo is Lawrence (sorry if this is wrong spelling guys!) we are having a meal in Hvar.. the power was out at this end of town so the restaurant had to get the pižžas we ordered from down the road! Pižža is pretty much a staple, no matter where you go it is cheap and readily available and the best value for money. This was one of better croatian customer service experiences, the waitress was very friendly and we were surrounded by the usual tables of singing locals :oD


This is the where the ferry docks at Hvar in Croatia- totally stunning as you can see! Hvar was the crown jewell of the croatian coast, very touristy but hardly surprising that the masses flock here when it is so so beautiful...

And here i am sitting in the tower of Marco Polos house (as you do) this was rumoured to be his residence in Korcula, another island off the coast of croatia. At least the locals are laying claim to it being his pad- and as i was keen to have a sticky beack inside one of the charming little aparments i got sucked in! tiny little place with wooden staircase leading up to this marvellous vantage point.. not much else of his place was open to the public but for ten kuna (2 aussie dollar) you cant complain..

Its is not life that matters, but the journey..

hello all!!

My last day in Dubrovnik before catching the bus up to Žadar tomorrow (8 hour trip). Dubrovnik is another lovely town, most northern town on Croatias coast. The old town is entirely enclosed within a fortress wall which you can climb and walk. The rest of the city has grown outside the walls. The old town is a complete step back in time, to go with the cliche.. apart from the hoards and hoards of tourists.

Hada gorgeous ferry ride over from Hvar to here, took four hours and we travelled at sunset. ferry travel is the way to go, awesome views, the hum of the massive engine, cutting through the waterć- so relaxing and scenic! compared to being crammed onto a bus with naži busdrivers and creepy croatian men with creeping fingers! (poor Gini copped it on the bus, but thats another story..) anyhoo SO went out to the island today for more beach lounging - i am ready to move on from the beach now and get into some adventure! a bit of action! i am turning into an over-sunned blimb. all we eat is loaves of bread, orange juice by the litre (i somehow managed to get a cold despite the very hot climate!) and lots of icecream. i went to the fish market yesterday and we had a big cookup of prawns and fish, the guys couldnt believe it, they had been subsiting on breakfast bars and beer so it was quite the treat!

the partment where we are staying is amaying, so cheap with a patio, balcony, lots of other travellers, nice rooms and (most exciting of all) a clean shower and two toilets, kitchena and even a resident turtle! who we discovered cruising into the kitchen this morning.

I am going to travel onto Žadar and as far up as Žagreb with my new pals, the lovely kiwi Simone and the lovely Canadian Sarah. Looking forward to exploring the national parks, they look stunning with board walks weaving amongst ažure lakes and there is lots of hiking to be done. from there we will head across to belgrade in serbia montenegro and down to istanbul. i am hoping to have a few days in bulgaria and serbia for something different and with my new travel companions this should be possible so very excitiing! I will do budapest later as part of my busabout loop in september as i am now running out of time..

ok just a quick update really, just to say i am alive and well. i am about to try and upload some photos so see how that goes..

ciao for now!
xoxox

what the Dickens

greetings from croatia!! sorry it has been so long between posts , i have been camping out of town and when we do come into town jumping on the computer doesnt always take priority over icecream and sunbaking!

OK so where to begin??

i carefully booked accomodation before leaving for my flight out of london to the small coastal town of croatia -Rijeka. Getting the train to Luton airport and then the shuttle bus went very smoothly. i met a somewhat creepy business man on the train who offered for me to come sailing around the islands of croatia as he happened to be taking the same lflight as me, just a week later, but despite the opportunist in me (free yacht yaddah yaddah) the realist in me (stranded out at sea with somewhat creepy business man and who knows who else) meant i smiled politely "great great! sure sure! might see you there then!" grabbed my bags and ran (as best you can with backpack etc) anyhoo back to the point.. so i get my flight fine, it was delayed by over an hour which meant i arrived around 11.30pm at night in rijeka. golden rule of travel as everyone knows is always have first nght booked when arriving in strange country late. i had booked but had forgotten the minor detail of recording WHERE exactly, so depsite my printed out email of directions of how to get there i didnt know where "there" was. great.

my instructions had seemed so endearing at the time, written in broken english by the croatian ladies running the joint it included helpful tips like, get the bus at the river near the tree. awww how cute- until it is midnight and i have no where to sleep and no idea where i am going. SO by some miracle i stumbled acorss a bunch of lovely poms in pretty much the same predicament (they have assured me poms is not offensive, where as i assured them "abos" when refering to our indigenous australians most certainly IS hehe) we all jumped on the one bus heading to town, jumped off at some cross road and made for the campsite. so, sure, camping wasnt exactly part of my nine month game plan., mostly because you kinda need a tent and my back was already burdened enough without carrying my acommodation around as well! but i had a sleeping bag (thanks SOOO much to nikkis last minute donation!!!) and some clothes for a pillow and slept like a baby.

so my first night was spent sleeping under the stars, listening to the cicaders and very well spoken chatter of my new english companions with the full month stretching out ahead of me.. here! alone! scared, excited, relieved to have friends for the night, asssured by the twinkling of the stars that my place in the world was, for the moment at least, secure.

up early the next day we started the long trek into town to catch the bus to split- the gateway to all the treasures of croatia and her many beautiful islands. it was a long and rather scary hike, we were going on the promise of a bus, but the only buses we saw blasted past, the drivers moustaches set in a grim straight line. no sympathy there. after a rather disturbing convo with the toll atendant some ten kilometers down the road, we managed to ascertain that the bus stop was just up the road. he laughed manically in response to each of our questions and after each of his answers, which we took as a bad sign. but sure enough, the bus stop was jsut around the next corner.

ok so rijeka was somewhere you go to get somewhere else and we were grateful for the overnight bus outta there.

from split we caught the ferry to havar, a small island off the coast. GORGEOUS. this is the kind of place everyhere else tries to imitate. cobblestone alleyways, stone steps leading straight up the cliffs into endless white aprartments with their red-tiled roofs and charming little balconies dripping with coloured flowers and vines.

we had decided to camp so refused all the offers of "sobe" (rooms) from the many local old women who make their living from putting you up for the night. however the campsite was going to be a good hike out of town, so we went back to the old ladies and secured ourselves a very nice room, which amazingly lived up to her promises. it had a balcony incredible view, plenty of beds and PRAISE THE LORD a shower. all for the aussie equivalent of 25 dollars a night.

sorry for jumping all over the place but i am trying to be succinct and i know i am failing ..

the croatians are a weird mix of super friendly and rude to the point of contemptuous. for example.. the seond night we ( i should probably define "we" beyond pommy friends, "we" consists of two english girls Verety and Jini and three english lads, Laurence, Allistair and Alfie.) OK so WE decided to hike to campsite. we set off with mammoth packs and determined souls in the late heat of the afternoon. a quarter of the way into the trip we were stopped by a croatian lady who was willing to pile us all into her car with backpacks! when this prooved to be a spatial impossibilty, she called her son to come get the rest of us! we were all very touched by her kindness and very grateful!

then there is the dark side of the moon, waiting in a supermarket line checkout chicks will reach around your shopping to get the locals shopping who is waiting next in line and scan that, totally ignoring you. ok so this i can understand, let the locals do their shopping first fine. but when you are buying an icecream it is pretty annoying to be passed over again and again and then be snapped out by the stall holder and served a stingy little scoop (yes i compare sizes to local servings-of course! hehe) surely it is a little out of odds to resent the tourists wanting that your business is reliant on? i would reccomend a career change..

right, so the people seem to be a completely contradictory mix of total generousiy and hospitality and rude aggression. how about the beaches? mostly just rocks dropping straight down into turquiose waters and pebble beaches. we hired a boat yesterday and took that out for the day- i even drove it! none of us had expeirence but they happily hireyou out the boat for the day. six captains got a little trying at times, but we managed to navigate the open seas, get to a few more remote islands and get it back into the harbour without banging into or getting capsized by any of the gazillion dollar yachts cruising about. and it was a fantastic day!

SO IN TOTLAL, i have been in havar for five days camping, have spent days expolring island and sunbaking. we climbed up to the towns fortress, have eaten lots of local cuisine and wine and generally having a great time! its crazy here, you dont need sunscreen! you can bake all day and not get burnt. in fact the only place i have got a bit burnt is on my shoulders, the one place i put sunscreen!

today we catch a ferry to korcula, another island before heading as far down as dubrovnik. a spectacular old town, surrounded by fortress stone walls. i will spend a while there doing day trips out to national parks and hopefully get some hiking in, then its off to budapest!

My english companions are going as far down as dubrovnik with me so i have the pleasure of their company for roughly another week. it has been great having a group of friends and the opporutnitz to get to know them over a longer space of time. mind you, they mght not feel the same way!! hehehe but i am hanging on!

it is very funny being the aussie, they drill me about neighbours, and home and away and whether we really do say flammin gallah, and try and imitate my accent. (they seemed pretty impressed with mine, the only thing i could think to say was my lines from that highschool musical "the names jack, jack dawsons.." you know that musical with the starving kids?? cant think of the name.. ahah! OLIVER. anyhoo, they liked it hehe

I went for a run at sunset last night and had a massive local pizza, washed down with a free shot of moonshine from the lovely lady running the restaurant near our campsite. i couldnt finish the shot, it was ROCKET FUEL like i ever never tasted, but the local red was tasty!!

ok hope that has helped get you all up to speed a bit more.

basically i am happy and safe and missing you all of course.

James ward- thank you so much for that small bottle ofTtiffany, there is nothing like a dab of perfume to elevate you above the campsite grime and make you feel all Audrey Hepburn and human again :o) it has been a God send of a gist, thank you. and of course, thanks again to dear nickers, the sleeping bag has been a life saver!!

ok gotta catch the ferry, much love..

till i post again!

The Summer of Love- a great retrospective at The Victoria and Albert Musuem, lots of original posters, album covers and photographs- heaps of fun! sure beats all those Greek artifacts hehe
sorry here's this pic AGAIN just in case you missed it the first two times-! woooops
Changing of the Guard, a tad boring actually! but a must-do for London. The police horses were beautiful and very charming, i joined the kiddies for a good petting session :o) No spotting of the Queen unfortunately.
Kimmy and I Sunday morning- both feeling rather fragile after our respective Saturday nights
Cath and I at Fabric, about 5am- having our first and much needed sit down on the couches..
Cath and Beau and me feeling cosy on the couches of Fabric -classy hehe
Portabello Markets at closing time- I am holding my bag of "prawns"..
At "that" Nottinghill bookshop from the movie- exciting! it is smaller than it looks in the movie and PACKED with tourists, like me :o)
A quick shot of me on the famous shopping strip, Carnaby Street- snuck this shot in before camera died!
Riding the front seat of the double decker- great view from up there! we almost took out a motorcyclist, pedestrian and one car on the way. Our birds eye view makes "objects appear closer" than what they really are, but judging from the screams coming from the groundfloor of the bus- it wasn't jsut our view..
Sarah and I taking the bus..

one of the lush dresses from the collection at Victoria and Albert Museum. *sigh

The Summer of Love, a great retrospective at The Victoria and Albert Museum- lots of pyschedelic posters on display and great fashions! sure beats Greek artifacts ;o)