The Beginning of the End

Old Cemetary on Lopud Island

Excluding our travel day, we have only two days left on Lopud, one of which is a free day (translation: guide’s day off) so today is our last day of paddling.  Island fever has set in and no one wants to get up early – even the 9 AM breakfast call is getting harder and harder to make.  Vedran suggests we all sleep in and make our last paddle an evening trip around a nearby, uninhabited island, so we can be on the water for the sunset.  This sounds good to everyone, and we all enjoy a lazy morning followed by a hike to the island’s high point were the ruins of an old fortress stand, punctuated with olive trees and bushes that look like jacarandas, with their bright stems of yellow, orchid shaped flowers.  The view is fabulous and photo opportunities abound. 

From the top of Lopud, looking at Saipan Island in the distance

We run into a large group of exuberant 14 year-old girls who go crazy when they learn our travelling companions are Canadian.  “OMG!  Canadians!  Do you know Justin Bieber?”   We subsequently run into them three more times over the next two days – on the water, strolling on the path to the island’s point, and in the town.  Despite the fact that the island is only about  1 kilometer wide and 2 kilometers long, and there is basically nothing to do there but stroll around the paths or paddle in the water, the girls are amazed beyond belief that we have seen them so many times and several tell us they feel spooked.  So now you know our true identities – the American stalkers, out to prey upon overly peppy teenagers who we hope to sell into the Russian sex slave trade to finance our vacation.

Stalkers

Our sunset paddle starts out well but Jen is feeling a little seasick so she and Jason head home with Vedran.   Bob and I continue to the point of Saipan Island to see the a large arch and then we head across the channel while riding some huge swells home.  We are a little early for the sunset, which happens this evening just as we arrive for another incredible dinner.  Tonight’s specialty is fish for Bob and Cevapcici for the rest of us – a regional specialty of pork and beef sausages with traditional spices.  I have had this before at a winemaker dinner hosted by Mike Grgich, a Croatian whose vineyards in the Pelajsac peninsula we visited the week before.  I am definitely going to try to make it at home using one of the numerous recipes I found on the internet.