Final Days

 There is something deeply unsettling about a grown man in reef shoes pink), carrying the pink flamingo floaty into the water, with the large tattoo of the crucification on his back.  Perhaps relevant as today is the Feast of the  Assumption, the day that the body and soul of Mary ascended into heaven. Big Day for Catholics, and this is (on the face of it) a pretty Catholic area. I've actually seen a few religious themed backs and arms!

I feel entitled (given the artwork on my son) to say that the tourists here are covered with the most interesting of tattoos - when I lived here, this was not the case - not that they were less interesting, just that they were not tattooed. Or rarely. Now it is unusual NOT to see tattoos on the bodies on the beach (bearing in mind that these are not locals on the beach).

Yesterday we had an amazing day out on the boat again (Hvala Srdj i Annette!), motored out to Otok Brac, swam, explored paddled, ate, drank and then sailed most of the way home. I had my predilection for sea sickness with me, but concentrated on the horizon, willing myself to think it was mind over matter (it isn't!). Thank goodness (or lucky for everyone) that they didn't need me to fetch anything from the cabin... I don't do cabins when the boat is moving. The little bay has so many rock walls and I kept asking who made them all - the men? the women? there are a few relics of houses in the pine forests too. The water is soo blue and so clear - we were anchored at 6 meters and the bottom was crystal clear.

Confession - I wore reef shoes so that I could wander on the rocks without the fear of sea urchins - that's ok, right? Everyone at the beach wears reef shoes so they can walk on the pebbles into the sea. I always imagine that the hardy ones without them are possibly from the Southern Hemisphere. Just another thing to pack with your foam mat (to lie on because of the pebbles) and your playing cards, and your pink flamingo.

Over the last week, in the early afternoon,  I have opted to walk to find a beach far from the madding crowd. There isn't one. This is a needle in the haystack challenge, and so far I have failed, overheated myself and ended up in a bar with a glass of orohavac with ice to pacify myself - you do need to walk a fair way to find any space. It's 45 minutes to Krvavica, 40 to Nugal (which beach has been taken by stealth from the locals - it was an FKK beach when I lived here, had a demarcation line at half way last I was here, and is now filled with tourists in togs.) The last effort was to the little beach outside Osejava Hotel, and there I had to be very assertive to lodge myself between the crucifix guy, another couple who chain smoked and some feet that also belonged to chain smokers. Smoking is still a thing, although there are a lot of people vaping.

So  sadly that's it for Croatia for now  - I finished off with yoga last night and then cocktails to say goodbye  - over too soon. The bus leaves in an hour, I'm packed and ready to tumble down the hill to the bus station to head to Split, to fly to Toulouse -  hope the cafe is open. See you on the other side!