Opatija, Kirk to Rab

Certainly a better night's sleep, without Julie wanting to know if I'm awake! Lol. We head to breakfast at about 8.15 only to find that we are the last to arrive. The vultures have already done over the very basic buffet so we sit alone to have some muesli and toast. The Vegemite will certainly be getting a workout tomorrow. Anyway... We set sail (what do you call it if the ship doesn't actually have any sails to set?) on very calm waters. Such pretty coast line. the itineray said we were supposed to have free time in Opatija before we headed off, but as it was an 8 am setting if the sails, not sure when that free time was meant to occur.

After a couple of hours we anchor about 50 metres from ciastline of Krk where a handful of diehards have a swim in the Adriatic. There were varying reports of it's warmer than I expected to Ooh, it's cold! Saw a woman paddle boarding off in the distance and then while I am scouring the coastline while others are swimming I certainly got an unexpected eyeful!

We spend a leisurely morning up on deck watching the world go by until Julie suggests we play a game of Scrabble. Those who know me well, understand that I think it's nice to win, but for me, it's about enjoying the game more. Julie was determined to use every letter she had at some stage of the game. Whenever I challenged a word she would go straight to google to confirm that it was an acceptable scrabble word. My vocabulary has now increased to include a number of two letter words to decribe various Roman numerals, Chinese air and Greek alphabet! Zees us the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet. Qo is an alfresco meal. Po is an abbreviation for post office, so once google told her that such abbreviations are accepted scrabble words I simply let her put letters wherever she wanted! We only lasted 2 games though as thankfully it was then lunch time. Lunch was considerably better offerings than breakfast. Was good to eat more vegetables too.

After lunch and some more cruising we arrived at the island of Rab. It is a beautiful spot.

Nora took us all for a wander up through the medival settlement, the gardens and along the beach front, or at least their idea of beach! Couldn't help but laugh about the sun bathers who simply lay a towel down on the concrete path and catch the rays. No white sand in sight any where. We sampled some of the Rab cake but didn't think itas that great. Julie and I then did our own wanderings. Ended up at a supermarket to top up the cheese and wine supply for our supper tonight as dinner is not provided on the ship.

Back on board and Julie goes to the cabin and I am up on deck finishing off yesterday's blog. the internet access on board is hit and miss, with things taking ages to download at times, and that's when the wi fi is actually connected. It's abot 6ish so I head back to the cabin and Julie, with the assistance of Nora, has found out how to connect the tv in the cabin. We decide that we are a bit peckish so I lay out our supper for the night while Julie sets up the tv to play the movie 'Dirty little letters'. We have a great time munching, drinking and watching!

We head off ship again to catch the sunset. Another small ship had come alongside us, so clearly we had pole position to berth. Not sure who leaves first in the morning, but that's the captain's problem.

Back on deck and we play cards, Switch, which we have a lot of fun over. Thanfully I didn't feel the need to punch her in the face, which I had threatened to do during Scrabble! Time to head back to our cabin and time for bed. It has been a lovely relaxing day. The weather has been great, and no crowds. We have certsinky had some fun chats about our fellow passengers who really are a mixed bunch. My dad often used to ask 'Did you meet anyone better than yourself' after I'd been out somewhere. I can honestly say about this cruise, 'No dad, not this time!' LOL! When I have more time, and better wifi, I may need to update the blog with comments on our fellow cruisers, who I have typically given pseudonyms to. Fang and womble from Yorkshire would likely top the list... ,