Wer'e not in Toto anymore Kansas
Trip Start
Jun 04, 2008
1
16
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Hvar,
Hvar Island,
Croatia
Sunday, August 10, 2008
A defining moment of our trip that occurred on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. One which will be looked back on with laughter for many years and one that reminded us that wer'e not in Kansas anymore Toto!
We drove towards the dark storm that was looming above the Slovenian and Croatian border. We attempted to drive along back roads to ensure we didn't get snagged with the $50Aus road tax. Between Ljubliana and the border it was inevitable that we must take a motorway. As we approached the toll station I drove the van intio the truck lane. This lane had a 100% record for us thus far so we thought we'd play the dumb Aussie card once again. To my shock there was noone standing at the booth that I chose, my co-pilot Matthew"Maverick" Mckinnon whispered "step on it" and within a flash we roared away from the booth looking back over our shoulders to view the consequences, nothing. There were no sirens, no flashing lights or speeding police to be reckoned with. Now all we had to do was make the border. As the rain started bucketing down we pulled into a servo to buy a new wiper blade. We took the previous blade off (almost bear metal) and retired it.
We continued driving along the motorway noticing that there were no longer tollbooths on the main drag, only at each exit which we would eventually have to take. Combined with the passenger wiper blade coming undone and bashing into the windshield with every thrust mid tempest we considered the possibility that we were down on our luck, we were right.
We opted to leave the motorway before the border in a strategic attempt to miss an exit toll booth. As we pulled off the motorway we were greeted by a pay station and drove up to the booth, once again the rainman was in the passenger and all hope appeared to be lost. As we stopped at the booth we were confronted with a sweet looking young blonde girl, Max maintained his composure and played the dumb Aussie and the sweet gal let us thorugh when we told her we were leaving Slovenia, $50Aus saved ......yeah!
By taking the back road off the motorway we were required to pass the border at a relatively unused
border patrol station. As we pulled up we were confronted with a smoking hot Croatian official who lookd as sour as a lemon. We waited for our passports to be stamped in the front commenting on how awkard these stations are with 5 officials watching your compsure,body language and generally every move for the slightest hint that you are suspicious. A friendly young official informed us that we'd have to park the van over in the corner, which we did. We were then asked to come into their office. When the wicked head official introduced herself to us as crime investigation I thought that we were done, running the ticket booth in Slovenia had caught up with us however she was quick to prove me wrong by asking us for the drugs. "Which drugs?". For the next 15 mins she insisted that we had drugs and demanded we hand them over in order to suffer only a small fine. We were all feeling a little uncomfortable and poor old Maxi looked the most shaken. When she saw this she decided he would be her "Bit%^". Maxi was taken aside and interrogated for about 10 mins. Then the ogre of a woman came outside and informed us that Maxi had squealed on us. Adamant that we had nothing to hide we told her she was lying, she then tried the same tactic on Maxi. We were all made to strip naked in front of one of the male guards to show we weren't concealing any weapons. It was after this that the male guard started to feel sorry for us (I wonder why?). The witch lady was quite furious by now and decided she wanted another 10 mins alone with Maxi. Afterwards Maxi exited the room looking quite disturbed, she had been hinting at a cavity search the whole time. Basically this went on and on for about 2 hours which also included all of our stuff being searched and the carpet almost being ripped up. When asked what grounds they had to do this all they just said "because we can". At first it was a very nerveracking experience but by the end it was just a royal pain in the A$$. Maxi was called into the room one final time and was given our passports. As we drove away from the station and into Croatia we laughed at the circumstances and our reactions whilst hiding a slight fear of what other surprises this country may have for us.
We had already booked a game of golf which we planned to play in 2 days time so we picked a close spot on the map which was on the coast, Pontac.
As we pulled into the town and saw the amount of people walking around the various promenades and squares we started to think we'd hit the jackpot. We parked Karl and headed into the centre to check it all out. What we found was a very busy old town centre located right on the sea. The streets were small, crowded and bubbling with life. We found an Italian restaurant and soaked it all up. Afterwards we walked down to the harbour and gaoed at the huge boats in port. We checked out a suave nightclub for a quiet beer and decided our energy levels weren't quite upto it that night. We jumped in Karl already over the border debacle and falling in love with Croatia.
The next morning we walked through the town and took photos of the crystal clear adriatic sea and the venetian style architecture of the relatively small town. The sun had some exceptional sting and it felt great to smell salt in the air again. Afterwards Matty drove Karl an hour south to the port town where are ferry to golf left the next day, CFRG The town was very small, very crowded with tourists but charming nonetheless. Mat and I made sure we were booked in for our game of golf the next day and the three of us drove to the nearby town of Pula. Pula was much bigger and proved to be a hell of a place to find a park. Once we landed our bird known as "Karl" we walked around and took snaps of the ancient Roman architecture scattered throughout the town. Our favourite was the colloseum-like ampitheatre (the 5th biggest in the world). Situated by the sea, the huge stadium proved to be one of our favourite sights that we'd seen in Europe.
When we returned to CFRG we had a swim at the rocky beach. After painfully wading on the sharp rocks for five minutes we came back in to shore and passed the footy. During this time Matty managed to lose $50Aus, a large sum for a struggling travel bum. We calculated how many beers that would have been and grabbed some seats at a little family run restaurant. After a feed and quite a few beers (Maxi and myself shouted our friend who had been on suicide watch earlier in the afternoon) we walked along the promenade to see where the action was. Ater being kicked out of a wedding reception we took a seat in front of a busker, drunk and staggering home we called it a night and looked forward to our day on the links.
We woke up the next morning drier than the sun and gasping for air. We managed to be on our 9.30 ferry to the island of Bruglija and by 10:30 we were teeing off. Our first shots were crackers and whilst my game went downhill from there Matt maintained some reasonable form. We both shared the glory of claiming a flukey put from downtown and after losing our 6th and final ball of the day on the 17th we headed back to the pro shop. The photos below do capture the beauty of the course surroundings. Teeing off across light blue water with deer running across the fairway was a memorable experience for both of us, so were the rock hard clay (surface of the moonish) greens (that were white). The internet site showed a luscious green course and what we found was a dry, pale yellow course with ruthless greens. A put could go anywhere along the concrete like surface but it was a new experience and gave me an excuse for my 4-puts. After paying a small fortune to play on the course we were happy to be able to say that it was definetly worth it we took the ferry back to Karl, rounded up Maxi who was wandering around like a lost puppy and drove to Rijeka.
Rijeka is a large and unvisited city in Croatia (according to the guidebook). Intended as only a stopover point it proved to be a fun and rather metropolitean city centre filled with outdoor drinking, eating and lazing about. We had a couple of beers after exploring around and checked out a few bars. We had a relatively early nightas we knew we had to wake up at 7 to renew the parking meter.
We spent a few hours in the morning catching up on some Skyping and then headed south towards the tourist city of Split. As we slowly made our way along the Adriatic coast we saw countless offshore islands amidst the sparkling blue sea. Sitting upon the mountains that rise adjacent to the water we were in awe at the beauty of Croatia's endless coast. After two hours of jaw gaping scenery we decided to head inland for the motorway (if we didn't the trip would take an extra 5 hours). After paying the toll as we left the motorway we descended down from the moutains we could see the Adriatic and a number of large high rises sprouting on the shore, we were heading into Split.
We parked Karl on a hill in a hidden spot that was only minutes from the centre, another freakishly fortunate parking spot for the lads. We booked Maxi into a hostel and played some pool whilst hiding from a heavy dwonpour. After the rain cleared we got changed and went into town. The town centre was built right on the water and exhibited simillar architecture to that of the other seaside towns aand cities we had visited. The main seaside promenade was surrounded by large white stone walls and Venetian style buildings. The al fresco cafes were chockas and the centre was alive and buzzing, after all it was a Friday evening. Mat and I waited at a bar for Maxi to have a shower (a 2 hour affair). As usual Maxi was at least an hour late but we met an interesting pair from Germany and chatted away to pass the time. Maxi arrived finally and we found a cheap restaurant with seafood. We drank cheap beers and chatted away rowdily, the energy of the city making its effects felt on us all. The German father and daughter joined us as promised and we had a few more beers whilst listening to the old fellas many travel tales. After the Germans turned in for the night we went to a waterside bar. I decided to go walkabout by myself which proved to be a bad move. I ended up waiting at the car for the boys after I wasn't allowed into the main nightclub in Split.
\We spent the next day walking around Split, checking out the old Italian church and side streets. I rubbed the foot of a big statue that supposedly gives you good luck, still waiting. After exploring the town we had a relaxing afternoon reading on the beach. That evening we drank on the promenade followed by a look at the Irish Pub. After all this we went to the nightclub that I couldn't get into the night before. We waited in line for ten minutes until we realised they weren't letting anyone in. Taking the initiative Matt slipped the bouncer the equivalent of $4Aus and we were ushered in like royalty. The night was a fun one to say the least and we got to meet a number of Croatians which was also a treat.
The next day we ferried out to the island of Hvar, a highly-hyped island stuated 30km west of Split. Hvar was my favourite destination that we visited on this entire trip. It has a relatively small town but the vibe of the place and surrounding beauty was second to none. Add this to the beautiful little apartment that we rented for 3 days and it was simply an amazing 4 days. On the first evening we cooked up a huge feed, had our first warm shower in over 3 weeks and checked out a few of the bars. The next day was a lazy one exploring the "St Tropez of Croatia". In particular I enjoyed looking at all the luxurious boats on the island. I've never understood many boys passion for fast and expensive cars but I have falllen in love with big boats and I found myself daydreaming the rest of the afternoon about travelling the world in one of these relocatable mansions.
The next day we hired a little 5 hp boat and drove around the surroundings islands. We snorkeled in a couple of little coves, explored some inlets and had a beer overlooking the water on a neighbouring island. We returned home tires, red but with grins on our faces. That night (last night) we had a couple of drinks in town, happy to have a relatively early night after such a tiring day.
Right now wer'e on the ferry back to Split. I left Hvar with much reluctance (I had a last minute swim 20 mins before boat departure). I am so happy we visited Hvar because it was such a wonderful place. Now we are hoping to head for France. Today we will drive till dusk and then tomorrow finish the journey to go and finally pick up the third stooge, Mitchell Proudfoot. After this we will hopefully find some work in France for upto a minth to top up the funds and then head off elsewhere (my vote is southern coast of Spain and Portugal). We are really excited about seeing Proudy again and look forward to the many good times ahead. We will drop Maxi off in France and say goodbye after 3 weeks of travelling with him. He will be dearly missed but we will see him again soon, his punctuality issues however will not be missed. So as one chapter of the trip closes another one will open. Plans are vague but thats the way we like it.
Take care and drop us a line soon.
Brad (Phew that was long)
