Dubrovnik, Croatia

Growing up with Bosnia regularly on the news, I'd never expected to actually go there one day...

4th September - 6th September

For our last few days in Croatia we wanted to visit Dubrovnik and give ourselves plenty of time to catch the ferry. We drove along the coast through Bosnia - which involved waving our passports at the border - but only to go into Bosnia, not to get back into Croatia. We left as quickly as we had entered.

We drove a long way along the coast and passed high along the coastal road above Dubrovnik, with spectacular views of the ancient city.

Holes from a very big gun

The camp site we chose was set back from the sea and was dominated by a war torn derelict hotel. It was shocking to think about what had gone on in the area such a short time ago that such scars were still visible.

We found a little harbour and walked along the coast around the town that was littered with half standing buildings. What we realised when we caught the ferry to Dubrovnik the next day was that the town we were staying in had been a military stronghold.

The sea was extremely rough - with a storm brewing in the Adriatic. The trip took about half an hour but well worth it.

Views over Dubrovnik's old town

We spent the very hot day initially getting lost amongst the crowded streets.We stumbled across the Ontofrio fountains and found a cathedral adjacent with the most beautiful wall decorations and ceilings. After this we followed the sound of some street music beingplayed on bottles outside the Rector's Palace.
 

 Surprisingly catchy music

We ate our pack up lunch and then went inside where we bought a double ticket for about 10 Euros that gave us entry to the Nautical museum and the Rector's Palace. Paul was told off for holding his camera near an artefact ("no photos") but this did not stop him - he wanted a picture!

The old town was hit hundreds of times during the fighting

By about 2pm we were parched so stopped for a pint of beer each and then set about climbing the city walls. It was baking hot and we were glad we had stopped for the drink beforehand. We had about an hour until the ferry so headed back to the harbour and got the boat back to Mlini port.

Our final night in Croatia was memorable due to high winds and rain. Many people who were in tents opted to sleep in the toilet blocks and large branches were on the ground around us and other vans - fortunately there was no damage.

We had to leave early for our ferry. In fact we left so early that we arrived at the ferry port where the attendants tried to put us on an earlier boat headed for Rijeka despite our protests.

One of the many photos of the coastline taken as we left Croatia

Eventually our boat arrived - the one to Bari! It was an absolute free for all - despite loading of a ferry being a regular occurence no-one seemed to have any controlof the vehicles even though we had all sat in line for three hours. Coaches, lorries and cars ( plus two campervans) were all trying to get on to the boat first! What made it funnier was that we were surrounded by many Italian cars, whose drivers all seemed to know best about being at the front of the queue but couldn't quite manage to get themselves in or out of a space.

Eventually, we made it on to the boat, we then had to get up the stairs. There were two flights of stairs but a coach of ambulant disabled people were being lifted up both of them very slowly and carefully by hand which further hampered the efforts of all to park as the whhelchairs had all been abandoned in the parking bays!

It felt as if we'd taken a step back in time - particularly when it emerged that the toilets on the ship were totally disgusting and not fit for animal use nor that there was enough chairs on the ship for the number of passengers.

Fortunately, we bumped into an English speaking couple who saved us from some of the monotony of the journey. They, like us, managed to inconvenience a whole boat load of people by not getting to their vehicle in time for disembarking at Bari! The horn noises were amazing!

Oh well - sometimes there is a small sense of accomplishment derived from causing the most impatient of people to wait a little longer than they would have normally. We'd probably piss them off again given the chance, if only we hadn't agreed never to use Jadrolinija ferries ever again...

Kamp Boban, Croatia

1st September-3rd September

We drove along the coast along the Makarska Riviera, stopping occasionally to take pictures of the spectacular coastline.
There was a little campsite tucked in on the edge of the sea, with an elevated pitch that meant we got the sea breeze, a bit of shade from the pine trees and were right next to crystal blue waters if we fancied a swim.

Looking out to sea, with view of islands, by the bright moonlight

As we arrived at about 4pm we had a few hours on the beach and a drink at the campsite bar whilst watching the sun go down. We had a BBQ and a small fight with the mosquitos - luckily we came off better having invested in every preventative method and killer we could find - no more sleepless nights trying to find the critter that got us both!

The van next to the sea by night

The next day we went for a walk along the coast to find a flat beach so I could get some tanning done. Mid sentence with Paul - we stumbled upon a nudist beach - I was not prepared for this, coming from a family who throughout the years have travelled fully clothed to a very cold English beach or two! Nonetheless, there was also a family there that were clothed so we put our towels down and made the best of it - I think I spent most of the day in the sea on my lilo and Paul spent his time face down in the sea with his snorkel on.

 Suzy's best night picture so far

We returned to the beach that evening to take some night pictures of the moon and the starts and to finish off a rather nice bottle of Croatian beer!

Trogir, Croatia

 

In the cathedral bell-tower, Paul climbed to the top, Suzy (centred) wussed-out.

29th-31st August

From Camp Dalmatia we travelled on along the coast towards Zadar. We looked for somewhere close by so that we could cycle to Zadar but could not find the small type of site we were after so we stopped to get supplies and purchased an electric oven so we could cook outside more often without the need to use the BBQ.
By the time we had finished shopping and looking for a place to park the van to visit the city it was nearly three pm. We thought we should press on to find a place to stay for the night. We voyaged on past several beautiful towns, with the road taking us inland slightly where we found lots of road side grills with pigs on spit roasts - we have marked this as a place to stop for an evening meal!

The bell tower and town hall clock by the central square in Trogir.

Woken by another thunderstorm and high winds we stayed in and waited for the rain to pass.. well it is Sunday after all.We set about organising our next few weeks of route through southern Italy, and sadly I lost another game of scrabble - beaten by the word 'amorality'. I mean - who swallowed the dictionary!

Fortunately, by the afternoon the sun was out in full force so we embarked upon a walk along the promenade - only about an hour there and back as we had to turn around when we found the nearest naturist beach - mmm a bit of a site for sore eyes and warranted a strong drink when we returned.

I think with this project I will have my work cut out! 

On Monday we caught the 9am water taxi to Trogir. A medieval town with a beautiful marina and very expensive yachts from Jersey, Cayman Islands and other such rich seaward places.
We toured around the outside of the town scouting for a cheap restaurant. I went to the town museum - which was three little rooms with the cathedral art works hung and surveyed under CCTV. ( 10kn entry was pointless if you are not into 14th century art) Stumbling upon the local market we tried the famous burek pastries - one with cheese and ham in it - very filling and one was big enough for the two of us.


The market was well worth a tour given the large amount of local produce and the usual tacky souvenirs. We were getting a little tired and needed a sit down so found a bar and had a beer.
We some how then found our way back to a restaurant called The End. We had a large fish platter dinner - very expensive - very good - should have been a lot less really, but we pushed the boat out and went full hog with an Irish coffee for dessert. We managed to then stagger with very full bellies back to the boat to make our way home.

The large sea food platter we ordered with some killer prawns

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.