Some Arty Shots

On the Buses…Dubrovnik and Zagreb

Beautiful Tribunj

We have been very lucky to have this opportunity to travel and to have a picturesque village such as Tribunj as our base, we are blessed. This hasn’t come at a cost the location is blue sea, rocky coastline but unfortunately has poor buses. We have waited 45 minutes for a bus to date.

The bus will be here soon...it is only 45 minutes late!

There are so many buses that it surprises us that the system is very ineffective and down right frustrating at times. Fran said that one thing that hasn’t changed and that is the bus system, it is still terrible.
Being frustrated by the buses started with local trips but when we decided to head to Dubrovnik for 2 nights, it was confirmed and cemented in our memories. We caught the bus from Vodice (Near Tribunj) and we travelled the scenic route along the coast. Every 5 minutes (it felt like that) the bus stopped to pick up a passenger even if there were no seats available. The 7 hour trip ended up being 8 hours and 45 minutes due to meandering nature of our bus driver. But the scenery was amazing and this made up for the mammoth trip.
We arrived in the magnificent city of Dubrovnik, drenched in history and a postcard picture from every angle. We were only booked for 2 nights but after the bus trip decided and extra night was required and we were so glad we did as we felt we SAW Dubrovnik and left feeling that we did as much as we could. Note, if going to Dubrovnik, it isn’t cheap, the food isn’t that great but the atmosphere and the history is overwhelming. We stayed at the Mia Apartments which were close to the old city. It was great waking up early and walking through the city before the big tour buses arrived making it a very busy place. We went on the cable car to the top of the mountain, walked the fort walls and went up and down the stairs that meander around the city.
Caleb and Kayla enjoyed drinking from the central fountain and Fran loved finding out as may places we could see that were part of the Dubrovnik card. Stephen enjoyed taking the photos and making sure exploding doors didn’t hurt his son…now about that, Caleb and Stephen went to get breakfast from the local bakery when on their way back they decided to see where a door lead, as they approached the door, a gust of wind blew the door shut in front of them and shattered into hundreds of pieces. Luckily neither one of them was hurt. Maybe it was a sign?

The door that wasn't meant to be....gone

We sadly had top get back on the bus to Tribunj (sad because we feared another 8 to 9 hour journey) and we made our was along the coast, crossing over Bosnia Herzegovina again and back to home in great time, the bus driver this time was dead keen to finish work on time, so much so he risked driving through Sibenik only to be pulled over by the police to be warned that he would be fined cutting through the city. So we made it back very tired ready for our next journey, Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia 4.5 bus journey inland from Tribunj.

This time we were pleasantly surprised by our bus service. The bus was immaculate and on time. We made our way through the magnificent mountains and the bus only stopped where it was suppose to stop. The highway to Zagreb is new and fantastic. Tunnels bore straight through some mountains – the longest just under 6 kms in length. The country side kept changing as we wizzed passed and you could see the style of housing changing with the different countryside.

Caleb on the bus

Tunnel ahead!

The Austrian Hungarian Empire was very evident when arriving in Zagreb, the architecture was very Austrian and the Hansel and Gretel Ice-cream parlour was the icing on the cake, pardon the pun. Stephen was a little surprised at the graffiti and the deteriorating architecture but it was a welcoming and friendly city with an amazing tram network making movement around the city easy and efficient.

Raspberry Heaven

Capsicum anyone?

We brought the hot weather with us with our final day being 38 degrees. We visited the cathedral, museums, bought souvenirs, ate too much good food and generally had a great time. The kids highlight was the Zoo and Fran was pleasantly surprised at how many improvements had been made since her last visit 24 years ago. Even with the trams, our feet hurt and we were very thankful to the wonderful apartment where we stayed.

Now we are back in Tribunj again and getting ready for our next adventure – trying to get to Italy. We have a 2 hour bus trip to Split, a 7 hour boat trip to Ancona, Italy, where we will stay the night, then an early start to catch a train to Venice taking 4.5 hours. We have 3 nights in Venice and we are once again relying on the apartment system rather than hotels. So far, we have been very happy with the apartments and would recommend the ones so far. The heat continues even though we have been told that the weather changes after Velika Gospa…um, it is still hot!

Our apartment in Zagreb

But the beach has become our second home, where we can swim without fear of sharks and stingers (Except sea urchins) and lie under the pine trees in the non- ozone depleted sky. The tourist numbers are reducing making it a lot quieter and more relaxed. We are amazed at how we only have 3 weeks left in Croatia and hope it slows down in the last 2 weeks. More could have been written about each and every sight, but it would go on forever and nobody would want to read that! Ciao!

Donkeys, Islands and Deodorant Optional

Our swimming spot 200 metres from home - Zamalin

This week started with a busy weekend of festivals and a boat cruise. The donkey races in Tribunj have been a annual tradition seeing people come for miles around to watch men in traditional outfits riding donkeys around the town. It has become so big that they can only race 3 at a time in order to keep the spectators safe. The surrounding areas have the usual festival fair with the two stand outs, the beer bus and the spit that can roast about 12 lambs at once!

Barvarian beer bus Big Spit
We were lucky to find a good viewing spot on the hill however the atmosphere and excitement was enough for us! Also hearing familiar names such as Justin Beiber and Angelina Jolle (Spell check) s names of the Donkeys gave the kids something to giggle about. Kayla was thrilled to have fairy floss as they had white and not just pink and blue and they also gave you flavour options.
The Town bridge with spectators waiting for the Donkey Races.
The weather here is warm and a little humid, different to what Stephen expected a European Summer to be. He expected the heat to be a little more intense and drier, but we expect that the climate here too is ‘a changing’. On more than one occasion we have had to share close quarters with many a shirtless individual and it has come to our attention that deodorant must be optional. We have learned that in order not to offend the senses that sitting upwind is a must. This accompanied with the bikini/speedo wearing larger individuals, makes Summer in Europe a sensory experience. Or shall we say sensory overload?

Our swimming spot - Zamalin in Tribunj

But, having said that, one overwhelming positive here is that with all the vino, rakija and alcohol, there is no agro. None! Nista! They all drink a lot but there is no anger. The trick here is that there is a lot of food and food and drinking go together, not in isolation like Australia. So I think Australians can learn a lot from this, there needs to be plenty of food and wine is drunk at a leisurely pace, not is a hurry because the party is about to end….food for thought. Of course, some are permanently pickled, but where in the world isn’t there some?
Kornati Islands
An early night after the Donkey extravaganza was needed, as we had an early start for the Kornati island boat cruise. Kornati is a National Park made up of over 120 islands along the Adriatic coastline. We set off at 9 am from Vodice on a slow boat (about the speed of the Rottnest Islander of old), with an offering of Rakija but they tricked Stephen by calling it ‘schnaps’ thinking he was German, along the coast on the very calm and picturesque Adriatic Sea.
On the boat.
Lunch was served, with vino, whilst we were serenaded by a local trio in Dalmatian music. They often strayed into music of the 1950s from the USA however this wasn’t their strongest genre. Stick to the Dalmatian Classics is our feedback. The boat went past stunning islands and enormous rock faces until we embarked at the park ready to spend some time on the island. We made our way to the Salt Lake reminding us of our lake in the hills “Lake Leschenaultia” except with rocks and donkeys. The donkeys were very tame and let the children pat them all in the hope of a free feed. The water was warm and very salty, a lovely refreshing pause to the cruise.
Salt Lake - Konati
We headed back to Vodice passing the small towns along the coastline and enduring a beauty contest run by the lecherous old man in charge. We chose to go out on deck during this period. Watching the Old Austrian Bogan Cougar, who should have been in Ibitha, was too much and quite frankly inappropriate for my children. Guess what? She won! The beautiful coastline brought us home and back to bed where we all collapsed after a few rounds of Uno.
Our town Tribunj from the boat as we headed back.
Uno has been a constant to help settle the children when they are tired or bored. Waiting for 1.5 hours at the Travel Agents in Vodice was too much for us all. After being told that we could only book tickets through them we ended up with a receipt and no ticket. We bumped into some Canadian tourists who were a little frustrated as they were not able to book a ticket out. We reflected that Croatia wants you in but not happy about letting you go, it is like a black hole for tourists. We have Fran who can speak the language and knows the ways of the Croats which is easier but not simple. So buying 4 bus tickets and 4 ferry tickets should have been simple but the girl was on the phone to Sibenik, then people came in and were served, then she had to hand write each ticket to Zagreb. Hooly Dooly! They had a computer in front of them but it wasn’t used once! But we are learning to breathe deeply and go with the flow. We then found out we could have booked online and probably received a better deal and an actual ticket! We have done everything else online and hopefully our hotel bookings to Venice/Ancona will all be legitimate.
Today is a quiet day and the children have reluctantly participated in Home School. Next week, here we come Dubrovnik!

Sea Urchins and Sibenik

A quieter week this week with us spending more time visiting relatives and going to Sibenik. Caleb became unwell with the same virus Kayla had and visited the doctors and was placed on a course of antibiotics. But as this is written it can be said we are nearly all well!

Buttons in Sibenik

On Monday we went to Sibenik again in the search of shoes for walking and keeping away from the stairs as it was enough last time and we didn’t want to subject the kids to the many stairs again. We enjoyed a hamburger (so not Croatian) and icecream whilst wandering through the beautiful streets that have been cleaned up a lot according to Fran since the refinery closed in recent years. A lady on the bus there told us it was blown up with dynamite! Fran also managed to get her hair cut and she said it made her feel a whole lot better. She did try and find a hair dresser in Tribunj however the hair cuts on the hair dressers worried her so she thought she would wait until the big city….well, bigger than Tribunj.

Kids in Sibenik

Visiting relatives was the order of the week with us visiting Fran’s cousin Nada in Vodice (she owns apartments and only works 5 months of the year) and she lives next door to her mother Aunty Stoya (Stana’s sister) and her brother. We enjoyed cake and coffee and good conversation.

Petar, Carlos, Stoya and Nada

We then went to Fran’s Aunty Kate’s place up the road and we saw Fran’s cousin Anita and Fran’s cousin Sanja’s daughter Martina (15)….very confusing for us non Croatians. We enjoyed conversation and wine and we must state here that the kids have been amazing. This time has really been Fran speaking Croatian for up to 2 hours straight and the apartments are very small with very little room for the kids to play. The odd game of Uno can pass the time but they have done really well as there are not many kids there age around when we have been visiting. We then walked all the way back to Tribunj along the coast.

Aunty Kate, Fran and Kayla

The following day we went to visit Fran’s cousin Marijana and brother Sime , children and lovely very frail mother. Again more food and wine was had (mostly by Stephen) and Fran once again spoke for up to 2 hours. This time there was room for the kids to play however they were getting a little tired of the visiting at this stage.

Marijana, Matija, Sime

We then went to Vodice to make one last visit on the to do list and it was to meet up with Fran’s cousin Sanja and she lives close to the ocean in Vodice and a beach that is more pebbles than rock.

Kayla wasn’t keen to go in but after reassurances that there is nothing dangerous in the water she went out deeper than advised and of course stepped on the first sea urchin in the area. This resulted in Fran and Sanja (an exnurse) trying to get out the spines (2 tiny spines) from her foot. Whilst screaming like a banshee, one was removed and the other a cream was added so Fran could remove it the following day…which she did and Kayla once again screamed like a banshee and declared never to swim again in the ocean without shoes.

Pebble beach pre-urchin

So we are now booked for a busy few weeks. Next week we have the Donkey races on Monday, not sure why a Monday, then we are off to cruise around the islands of Konate. We have also booked Dubrovnik for the following week then we plan to go to Zagreb and Venice the week after that. We have managed to secure some apartments in Dubrovnik and Zagreb and hope to do the same for Venice, that’s if the travel agent in Vodice can get on the internet! If not, we will be doing it from the tepid hotspot in Tribunj! Dovedenja!

Rakia and The Fishermans’ Festival

Did you know that Rakia has medicinal purposes? Rakia is the local alcohol that is about 99% proof so it tastes and smells like petrol. Kayla and Caleb have been attacked by the ever increasing swarms of mosquitoes which is a relatively new phenomenon in Croatia (apparently). Our ever trusty Aeroguard has been great however we are using it sparingly so it will last the entire trip….why hasn’t anyone sold Aeroguard to the rest of the world??? Due to the mosquitoes preferring Caleb rather than Kayla, he has been swelling up in all sorts of places…until Baba said “Put some Rakia on!”….it worked! Caleb cut his toe on a rock….”Put some Rakia on it!”…it worked! You are suffering from a tummy upset? “Drink some Rakia!”….amazing stuff. Finally we have discovered citronella available which seems to work as well so we will head out and get some as soon as possible to supplement the Aeroguard for now. Around the table with Stana's two sisters Kate and Stoya and cousin Sanja.

But today is our rest day. Maybe a swim later and a coffee at a local café… sounds like a plan.

Dinner at a Local Retaurant in Tribunj - Konoba Simun
During the week we were able to attend the annual Fishermans’ festival and we were treated to a boat ride around the islands at dusk, a busy street festival in the old part of town and lots of Croatian music that would have had Paul (Fran’s brother) in raptures. Fran was in heaven when she was able to partake in the local fish produce and the children were able to purchase various cheap items that lit up. But we soon became tired and wandered home through the quaint streets back home and pass out whist the town celebrated into the small hours of the morning. Fran, Kayla and Caleb setting sail on the boat ride. Kayla and Caleb at the fesival with Baba Stana

We awoke to a very fast and furious thunder storm creating minor flooding to the town. We had planned to go to Sibenik, the nearest large city to Tribunj, as we were in desperate need for some new sandals for the huge amounts of walking that we will be doing. Crocs just don’t cut it. When the storm had cleared, we were provided a lift by Petar and Stana to Vodice and then we managed to wrangle a spot on an intercity bus to Sibenik (about a 20 minute trip). After being stuck in a traffic jam along the way, we arrived at the bus port.

Sibenik from the castle

The town is very old dating back to the 13th century and we tried to see as much as we could walking up and down the various stairs leading to the castle at the top of the town.

Castle Wall

The medieval castle gave a spectacular view of the city and we tried to explain to the children how old it really was. Caleb said “Cool!” a lot.

Stephen & Kayla outside cathederal - Sibenik

Stephen and Kayla managed to find some sandals and a very good price and we also picked up some bits and pieces as true tourists. A warm ride home after a delicious lunch, icecream and shopping.

The morning ritual has become a favourite with Fran walking to the shops and returning with some delicious bread fresh from the oven. The chocolate injected doughnuts are a personal favourite of Kayla, Caleb and Stephen. The baker works hard here. Weekdays 6am -10pm and then Sunday is an easier day starting at 7am and finishing at 10pm.

Next week, hopefully a trip on a boat around the island of Kornate (spelling?) and we will start to look at our trips to Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Italy.

Budapest, Zamalin and Bikinis

After an extremely long journey we safely arrived in Budapest. Thanks to QANTAS and Malev we managed our jet lag quite well although the effects were quite present towards the end of our day trip in Budapest.

The flight from Singapore to Frankfurt was as expected, long and tiring but not as bad as expected. I was pleased to leave Singapore after Caleb decided to run after Mum in the QANTAS lounge and i was left with Kayla and the hand luggage unable to do anything. We then came up with the code word, glue, which means, not to leave Dad or Mum at any time. We had a few hours in Frankfurt and were very confused about "Shengan" and "Non-shengan" but the customs officer left their booth to show us the way and we ended up going from international to domestic. The kids had a great time running around at the play equipment in Frankfurt Airport.

Kayla and Caleb at Frankfurt Airport

After an hour delay with Malev Airlines it was a very brief fllight to Budapest. We all agreed that one day was not enough but did what we wanted, we stopped and rested before heading to Croatia. Our hotel was brilliant (Adina Apartments) and we were able to do some walking along the Danube, around the Parliment House, across the Schains Bridge (spell check) and up the Funicular to the Royal Palace and Buda (old part of Budapest). Caleb successfully developed large blisters on his ankles and Kayla perfected the art of being difficult....understandable as we were all very jet lagged and in need of a good sleep. We had dinner in Buda and managed to negotiate our way back to the Hotel dodging gypsies and homeless people which Kayla also had an art of spotting. We caught the tram to reduce the walking but we didn't know where to buy tickets. Another tourist said that the inspectors will fine us if we are caught which thankfully we weren't. We had the money for the fare in our hands but apparently that won't wash. We wandered back and the kids had a swim at the hotel before retiring for the evening in our spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, kitchen and louge apartment, all of sleeping well ready for day 3.

View of Parliment from Funicular

Our flight from Budapest to Split was delayed yet again with Malev (Something we will need to allow for before going to London) but we had a smooth flight to Croatia and to the very happy Buba abd Didi. There were tears of joy as to be expected but of course we couldn't see them straight away as one of our bags was the last to come off the plane!

We have been here 5 days now and we are starting to settle into the late nights and lazy days. The children are having fun playing with the children next door and managing to communicate when not being able to speak the same language. We have eaten so much food. The tomatoes here taste great! The Zamalin is an easy stroll from the house with all of us enjoying an icecream or two or three. The Zamalin is a boardwalk area made of concrete and rock where the locals and tourists gather to swim and eat and talk. There have been a few sights and I said to Fran one day "If I could update my status right now it would be ten words - Large balkin Women in Bikinis, Large Balkin Men in Speedos"....need I say more.


We have been to Vodice by bus and had the opportunity for Fran to reunite with family that she hasn't seen in 24 years. We have 7 more weeks here and a lot more to see, do and share...stay posted and we will stay posted unless the internet goes kerplunk!

Katie and Shanes' Wedding 2/4/2011

We were very happy to welcome Katie to the ever growing family. The wedding was held at 'Mulberry on Swan' in Guildford on Saturday. Below are some family pics and a slide show. Enjoy.

Family shot.

Kayla with her hair in curls.

Caleb looking dashing.

Together.

A lovely photo by my sister Roslyn.

Big Storm

On Monday the 28th Of February a big storm hit the Mundaring and Perth Hills area. It was fast a furious after a long hot and humid day. Below is a video of the flooding we experienced in the back yard. We had tree damage and water damage inside the house....but it was really nothing compared to Japan, NZ and Qld.

Let the Silly Season Begin!

Just in case we don't send a Christmas Card as this year has been ...somewhat....difficult. Merry Christmas from the Powells!

Election 2010

Election day today and The Powells went altogether to vote.....fingers crossed we get what we need to keep the Earth clean and sustainable.....fingers crossed. We don't want to return to the 50s and only have money as a God. Kayla and Caleb hear their parents talking about the various parties and we begin to understand that what we say will influence how they think about the future and how Australia should be for them.

Winter Holidays

Finally we have some time to update the blog. Kayla, Stephen and Caleb did an art project for the front garden to match the window in the back garden. Caleb competed in his first dance comp coming 2nd in Ballet and Highly commended in Jazz. Kayla competed in her first Gymnastics comp receiving a bronze medal overall, a red ribbon for vault (2nd) a green ribbon for mini tramp (3rd) and a white ribbon for beam (it means she scored) We were so proud when she fell off the beam. Stood up. Got back up. Finished the routine. THAT was the best part. We were all so very proud. We have put the photos in a slide show again as it is easier. ENJOY!