Mljet – The island with an island
The word ‘seductive‘ is often used when reading about the island of Mljet (Mil-yet). Covered by lush Mediterranean pine forest, half of the island is a designated national park. I don’t know why only half and neither did our skipper Marco. When we asked him, he just shrugged his shoulders and said he sometimes wondered that himself!
Located within the National park, there are two saltwater lakes Veliko and Malo Jezero. In the middle of the bigger lake (Veliko Jezero) lies the island of Melita where a Benedictine Monastery has stood since the 12th century! So, imagine an ancient monastery located on an island within an island, you can understand the attraction Mljet has to visitors.
The moment we arrived, the place felt like a sleepy fishing village and that we were the only visitors there. Although I knew this was far from the truth, you can’t help it when after buying our bus tickets, we were stopped from lunch by the lady who sold us the tickets less than 5 minutes ago.
She had actually crossed the road to get us when we were just about to sit down at a restaurant telling us that she had ordered two mini buses for us and they were on their way here in a few minutes! So, how do you say no to that.
The bus ride from Polace to Veliko Jezero was happily only a short ride. From there, another short boat ride across the lake got us to Melita island. Having already missed their feeding time, the boys were suitably hungry by the time we got off the boat. Fortunately, they have a small restaurant there and we promptly sat down before going any further.
From the same point you can take another boat to the smaller lake Malo Jezero which seemed to be a favourite swimming spot. For the sake of our waistlines, we opted to walk back to Polace which was not a hard walk but lets you take in some of the unspoilt aspects of Mljet which we easily missed in bus.
So, that makes up our top three islands. They are not however the last. With such a rich abundance of islands, there is something for everyone. Despite the week we spent among the islands of Croatia, we just know that there are many more we missed. There would have been many more magical spots, idyllic beaches, secluded inlets and secret coves . That is why we love travel. It is sometimes not knowing what you will discover next which makes you longing to come back for more. Next up . . . . Dubrovnik!
