Today I heard F asking Mr B what day it is; she really has no idea. We are in Zadar, my post carefully dictated last night didn't make it into publication. I was charged with the photo editing and had issues with Mr B's phone..... the humans were watching a movie so they were no help.
(Yesterday): I sensed packing up going on around me again. That means on the move again. I also sensed that kayaking didn't live up to expectations. They were meant to go around an island and visit caves on a 4 hour guided tour. The problem with tour groups like that is the lowest common denominator. You get people who have never paddled anything before and don't understand what they are signing up for..... the sun is shining, the sea is calm and blue, the boats are colourful and..... it doesn't go well. They weren't even out of the harbour when the guide was changing the route, and the short stop for a swim that was meant to be at the end was put at the start and became 40 minutes while they waited for a support boat to come and rescue the poor couple who by this stage were suffering le mal de mer (on a dead calm sea) and looking really unhappy. That was more or less the end of the tour.
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| Panorama photos bend straight things |
There wasn't time after that for everyone (i.e. the 2nd slowest ones) to paddle around the island before it got dark so they all came back. It was only after getting back that my humans found out they could have spent their afternoon at their pace by renting a boat and going off on their own, unguided.
Live and learn.
Today: we drove north in Croatia. We originally chose this route in order to follow the Adriatic coast. We did follow it but there always seemed to be a mountain between us and the sea. We went up a peninsula where we found a village called Ston that might be worth a return visit, and over a bridge,
and round the edge of one of the most intensely farmed drained plains we have ever seen - imagine Norfolk Broads surrounded by mountains, and growing mandarins (among other things). Opuzen.
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| Borrowed Gurgle image |
We stopped at a long straight with several dozen fruit stalls, the humans bought fruit and I had to fight 5kg of mandarins for space in the front of the van. And F was so focussed on fruit she didn't take and photos. Orange was the predominant colour on the stalls, but there was also tonnes of honey in jars, bottles of olive oil, truckloads of dried figs and every stall tried to have one thing a bit different and homemade to pull in customers.
I hope you are sitting comfortably, I will tell you about Zadar tomorrow.
Buried in fruit, unable to explore at night, having to listen to the humans moaning about no kayaking, what a life, eh, T?
ReplyDeleteThey didn't moan - no one got sunburned, no one has aching muscles, they had some time on the water on a nice day (altho Mr B had what looked suspiciously like a blister on his hand next day😸), they met some really nice and interesting Floridians, and got a Croatian wine to sup on return to harbour, but they did feel sorry for the Spanish couple who had a truly awful time. A small amount of skill vetting might have given them a nice paddle round the picturesque harbour and city walls and something to remember as a small fun adventure while everyone else who wanted to race like triathletes could have headed out to sea. They are eating the mandarins rather too quickly I suspect; my next adventure might be joining the dots between public toilets🙀xxx Mr T
DeleteThats a shame you missed out on what you wanted to do.
ReplyDeleteThis is the main reason I don’t sign up for anything unless I’m 110% sure I can do it.
I don’t like others missing out because of me
They didn't miss out, it just took on a different shape. Never not do what you want to try - your painting is a good example of that. It is just about making sure the teacher has a good picture of where you are starting from. No one did that for the poor couple who didn't know how and didn't get taught. Sea sickness can be caused by fear as much as the motion. xxx F
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame about the kayak debacle - that sunset was a beaut! Nothing beats that fresh roadside produce; something that the UK generally lacks. Farm shops are good, but not quite the same thing at all. Anyhoo, that looks like a fine seat for a Tigger Topcat... see you on the morn! Hugs and whiskeries, YAM-aunty xxx
We have given the wrong impression - it was a good day out, just not the day described on the brochure. We met nice people and realized before they even stepped off the quay that the couple who got ill had never tried watersports before. Some people just shrink into their uncertainty and fear. It was a greater shame for them that there was not something on offer tailored to their needs. xxx F
DeleteWhat a frustrating day. Gail thinks the humans should have got a refund after the kayaking trip fell far short of what was promised, and I think that you, Tigger, should have been assisted in your attempts to explore your environs We are both looking forward to reading about Zadar.
ReplyDeleteToodle-oo!
Nobby.
I was 'shown' the nature garden across the stairs, but that is not like sitting hidden under a bush and waiting for small furry animals to stray into my hunting zone.
DeleteAll those fruit stalls... I would have been in heaven.
ReplyDeleteYup. That good.
Deletethis trip back home is a true adventure and the photos at the end of each post of YOU dear Tigger are amazing. you look so happy as a traveler. that water is spectacular, sorry it did not work out well.. bob and I are both controller, type A people and neither of us can stand to take a guided tour.. being told where to go and when and being with other HUMANS never works for us.
ReplyDeleteGuiding kayakers is like herding cats. With that much open space and no clear paths to stick to it is not like following the guide with the blue sign held aloft on a plannex out tour of London. Our guide managed to lose a kayak of 2 women who simply paddled out of the harbour and quite litera,ly paddled their own canoe (off in their own direction). We did meet a c ouple of very interesting Floridians who had to drive all over Florida dodging Ian in order to get a flight to join their prebooked European holiday. They eventually got out three days late but made it in time for their barge/bike goluday in Italy.
DeleteLooking forward to hearing about and seeing pictures of Zadar. I stooped there in the 1980's why cycling up the Adriatic coast to Trieste. In those days it was Yugoslavia...
ReplyDeleteLizzie, we weren't there long enough unfortunately, but did see the old town by night and visited the sea organ and the sun sculpture. Zadar is a lovely almost sleepy town compared to Dubrovnik. I would go back there.
DeleteLife there must be very entertaining for Tigger, cats do love to be nosey don't they.
ReplyDelete