European Adventure: Sailing to Mljet

Today was a very relaxing day - we set off from Makarska at 7 - the motor actually woke us! We spent the morning sailing along the coast to the island of Mljet - it was a little choppy but thankfully neither of us experienced any sea sickness. The coastline is stunning with beautiful mountains and little townships nestled in the foothills. We've been a bit spoilt with breakfast and lunch provided on board. Lunch has been three courses! We both felt the need to walk off lunch so when we arrived at Mljet, we purchased tickets to enter the National park, walked to a saltwater lake on the island, then took a ferry to a tiny island on the lake which has an 11th century church and a medieval monastery, as well as Roman ruins. The little island is only 100 metres wide. After the ferry trip back we decided to rent bikes - this was a smashing idea! After the kind man found a bike that was suitable for my short legs, I decided to get on and in doing so hooked my foot on the crossbar bringing the bike down on top of me while I unceremoniously landed flat on my back! There was quite an audience of onlookers! Those of you who know Claudia well will appreciate that she just collapses into uncontrollable laughter at occasions like this, so while lots of people rushed to my side, Claudia was doubled up laughing! Anyway, there were no injuries and I was laughing too! It was extremely embarrassing though!!

After standing up, brushing myself off and listening to the man tell me how to put the bike on its side so that my short legs can make it over the crossbar, we took off for a lovely cycle through the national park. On more than one occasion I could hear Claudia chortling - apparently the fall was a sight to behold.

We had a coffee looking across the harbour which was beautiful. We're having dinner tonight on board as many of the restaurants on the island are closed already now that the high season is over. It will be a BBQ apparently but I don't think it's going to be like an Australian one!