This year I left the Australian winter early to camp out in the Mediterranean on the other side of the world in support of my boyfriend Stephen Pavlovic's For Festival, now in it's second year on the delicious island of Hvar. Some of my dearest friends came over to join me, effectively preventing me from lifting a finger. Or perhaps it is unfair to blame my work hinderances on laughter, fun, amazing music that kept me up all night dancing and all day lounging on a beach? But what is a girl to do when confronted with paradise, sunshine, sea, cocktails, seafood dinners and bands such as Haim, Klaxons, Neneh Cherry, Darkside, Mark Ronson, Erol Alkan, Erlend Oye, Tensnake etc? I chose the path of surrender.Or maybe it was more like tightly embracing my new found mantra: laugh, swim, dance, eat a lot and enter into tan wars.Repeat !

The most wonderful part of this festival is that it's ridiculously small at only 2000 people full capacity, making it , in truth, not very festivally at all (hallelujah). But what is really special is that it is spread over 3 incredible islands of Hvar, Jerolim and Stipanska with venues ranging from an old monastery to a cute beach and a posh island disco along with happenings such as chill beach parties, open air nighttime concerts and all night pump fist disco dancing extravaganzas in an intimate environment.

Finally... well it's freaking Hvar, the St Tropez of Croatia. It's luxe, it's beautiful and it's the Med- replete with sparkling blue waters, lobsters, pine trees, cobblestones and lavender everything. Bey and Jay felt the energy when they named their daughter Blue Ivy here .And I am but a mere mortal ! Here is the first part of my travel diary ...

 

 

Crazy deep blue waters and the moment I realized I could really get used to this boat lyf

 

 

Some organic island accruements

 

 

 

 

 

Mojito o'clock at Laganini

 

 

Haiming it up with Haim... awesome all sister band who actually rock and roll HARD. Talk about talent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erlend Oye playing his epic History of Music session, that culminated with the whole beach following him into the water during the last song .Akin to a religious experience, this man needs to start a love cult asap.

 

 

And the award for most laughs solicited goes to the Klaxons band! Come night they played an electric set where people swarmed the pool in front of the stage and girls took their clothes off. James Righton's beautiful wife Kiera Knightley watched the mayhem from the sidelines

Here is the first part of my swimsuit special shot on the beautiful island of Hvar in Croatia. I braved the yacht, the sunshine and the Med to bring you some of the best swimwear of ss13 ; )

Check out the first part of this post , now up on Vogue.com.au here!

I must admit, I'm quite spoilt when it comes to holidays. Having a holiday house in Croatia does not help - what use is it travelling to the other side of the world for 2 weeks? Jet leg would eat up all the fun! It's a blessing having a job in which I can get away with this sort of sublime indulgence and marry it with creativity (actually it totally rules!)

This summer I visited Croatia extra early as my boyfriend was putting on the For Festival on the island of Hvar.Blessed to have some of my dearest friends come over for it , I donned my awkward tour guide cap on and tried to show them the best of my little slice of Med. We danced , ate , swam and drank delicious wine then repeated until we entered into some sort of Dionysus inspired dream where everything was pure pleasure.

It was a pleasure too having my regular  photographer Alice Wesley-Smith on the trip as I pulled a bunch of swimwear to shoot for Vogue before I left Australia.  True, I had to coax her a few times to keep working  (it is pretty easy to get distracted under the delicious circumstances) but shoot we did and now I am editing 2 separate swimwear stories! In the picture above I am surveying the yacht  (and wishing it were mine!) while wearing a Macgraw suit , Zulu & Zephyr one piece swimsuit, Samantha Wills bracelets, Pink Lou Lou gold necklaces and Gucci hat. Keep a lookout for the stories on Vogue.com.au in the next month!

Snails stuck on sun bleached branches On the island of Jerolim, at the Carpe Diem club the best dancing was to be had under the pink trees. James Murphy and Too Many Djs played amazing Med inspired sets Days were spent eating and lounging, like at this gorgeous hippy homestead where food was delicious, the grass inviting, wine plentiful and dessert magically dissapearing Quiet little coves , as flat as a mirror and clear as glass beckoned This is the beautiful little town of Hvar with it's old old houses , set in a mellow late afternoon sepia light There is something about listening to great music from the comfort of a daybed...but even better listening to it while diving into the blue Did someone say luxuriating? My Maison Scotch chambray shirt , paired with Zulu & Zephyr bikini top and Tom Ford sunnies made me feel totally MedLux on a daytrip

 

Only a week of holidays left, friends have gone back and instead of installing some sort of sensible health routine into my life, I have decided to go to Italy and eat my weight in pasta, not to mention do a little "research" into the best gelati on offer in Venice .I will sacrifice myself for the greater good and keep you in the loop on this one ; ) ...