We popped down to Rochford to see our eldest daughter for lunch.

At one of my events recently, BTL101092 (aka Julie & Andie) mentioned a challenge cache that they were working on.

A bit of an antI-climax from yesterday but I pop out to Fobbing to pick up the last of the Teddy's Walk series this morning.

For a couple of months, I've been planning a biggy.

Well today is the last day of the cruise and we have to be off the boat at 8am. However we buy another 8 hours of cabin space so we don't have to lug our cases around until 8pm tonight when we check in at the airport.

The Chapel is Halfway Up With The Castle Above It

What a delightful place, surrounded by mountains and reached by a narrow inlet from the Med into a huge natural harbour.

Artillery Point Above The City

Here we are in the docks in Gruz, a bus ride away from the beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik. Plenty of signal, we're breakfasted and we're ready for sight-seeing and maybe the odd geocache! The bus drops us off outside the city gates and we run the gauntlet of touts offering trips around nearby island, Segway hire and Games of Thrones walking tours. A lot of this hit series is filmed here and you can't move for groups seeking out every wall and step that may have got onto film. However you know what we are looking for, yes, a cafe with wi-fi😀 It doesn't take long to find what we are looking for as there are cafe chucker-inners on every corner. After a coffee, it's time for a wander. First on the list is a trad surprisingly named Dubrovnik which I found sitting on a ledge down a back alley. I was helped by some of the recent cachers photos so I knew I was around the right place😉 The second cache, a 2/4 trad was really on the Games of Thrones tourist agenda. This was Kings Landing - PGC, a film location which a set of steps from the city walls down the cliff face to the sea. Having not seen the programme, I guess that the king lands here.😉 Just down the steps from the city wall is the Buzza Bar, where you can sit with a drink and be amazed at the wonderful view. I pass through the drinkers enjoying the view and do the reverse king's walk down towards the sea. Down here somewhere is an elusive cache which takes some finding but I walk back up the stairs feeling like a king. I make my way back through the narrow streets and just about remember which cafe that I need to find. Another coffee to calm the nerves and we go sightseeing. Not too far as it happens and we are soon having a beer in a square which is thronged with tourists. Just 25 years ago, it would have been deserted. Anybody seen out in the open would be a target for snipers up in the hills. You can see where bullet holes in the limestone have been repaired. The city was also frequently shelled by artillery fire which caused immense damage. As we gaze across the square, there is a clock tower. I need information here for a virtual cache, Port a Foot - Dubrovnik. To our right is the St Blaise's Church which a large statue of the saint at the top. I need information here for the Earthcache - Limestone of St Blaise. All the information is quickly gathered and it's time for another grog, thirsty work, this geocaching. 😂 More looking around shops, then a spot of lunch and then a gentle meander round the streets, edging towards the bus station. This is packed with waiting passengers so just enough time to pop up to Fort Lovrijenac. This is also heavily featured in Games of Thrones but there's a 1.5/2.5 trad there. It's worth a higher D/T but I'm not too fussed as it's a quick find. Back at the bus station, Kathy is at the front of the queue. We get back at the boat but it doesn't leave for a few hours. Kathy goes for a swim and a sun bathe and I get off the boat. One hundred yards away is a European rarity, a SideTracked cache! Really SideTracked - Dubrovnik old railway station is just outside the dock gates. There's a locked box on a wall and an upmarket keysafe box nearby holding a key. I was really pleased to get this one. Then it was a brisk half a mile walk to collect another trad, Dubrovnik Gruz. This was my final cache in Croatia. I've liked what I've seen and the beer is good. Maybe an island hopping trip will be on the cards sometime.

The boat has docked, we've had breakfast, I have 4G and Kathy's knee is better. Split is dominated by the Cathedral of St Domnius and the Diocletian's Palace and that was the part of town that we were heading to. A half a mile walk past the bustling ferry port gets us to where I want to go. After a good look for souvenirs in the busy market, we were having refreshment in a cafe near the Cathedral. Just around the corner was a trad, Cathedral of St Domnius which I only found because of the splendid hint. Croatia, tick 👍🏻 However there were so many tourists around so it was a very quick cache and dash and on to the next cache at Diocletian's Palace. Diocletian was the Emperor of Rome from AD 284 to 305. The cache was a quick find as it was in the hands of a French lady cacher. After a quickish chat despite language barriers, I put the cache back where she said that she had found it. Then it was back to the cafe. Coffees turned into beers then we had lunch but I was in no hurry as my next cache on my horizon was only yards away, an Earthcache, Limestone of St Domnius. After watching a marching display of Roman centurions near the walls that I needed to investigate, I searched for fossils in limestone and amassed the answers to the CO's questions. It was time to wander around the shops hoping that something would catch our eye to take home but nothing did. I didn't even see a decent t-shirt! I'm the sort of chap that can only wear a t-shirt from a place that I've visited so I'm always on the look out for something decent. I can't stand to see blokes wearing something like Santa Monica Track Team.😡 On the way back to the boat, there was just time to find Miljenko Smoje, a trad that had caused cachers a few problems but was a quick find for me. Oh and there was enough time to have one of the local suds in a pavement bar near the port. 🍺😀