After a frantic week packing up the house and moving to my mum's at Greenwich Hels and the troops headed off to Hong Kong for a 2 day stopover. We were spoilt rotten by Kimberley (JD's sister) and Roly and the Chubb family (dear friends Justine and Greg and kiddies). We arrived in Split on Monday, kids very excited to be reunited with Skipper JD. The weather has been really hot but thanfully the marina is right next to some beautiful beaches so swims all round are the order of the day. We have now completed the customs export and got to sail out to the outer island Vis to satisfy the police that we had been to Italy and back (a weird formality when you export a boat). Nika is now dressed with the Aussie flag looking resplendent - although as there is so much work to do down below is a bit of a building site!!! Thanks to Craig Chalk and a bunch of friendly Croatians we are powering through the job list while I keep kids entertained and on track with the dreaded school work (not much done to date but hoping for some more enthusiasm soon). Kids having a ball riding around in the rubby ducky on their own - Captain Tykes the original rev head is a complete boat boy and is much more chilled than on land which is quite interesting!! Split is a beautiful town with lovely old buildings and lots to see. Ivana and Pasko the previous owners have been legendary in their support as we bumble along trying to fit our mass of gear for a year in our lovely Nika. The comms are not quite set up yet so we are unable to skype or use our sat phone but soon we will be in the high tech boat world!! Grandad Pirate Pete arrives on the weekend and estimated departure is around 7-8 September. Until next time, Dovajena (goodbye in Croatian)