Painting the Town

Before I came to live in Makarska, I had only passed through the town to get to the main bus station or come to buy things I couldn’t get in Tucepi. I have now discovered that the beach here is stunning - bigger than Tucepi, a beautiful smile of golden stones. Photos of these beaches trick you into thinking that the sand is, but it isn’t – if you know what I mean. It is actually small stones, quite hard on the feet and not very comfortable to lie on. The stones on Makarska are not as sharp as the Tucepi stones where rubber shoes are required for swimming (unless you are a Kiwi, in which case be damned if you are going to wear shoes into the water, no matter how much it hurts). Shops do a roaring trade in reef shoes and rubber mats for lying on – lying on a sarong seriously doesn’t work - [mental note to buy a beach towel].

When we lived in the Far North town of Mangonui I remember the local café owner rubbing his hands together with glee r as he watched the holiday cars arriving on 26 December . Seeing dollar signs on their foreheads, he explained that for business owners up there, there are 8 weeks to rake in as much income as possible - a small window. And I guess it’s the same here, only the window is bigger – 3 months, starting on Easter weekend.
The digger has delivered a few loads of ‘sand’ to replace that which the winter storms have raked back into the sea¸ the cafes on the beach are being re-paved, doors and windows are being painted. Tourism is The Thing. Families relocate into temporary accommodation and rent out their apartments to the wave of European tourists. Croatians from overseas (Australia!) arrive to rent out apartments built on family land which have been locked up over the winter.

Things must work well for the community though. Mercedes and BMWs are common, latest model VWs and Audis are everywhere. Mind you, the main road through town is one way, so maybe I’m seeing the same cars again and again. They drive past the cafes looking out to see who is there, tooting and calling out (texting, talking on the phone), stopping when and where they see someone to talk to.
And I sit with my coffee, making it last for ages, evesdropping (purely for educational purposes), watching and taking it all in.

PS Saw this sign today - couldn’t resist photographing it - only barely resisted going in to check it out. Unless you really want me to ..