Tisno, Croatia

A sheltered spot among the olive and fig trees

26th August - 29th August

We drove along the coastal road stopping in Zadar for supplies and driving a long way as it was too hot to stop! We opted not to trek around the town centre as I had picked up some silly cold (in the middle of August!) and we wanted to press on to find somewhere to stay for the night. We headed towards the island of Murter, crossing the sea at Tisno. We had decided we wouldn't settle for any old space unless it was literally by the sea. Having got a little lost and squeezing through the back streets of a pretty marina town called Bettina we then decided to find a site back in the town of Tisno. As usual our timing was wrong and the bridge which only opens twice a day was fully open for half an hour trapping us on Murter! We had time to sit and look at the signs reading that there was a camp site just on the other side of the sea, so we headed for it. We chose an elevated pitch with a view across towards the island. On our site was a little, fairly quiet restaurant, where one night a week there was a very talented acoustic guitarist who played well into the night - very relaxing and perfect to have a drink, listen to the music and watch the sun go down. Fortunately, before too much wine had been consumed I had a chance to win another game of scrabble - all those novels I've been reading are paying off! (it's still 4-2, keep trying Suz, PG).

Paul showing off - he won at travel scrabble again!

Tribanj, Croatia

22nd August - 25th August

We left Plitvic after a chilly night and chose a different route back down to the coast to what we had taken from Senj, heading for Karlobag. We drove up high to start with, through a very rural area where some of the villages had been abandoned and there were many road side graves and memorials. We stopped for an early lunch at one of the high spots adjacent to a fire look out tower and then pressed on towards the coast.

Inland Croatia - on the road from Plitvicka to Karlobag

On our way we came upon a smoke filled sky with black and grey plumes that stretched for at least 2km alongside the motorway, we were unsure but it definitely looked like a wildfire. We drove alongside and decided to step on it getting into Velebit National Park before we knew it. We rounded a corner and went through a tunnel and found ourselves at the top of the world (we had climbed the hills for ages though) with a view out towards more islands and along the coast. It was spectacular and we spent the journey down to the sea stopping off at several viewpoints to take it all in.

Amazing view of Croatian Islands

One for the family

Our Lego Storm Trooper mascot (which we found down the back of a chair when we bought the van) saw us through despite the engine getting to over 100 deg C and boiling the radiator water all over the road during one hill-climb pit stop. The Force is obviously strong with this one, at least so far. Aaron - that photo's for you.

Van mascot showing his dark side, by force.

The town of Karlobag was picturesque with obvious war damage such as the half demolished church that was still being used. We trundled along the coast yet further and found an Auto camp - in principle someone's back yard that has been converted for camping. The site was small with only about 15 spaces. Luckily, there was one just right for us and we squeezed in.

We stayed for several nights as the site was so quiet and everybody was so friendly. The toilets were clean and well kept, one shower with no queuing necessary and right on the sea edge - beautiful! Sorry, but there were several more wonderful sunsets and a moon set which I for one had never really seen.

Fire-plane swoops down for water near our camping spot

On one of the days we were quite surprised to see two planes come over the mountains behind us, swoop in to the sea and take on water - they did this about five times... we think this may have been related to the fires that we had passed but we are not sure.

Plitvic Jezera, Croatia

Plitvicka Jezera: 

the colour of the water was an unbeliveable blue/green & extremely clear.

21st August

We got up at 7am to buy tickets to catch the campsite bus into the park to arrive at entrance number two. We managed to get there luckily getting a seat on the over-subscribed service. The drop off was by the road with no indication of where the entrance was and we began to walk down a very steep incline to where we thought an entrance might be. Unfortunately, as we had no children tagging with us or elderly folk we found ourselves leading a convoy of people possibly the wrong way towards the lakes!

Some huge 'slaps' (which we think is Croatian for 'waterfalls')

As luck would have it we found the entrance, paid the £15 entrance fee ( to a UNESCO site!) and waited for the state style bus which comprised three old carriages, hooked up together and pulled by a giant tractor engine. It was standing room only and at times we could make out through the trees the blue and green lakes around us but nothing could prepare us for the number of waterfalls we saw that day. It was absolutely beautiful.
We chose the 4-6 hour walk which at time seemed hard to achieve given the number of people we had to negotiate on a very slim board walk that wound its way all around the park and down with the drops of the waterfall. The heat was really oppressive and it was extremely muggy. The waters were so clear - and you were not allowed to touch the water, let alone swim, something to do with a delicate chemical balance - although despite this several people were chancing their luck at getting caught.

Fish! So many fish... absolutely everywhere.

 You could make out the depth of the ponds yet still see huge shoals of trout and carp swimming around. Oddly, the only bird life in the park seemed to be ducks although the wildlife is supposed to be brimming - I think this may be something to do with an over zealous tourist board as they say that there are bears, wolves, owls, large birds of prey - well, we saw diddley squat except for the fish!
We would really like to visit this park again but perhaps when it is not so busy - or maybe when some sort of queuing system is devised for alighting the buses and boats used to traverse the park…believe me in August you have to fight for everything.

Rewards after a long, hot day.

Immediately after finishing the walk we splashed out on a Cornetto each and, of course, a beer for Paul. After waiting nearly two hours to catch a bus back to the camp site, as they were all so full, we headed back to the camp for a drink and a rest - we were exhausted but had had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Campsite Korana, Croatia

20th August
We left the site at 10am after being blocked in over night by another Motorhome. Several hours later we left the supermarket - we had only stopped for bread and water! We began our climb up the hills to see the Plitvic Lakes - at a steady trot, constantly pulling over to let faster vehicles pass. The scenery was stunning and as we got higher in the hills we could see the islands out to sea beyond Krk. Along the way we drove past lots of stalls selling local oils and honey, cheeses and breads, and then the terrain flattened out to a plateau where it was stiflingly hot. Lots of the road signs warned about fires and several others indicated minefields and areas of no-man's land. We pressed on and found a camp site in the National Park - it was 15km from the entrance so we opted to travel closer and find the second state run camp. We scoped the entrance and had difficulty checking in. Firstly, we had parked up and gone to the reception on foot and the rather abrupt attendant told us we needed to be in our vehicle. To our dismay 10 other vehicles pushed in front of us and it took another thirty minutes to hand in our documents and establish the cost for one night. Eventually, we found a pitch having driven around the extensive site. We were parked up in the woods when a cat that was far too keen on eating our dinners appeared from under our van, made me jump! We ate a delicious BBQ of marinated pork (which was the first meat we had bought in a while). We had struggled to ask for it in Croatian at the deli counter that morning. The cat paid us another visit in the morning for breakfast and brought along a little companion who was extremely cute!

Slovenia to Kraljevica, Croatia

9th August

We decided not to go to Zagreb as we were advised there was nowhere to park. Instead we found a campsite near to Rijeka - we had no Kuna and tried to cycle to the nearest town, however the roads were far too busy - even the hills were too steep for Paul.
We gave up and decided to pay in Euro's the next day.

Senj, Croatia

14th August - 18th August

We drove along the coast stopping at several sites - none of which we were willing to pay for. Eventually we stumbled upon a site at Senj. It was mainly for motorhomes and was right next to the sea wall.

We bedded up for the first night on a space towards the rear of the site and were woken at 4am by a whole load of shouting - it turned out to be the Italians telling one another it was windy and that they needed to put their awnings away, even at 4am they can't talk quietly!

After we had recovered from such an early rise there was a thunderstorm preventing us from going back sleep - luckily we were awake enough to hear people leaving and managed to grab a spot right at the front with spectacular views of Krk island and the sunset.

We had two nights of bbq's - one that was nearly wiped out by the sea and another that was nearly blown out by the wind and we decided on the third night to treat ourselves to a dinner at the local grill.

Paul had scampi - which was a huge tub of large prawns with bread, Suz had calamari and fries - delicious. We retired to the van for a glass of lemoncello and to watch the locals strut their stuff along the sea wall!

Kamp Bor, Krk Island

 

 

10th August - 13th August

We drove to the Island of Krk after finding fuel stop and cash point. We went to a Croatian supermarket - full of Italians (a sign of things to come) and queuing back through the aisles. We got a tourist brochure and found one of the listed campsites, parked up and waited an hour to be served. Eventually, they realised they were full and kindly told us. Shortly after we drove inland about 5 minutes and found another site on top of a hill that the van just about coped with. We chose a pitch that was relatively shaded and made friends with a Swiss family when they chased a snake around our van.

That evening there was a massive lightning storm (no pics this time). There were at least fifteen fork lightning strikes within less than a mile and the whole van was shaking. It was too bright to look out of the window! Eventually the electricity tripped out on the whole site.

The next day we walked down into town and treated ourselves to lunch before sleeping it off on the beach. Paul bought a snorkel and I have not seen him since. We headed back for a quick supper before climbing a stone circle on site to watch the stars and a meteor shower.

We stayed on the hill for three nights and moved onto mainland and found a few overpriced campsites on the sea. Unfortunately it's silly season and the Italians seem happy to pay through the nose for squalor - we had to be somewhere in August.

Redipuglia, Italy to Skocjan, Slovenia

3rd August - 4th August
Redipuglia

Found a campsite in a national park at the top of a hill on the border with Slovenia. It had a free washing machine.
WASHING DAY! We managed 8 or 9 loads in 36 hours using the Italian rural campsite's free washing machine.

5th August
Italy into Slovenia.

 

As we left the campsite we came upon a bridge we could not get under and several signs which suggested the road we needed was closed - we chanced it any way only to be met by a mad woman that took it upon herself to try and make us drive under another low bridge.We put her straight and carried on driving along along the border towards Trieste.

We bought a vignette in a service station and a map for good measure. Then before we knew it we were over into Slovenia at this point TOMTOM decided to stop helping. Somehow, we found the only marked campsite in the area that was adjacent to a river and was a typical meadow. We had a field practically to ourselves for some 'back to basics' camping.


PG

Lignano Beach, Italy

Saturday 1st August - 3rd August

Had a few days at the beach.... camera had some time off too. Parked on a free site so could afford to eat and drink out..
Maybe has something to do with just the single picture?

Venice Day Trip

 

 

30th July

We got a 10am ferry across the water to Venice. We were quite unprepared for how busy it was. Absolutely heaving but well worth the trip and definitely a place to visit again when it is not 40 degrees in the shade – we were struggling to walk but managed to see the sights, cross lots of bridges and see loads of gondolas.

By about 4pm we had suffered enough from heat exhaustion and headed back home.

We will have to go again when it's cooler.

Outskirts of Venice

28th July-29th July

We moved at 7am to another site suitable for Motorhomes to stay over and headed to the beach for the day. As the site was relatively busy – had a lot of trees for shade and there were several other campers we decided to stay for a few days, figure out the ferry times and take a day trip to Venice.

Wild camp spot near Cavalino-Treporti - across the water from Venice, Italy

We didn't think it'd make 100,000km, being 19yrs old and all.

Monday 27^th July

 

We went to Verona to see Juliette's House, climbed the hill to see the Roman Theatre and then paid to go into the Roman Amphitheatre - it is now used for music concerts and was ruined sadly by tacky Egyptian stage props and seating - having said that Verona was a pretty town to visit again.

We sset off about 4pm on our way to Venice for the evening to find a campsite. On the way we watched the sunset - didn't find a campsite but topped the 100,000 km on our odometre, and found a busy spot to stay the night near the ferry port.

Verona, Italy

Sunday 26^th July

Travelled from Lake Garda to Verona staying at a stellplatz just outside the town centre.

Lake Garda, Italy

Saturday 25^th July

Lake Garda - totally inaccessable to motorhome owners - stayed one night - tip: stick to the North of the lake it is very picturesque.

Watched a night time rowing competition and went on a walk around Pescharia late at night.

Lake Calderno, Italy

Wednesday 22^nd July

 

We spent the morning in Innsbruck, the city was glorious and we climbed up the tallest tower to get a quick view before setting off on the motorway to cross the Alps. About an hour later we had to stop at a service station as the van was overheating, and we had a mysterious leak from the engine.

An hour later we were in Italy at a stellplatz ideally located but as we are becoming accustomed too, well overpriced for a car park. It suited us for the night.

Thursday 23^rd July

 

We headed through the vineyards of Northern Italy to a lake called Calderno, in the hills but easier to access. We decided to stay for two nights as the scenery was beautiful and the lake was stunning. When we returned to our van in the evening we stumbled across the Trans-Alp Mountain Bike Race who happened to be staying at the same resort. We got talking to several guys, one of whom was from Slovenia and another not far from New York. They told us all about the race, where it was going and what to expect from Italian stellplatz sites, inferring that Germany was far more reliable.

Friday 24^th July

We got up at a reasonable hour after a midnight thunderstorm and an early start by the racing teams, and headed for the lake, which was completely monopolised by hotels and businesses only willing to charge for access.

Innsbruck, Austria

Tuesday 21^st July - Innsbruck

We woke up at a reasonable time and decided it wad time to head back down the mountain. We needed to find a campsite and get on with some washing as running out of clothes. After much to-ing and fro-ing around a town where they had closed all the stellplatz we found a campsite. It was so hot and we needed to take on water so we stopped at a campsite on the outskirts of Innsbruck – unfortunately it was extremely expensive – 35 Euros a night! Our most expensive campsite yet.

We made good use of the facilities and got an early night ready to visit Innsbruck town centre the following day.

Silvretta Alpine Road, Austria

Sunday 19th July - Silvetta Alpine Road

Weather was awful so thought we would head on and see if we could find some sunshine, we headed to Fredriechshafen. It was so cold we put the heater on in the van and found ourselves intoxicated by the smell of what we thought was fumes from a factory.

Unfortunately, as it transpired, we had a little engine trouble (diesel everywhere) and so made a stop when we came across a road block. Using a bit of patch it up now, sort it out later, we got the beast back on the road again.

There was a summer festival taking place and many roads were closed, also the campsites were all full. We tried a site at Lindau, further around the Lake which was also full so changing our plans we bought a vignette for the roads and crossed the border into Austria.

At a motorway services we were looking through the maps and reconsidering our route when a friendly maintenance man offered us his advice for a beautiful trip through the Alps. We took his directions, unsure of what would lie ahead.

It all started well – a route along a valley at the foot of the Alps, with the ski resorts either side of us and lush green fields. Then it got out of hand – as we entered the National Park we realised we were upon the Silvetta Alpine Highway. A toll road, that took us 2000m high into the mountains up some extremely treacherous roads.

All that can be said is that eventually the van made it. Paul and I were scared ****less however by our predicament.

Monday 20^th July – Silvetta Apline Road

We stayed the night in the mountains – the temperature dipped to 4 degrees and there was snow all around us. We woke up at 5am and took so many pictures, the scenery around us was spectacular. We went for a walk around the dam which was hard work given the altitude. Eventually we found our way back to the van, the snow had melted around us but the clouds were closing in. We settled in for the night with our hot chocolates.