It”s been a year since we left NZ and a week since we”ve been in the Balkans on our latest big trip away from London. We left London on a rainy Sunday in early May and landed in Dubrovnik. From the bus ride into the old town we could tell we were in a new country with the warm Mediterranean sun on our faces, and the dusty hills dotted with olive and cyprus trees, and the clear deep blue Adriatic sea.

From our first welcome at the airport by customs (Wellington! The 7s!) to the upgrade at our villa (from the tiniest studio room to the penthouse on the top floor) we have found the people so friendly, and the majority in the tourist areas so far have spoken English which is good because the language is very difficult for us. We have yet to master hello (Zdravo).

With two days in Dubrovnik we explored the old town which is a labyrinth of tiny cobbled streets and lanes, small konoba cafes and sobe rooms , with cats and dogs everywhere. We paid 700 kuna to walk along the old town walls and saw the most amazing deep blue sea as the old town sticks out over the coast.

We ate squid and mussels for dinner under umbrellas in one of the market squares and sat at one of the many cafe tables to listen to live jazz. It was a beautiful welcome to the Balkans after almost a year in London and a brilliant start to our summer.

Although summer was just starting up for the locals we thought it was time to get swimming, and after finding a quiet beach with concrete sunbathing blocks jutting out of the rocks over the water like a swimming pool, we enjoyed a swim. Ben even got his animal fix seeing a snake on our way down to the beach amongst the rocks.