For Steve's Birthday we decided to hire some kind of motorised vehicle; a boat, mopeds, a submersible, something hopefully with a bit of speed. We found a place where you can rent buggies to hurtle around the island on, stopping off at a vineyard/execution site and a secluded beach. We asked if you required a driver’s license (bearing in mind half of it would be on the road) to which the teller replied, 'you don't need one... but it's better'. Richard asked if we were insured and the answer was, 'you won't break anything'. Lovely.

In the early afternoon a Croatian giant picked us up in his van and zoomed off to an unknown destination. The van's sliding door did not operate, leaving a massive great hole to fall out of and we could already tell what kind of day we were getting into.

At his house his wife joined and accompanied us. Now a convoy of buggies on the road, we sped off towards the hills.

The first stop was by an old sink hole in a vineyard where during the World Wars the Yugoslavian troops would dispose of enemy soldiers. From where we stood you could see a glimpse of Bosnia (the coastal border crossing) and Montenegro to the south. The grapes were delicious; being used for wine making they have a much higher sugar content and at the end of the growing season were ripe and juicy.

Onwards to the beach Richard and I were ahead, we pulled up after a lovely 50km/hr stretch and realised Sam and Steve were nowhere in sight. They came walking along 15 minutes later. When approaching the seafront (which you can easily drive into) their steering column sheared off and snapped; luckily they evaded the edge and didn’t end up in the drink. The giant drove back to town to find a mechanic whilst we frolicked in the ocean.

Here you can see repairs being made as the sun was dimming. Sam and Steve continued in the same vehicle; our hosts didn't even offer to swap to one of theirs!

Back at their crib we were presented with homemade wine and fig pancakes with liquor to follow. He showed us his hunting trophies that the family had collected in competitions and even had their TV mounted on a bear! It was definitely a memorable Birthday.