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Half board holiday in Dalmacija hotel in Makarska in Croatia

On Friday September 29th 2007 we left "Nizozemska", which stands for Netherlands in Serbo-Croatian language. We were on our way to Düsseldorf airport. but before parking our car on the long term car park we visited the old town of the capital of North-Rhine Westphalia, to drink a special beer called Uerige in the the with the same name and eat a so called Schweine Haxe at Schweine Janes'.
After landing on Split airport the bus took us to the hotel of our choice, Dalmacija. We arrived at the hotel after dinner time, but found a plate with some bread, meat and fruit on the table. Very kind. Nevertheless we shared a pizza in Makarska that evening. And a bottle of bottle of red Pelješac, of course ;-)
On Monday we wanted to take the bus to Dubrovnik, but what we already feared, was told us at the bus station. It would take about 5 hours, because the was going to stop in every village on the coast. Okay, you know what, we hire a scooter, make a trip to Hvar island and cross it from East to Hvar town in the West. Like said, like done. Soon we arrived in Dvernik, where the Jadrolinija car-ferry departs to Sućuraj on Hvar island. After arriving there we found a road sign showed us that the city of Hvar was 77 kilometres ahead of us. There was not a single cloud in the sky. The trip was beautiful. We stopped in Jelsa, where a kind Croat showed us his apartment and allowed us to take photos from hos property. In the lovely town Stari Grad we had lunch and ordered a pizza and a lasagne, to be able to taste both :-). In Hvar town we took a walk along the the boats and yachts in the harbour. It looked similar to Monaco, which we had seen on television moreoften.
Then we had to leave, because we had to catch the last ferry to Split, where we arrived when it was almost dark. After a trip along the coast to Makarska we arrived at the hotel, way past 9.00 pm. No dinner, no problem, no dining room, but sitting the water side.The second day of our holiday in Dalmatia.
On Tuesday another day for total lazy-ness hanging around at the swimming pool of the hotel or sitting in a chair of a terrace near the. Bistro pizzeria Sunshine became more and more our favourite restaurant.
On Wednesday we decided to walk towards the Biokovo mountains, which in fact are in the backyard of Makarska. We wanted to climb to a considerable altitude and hopefully enjoy splendid views of Makarska and the Adriatic islands. But after some time having reached Makar the webmaster decided that the risk of running out of water was too high, with each of us having only a 1500 ml bottle of water. He finished about 9 long distance walks of 70 kilometres in his province of Limburg and has had this shortage of water once , when the weather was extremely hot for the time of season, with temperatures above 30°C. Very much to disappointment of Anita he decided to return to Makarska. "The temperature is high for this time of year and with the sun shining vertically on our heads in the middle of nowhere...no way! We take care of Biokovo mountain later this week and then only focus on the ascend to mount Vošac. This only goal will be tough enough." Back in Makarska drinking a large beer, Anita realized that we made the right decision.
When we walked towards the hotel, but having another drink on some terraces we passed, the webmaster listened to an explanation of a German holiday-goer to some other German people. "I took my car and took this road on the right side of Biokovo towards the valley on the back side of the imposing mountain range and then

I drove all the way to Šestanovac." We wanted to view Sv. Jure from that location too. The webmaster was excited. "That's exactly what we are going to do before we ascend the road through nature park Biokovo to mount Sveti Jure, but we will hire scooters."

Shortly after breakfast we went to the shop where we hired our scooter a few days ago. We even got a discount, as if we hired it for two days. To reach the road around the mountains we had to turn left in the direction of Vrgorac at the traffic lights when driving across Jadranska Magistrala in the direction of Dubrovnik. Soon we passed the entrance of Biokovo nature park, but we were going to that that later that day. After a turn to Kozica we soon reached the road on the back side of Biokovo mountains. After a cup of coffee, together for only 4 Kuna, about €0.50, we continued our scooter-trip. Then mount Sveti Jure came into sight, an amazing view and what is more to come, we were going to on top of it later that day. Again we took some time to take photos for our albums. Then we continued our scooter trip to Šestanovac. From here we drove to Omiš along the west bank of Cetina river, a river famous for rafting lovers. This time we wanted to reach Omiš over the right bank, because on the internet we found lost of photos of this fishing and former Pirates' nest in Dalmatia. In Blato na Cetini on a beautiful spot we took some photos of the river, of which the water was obvious crystal clear. Then we came to the location of statue of Mila Gojsalić. There we had this amazing view of the river of Cetina valley, Omiš and the Adriatic sea. We seem to be going to have a large photo album. Down in Omiš we had to get some fuel and wanted to have a fish soup.
Then we continued our trip across the Dalmatian highway Jadranska Magistrala and in about 45 minutes in Makarska we reached the traffic junction with the traffic lights, where we turned left again. After some kilometres we turned left to the entrance of Biokovo nature park. We bought two tickets for 35 Kuna each. The ascend by scooter was really exiting and one felt more free compared to sitting in a car.
There something more amazing to come: a sunset.

And we would have the opportunity to watch it on an altitude of 1762 meters. Of course on top we took the walk to the chapel to get a good overview of the valley that we have been driving through that afternoon. For Anita the descend of Sveti Jure by scooter in the twilight was accompanied by some feelings of fear. We simply took our time. We were right on time to turn in our scooter and have dinner in the hotel.
On Friday October 5th we woke up very early to be able to have breakfast as soon as possible and as much as possible, which for the webmaster would be a challenge, for he always needs some time for his appetite to raise. We drank some extra glassed of water and juice and about 90 minutes after that we found ourselves on the same location where the webmaster decided not to continue walking, earlier that week. It seemed to become a warm again, but this time we carried 3000 ml of water in our backpacks. The trail from Makar was steep, so very soon the most amazing sights were offered. Makarska seemed miles away already, but mount Vošac did not seem to come any closer. Then we came to a rock with Veliko Brdo and Vošac painted on it. Of course we chose Vošac. Then we made a turn to the right and the trail led us behind a huge rock and the view changed form our hotel to the harbour of Makarska. Looking above we saw what was more to come. The sun was shining continuously on our heads. Then in the distance we could see a round view point. Could that be mount Vošac. The tiredness in our legs seemed to have disappeared. At least we reached the view point, but found out that this could never be mount Vošac. Nevertheless we decided to take a rest and eat some potato chips. We investigated an arrow pointing in a direction that should lead to "cold drinks", but soon we found a deserted mountain hut. After another climb we found ourselves on top of mount Vošac on an altitude of 1421 meters. We took some time to make some photos and enjoy the splendid views from the coast line of Makarska Riviera, the Adriatic sea including the Dalmatian islands and the seducing view of mount Sv. Jure. Just wait, on day we will conquer you too. Then it was time to descend, for we were really looking forward to a large beer. But for the time being we had one hip flask to celebrate this day and the end of a holiday without any cloud.
Believe it or not, but when the bus took us to Split airport a day later, it was raining cats and dogs.

 

© Jos van der Burgt