Cruising the ocean differently – yes please!

We had one last day together with our daughter Hannah and son-in-law Pieter before they were flying home to the Netherlands so we decided to make a day of it.

We hired a car for 24 hours to take us on a day trip to Dubrovnik and then the following day used it to drop them off at the airport early in the morning.

The weather had turned quite wet and windy by this time but we didn’t want to waste an opportunity so we set off in the rain and wind towards the Montenegrin/Croatian border.

We parked in a parking station high up above the old walled city of Dubrovnik and walked down the steep hill to the main entrance.

Fortunately the rain had stopped but the wind was still up and huge waves of sparkling water were crashing ferociously over the sea wall just before we entered through the main Pile Gate.

Almost the first thing you come to as you enter through the gate is a wonderful water fountain designed in the 15th century by the prominent Italian architect Onofrio di Giordano della Cava, as part of a larger water project for the city.

The polygonal shaped structure has a cupola and 16 water taps and still provides water for travellers to Dubrovnik all these centuries later.

After pausing at the fountain we wandered through this stunning city gazing at the main sights.

Although it is a medieval city with medieval infrastructure, street network and city walls, most of its public spaces and public buildings are examples of the Baroque period as most of the buildings were built after the great earthquake of 1667. There are also buildings from the Renaissance and the Gothic periods.

After walking through the main squares we followed the massive and towering walls around the city’s perimeter and then found some lovely little laneways away from the crowds.

After lunch the rain that had been threatening to fall all day came down like a curtain. Our umbrellas were struggling to stay open with the wind whipping round in circles.

We made a dash for the car park but it was a long way and the rain was absolutely smashing down. Very nobly Jonathan and Pieter ran up the hill while Hannah and I sheltered in the porch of a swish hotel.

The weather calmed down as we made our way back to the Lazure Marina and the trip home was uneventful although something curious did happen at the border crossing.

It started with a car that accelerated past rather aggressively while we were in the border queue and then stopped in front of us next to another car. The driver communicated with the people in that car and then joined the queue in front of the second car. The driver got out and ran up to the border post. Meanwhile the passenger slid over and took his place. The driver then came back waving something – a piece of paper? Money? Who knows? While this was happening the driver of the other car also got out and started to peer over the fence to where all the trucks were being screened, craning his neck to check vehicles coming from the same direction we had been travelling from. Intriguing! We weren’t sure if they were criminals trying to smuggle something over the border or undercover police about to bust up a smuggling heist! Either way it certainly entertained us as we waited for the passport control queue to move on!

Next morning we drove back across the border to drop Hannah and Pieter off at Dubrovnik airport. It was as always sad to see them go but we had something special to look forward to just a few days later which helped sugar coat the pill.

As most of you know, we have been living the cruising life since 2015 – first on S/V Bali Hai in South East Asia and then on S/V Sunday in the Mediterranean since 2020. Now we were going to experience cruising of another kind!

Our cruising buddies Sue and John of course sail their own boat but have – over the years- also been on many cruise ships. They were planning to take a cruise all the way back to Australia and very kindly suggested that we should join them!

It turned out that the cost was going to be a good deal less than a Business Class fare and the thought of a 28 day adventure on the high seas aboard a luxury cruise liner – with our food cooked for us and someone else to unblock the toilets – was very tempting. A new type of cruising – Yes please!