Day 25 – Mljet Island (Tuesday 7th May 2024)

Forty-five minutes south of the island of Korcula by boat lies the island of Mljet. Like Korcula, a long and narrow island. It’s considered to be the greenest (in a vegetation sense) island in Croatia. It’s 90% given over to National Park. This island was our destination for today’s adventures.

The weather was cold and blustery this morning but, nevertheless, we packed our togs in case things improved and an opportunity for a swim arose. The vessel to take us to Mljet was a huge catamaran that could accommodate hundreds, I reckon. The wind had made the sea very choppy indeed. The “cat” wasn’t far out of the shelter of Korcula Island when the condition of the seas deteriorated rapidly. The big craft was pitching on the swell quite dramatically which made for a fun ride. Not so, however, for the poor little children across the aisle who were suffering badly from sea-sickness. Like a switch had been flicked, the waters became calm and smooth again as soon as we entered the protection of Mljet Island.

 

On the dock we gathered to receive instruction and more local history from Bashkim. Our objective was the little island of St. Mary’s in one of the lakes on the island, in centuries gone by a Benedictine monastery. The journey was to be by foot and boat. The lakes are not freshwater lakes but actually connected to the Adriatic by a very narrow channel. The little lake is connected to the big one where the island lies by a 2m man-made channel. The water rushes up or down the channel depending in the tide. Off we went from the dock in the tiny village of Pomena through the lush, verdant forest to the first lake – a walk of only 500m. As is the usual case in these parts the water was a beautiful aqua blue. The photographs taken just cannot capture the almost iridescent blue of the water. Incidentally, out in deeper seas the water is a beautiful deep navy blue, almost black but definitely blue. I think of the stories and rhymes we knew as children that emanated from around the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas that always described the sea as being blue. Of course, you can see blue waters on the coastline of Australia but it’s a very different shade of blue to that which we’ve seen this last week. This is that “deep blue sea” of those stories we read.

The walk around the lake was easy on a good, flat, broad path. The sun had made an appearance and the cloud was starting to dissipate. The boat to take us to the island on the island was not at it’s normal dock so we walked on to a little bay better sheltered from the wind where it would dock. Conveniently located at this place was little restaurant so we killed the twenty minute wait for the boat with a coffee. The boat arrived in due course and off we sailed the short distance to the island where the monastery sat. BTW, the boat, more like a tourist “barge” was actually solar powered. The boat docked at the island, we disembarked, got a lesson about the Benedictines and other branches of the world’s Christian churches and then set off to circumnavigate St. Mary’s – a ten minute task if you tried.

 

 

Around the back of the monastery the group found a paved “dock” bathed in sunlight and well sheltered from the wind so there we all sat to enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes before completing our little walk back to the boat. Well, the sun was shining, the wind was but a zephyr and the crystal clear water was so tempting. I couldn’t resist so declared that I was going for a swim (encouraged a lot by Kerry, I must say). I stripped off down to my shorts, planted my toes on the stone edge and dived into the deep, cool, calm, blue water. I knew as soon as I hit the water I’d make a great decision. The water was just magic. Like in Kotor Bay the other day not at all cold, but so refreshing. The of the crew looked in in amazement, one declaring “trust as Aussie to do that!”. From the water I tried to encourage the others to do the same. Pretty soon Vicky from Devon joined me and we both enjoyed a swim around this picturesque little cove with a 12^th century monastery as the backdrop for fifteen minutes. Fantastic! We could’ve stayed in much longer but we had a boat to catch so reluctantly we climbed out, dried off and completed the circumnavigation with the others.

For the price of a coffee or two the owner of the cafe under the walls of the monastery took as all directly to the nearby shore and we walked back to town by the lakes and through the forest over the next hour. Back at Pomena, Kerry and I enjoyed a ice-cream (at half the price it was in Dubrovnik) and waited for the big “cat” to return to take us back to Korcula Island. The crossing this time was smooth as! Kerry and I found a little restaurant tucked away in the old town, chatted with Don and Mary-anne from Ontario over pizza and beer (they were from a different tour group) and then strolled home through the lanes, stopping for another ice-cream before we reached home.