Heres the plan of attack for Croatia, Rosie and The Operator will be starting at the top and working our way down the skinny ribbon of country that is Croatia over the next 19 days, sounds simple really…but where to stop and visit? Well, Facebook told me to visit Croatia so Google can now give me a hand by telling me ‘where are the best places to visit in Croatia?’
It really was that easy, Rosie cross referenced three different sources from the World Wide Web and their Top 15 lists, they were all pretty similar. Whittled out the National Parks….feeling a bit nervous about that but hey, Rosie’s not a hiker….and anything geographically above where we were flying in and voila…holiday in Croatia sorted.
Croatia is a small country, it can fit into New Zealand 4 times and has roughly the same population of 4,200,000 as us. The coastline of the Adriatic Sea runs down the entire length of the country and Croatia officially has 1244 islands…of which only 48 are inhabited. Rosie and The Operators holiday only encompasses three islands out of the thousand or so, maybe Google has put me crook, oh well….here goes.
- Zagreb – 1 night – Capital City of Croatia and the Largest City, our time is short here so only visiting the historic Upper Town – Flying in, picking up a rental car and driving out the next day.
- Rovinj – 3 nights – Croatian fishing port on West Coast of the Istrian Peninsula – Old Town is built on an island and full of narrow cobbled streets, interesting Venetian architecture and a great harbor. Day trips out to Pula and Bale
- Senj – 1 night – Driving Stopover – Small port town with an ancient heritage and a huge fort.
- Zadar – 2 nights – This three thousand year old city on the Dalmatian Coast is famous for its perfectly presented Venetian and Roman built Old Town plus the world famous Sea Organ.
- Hvar Island- 3 Nights – Ferry from Split – Beautiful summer resort town, with the largest town square in Croatia. Also famous for its amazing landscapes of lavender and spectacular beaches.
- Split – 3 nights – Old town is legendary for its ancient Roman built ‘Palace City’ from 298AD plus its wining and dining on the beautiful Riva Promenade and back streets.
- Korcula Island – Ferry from Split – Fortified Venetian Old Town and an island famous for its lush green forest, vineyards, olive groves, sandy beaches and charming villages.
- Dubrovnik – Bus from Korcula – Say no more, the most famous Croatian Walled City of them all – cant wait.
Croatia is an EU country but still uses its own currency which is the Kuna, it roughly translates to $1NZD = 4.5 Kuna, chuffed I could get hold of some notes from my local bank. Rosie also has her Croatian language app downloaded, its not a pretty language, one with alot of rolling rrrrs and words from deep in the throat…but Rosie loves to give it a go and feels she can master the basics.
First up we need to get to Europe from the other side of the world! Emirates direct from Auckland to Zagreb should do the trick. Yes that is totally possible, and we are going to do it. A 17 hour flight to Dubai awaits us, a 3 hour layover in Dubai and then 6 hours straight to Zagreb, no mucking around! Rosies blood is super runny from a continual dosing of thinners and anticoagulants, no more clots for her touch wood. Rosie hopes she doesn’t fall over, skins her knees and bleeds to death instead…..bad joke. No worries there, as Rosie and The Operator are travelling together to Zagreb as Rosie is already in New Zealand.
Its Monday,the day before we leave, Rosie is waiting for The Operator to fly home from work. There are weather delays and he cannot come home today, serious! Lucky we gave ourselves one days grace just in case.
Its Tuesday, the day we leave, it dawns bright and fine, The Operator is leaving work, the weather is good for him to fly and Rosie will meet him at the airport with his bags all packed, he will now fly directly from work to Zagreb. Phew, it all worked out fine with three hours to spare. Time for the first beer of the day….I mean holiday!
Off we fly to Auckland….on the runway during take off we do an emergency stop….that screech of brakes and full on G forces was terrifying…we had a bird strike and the engines must be certified fit by an engineer before the plane can fly again. Back to the airport we go…there is no engineer in New Plymouth…he must come from Wellington…we have connecting flights so get priority on the next plane out…two hours from now…time for another beer.
Its going to be tight in Auckland! It was, but not tight enough that we couldn’t quickly slip into the Emirates lounge for a three minute skull of Moet champagne…Rosie’s favorite when its on special at the supermarket…and the free champagne of the airline! We were racing to the plane after that on the final call.
Finally settled on the plane and another glass of Moet in hand, we let out a sigh of relief….Croatia here we come!
