Island Hopping

7/9/2009

I find myself frequently having the thought that life can’t get much better.  Today, I spent the day island hopping… in Croatia!  After waking up a little later than expected (I slept through breakfast), I met up with Amanda, Jon and Eli, and we walked into the old city.  We were looking for a ferry to the one visible island, but came across something a million times better!  It was a boat that went to three different islands, included lunch and unlimited drinks, and would take up almost the whole day!  It was in a square that was full of the different companies advertising their tours, but the one we got pulled into first seemed like the best deal.  The guy was so friendly explaining what all was included, and what we would do.  He even gave us a special family deal.  I think it is because he thought Amanda was a lot younger than the rest of us, and so when he was talking about the last island we would visit, he said it was great for the children and pointed at her, and she gave him the stink eye. He started backpedaling then, saying "at this island, everyone is child.  I am three times your age, and when I go there I am child, playing in sand and building towers like baby".  It was very funny.  With our family discount, we each had to pay 175 kuna, or roughly 35 USD for a 7+ hour cruise including three islands, a full lunch, and unlimited drinks (water, soda, juice, wine, funky homemade brandy that no one wanted to try...).  I thought that was a pretty good deal, and by the end of the day we all agreed it was well worth it!
There were roughly 30 people on board, and the boy serving up drinks looked like he was about 12.  We asked, and he said he was 15.  The boat showed up at 10:45, right on schedule, we all loaded, and away we went.  It was a rocky ride, bringing back memeories of the first few days crossing the ocean, but it was fun too, and it gave us some amazing views of Croatia.  We got to spend 45 minutes at the first island, which was called Kolocep.  Once they pull up, they unload the boat and have a sign saying what time we all need to be back, and everyone disperses.  We went to the beach and swam for a while, and saw some other SAS kids that were doing the same 3 island tour, but with a different company.  They paid at least 50 more kuna each for their tours, and didn’t get as long at all of the islands!  We hoped back on our boat, and climbed up to the top sun deck, where a table was set up and our meals were passed up.  There was an option for fish, chicken, or vegetarian.  I obviously selected the vegetarian one.  It was delicious.  Roasted eggplant and onion, cucumber, tomato, cheese, fresh bread, and one of the best apples I have ever had.  I even had a glass of wine with lunch, and commented on how I could get used to that life.  As we were getting served our food, the boat started its journey toward the next island, and we had an escort of around 20 seagulls for quite some time.  They were getting thrown all of the scraps, which is probably why they followed.
At the next island, Sipan, we had another 50 minutes in which we walked around and explored the island, and then just sat and soaked in how amazing everything was.  We hopped back on the boat and headed to the last island, Lopud, where we spent a full three hours enjoying the sun and sand.  We chose to walk across the island to the sandy beach that has shallow water extending for a long ways in front of it.  Other than being mildly scared by some of the fellow beach users being completely nude (males and females included), it was an amazing time.  We floated in the refreshing water, and enjoyed the tree covered hills surrounding us.  After we had our fill, we trekked back across the island, which was only about a 20 minute walk, got some gelato and did a little perusing through the souvenir shops.  By that time, it was time to get back on our boat and head back.
We pulled away from the dock, but then circled back immediately, apparently not all of the passengers were on time, and as we were pulling away two British girls were frantically running toward the dock.  After loading them, it was time to leave for good.  We were all very happy with how the day had gone, but also very drained from all the sun.  The shade on the lower deck of the boat, and the rocking of the waves nearly put us all to sleep.  As we got closer, and there was more boat traffic, the rocking became a little less mellow, and a lot more extreme!  The boat was sloshing from side to side with water splashing up on each side as it rocked.  It was really fun.  We made it back to the old city in time for a brisk walk back to the ship and a free dinner on the ship.  All of us agreed that it was one of our favorite days so far, and money well spent.
On each of the islands, we had been running into the SASers doing the same tour with other companies, and we made plans to meet up with Jack when we got back to the ship and had dinner.  There was talk of going out, or even going to see a movie, but in the end we chose to just stay in.  Jack was really pushing going to a movie, but Amanda and I were dragging our feet, and then we heard an announcement that Boondock Saints was playing on the ship, so our problems were solved.   They had free snacks set out, and we made it through about half the movie before we all started falling asleep and decided it was time to go to our rooms so we would be ready for our last day in Croatia.