{"id":1372,"date":"2013-09-25T09:23:17","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T08:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/merrington.net\/?p=1372"},"modified":"2013-09-25T16:54:53","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T15:54:53","slug":"vela-spila-vela-luka-and-lastovo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/?p=1372","title":{"rendered":"Vela Spila, Vela Luka and Lastovo"},"content":{"rendered":"

On our second day in Vela Luka, wind warnings for the dreaded Bora came over the internet and it was also\u00a0apparent by the large number of boats that were filing in all day. \u00a0Here we were in Korcula’s most protected harbour wearing T-shirts and shorts yet the weary sailors coming into the harbour were in wet weather gear. \u00a0We decided we would stay here on the comfortable town quay for the duration.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
View from Vela Spila<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Vela Luka is a beautiful town but very quiet, what could we get up to? \u00a0Turns out that if we walked up the side of the hill about 800 metres, we would not only get a view out of the harbour towards Vis but we would also be able to visit Vela Spila.<\/div>\n
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\"Vela<\/a>
Vela Spila – prehistoric cave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Vela Spila is a 40 x 40 cave which was home to both Mesolithic and Neolithic finds, showing life in this area back over 20,000 years. It is called a stratified prehistoric site as the layers contain secrets of many generations. \u00a0 In these early days, we can see that necklaces and pottery were being made. Although damp, the cave would have been comfortable with a few bearskins and wooly mammoth hides to cover the floors. There were natural skylights in the cave, offering a bit of light. \u00a0It was a nice hike and a humbling experience to be in a home that is 20,000 years old.<\/div>\n
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We met a very nice Croatian gentleman, stepping off his fishing boat the next day. We said ‘Hello’ and he came over for a chat. \u00a0He had worked on the Oriana for several years and then in New Zealand. \u00a0He had been to Sydney and had been able to retire back to his native Vela Luka. \u00a0He pointed to the house that he built on the waterfront, incredibly proud to have a lovely new home right on the water. \u00a0He said that many people from Vela Luka went to the US and Australia to work and live. \u00a0It was fairly obvious he was happy to have made it back to Vela Luka.<\/div>\n
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Monday, the Bora had blown itself out, and we motored over to Lastovo. \u00a0Until recently the island of Lastovo was a military site and we saw plenty of bunkers in the hills. \u00a0It is a municipality of 46 islands, some very small. Lastovo the island is the largest and we are circumnavigating the island going from port to port. \u00a0The entire island is a Natural Park (Park pirode Lastovi) and each evening we would be visited by the park ranger and we would pay for our daily ticket of $25 kunas.<\/div>\n
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\"Lastovo<\/a>
Lastovo Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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There are places you can’t anchor, mainly in beds of Posidonia Oceanis or Poseidon Grass. \u00a0These underwater plants have been in the Mediterrean for up to 100,000 years ago. Feeling younger yet? \u00a0They bear fruit and create whole meadows under the sea. In Croatia, they are working to ensure these meadows remain protected. \u00a0I am happy to pay $5 Aussie dollars a night for their protection.<\/div>\n
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We have made our way to the very pleasant anchorage at Skrivena Luka on Lastovo. Great marina attached to the restaurant Porto Rosso. \u00a0More exploring to do on Lastovo today.<\/div>\n
Thanks Sandy for pointing out that there are no shops readily available on Lastovo, we were prepared. \u00a0A big hello to Pip and Colin, thinking of you. \u00a0Pip, you may be as confused as I am on which America’s Cup team to support. \u00a0Great for discussion though.<\/div>\n
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My niece, Amanda, is getting married in one month. I love the internet because even though I couldn’t attend the bridal shower, I could see all the photos. \u00a0Between now and then Manda, remember to breathe.<\/div>\n
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On our second day in Vela Luka, wind warnings for the dreaded Bora came over the internet and it was also\u00a0apparent by the large number of boats that were filing in all day. \u00a0Here we were in Korcula’s most protected harbour wearing T-shirts and shorts yet the weary sailors coming into the harbour were in … Continue reading Vela Spila, Vela Luka and Lastovo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VxXq-m8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1372"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1391,"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions\/1391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merrington.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}