We started at 8.30 am travelling in a third full bus so plenty of window options. We travelled for a couple of hours south through mountainous areas stopping for a bathroom break before we got to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. We looked down on some amazing and huge fertile valleys with everything from rice to citrus and grapes growing. There is this small corridor of land that crosses Croatia and gives them access to the coast. It’s evidently also a historic corridor. Centuries ago the tribes from that region turned to the Turks/Ottomans for protection against the Venetians in order to protect the local salt mining operations. There has been an Islamic influence there ever since and it remained with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the break up of Yugoslavia.

I have found the local guides interesting regarding the Serb-Croatian war. They all agree that it is good to move on and build new independent states. Theirs is a history of being invaded and colonised by others so they are reasonably philosophical about it. They all also agree that their politicians, both local and national, are all useless, corrupt and doing the people no good. It is quite remarkable. That seems to be a theme with every guide in every area of Croatia that we have been in.

There is a bit of envy for Slovenia over the latest 1985-1990 conflict. Slovenia Brooke away with the support of Its strong neighbours, Italy and Austria and there was no real resistance. When Croatia followed suit there was a nasty 5 year war. After Marshall Tito died they had a constitutional arrangement whereby each of the 5 member states had its member as president for one year with parliament continuing to sit in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. However, evidently Serbia, under Radovan Karadzic tried to take over and the other states didn’t like it.

The roads in Croatia are excellent. Seriously, NZTA needs to stop stuffing around with slips and cuttings and get some Europeans to show them how to build tunnels. They have tunnels everywhere here. They have toll roads also but people are clearly willing to pay in return for the convenience and certainty of being able to travel in all weather conditions.

We left the motorway after a while and travelled down the coast. All very pretty. We stopped for bathroom breaks at a couple of places and at some roadside stalls for fresh and dried fruits. I helped the local economy by purchasing a bag of dried fruit for €10 which seems like an awful lot but they taste nice and we can snack on them while in Greece also.

We went across the border into Bosnia and Herzegovina without having to get out and show our passports. Had a short lunch stop (for Iva and Mario mainly) and got our B&H fridge magnet. We have also tasted some of Mario’s walnut wine and cherry wine while travelling along. Evidently lots of people make their own wine out of various types of fruits and nuts. I am confident that Mario wasn’t also sampling his wine while driving.

We got to Dubrovnik at about 1.30. We had a guide called Nicola (a bloke) who took us around about a quarter of the old town. Not up on the wall as you pay extra for that. It was very interesting but very hot. The views are amazing and the city itself is a bit like Disneyland. Think Game of Thrones and Kings Landing and you have it.

There is some really interesting history about how they laid out the town to ensure safety and privacy. The houses are joined but not structurally so and the kitchens were on the top floor to prevent overwhelming smells at ground level and to enable escape from fire as well as minimising the spread of fire. The buildings and roofs are also offset so windows don’t open onto each other. They also had aqueducts to the city bringing fresh water and they are still operational today.

The Serbs bombed many of the areas os significance to the Croatians and particularly the Plitvice Lakes area and Dubrovnik. Luckily Dubrovnik was a world heritage site and UNESCO came to the rescue with reconstruction. Practically every rooftop in the old city of Dubrovnik has been replaced and where there are old tiles they have been retrieved and cover the new ones below.

After the tour we found a nice alleyway bar where we enjoyed a glass of wine with a plate of anchovies and a bowl of olives. Yum. Then back to the bus to be delivered to our hotel.

We are saying at the Argosy, which is in the new part of Dubrovnik by the beach. It is fab. A lovely hotel with 2 infinity pools overlooking the sea as well as an indoor pool. The rooms are great. We 3 are on the ground floor with a garden courtyard and sea views.

Two great things happened today. First of all we were discussing with others what we were doing after Dubrovnik, as everyone seemed to have a different ongoing itinerary. I was saying how this time next week we’d be back at work in 2 days and Barb said ,that can’t be right! It’s got to be 2 more weeks.” We’ll that was wonderful news. Then when we got to the Argosy we noticed that our room info said we were checking out on Wednesday 13 June. That can’t be right. Everyone only has 2 nights here. Well that’s everyone except us. We have 3 nights here. Oh bliss.

We had a walk down the path to the beach and decided we were in paradise. The beach is rocky and stoney but the water is lovely. You can see across the bay to the Dubrovnik bridge. Barb and I had a quick swim before dinner. It’s a walk down some steps to get to the beach and when you get there you have to rent a lounge chair for $55/day a single or $75/day a double. We stuck our towels on the rocks. There’s not much beach but there are some floating docks and stairs where you can access the sea. Not exactly Waihi beach but the Adriatic Sea is clear and refreshing.

We had arranged with the group to meet at 7pm for tea but there were no large tables so we scored a table out on the balcony. Great views. The food here is exceptionally good. It’s a buffet and around every corner there is something more that is delicious. The seafood section alone is too much for one plate. Suffice to say we all ate far too much and did not regret it one bit.