Beautiful, stunning, gorgeous Croatia

After my first taste of Europe in the summer (Bonjour France) i wanted more! Stu and i try to stick to a rule of going to countries we haven't been to but this is proving to be a little tricky here in Europe because he has been almost everywhere i want to go! In my search for a place in Europe with sunshine, water, sunshine, where Stu hasn't been, sunshine, visa friendly to me and sunshine, I stumbled upon Croatia. I was immediately won over by the photos of beautiful coastlines, over 300 days of sunshine a year and the fact that Croatia has relaxed it's visa requirements for the summer, allowing people with Schengen resident permits in without needing a visa which i would ordinarily need having a SA passport.

After some research we decided on the island of Hvar and i managed to find a gorgeous, reasonably priced apartment with the most amazing view of Hvar Town (the website does not do the apartment justice). So with flights booked and research done on exactly how to get from Split airport to the port of Hvar we were off!

For those interested, the quickest and easiest way to get to Hvar from Split is:

• As soon as you walk out of the airport there is a Croatian Airlines bus which takes you to the port of Split for Kn 30 each
• The bus drops you off directly outside the ticket booth where you buy your ticket to Hvar on the Catamaran at Kn 47 each (the tickets can't be prebooked or bought online, so get there early, they do sell out)
• During the summer there are only 2 catamarans a day... 11:30 and 15:00, so try plan your flights to get you there a few hours before those times or you'll have to spend a night in Split.
• While you are waiting on your catamaran take a walk through the old town of Split... it's amazing

Some of the old town of Split

As soon as we disembarked from the catamaran we were hit by the beauty of Hvar... a port jam packed with Superyachts, a riviera lined with bars and cafes and gorgeous, sunkissed people everywhere. Even more stunning was the view from our apartment... we both just sat and stared out over the beautiful, little port town.

The view by day from our apartment

The view by night... i just can't get enough of it

Our 3 full days were filled with a Sea kayaking trip to the Paklinski Islands, where we did some snorkelling amongst the superyachts and had lunch at a quaint restaurant on the water in a small cove. It was tough on the arms and legs but a great experience. Laying in the sun with a book and beer on a secluded pebble beach about a mile outside of Hvar Town... stunning. Sailing from Hvar to the island of Vis, where we snorkelled in the Green cave and had a wonderful homecooked meal on board the yacht. It was a fantastic day spent at sea with the wind in our hair :)

Our mode of transport for the day mored outside the Green cave

Both Stu and i were very reluctant to board the catamaran back to Split, Hvar is a beautiful island with stunning weather, friendly people (mostly) and the sight of all those Superyachts is just amazing. Some of them can be chartered for as much as €500 000 per week... maybe in my next life ;)

Hmmm... which one to chose ;)

More photos :)

Looking back on THE wedding

It's been over a month now since the BIG day and i thought it was about time i did a little recap on the day itself and the organising that went into the day. Weddings are a very important milestone in any relationship and some people signify that by spending an astranomical about of money and time on their big day. Our wedding was very important to us but i couldn't justify the cost of hiring a fancy wedding planner and leaving everything to them... so bring in myself! One great thing about organising a wedding yourself is that you get exactly what you want and you appreciate it a whole lot more.

My 3 biggest challenges were finding the perfect venue, deciding on food and bringing my ideas for decor together.

Venue: We wanted the wedding to be on a beach in Durban... not just overlooking a beach or next to one but on the actual sand. I did large abouts of research and the "normal" venues would only allow the ceremony on the beach and they cost an arm and a leg. Eventually i stumbled upon Beachbums, a small restaurant and backpackers right on the beach 40 mins north of Durban. After much to-ing and fro-ing and some stress things came together perfectly :)

Food: We wanted to create a very relaxed atmosphere at our wedding (having a wedding on the sand is a good start) and I wanted to introduce the American visitors to true Saffer culture. What better way to do that than with a braai, complete with pap and chakalaka! :)

So now we have a venue on the sand just metres from the breaking waves and a braai, the next thing to bring together was the decor.

Decor: While deciding on a venue, both Stu and i had one request each... he wanted tiki torches and i wanted paper lanterns. Both worked perfectly with the decor i had in mind... chilled out chic :) my vision was to have a collection of different clear bottles on each table with a flower in each, surrounded by tealights to form the centre piece, white table clothes and hessian table runners, paper lanterns hanging from the roof of the tent and sand underfoot... the result was even better than i could have imagined :)

And what would a wedding on the beach be like without a jumping castle ;) i decided to add a jumping castle just to add to the relaxed atmosphere and it was a huge hit, not just with the little kids but with the big kids as well :)

Unfortunetly the one thing we could not control was the weather and when having an outdoor wedding you are at the mercy of the weather gods... thankfully we had no rain, but man did the wind blow. Stu's only disappointment of the evening was the fact that it was to windy to light his beloved tiki torches!!

It was a fantastic day, enjoyed by everyone, especially Stu and i... that's the main thing :) A huge thank you to everyone who celebrated the day with us, especially Stu's friends and family that made the long trip from the states... it was amazing meeting you all :)

Up, up and away and St Augustine Beach

I've just realised i haven't blogged about my escape to St Augustine Beach with Stu! St Augustine is about 3 hours north of Zero Beach, it's the oldest inhabited town is the states and a really quaint and pretty little town with loads of history... the beaches are beautiful as well. After been postponed a couple of times, we were fortunate enough to see the STS-119 (NASA Discovery) launch which was about 100 miles south of us... it was an amazing sight, this fireball travelling through the sky :)

Discovery shuttle launch... amazing sight

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, exploring the town and long walks on the beach! :) oh, i almost forgot... our weekend started off with a scare as Stu discovered he had "misplaced" his passport... after a few phone calls we located the little blue book, he had left it on his flight from NYC to Orlando... thankfully the airlines in this country are a lot more honest than those in SA!

Sunrise from our hotel room

See you in 52 days babe :)

Florida at it's best...

... the last week or so we've had the most amazing weather (clear skies, sunshine, a slight breeze) and i've been "blessed" to get to work outside and stare out at the beautiful ocean and all it's shades of blue!! Sometimes i really do hate my job when i have to slave away serving the more fortunate while they get to enjoy the amazing weather and view! I thought i'd share my misery with you...





I now have the most attractive uniform tan to show for my hours working in the sun... i'll be working on correcting that this weekend when i take a well earned break! Stu is arriving in the morning... so super excited and we will be spending the weekend chilling on the east coast of FL in a town called St Augustine, soaking up the rays and destressing! :) Catch ya'll on the flip side... hehe ;)