Don't Worry Be Happy

Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) proved to be quite a contrast to my recent trip to Croatia. The number of tourists we encountered was in the 10s, as opposed to 10 thousands; and I saw more sandy beaches in 5 days in Haida Gwaii than my 3 weeks in Croatia! Our trip began with a flight into Sandspit which is at the north eastern tip of the southern island. Haida Gwaii consists of 2 main islands, and 100s of smaller ones. Just outside the airport is this gigantic copper/cedar sculpture of a Coho Salmon: We were staying at the Seaport B'n'B and had this amazing view from our bedroom. As we were a bit farther north and at the western edge of the time zone, the sun set about 10:00. Sandspit is the only significant community on Moresby Island. It has 302 residents and we managed to tour the entire town in, to be generous, 5 minutes. However they've found a way to do away with lawnmowers on the ball diamond: The next day we took the ferry...

Croatia might be one of the world's oddest shaped countries - if it is shaped like a backwards question mark, then Dubrovnik is the dot at the bottom, separated from the rest by the narrow corridor of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The economy of Dubrovnik depends a great deal on tourism and the main attraction is the old city. I’ve been on the walls of several cities but this one is pretty remarkable. It was built in the 14th C, suffered some damage during the war in the 90s.  Because it’s been so hot and humid here, we chose a slightly overcast day, early in the morning, to walk the 2+km around. It took about 1.5 hours and as we were leaving the hordes of tourists arriving made us glad we’d started early. Some views from the walls: Massive cliffs down to the sea: Although it’s mostly tourists staying in the old town there are some permanent residents with vegetable or ornamental gardens. A panorama from the topmost corner. And inside the walls at night: With all the walk...

I’m not sure we (in the west) can think of Bosnia Herzegovina without images of war, bombing, and continuously fighting factions. So our day trip from Dubrovnik to Mostar was a nice surprise - similar to the surprise I had the first time I visited the old part of Quebec City. The old city is lined with very uneven cobblestones, making walking precarious. They have been restored with the stones positioned flat but were originally placed on end, which are much easier to navigate. Original cobblestones: New cobblestones: The tourist souvenirs reflect the Turkish influence (the Ottomans were here) - lots of decorated brass, silver and copper. The main highlight of the tour is the old bridge, damaged during the war in 1995 but restored in 2004. It has great historical significance, dividing the city along religious lines. The guy who bombed the bridge was recently found guilty of war crimes but committed suicide by poisoning himself in the prisoners box last year. Local men jump off...

A few more islands, many steep hills and several more of the ‘most beautiful village of Croatia’.  We also had a half day of River rafting - few rapids but mostly just peaceful floating. I took their advice and left my camera behind so no photos of that.  We were delayed one day by a massive thunderstorm but it wasn’t long before all traces of the rain disappeared with the sun. Otherwise great weather though a bit warm at times for the regular bikers.  On our 2nd last night we docked in Split and had a city tour of Diocletian’s palace. Diocletian was a Roman emperor who was the first one to ‘retire’ rather than be assassinated as was the tradition. He built the palace as a retirement home. It looks a bit run down now which is understandable since it is 1700 years old.  In the central piazza we came across a group of musicians playing for some traditional dancers.  The island of Solti is known for its honey and we visited a third generation bee keeper for an inte...

If Monday’s cycle was hard, Tuesday’s was gruelling. Almost 60 km with about 3500 feet of elevation gain on the island of Korčula. For lunch we stopped at a local residence for a typical Croatian Meal - of course lots of grilled meat. Accompanied by the local, homemade wine posit.  Lamb, chicken, pork, yummy sausages.  (For a country with so much coastline fish is almost an exception.) We ended the day with a 15 percent grade - downhill fortunately.  Each little port we moor in is jammed with yachts, catamarans, sailboats, fishing vessels. In fact we often have to double, triple park so that one night, in order to get to shore we had to go through 3 other boats we were alongside. There have been up to 6 boats tethered together.  This boat is loaded with fish traps: Each of these villages is full of ancient history but honestly it’s all starting to blur together. This morning we also had a lesson describing more recent Croatian history. To say the last 100 years has b...