The long-winded version

💤 I slept like a log last night after our rather late finish involving a visit to the hospital followed by a hunt around Dubrovnik for an open pharmacy. It had been a long day, so the bed felt very welcoming.

🍳 Breakfast was another feast and, thankfully, there was no early start this morning. Our meeting time wasn’t until 8.30am, so everyone had a chance to enjoy a slower start to the day.

🚌 We caught the Number 4 bus into the Old Town before making our way down to the harbour, ready for our boat over to Lokrum Island.

⛴️ There were no queues at all, which immediately felt a little odd. Moments later, a lady approached us and explained there was a problem because of the wind.

I wandered over to the ticket office where the lady behind the desk confirmed there was currently a weather warning in place and all boats had been suspended. She suggested we return later in the morning.

☕️ Well… there wasn’t much we could do about that, so we embraced Plan B. (See what I did there? AG members will get it!)

🍌 We arranged to meet back at the ticket office at 11.30am before everyone disappeared in different directions. Some visited the fortress, others wandered through the narrow streets browsing the shops, several treated themselves to yet another frozen banana — they’ve become quite a theme this week! — whilst Annette, Sue and I found a café with some shade and enjoyed a leisurely coffee.

💨 At 11.30am we all regrouped.

Success! The weather warning had been lifted and the boats were running again.

Apparently it had been extremely windy. But I couldn’t really tell the difference!

Welcome to Lokrum Island

🦚 A short 15-minute crossing brought us to Lokrum Island, a peaceful nature reserve sitting just 600 metres from Dubrovnik’s city walls.

Despite being so close to the bustling Old Town, the island feels like stepping into another world. There are no hotels, no permanent residents and no cars, making it wonderfully peaceful.

Nowadays, Lokrum is perhaps best known for two very different residents.

🦚 The first are the peacocks. Beautiful, noisy and completely unfazed by visitors, they wander freely around the island, happily posing for photographs. The baby peacocks are so cute!

👑 The second claim to fame comes courtesy of Game of Thrones. Several scenes from the city of Qarth were filmed on Lokrum — I had to Google that bit as I’ve never seen Game of Thrones — and the island is now home to an official replica of the famous Iron Throne.

Naturally, there was a steady queue of people waiting for their chance to sit on it and channel their inner ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. According to the plaques, anyway. I suppose some people will know what that means!

🏊‍♀️ After exploring, most of the group headed to the island’s famous “Dead Sea” — or “The Blue Lagoon” as I kept calling it — a beautiful enclosed saltwater lagoon tucked into the rocks.

The water was every shade of turquoise and deep blue imaginable, with little caves and rocky inlets to explore. It was the perfect place to cool off from the Croatian sunshine.

🍸 Others relaxed with cocktails overlooking the lagoon, simply enjoying the slower pace of island life.

Ghost stories or Quirkle?

🐙 Back on the mainland that evening, we enjoyed dinner at a traditional Croatian restaurant opposite the hotel.

The food was delicious. And then there was Barbara’s octopus…

I’m not exaggerating when I say it was enormous!

👻 After dinner, the group split once again. Several headed off on Dubrovnik’s Ghost Tour, an evening walk through the ancient streets where a local guide blended genuine history with folklore, mysterious legends and tales of ghosts, executions, sieges and centuries of intrigue hidden behind the beautiful stone walls.

Dubrovnik has seen earthquakes, invasions, plagues and wars during its long history, so there’s certainly no shortage of stories to tell after dark.

🏊‍♀️ Meanwhile, Tina, Barbara and I took the slightly less spooky option and headed back to the hotel.

I enjoyed a wonderfully refreshing swim in the pool. Then we settled down for a few games of Quirkle and a beer or two.

🛏️ By 9.40pm I was tucked up in bed.

This heat really does drain your energy. As much as I’ve loved Croatia, I think if I run this trip again I’d definitely bring the group earlier in the year when the temperatures are a little kinder.

Tomorrow we fly home.

It’s been another fantastic Adventure Geek trip, filled with laughter, friendship, plenty of walking — for me, I loved the walking, but for others not so much! — great food and lots of little moments that will stay with us long after the suitcases have been unpacked.