How to Get Furniture on Hvar - Exploring Sucuraj on a Saturday
By Ivana 27 July 2015
I like re-using things, recycling, upcycling, giving things a second chance, taking something old and turning it into something beautiful and useful. And it goes far beyond those being-on-a-budget reasons. Using what is already there makes it not necessary to produce more and more, which is good for the planet. And it gets me a chance to be creative and crafty, which I love.
We are currently (and currently means for the last 4 years) doing some changes to our home including painting walls and furnishing and when I found the perfect pair of chairs for our living room on the Njuskalo website (an online space for selling and buying stuff not needed anymore) I was more than thrilled to hear that a delivery from Zagreb to Sucuraj is possible on Saturday.
The chair owner claimed to be there at 11 am so we could pick up the chairs there. Interestingly, I was not thinking about the high season we are currently running, about the amount of cars, that will be on both sides waiting in endless lines for the ferry. Not once I thought about that. It just did not crossed my mind. He said 11 am in Drvenik, so we left Jelsa at 10 am.
The road to Sucuraj is well known to be very narrow and dangerous, but honestly apart from some short parts right before Sucuraj, the road is in a great shape. With a completely new part from Jelsa up to Poljica and other parts which were renovated, I was surprised how good it was, compared to 4 years ago, when I was driving it the last time. We arrived in Sucuraj shortly after 11 am. I was prepared for some waiting and took our bathing stuff with us, but first, we wanted something to eat.
I was in Sucuraj many times before, but it was always just for the purpose of leaving the island by ferry to Drvenik, so it was the first time I got the chance to walk through the city and get to know the place little bit. We got lucky as my friend Monika was on duty at the local health centre. A quite Saturday with no patients made it possible to have a drink and catch up. Monika is a charming company and judging by the response of the locals when we entered the restaurant, she is much appreciated by the local community.
This young paediatrician travels from Vrisnik to Sucuraj every day to work as a general practitioner as there are no other jobs available on the island for her specialization (there is one paediatrician for the whole island - in Hvar town and there will be no other positions opened in the near future).
After a quick lunch, Monika showed us the way for the Česminica beach and returned to work. We managed to find it easily and after a swim in the warm sea (and it is as warm as in Jelsa these days), we headed back to the ferry port to see our chairs arriving.
We watched ferries come and go, but our chairs were nowhere in sight. Even the army boat arrived to fill the water reservoir to help with the current difficulties in water supplies in Sucuraj, but after a quick phone call with our chair-guy, I got the impression, that we will be waiting in Sucuraj for many more hours.
I talked to some tourists asking how long are they waiting in the line. They told me, that after those 3,5 hours, they will probably never ever come to the island again. Understandably, having to drive home for several hours and travelling with small children, it is not the best start when you have to wait in the sun for 3 or more hours. There are 2 ferries currently transferring people and those 30 cars that can fit in.
Ferries are going round the clock, no breaks, squeezing in as much cars as possible, those Jadrolinija guys are doing their job with much understanding and patience towards the tourists. But the port on both sides is a small one and I assume a bigger ferry would not be of any use here and given the price of the ferry which is much lower than the one from Split to Stari Grad, many people decide to enter the island this way. The Saturday morning is probably the worst possible day in the Sucuraj-Drvenik area, so if you are thinking about taking that ferry, try to do it on any other day instead.
It was hot and it was almost 3 pm, when we decided we could jump on the ferry to Drvenik to kill some time. At least my 4 year old will have fun on the ferry and it only takes 30 minutes to the other side, so off we went. It was a strange feeling, leaving the island like this and I was thinking about how far will I go for those chairs as this was becoming little bit off my usual patterns. But there we were, on the ferry and very soon in Drvenik on the mainland.
I tried to call our chair-guy, but there was no answer to all those 15 calls I did. And it was that moment, when I hit the bottom and gave up. He was not answering, the ferry was leaving soon and I could not drag my 4 year old in this sun for much longer. I decided to get back to the ferry and drive home, leaving the chairs behind and forget all about them.
The moment I turned around to go back I saw a white truck parked in the line for the ferry. A man just opened the door of the truck and I could see there is something familiar inside. Our chairs!! I could not believe that, but it was actually him and I managed to convince him to carry those chairs to the ferry for me, paid quickly and off we were sailing back to Sucuraj with our beautiful chairs.
I was so happy to have the chairs, but at the same time, I was alone with a 4 year old with 2 chairs weighing 20 kg each to be carried out of the ferry once we arrive. Fortunately all those years of carrying my child made my arms really strong and I was able to lift the chair, my 4 year old was carrying the oversized pillow and we managed to get out of the ferry.
The chairs magically fitted in our small car and we were back in Jelsa around 17:30. I had some strength left, so I carried them up to the 3rd floor and after a shower, we both sat very comfortably in our beautiful new chairs.
To my surprise, I discovered that those chairs are from the U.S. made by a fine upholstery company names Drexler Heritage, so we are happy to provide a new home for them. I love them.
