Dubrovnik to Mljet Island, Croatia

Sunday 30th October 2022
Another day in Croatia. What a beautiful place!

After a little bit extra sleep because of the daylight savings time change, we headed on our way out to do a quick trip up the cable car to see Dunbrovnik from the Srd. We would have walked the 2.2km up the hill but David still wasn’t up to it. We instead paid 220kn ($44AU) in total for us both to go up one way in the cable car. Eek! Well, you do, what you have to do. It was a beautiful view and we enjoyed this view for the next 40mins walking down the switchbacks to the base of Dubrovnik again. It was a lovely couple of hours in Dubrovnik before we headed on our way north.

We managed to get out of our parking spot at the apartment without any damage, it was a really tight squeeze, and the road out was just as squeezy. Once on the main road though, it is heaven. The traffic is a lot slower, the roads wider and the going a lot easier and less intense than the last few weeks in southern Italy. David is a little bored already, he loved the intensity of the driving in Sicily. Oh well, I am enjoying it a lot more, even though I am not driving. Being a passenger was pretty stressful in Italy, so I am looking forward to a lot more enjoyable drive now.

The view on our drive today was beautiful, we drove along side the water most of the way. The water was a gorgeous blue and crystal clear. Along with the blue sky we are blessed to be enjoying, it was a lovely day. After a short while driving we stopped at Plaza Veliki Val (the beach) for some lunch and a swim. The water was so clear although quite fresh and the beach was white pebbles. A challenge to walk to the water. Oh well, we did enjoy a refreshing swim before we continued north.

Along the way to our destination we stopped at Ston, where we climbed a wall similar to the Great Wall of China. It was a a steep climb out of Ston up lots and lots of steps. Unlike the Great Wall of China, today’s steps were an even height making for a lot easier walking. The view at the top was beautiful looking down to both Ston and Mali Ston. From Mali Ston we had a 1km walk along the road back to the car.

After our walk, we headed on our way again as we had a 45min ferry (177kn) to catch from Prapratna to Sobra before our 50min drive to our accommodation at Saline, within the Mljet National Park.

Our drive to Prapratna was problematic. David took us across the salt flats and google decided to take us along a not so great dirt road which in the end turned out to be roadworks, after driving for about 20mins the road was unfinished and we didn’t know if we could get through. So with only 40mins to get to the port, we turned around and drove back up the dirt road. A little more difficult in our Peugeot 208 front wheel drive than we are used to. We made it to the ferry with 10 mins to spare, bought our ticket and boarded just before deparrture at 5pm. The boarding process of these ferries is seamless. The ferry ride was uneventful and quicker than expected. Although it was still dark when we disembarked.

Now for the drive to our accommodation. It is only 28km but 50mins drive. It must get a bit hairy along the way. At one stage David decided not to take the dirt road (I think he had enough of dirt roads today) and drive an extra 15mins, luckily for this decision as we were informed when we arrrived at our home, that it was closed. Phew! We finally arrived at our accommodation and werre greeted by a lovely young lady who has organised our bikes for tomorrows adventure. Anyway we have had a big day again today. So nighty night. BGig hugs to you all.

“The Walls of Ston (Croatian: Stonske zidine) are a series of defensive stone walls, originally more than 7 kilometres long, that surrounded and protected the city of Ston, in Dalmatia, part of the Republic of Ragusa, in what is now southern Croatia. Their construction was begun in 1358. On the Field Gate of the Walls (Poljska vrata) there is a Latin inscription which dates from 1506. Today, it is one of the longest preserved fortification systems in the world.

The wall, today is 5.5 kilometres long, links Ston to Mali Ston, and is in the shape of an irregular pentangle. It was completed in the 15th century, along with its 40 towers (20 of which have survived) and 5 fortresses. Within, three streets were laid from north to south and three others from east to west. Thus, fifteen equal blocks were formed with 10 houses in each. Residential buildings around the edges. The Gothic Republic Chancellery and the Bishop’s Palace are outstanding among the public buildings.

The main streets are 6 m wide (except the southern street which is 8 m wide) and the side streets are 2m wide. The town was entered by two city gates: the Field Gate (Poljska vrata) has a Latin inscription and dates from 1506. The centres of the system are the fortress Veliki kaštio in Ston, Koruna in Mali Ston and the fortress on Podzvizd hill (224 m).”