Our week on the high seas began in Split, Croatia on August 17th. We boarded the Mihovil (our ship) to meet 16 other Aussies, a New Zealander, A South African and 2 Americans. We´d been planning the cruise with our great buddies, Fi and Davo (Jane´s friends from St Hildas), for months and we couldn´t wait to jump off the ship into the ocean just like in Katalina Line´s promotional photos! As part of our initiation the captain gave us all a drink of his home-made liquor, contained in a bottle to marinate with carob and rosemary. That was to filter off all the unseaworthy characters. Here´s Mihovil...or as Jane likes to call it: My hovel.
A typical day on Mihovil began by being woken up at 7am by the alarm clock, included free with the room - the engine of the ship!! We´d stumble up to breaky and then make our way to the top deck for a morning of lying in the sun, reading and chatting.
The captain would cast anchor and we´d all jump of the boat from various heights into the beautiful blue. Then we´d eat lunch, consisting of soup and yummy bread, meat and a little veg (the Croatians love their meat in all forms) and for some, depending on the previous nights activities, beer. Afterwards we´d retire to the top deck once more for more sun and perhaps another dip. 
In the afternoon or evening we´d arrive at our port for the night, look around, invade a restaurant with 22 people for dinner, drink a nightcap or two at a local bar and then wander back to be rocked to sleep in our small but comfortable bunks. Night stops included:
A typical day on Mihovil began by being woken up at 7am by the alarm clock, included free with the room - the engine of the ship!! We´d stumble up to breaky and then make our way to the top deck for a morning of lying in the sun, reading and chatting.The captain would cast anchor and we´d all jump of the boat from various heights into the beautiful blue. Then we´d eat lunch, consisting of soup and yummy bread, meat and a little veg (the Croatians love their meat in all forms) and for some, depending on the previous nights activities, beer. Afterwards we´d retire to the top deck once more for more sun and perhaps another dip. In the afternoon or evening we´d arrive at our port for the night, look around, invade a restaurant with 22 people for dinner, drink a nightcap or two at a local bar and then wander back to be rocked to sleep in our small but comfortable bunks. Night stops included: - Makarska: a fishing village south of Split.
- Mljet - an island that includes a large national park with two fresh water lakes. The water was an amazing colour! We were inticed for another swim which unfortunaley eventuated in being able to see the local monestry situated on an isolated island because we were too wet for the boat. The captain cooked up a storm on the ship´s BBQ that night. We especially enjoyed the cevapci - extra tasty, spicy Croatian skinless sausages.
- Dubrovnik - possibly the highlight of the trip. Dubrovnik is a stunning city enclosed by a huge stone wall. The walk around the top is 2 km long and we almost filled the camera´s memory card just from this walk.
- Korcula - a smaller walled city on a island. We arrived late so the light made photos difficult. Jane and Davo ate black cuttlefish risotto (much better to taste than to look at).
- Hvar was the original destination but due to bad weather and rough seas we moved to the more protected side of the island and the town of Stari Grad. Hvar is supposed to be where all the rich and famous go so we mightn´t have fitted in. It was a exciting day on the sea with several people getting seasick and sightings of several tornados over the water (fortunately not too close to the boat).
- Bol - a UNIQUE BEACH that changes shape with the tide. We´re glad that bathing suits are still the 'in thing' in Australia (hence the lack of photos from this day).
We had another fabulous BBQ on board, this time in honour of Naomi´s birthday. The requirement for the celebration was a costume made from items of clothing from your pack. There were pirates and funning cross dressers, cowboys and Mexicans. Greg borrowed the hat from Mihovil. Jane was renamed "Olivia Newton Janie". - Split - We returned to the city of Split for our final night. Greg used his newly acquired talent of card shark, beating Jane and Davo at 500 several times.
We sadly said goodbye to our new friends and swore to keep in touch.
