by H P Steven
“Brilliant,” I laughed.
“Hey guys, so are we coming back here tonight?” Cam asked.
“Yeah bro, I think so,” Devin added.
“Um, hang on Cam,” I replied.
Walking over to the menu on the door. Seeing they opened at five and the food looked really good. I then walked over and had a look through the window at the bar.
“Yeah man, looks like this could be the place,” I announced.
“Ah cool and it’s not too far from the port and a little stroll back to the strip of bars awesome work,” Cam insisted.
“So do you guys want to walk around a bit then maybe find something for lunch?” I asked.
“Yeah sounds good to me,” Devin said.
“Any ideas?” Cam asked Anna.
“Um, there’s a really good pizza place by the fish market,” Anna suggested.
“Oh yeah, we tried that place when we first got here, aye Phil,” Susan remarked.
“Yeah, before we stopped at the ATM,” Hannah added, giggling at Susan.
Who now can’t take the smile off her face. Making Anna feel uncomfortable.
“Um, there must be a cafe along the port somewhere they did have a gelato stall,” I replied taking no notice of Susan and Hannah.
“Ah we’ll find somewhere, still plenty of time,” Cam said.
“So how’d you find your trip?” I asked Anna.
“Oh really good and relaxing not looking forward to work on Monday,” Anna whispered.
“I think we get back to London on Wednesday, looking forward to checking out Plitvice been hearing heaps about it,” I replied.
“When do you guys head up that way?” Anna asked.
“Um tomorrow, late morning, once we’ve got the hire car and packed up,” I replied. “What time do you need to be at the airport? You can jump in the cab with Devin and I if you like. We have to pick up the car from there.”
“Oh that’ll be cool, thanks. I’ll check and get back to you later,” Anna replied.
“Yeah, to easy,” I whispered back.
“How’s it having your suitcases, finally?” Anna asked.
“Um, good in a way. But it kind of made the trip a little more exciting, having travel insurance and being sorted. So we knew what we could spend made it really good. I don’t even think I’ll claim it back when I’m in London. I’ve had so much fun,” I replied.
“Not too much fun I hope,” Anna commented. Both of us smiling as we turned a corner and came across a café.
“Hey guys there’s a cafe over there, should we stop for a coffee and something to eat?” Cam asked.
“Yeah man sounds good,” Devin added walking over to where Cam had been pointing. Sitting down outside, I got up and asked the waiter if we could join two tables together and he helped me to do it.
“Ah that’s better guys,” I announced. As we all sat down around the joined tables. Ordered some coffees and sat there relaxing as they were bought them over to the table for us.
Lifting up my flat white and toasting, to our last night with everyone. “This trip has been awesome,” I insisted.
“Yeah bro, last night let’s get amongst it!” Devin yelled.
Susan and Hannah just laughed.
“To watching Devin get dragged back to the boat early and me being in bed by eleven,” Cam joked. We all sat there laughing amongst ourselves.
“Someone has to hold up our side of the boat tonight,” I commented.
Anna leaned over, and smiled and whispered in my ear, “And you think that’ll be you?”
“Maybe I’ll have to see how I feel,” I replied just as a few people from other boats saw us and walked over to say hello. I got up to shook their hands and told them what our plans were for the night.
“Yeah guys and girls, on the other side of the port there is a beach and next to that beach is a long line of bars. We will be ending up there to get our dance on, so wear your dance battle shoes that are comfortable. Cause, it might get real.”
“Sounds good Phil, we’ll see you later tonight.” They all agreed walking away to find another place to have something to eat.
“Oh man, why didn’t they try and join us?” Hannah asked.
“Um, actually I’m not too sure,” I replied.
“Anyway, where do you want to go for lunch?” I asked.
“Man anywhere will be fine,” Devin yawned.
“Yeah nothing to big,” Cam suggested.
Susan declared, “I could go a filled roll, I think there’s a small bakery just over there.”
“That sounds good,” Hannah and Anna agreed.
“Cool, lunch sorted,” Devin and Cam replied. I was trying to find the words but they weren’t coming. To maybe go for a walk with Anna. The fact she was getting along with everyone and having a good time meant a little bit more. I was too busy trying not to look at Susan and Hannah who were keeping a pretty close eye on me.
“Cut it out Susan,” I whispered.
“You cut it out.” Susan laughed. Her laugh wasn’t lost on Hannah who tried to hold back a smile.
“So what’s the go for this afternoon?” Cam added.
“Play it by ear I reckon,” Devin replied.
“Nah got a plan man, all sorted,” I declared.
“Thought you would bro, but thought I’d say something,” Cam remarked.
“Oh what have you got planned for this arvo?” Anna asked.
“Well.” I smiled. “I reckon we should go and check out the beach, maybe see who we can find and have a quiet drink,” I responded. Leaning in so only Anna could hear me. “Maybe try and ditch these guys and go for a walk,” I whispered.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Anna answered. Hannah and Susan eyed me suspiciously.
“Hey, does anyone want another coffee while we’re here?” I asked.
Cam got up and walked over to order everyone another coffee, “Yeah bro, I’ll get it.”
“Same again?” he added.
“Yeah man sounds good,” Devin agreed. The rest of us gave him a thumbs up.
“Oh man, this is the life,” Devin insisted.
“Yeah man, doesn’t get much better,” Cam agreed walking back over and taking a seat.
“Oh man, I’m pretty comfortable here aye,” I replied. “Do they do meals here?” I asked the table.
“Actually, I think they do,” Hannah said.
“Should we get something to eat here?” Susan asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Cam replied. Not really wanting to get up and walk to find a place. By this stage we were all pretty comfortable.
“I’ll go try and get some menus?” I suggested getting up I walked over to talk to the waiter. Who handed me a few menus and I took them back to the table. “Alright sorted, I’ve ordered a couple bottles of wine already a red and a white,” I announced to the table.
“Oh nice, let’s get something small to eat then drink up and head to the beach to lie in the sun,” Hannah added.
“Sounds good Hannah,” I agreed.
“Did you have a feeling we’d do this anyway Phil?” Cam asked.
“No I didn’t,” I smiled back winking. The meals looked so good and tasted even better, we ate and drank and laughed. By the time we got done, we had a couple extra bottles of wine and the beach was calling out our names.
We ended up giving a massive tip, as we tried to get rid of some of the Kuna we were still carrying around. Still having enough to have a great time that night. We decided to head back to our boats to grab our towels.
“Hey man, we’ll meet you over there,” Cam suggested.
“Yeah mate, I’m just gonna wait for Anna and we’ll be right over,” I replied.
“No rush bro,” Devin added.
“Ha, I’ll be there just after you guys, won’t be taking the long way over,” I joked seeing the looks from Susan and Hannah. Just as the crew headed off around the corner, I walked over to a bench and grabbed a seat.
A few mome
nts later joined by Anna.
“I think we should talk later,” Anna remarked.
“Yeah, that’ll be great,” I agreed.
“Cool, should we head over?”
“Yip, lets hit it,” I replied smiling offering my hand to help Anna up from the bench
“Thanks.” As she then looked at me smiling and it happened again. I quickly look for Hannah, then remember she’s already at the beach. “We still need to talk later,” Anna added.
“Let’s just enjoy the day,” I replied smiling. As we wandered over to the beach. We were joined by a few people from Anna’s boat that I hadn’t met, and a few others I’d met on the trip from a couple other boats.
“Hey Anna, there’s Cam and Susan over there,” I pointed out.
“Hey are you guys keen to join us,” I added.
“Nah Phil, that’s our group just over there, come over and say hi at some stage,” one of the people off Anna’s boat suggested.
“Hey Anna our boats just a little bit further away, if you want to join us.”
“I’ll try and get down there in a while,” Anna replied grabbing my hand and leading us off down to the Cam and Susan. Just then I saw Hannah and Devin up at the bar and let go of Anna’s hand to signal them that we’d like a drink as well.
“Hey guys, nice work on the seats,” I declared. Walking up to Cam and Susan.
“Yeah bro, we got here before most of these other people and got in first,” Cam bragged.
“Did you guys want a drink, Devin and Hannah are just at the bar?” Cam added.
“Yeah man signalled them already, so we’re all sorted,” I replied.
“All right then take a seat and kick back guys,” Cam suggested.
The afternoon seemed to last forever. We just clowned around and had a great time laughing and having a few quiet drinks. I went and had a word to one of the groups and filled them in on where we would be that night and Anna introduced me to the people from her boat.
By the time we had checked what time it was, it was getting close to 4:30pm and we had to go back and meet everyone at the boat.
“Hey guys, we need to head back,” I explained.
“What time is it?” Devin asked.
“Getting close to 4:30 bro,” I replied.
“Oh crap really,” Cam responded.
“Yeah man, what’s up?” I asked
“Oh was keen to have a shower before heading out tonight,” Cam answered.
“And set your rollers for an hour and get the nice shine in the perm going,” Hannah joked making us all laugh again.
“All right let’s go back,” Susan declared.
Making sure we had everything as we all trekked back to our boat, with Anna heading off to hers to get ready for tonight.
“Nice work Phil, so you invited Anna out?” Hannah asked.
As I saw Anna stepping back on to her boat.
“Um, I thought you had?” I shrugged.
“You’re an idiot,” Hannah laughed.
“Anyway looks like there’s a few here, getting ready for tonight,” I remarked.
“Yeah bro, everyone’s keen for a Phil night,” Devin declared.
“So no pressure.” Susan laughed.
“Anyway hurry up let’s get on board, Cam you have thirty minutes if you want to have a shower,” I suggested.
“Nah bro all good, had a swim today I’ll just get changed,” Cam announced.
We all thought he should have had a shower.
By the time I got everyone off the boat it’s just after 5pm. We were all sorted and ready for a great night.
“Hey guys and girls this way. I’ve found the perfect place followed by having a drink by the beach if you had a look today, you’ll know where we will be heading to tonight,” I announced.
“Cool Phil, can’t wait,” everyone replied smiling.
“Awesome, just got to wait for Anna,” I whispered to Hannah. We all headed over to the restaurant we found that morning, asked to be seated and the waiters offered us menus and water.
“This looks really good Phil,” a few of them declared.
“How’d you find this place Phil?” Mike asked.
“Asked one of the crew about where to go this morning bro. Just before breakfast, bit of local knowledge,” I laughed back.
“Ha, I thought there was something, I wondered how you knew about this place,” Susan commented, winking knowing full well it was Anna’s idea.
“Yeah it all seemed a little too easy bro,” Cam remarked.
“The best plans are always the easiest bro.” I laughed.
***
What a night. We had such a great time with these guys and girls, that after doing half a dozen Jager bombs with a few of them. Some of the crew from our boat turned up to have a few drinks and ask us how we liked the trip.
“Yeah bro, great trip man,” I declared. “Some fun nights and apart from the spew incident the trip was a blast,” I added.
Anna’s talking to everyone and having a great time and all we seem to be able to do, is just look and smile at each other. By this stage I remember she wanted to talk to me, but I brushed it off and go and buy some drinks for a few people with empty glasses.
“Thanks Phil, so what’s next for you?” they ask.
“Oh, back to London in four or five days. We’re heading up north for a few nights to check out a couple of national parks,” I replied.
“Where bouts in London you based man?” Mike asked.
“Ah, moving to Putney next week, moving in with Hannah,” I remarked.
“Hey did I hear my name?” Hannah questioned, turning around.
“Yeah I was just saying, I’m moving in with you next week,” I replied.
“Oh nice, I live down on Lower Richmond Road,” Mike added.
“Oh nice, I had my first beer when I got here, at The Dukes Head on Lower Richmond Road,” I commented.
“Oh cool, I’ll give you my number and we should catch up for a beer when your all sorted man,” Mike suggested.
“Sounds good man,” I added. I got up and go and talk to the girls he came on the trip with. “Hey ladies, haven’t really spoken to any of you much on this trip, how’d you find it?” I asked.
“Well you were probably sleeping when we were lazing around sun baking. It sounds like you had some huge nights though. Especially when we’d run into other boats and they find out we were on your boat.” Nat joked.
“Ha, awesome. We had a few big nights yeah, looking forward to getting back to London to sleep.” I laughed, with the three of them laughing at that too.
“Hey Simon,” I said, as one of the guys from Waikato walked over to us.
“What’s next for you guys, any trips planned?” I asked.
“Far out, I was gonna ask you the same thing. But next time try and save some girls for us.” Simon laughed.
“I’ll do my best,” I replied, laughing back. I headed off back to the bar to get another drink. I notice Cam waving for him and Susan, and mouth, grab us all another beer and get one for Anna, I handed it to her on the way over to Cam and Susan. “How are you guys going?” I asked.
“Good, getting a bit sleepy,” Cam said.
“So you need a Jager bomb bro.” I joked smiling.
“No, I don’t think we’ll make the bars bro, I think Hannah and Devin are starting to struggle as well,” Cam added.
“You’ll have to go and make an appearance,” Susan smiled.
“Yeah I told a few people, we’ve run into I’ll be there. Should go and lay down the moves.” I joked just as Anna joined us.
“Thanks for the drink, it sounds like most of these guys are going back to the boat. Are you still going to the bars?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think Mike’s still keen and one of the crews gonna drive us over so I think after telling everyone I’ll be there. I think I should go, for at least a bit,” I replied before leaning in and whispering to Anna, “I’d still like to talk to you,” I whispered
, smiling.
Still leaning in, Anna whispered. “Yeah, I’m still wanting to talk to you too.”
“I can’t wait,” I replied getting up and talking to the Mike and then the crew member.
“Hey he’ll take us now if we wanted?” He asked us.
Heading back over to Anna, Cam and Susan. I told them we are gonna head to the bars and see everyone else before adding.
“Night guys, see you in the morning.”
“What time is Devin picking up the car, actually where is Devin?” I asked.
“Dude, they left a while ago,” Cam said.
“Ha, he did well, it’s nearly ten.” I joked as Mike and the crew man walked over. “Anna, so are you ready to go?” I asked.
“Yeah, tonight’s been fun, lets head off,” Anna replied.
“See you guys later,” I said as Cam and Susan who were getting ready to head back. Cam quickly popped over.
“I’m not sure if you know this bro, but Susan always feels safe with you around, thanks for coming along,” Cam told me.
“Oh what really, how does that work? And wouldn’t have missed it bro” I asked.
“No idea, but she’s had a great time.” Cam shrugged as he shook my hand then walked over to where Susan was talking to Anna. “See you in the morning bro,” Cam and Susan announced as they walked back to the boat as Anna and I walked off to join the others.
Man, jumping into a tiny little hatch back, heading to the bars. Trying to remember if the crew man had anything to drink at all. Smiling as we were there in no time.
“Phil!” the cries of everyone I’d met on the trip, yelled out.
“Hey guys, what’s been happening?” I yelled back.
“Just been here, drinking and dancing waiting for you,” one of them remarked.
“Oh man, thanks, I’m pretty tired so might not stay to long,” I replied.
Anna just leaned in and asked me if I wanted to have a drink.
“Yeah okay, I’ll get them,” I replied.
“No-no, you just hang out here with your fans,” Anna smiled.
“Hey man.” Some random guy walked up to me. “My names Dave I was on the same boat as Anna. You can’t be the Phil that everyone’s was talking about, are you?” Dave asked.
“Nah is not me man,” I replied just as his girlfriend walked over to us both.
