Several weeks have passed now without being able to surf, so we decided to do a little hiking to keep our athletic spirits up. The peninsula of Pelješac in Southern Croatia is excellent for this as there are many hills and mountains, the highest being Sveti Ilja at 962 meters.

It is a little creepy hiking here during the off-season… The only people we saw on the way up were two Croatians in a jeep, armed and ready to hunt for wild boars or to protect themselves from wild dogs… Aha! Luckily we met neither wild boars nor dogs and instead met a Swabian couple with their very sweet dog Holly on the peak. Once we reached the top of Sveti Ilja we were awarded an epic view – on one side we could see all the way to the mainland and on the other, the island of Korcula and past it (it was a clear day) we could see Italy.  Amazing and totally worth the adventure!

The scent of sage filled our nostrils all day, as it grows wild and abundant here. We picked a little on our way down the mountain and added it to our dinner of pasta with freshly picked figs and butter, which was a perfectly delicious way to end such a great day!