Stoked on life and being in Hvar Island - Day 1 of our mish
The locals are so friendly that hitch hiking was a BREEEEEEEEEEZE!!!!!!! With 15 hitches and an average of 12 minute waiting times... we were stoked!!!! Putting our thumbs out and bumming rides got us across Hvar Island 3x, with so many hours worth of driving on the mainland and even into 3 different countries!!!! We were picked up on deserted roads, dodgy tunnel entrances, motor ways and even in campgrounds by nationalities as varied as Italians, Austrians, Croatians, Germans, English and even Bosnians. Our gratitude is unlimited to these people who truely hooked us up and made our trip even more of a crack up than usual.
Classic moments hitch hiking.. and yes the yellow dress literally stopped traffic... best hitch hiking tool ever!!!
Stunning place #1: Cliffbase on Hvar Island:
A climbers paradise; with over 100 bolted routes, a 200m long Deep water Soloing Traverse, crystal clear ocean lapping just metres from your belayers feet and the best part is that the crag is only accessible to climbers and to those who have prebooked, so that way there are never too many people at the crag... plus the weather is so nice, the price is right and the living is just too easy!!!! Nude sunbathing, Deep water soloing and drinking the local wine (which is the most presigious in all of Croatia) is a must.
Cliff base... where we stayed right beside the climbing and the beach!
Due to the heat and the relaxed attitude of all the people climbing at cliffbase, it became natural to climb in our bikini tops rather than covering up... something I had never comtemplated in NZ or anywhere else actually. We were initially inspired by a 50 year old mother of two climbing in just her bikini and harness. What a legend... it is such a liberating feeling to climb in minimal clothes and know that noone around you cares because they are all doing the same thing.
The beautiful private beach and DWS boulders at Cliffbase, Hvar Island
Then there was the climbing... from slabby faces to steep juggy climbs to 2oom of Deep Water Soloing, any climber could be satisfied with the amount of climbing available to be tackled!!!! And if your extremely keen, then climbing in the midday heat can still be braved if a swim is enjoyed between each climb!!! However if your there for over a week then the intense Croatian sun can be enjoyed while sunbathing or swimming in many of the beautiful beaches that Cliffbase has sole and private access too.
Top of a climb... in my bikini... loving the vibe and the view
The mighty tombstone
Emi and a new English mate having way too much fun belaying
Yeap... thats how close the beach is to the climbing... so nice!!!!
Im belaying Emi while she charges up a mean 6A+ on Tombstone
Stunning place #2 - Paklenica National Park:
Then after sunny days climbing by the beach, Me and Emi starting dreaming of multi pitches... so we got a our thumb-out and our hitch-on and headed off for Paklenica National Park - a mecca for easy-medium mutli pitch routes in a super chilled village a few hours North of Zadar. When we arrived we found a sleepy town, a good wine bar and a mint place to stay called Camping Marco. We were naturally pretty stoked as we were based at the entrance of the road that accessed the park.. so we could even hitch home after a big day on the rock!!!
We were so stoked with the climbing there... so many mutli pitch routes plus hundreds of single pitch classic climbs that made us sweat, smile, laugh, swear and cry all within the same day!!! 
Then after sunny days climbing by the beach, Me and Emi starting dreaming of multi pitches... so we got a our thumb-out and our hitch-on and headed off for Paklenica National Park - a mecca for easy-medium mutli pitch routes in a super chilled village a few hours North of Zadar. When we arrived we found a sleepy town, a good wine bar and a mint place to stay called Camping Marco. We were naturally pretty stoked as we were based at the entrance of the road that accessed the park.. so we could even hitch home after a big day on the rock!!!
Emi's turn to be stoked on life due to being at Paklenica National Park - Day 1
Emi took this photo from the top of the 2nd pitch at me on the top of the 1st. This was a classic 5 pitch climb with the last 2 pitches being MEGA RUN OUT!!!!!
This place was so amazing and the people were extra friendly. An Austrian couple even offered us a road from Paklenica right up into Slovenia to were we wanted to go next. This was such a sweet ride to score and so we cruised in style in a wickedly old BMW that was still sporting a tape deck all the way into beautiful Slovenia.
Stunning place #3 - Bled, Slovenia
So we arrived in Bled and were immediately blow away by the pure natural beauty of this place. With stunning lakes, beautiful mountians, crystal clear rivers and not a whiff of polution in the air... both me and Emi felt at home in this place immediately.
We ate lunch by the lake and then decided that this was a place that we HAD TO VISIT AGAIN!!!!!!! We are definitely coming back with boats and a crew of paddlers because the rivers here are reputed to be the most stunning white water in all of Europe. Some people call Slovenia the NZ of Europe... that just made us feel even more at home here.
Super rad place!!!
So we arrived in Bled and were immediately blow away by the pure natural beauty of this place. With stunning lakes, beautiful mountians, crystal clear rivers and not a whiff of polution in the air... both me and Emi felt at home in this place immediately.
Dinner on the lake... gerk's, cheese, crackers and tuna anyone???
This place has it all... climbing, biking, kayaking, rafting, skiing and mountaineering... plus a small population and the price is relatively cheaper than its neighbouring countries to the West.
We planned to go climbing in Slovenia but it just didn't work out, so instead we vowed to come back on another trip and climb then, and then went walking around some beautiful areas to check out the local natural areas.
One morning we started walking by a beauty lake and just kept on walking for a couple hours, we got to an area where a beautiful waterfall was being advertised so we went to check it out... but then we found out that we had that we had to pay... as tight-as kiwis we couldnt imagine having to pay to see a natural resource like a waterfall... so I got my barganing skills rocking and scored us entry to the park on childrens tickets. This was hilarious and it made me realise what a cheap-skate I am. (Emi still hassles me about this over 6 months later)
We regretably left Slovenia after a very short 2 days but for the country that both Emi and I had spent winter seasons in... the European country that we both probably love the most... AUSTRIA!!!! We went and hung out with Marco (dude who came on the Morocco mish with us in April) at his dads house which we dubbed 'the hotel' as it was soooo nice in comparision to the mighty tent decked out with one sleeping bag and no sleeping mat that me and Emi had been sharing. Plus we were treated like VIPs with a non stop flow of coffee and special bakery runs being made for us every morning by Marco's parents.
For one day on this trip we traded in being team extreme and turned into team chilled and tanned, as we laxed out on this beach for the arvo before hitching to Austria
One morning we started walking by a beauty lake and just kept on walking for a couple hours, we got to an area where a beautiful waterfall was being advertised so we went to check it out... but then we found out that we had that we had to pay... as tight-as kiwis we couldnt imagine having to pay to see a natural resource like a waterfall... so I got my barganing skills rocking and scored us entry to the park on childrens tickets. This was hilarious and it made me realise what a cheap-skate I am. (Emi still hassles me about this over 6 months later)
We regretably left Slovenia after a very short 2 days but for the country that both Emi and I had spent winter seasons in... the European country that we both probably love the most... AUSTRIA!!!! We went and hung out with Marco (dude who came on the Morocco mish with us in April) at his dads house which we dubbed 'the hotel' as it was soooo nice in comparision to the mighty tent decked out with one sleeping bag and no sleeping mat that me and Emi had been sharing. Plus we were treated like VIPs with a non stop flow of coffee and special bakery runs being made for us every morning by Marco's parents.
The exquisite Austrian meal that the boys cooked for us using the wild mushrooms we had picked that day
In the one weekend that we were there we squeezed in a HUGE night out on the booze, went bouldering, climbing, slack lining at the lake, wild mushroom picking, rode the Alpine-Coaster that Marco helped build that summer, and also did a 9 pitch climb on the mighty Dachstein. WHAT A SUPREME WEEKEND!!!!
This is one awesome climb at the boys local crag in Austria - I absolutely loved the first part but then went way too far left by mistake and had to come down, so it was Seb to the rescue!!! TOFT!!!
One our way up the Darchstein to our 9 pitch climb. Bluebird day. Great crew. Fun times ahead.
Not all Austrians are hard core!!!!!
Mickey showing us how to enjoy your day at the crag after a massive bender 2 nights before!
Team cool-kiwi trying to prove our extremeness to the hardcore Austrians... they didn't take us very seriously though
Me and Emi with our stash of mushrooms that we picked... pity they were all poisonous and we couldn't use them!
Marco and Huffy watching Emi rip it up
And then unfortunately my time was up and I had a flight scheduled from Munich to China that I had to catch. Which meant that I had to say goodbye to Emi and the lendary Austrian crew... and also Europe. It was such a great 1 1/2 years that I spent in Europe - I loved its diversity... from coming from such an isolated place like NZ I was truly blown away by the ease at which one could travel throughout multiple countries with totally different cultures, lifestyles and languages in a single day.
My trip to this continent is one that I will never forget... especially the amazing people that I met along the way. I don't know if you all know how positively you changed my life. Without Diego and Angi I would have been in NZ in August 2007-over a year ago. So thank you very much.
