The island of Hvar provided us with a couple of days rest and sunshine before we headed to Vis and the famous blue grotto etc.
The town is spread right on the coast so from our apartment we could see the Island of Vis where we headed to next.
Whilst on Hvar we saw the Croatia World Cup game and feeling that we had to be part of the local populous we purchased some Croatia colours to wear to show our solidarity.
There was no cheese to be had at the Gromit Cafe!
Hvar's main attractions are the huge well preserved castle overlooking the town and the interesting Church right in the town squareNot too much to say about Hvar as all we did was loiter, drink and walk around the place, however Vis was a different matter.
We took a late night ferry to Vis and as soon as we arrived on the speedy little catamaran we were set upon by the locals offering us rooms and apartments (this is std practise). We chose a place just up the hillside and made our way to our new lodgings.
Our hosts then invited us down for drinks with some other Kiwis who were staying in one of the other rooms.
The 1st day in Vis consisted of a scooter ride all round the island exploring the beaches, Komiza town and ruins. During our riding advenutres we travelled the length of the island to the open sea coast where Komiza was. Just coming into Komiza is a fortified church.
The scooter crew with the town of Komiza in the background.
That evening in need of some home cooking a large pasta dish with lots of fresh goodies was created and scoffed accompanied with some local red wine that was very palatable.
The next day we took a boat ride to see the famous blue grotto and visit different beaches. The boat made a complete circumnavigation of the island. Not long after setting of one of the gang decided to investigate the effect of carbonated drink acting like a rocket so we lost a fair portion of our coke- very funny experiment albeit totally unintentional!
The blue grotto is so called as upon entering it sunlight is reflected into the grotto from a underwater cave. it is a very tranquil place to visit with lots of interesting reflections and the clarity of the water is quite amazing.
The locals operate a little shuttle service from the wharf to the grotto and back. the boats are old but quite fitting and have a nosiy engine that shunts them thru the water.
The controls are quite heath robinson. A piece of string for the throttle and a lever for forwards and backwards.
From the Island of Vis we woke up before the town and boarded the ferry for Split to begin the leg of the mainland adventure.
Andrew
