Croatia 2024 Full Diary

To view the current week click here

WEEK ONE: CORNWALL TO GERMANY

Day 1:  Thursday 14^th March 2024

At last!  We’re off!  We left around midday after packing the last bits and pieces in Colin.  The house looked immaculate when we left, and it will be a pleasure to come back to, but please, not for at least 3 months!

It was an awful day, with rain and wind all the way up to Bridport and our first overnight stop at Barn House CL.  Sited just off the main A35, it made for a very well-located, well-equipped site just half way to Brighton.  We were the only ones on site for quite a while but just before sun set another camper van turned up and parked immediately next to us!

The owner, Len made a point of coming to say hello, and stayed for ages!  We happened to mention where we were going and surprise surprise that is where he is going this year on his motorcycle, and we patiently listened to exactly when and where he was going!

After a supper of home made fish pie, we played our first round of rummy, after watching a funny film called The Lift on Netflix.



Day 2:  Friday 15^th March 2024

We didn’t rush to get up and enjoyed breakfast before heading off at 10am.  Len stopped by to say hello again and was rather surprised to see that I was driving.  The other Camper van owner asked Geoff if he was OK with me driving!!!

The weather was nearly as bad as yesterday this morning and it rained off and on all the way to Brighton.  We stopped briefly at Southampton services for coffee and hot cross buns and eventually arrived at Brighton Caravan and Motorhome site around 2.30pm.  We set up quickly, needing the ramps, and then headed off towards Brighton seafront.  We only managed 5000 steps yesterday, so we had some ground to make up.  We were very lucky in that it had stopped raining, and the sun was trying to come out.  We had a lovely walk initially above the beach and then we found a way down to walk along a new board walk mounted on top of the shingle beach.  We stopped for coffee and shared a bakewell flapjack (delicious) at a trendy beach café before walking briskly to Brighton i360, a huge tower with a viewing doughnut which wrapped around it and was raised by means of a counterweight to the height of 450 feet!  It was the last flight of the day, and we could not believe the sunset and views it cast over the city.  We indulged and I had a Kir Royale and Geoff had a gin and tonic, my goodness we know how to live!

We caught the 21 bus back to the site, which literally went all around the houses and took ages.  It was dark when we got off and we still had a fair walk back to the van and there were no streetlights, so we used the phone torch.  Leftovers for supper followed by a game of Sequence.



Day 3:  Saturday 16^th March 2024

We woke to a bright blue sky and lovely spring sunshine this morning.  After breakfast and chores we set off to catch the number 27 bus to the station.  This followed the coast and the beach looked very inviting and was busy with swimmers, paddle boarders and dog walkers.  We ambled around the station, meeting Amanda off the train at 11am.

We explored some amazing streets packed with interesting small shops and pop up stalls selling just about everything before enjoying a coffee on a rooftop in the warm sunshine.

From there we headed to the Ivy where Amanda had booked a table for us at 1pm.  This was a real experience for us, with amazing, decadent, colourful décor, very polite, friendly staff, excellent food and cocktails.  We were thoroughly spoilt and enjoyed an indulgent couple of hours there. Another wander, this time around the famous lanes, which were full of jewellery shops before we said goodbye, only till tomorrow.

We caught the bus back to near the campsite so Geoff was home in time to watch his beloved Newcastle lose to Manchester City in the FA Cup and also to watch England v France in the final six nations match. Good match, shame about the score (33-31)!



Day 4:  Sunday 17^th March 2024

St Patricks Day! Though not much evidence of that in what we have done today.  We woke to rain hammering on the roof, so opted to stay in bed!  We eventually got up and breakfasted by 10 and played a few rounds of Sequence while we waited for the rain to abate.

Jon and Maddie were arriving back from their honeymoon in Vietnam today and were being chauffeured back to Lewes to collect their car from Amanda’s house.  They very kindly detoured to pick us up and we enjoyed a half hour chat over a coffee in a café called Marmalade, catching up on the highlights of their trip, which was amazing.

We then met Amanda, Paul, Thomas and Finty at the Busby and Wilds pub.  We had excellent roast dinners and heard more about J&M’s travels over some glasses of wine.  Jon and Maddie left us to head home this evening and we enjoyed some time getting to know Thomas and Finty, as it was our first meeting.

We walked back to the campsite a long way round to maintain our steps average for the month and got home in time to see Manchester United beat Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter final.  One blessing about leaving tomorrow is less chance to watch sport!!!



Day 5:  Monday 18^th March 2024

We were excited and a little nervous at the prospect of starting our European adventure properly today.  I didn’t sleep very well and we were up and off earlier than planned.  We stopped first at Sainsburys in Newhaven to fill up with diesel before driving just half a mile down the road to the port.

Check in was easy, no customs check and not too long queuing in a pot holed waiting area, no change from the rest of the country then!

We went straight up on deck to watch the boat leave by reversing all the way down the River Ouse outlet to the sea and then turning to head to Dieppe.  We marched around the top deck for several thousand steps to ensure we hit our target today before going back downstairs to the café for some late breakfast.  Geoff had a full English, and I pinched his mushrooms and tomato!  Bargain – two breakfasts for the price of one!

I installed Geoff in the reclining seat lounge, happy with his iPad containing his Times newspaper and I went back up on deck and did some more marching around, as well as some inside when it got a little bit too windy.

The four hour journey passed quite quickly, with a few card games to help the passage of time before we arrived in Dieppe just before 4pm.  Amazingly we were off and through passport control, again no customs, by 4.04pm – we could hardly believe it!

We had booked our first night stay while we were in the ferry queue and the sat nav told us we would be there before 6pm.  It was an easy, enjoyable journey, the first bit across country, through the Departement of the Somme, and then the A28/A29/A16 to Ailly-sur-Noye and our Camping Car Park for the night.  Very convenient for the Intermarche, and with views of a pretty little lake and to top it all, a lovely sunset. 

After a quick shop for our first supper and breakfast tomorrow, we were feeling very much at home and ready for a long haul across Northern France tomorrow.



Day 6:  Tuesday 19^th March 2024

Happy 41^st Wedding Anniversary to us!   We enjoyed our first proper French breakfast of pain au raisin, delicious, before leaving what really was a lovely stopover site before 10.  We stopped en route to the motorway at a village boulangerie to pick up a baguette for lunch.

It was an easy drive, on fairly empty motorways via St Quentin and Reims towards Metz.  We stopped a couple of times, for coffee and lunch and then at an Auchan hypermarket which was conveniently situated at the motorway junction which led to our next stopover Camping Car Park at Amneville.

This was a larger site than last night, 32 places as opposed to 6, all sited amongst trees, but with a lot of mud, which fortunately had had time to dry out.  By this time, the sun was amazingly warm, 17^oC so we sat outside for our cup of tea.  The Aire was located in a Leisure park, we didn’t really understand what this was so we went for a walk to explore.  We were seriously underwhelmed by what we saw.  There was a zoo, a swimming pool, an indoor ice rink and somewhere an indoor ski slope, but we didn’t find that.  It was empty of people but full of cars, so we have no idea where all the drivers were.  There were also lots of restaurants including Mcdonalds, but we had already bought some salmon for supper so we didn’t indulge!

We returned to Colin to open a bottle of Laurent Perrier champagne (our favourite) which we had brought with us to France to celebrate!  Geoff prepared 7 oysters to have with it and I had some scallop terrine!  While we were enjoying our drinks several more motorhomes turned up, so the site is now quite full for the night.



Day 7:  Wednesday 20^th March 2024

We were up earlier today and the second motorhome to leave the site, so no queuing for the services!

Geoff wanted to go into Luxembourg so whilst it entailed a slight detour we turned north instead of east to begin with.  There wasn’t a great deal to see from the motorways, but we can add that country to our list for this trip! We did have one slight mishap when locating the motorway which necessitated a turn around, but the less said about that the better!

We stopped for coffee in an aire and a driver changeover.  We have no idea where it was, somewhere between Saarbrucken and Frankfurt!  We crossed over the Rhine near Mainz but I wasn’t quick enough with the camera and only managed to snap Geoff’s head with a backdrop of a bridge covered in graffiti rather than a huge, dramatic river! Another stop for lunch in another aire before completing another long journey for the day.

We arrived in Wurzburg at about 2.30pm and joined a queue for the car park which also doubled as a motorhome aire.  It was perfectly placed for two nights in this city, within walking distance of the old town.  There was one pitch left with electric and all was looking promising until we realised the water point was out of order and we needed water.  We decided to wave the white flag and go to a campsite and I rang ahead to make sure there was a pitch.  The owner told us to come by after 6, so we locked up Colin and walked into Wurzburg along by the river Main.  It was very busy, even though it is only mid March.  Lots of people were standing on the bridge drinking glasses of wine, which seems to be a tradition.  We didn’t join in, we are planning to do so tomorrow!

We continued to Camping Knaus in Ochsenfurt which we chose because it was near to a railway station, thinking we would go into the city on the train tomorrow, but closer inspection of the timetable revealed no suitable trains, so we think we will take Colin and try and stay at the parking platz again, this time with a full tank of water.

WEEK TWO: GERMANY TO AUSTRIA

Day 8:  Thursday 21^st March 2024

After a quiet night in this our first campsite on the continent we had a leisurely breakfast before driving back into Wurzburg.  We were delighted to discover that the best pitch on the parking platz was free, so we set up there with a great view across the river towards the old town.  There is electric on the pitch, so we are well set up for 24 hours.

After a coffee we walked up onto the road bridge next to the site for a birds eye view of Colin in the car park.  Then we walked into the old town, and found the first tram stop where we could buy our day tickets.  I know, we didn’t need to go anywhere as such, but it would be a travesty to visit a city with trams and not ride on them!

We had a look around the Dom, one of several very large cathedrals and were very impressed with the all white interior, before a hoard of schoolchildren surged in after us!

We caught the number 5 tram (there are only 5 routes!) to the station for a look around, quite boring really and then caught another one back to the market place.  We love these markets, especially the ‘Mallets’ type stalls which sell absolutely anything and everything.  You will be pleased to know that Geoff bought a shoe horn! We found a nice looking café on the corner of Market square where we had Wiener Schnitzel – just has to be done if you are in Germany!

After lunch a long journey on the tram out to the terminus in both directions was called for.  We enjoy doing this as you get to see much more of the city.  At one end we just had time to pop into a supermarket to buy some milk.

Home to Colin and a cup of tea with a view over the river.  It was interesting to watch all the motorhomes pouring in to the site as we watched them drive round and round hoping a space would magically appear!

There happens to be a festival on at the moment, the Wurzburger Volksfest.  Right next to the parking platz is an enormous funfair, so in the interests of cultural awareness we thought it only right to go and test it out!  There were several death defying rides, but we settled on a very sedate big wheel which enabled us to have a fabulous view of the city and another unexpected sunset!

Day 9:  Friday 22^nd March 2024

Whilst it was very noisy when we went to bed last night, being so close to the fair, we had a reasonable nights sleep waking to another bright blue day in the car park!  We decided not to hang around though and straight after breakfast we were off to find the Romantic Road.  This is a marketing gimmick really, the Romantische Strasse is similar in concept to the North Coast 500 or the Wild Atlantic Way, but it sounded rather lovely, so we wanted to include this in our outward itinerary.

We left Wurzburg and headed first to Wertheim and then via a windy road which followed the river Tauber to Tauberbischofsheim.  The countryside was lovely, and spring flowers and budding trees were the order of the day.  We found the stellplatz which had one parking spot left for a motorhome, parked up and wandered through this delightful town, stopping off in the market place with its imposing Rathaus.  We had a lovely coffee and Geoff had an enormous Danish bun in a café on the square before continuing to view the Schloss.  A quick call into Lidl for steak for supper rounded off our visit here. 

We continued on the Romantische Strasse through Bad Mergentheim, Weikersheim and Creglingen, all with very pretty wooden framed buildings.  We stopped for a picnic lunch in a large layby with a convenient picnic table and a lovely view across the valley, then decided to wash Colin as he was covered in road dirt and dead flies from our 1000 mile journey to date.  We continued to the outskirts of Rothenburg and our campsite for 2 nights, Campingplatz Tauberromanntik. After several ‘car park’ type camping nights we are glad to be back on familiar territory, campsites with large pitches, unlimited electric and facilities.  After parking and levelling Colin, Geoff set off for the laundry with our weeks washing and I put the kettle on!

After a brief wander around the site and Detwang, the small hamlet adjacent to the site, with lovely river and church to recommend it, we cooked supper, steak in the new air fryer for Geoff and salad for me.

Day 10:  Saturday 23^rd March 2024

The rain woke us up this morning, banging on the roof!  We had checked the forecast last night and decided to delay our walk up into Rothenburg till later in the morning, and we are so glad we did as the sun came out again and we really saw it at its best.

Geoff collected the fresh bread rolls from the café reception which we enjoyed for breakfast.  I had a video call with Sue then we set off up the hill.  We were a little wary of the walk as the leaflet from the campsite had warned it was very steep, but we were relieved to find it was not as bad as we had feared.  The view back over the village was stunning.

Our first impression of the city was the impressive entrance gate and walls which still had the covered walkways intact which we could walk on.  The various views of the city with its medieval wood framed buildings was tantalising and we were keen to walk amongst them.  They were all very well maintained and we saw little building work which added to its authenticity.  We discovered that this year is the city’s 750^th anniversary, and there were some celebrations going on outside the Rathaus with people in traditional costumes. We popped into a Christmas decoration shop which was a mistake as once in, we were obliged to walk all around to get out again, we were astonished at the prices, so did not purchase anything there.

Everywhere we looked, the architecture was stunning, including the iconic view of Siebers towers which I was keen to see as I had included that photograph in Truronian holidays brochures for years!  We walked round part of the wall overlooking the river Tauber valley with its double arched bridge and found ourselves outside the Kriminal Museum which apparently was full of torture devices used over the years – definitely not for me!

We had an excellent inexpensive lunch in a small café before wending our way back to the campsite via a considerably steeper path down to the river, than the one we had walked up.  Just as we were approaching the campsite it started to rain and we were lucky to get back inside Colin before the heavens opened, except Geoff then took another load of washing to the laundry, so he got wet!

Another excellent day, this city was definitely one to add to the revisit list one day.

Day 11:  Sunday 24^th March 2024

Another lovely blue sky morning, but we were not fooled as we knew rain was on the way!  We got away from this lovely site at 10 and drove up to the edge of Rothenburg town, where we walked yesterday.  We filled up with diesel and managed to buy some milk in the garage shop which was a relief as we had practically run out and shops shut here on a Sunday, especially supermarkets!

Onto the motorway and heading south the rain soon caught up with us.  We stopped for coffee at a very smart motorway services and intended to stop for lunch further on, but we drove into and immediately out of 3 different service areas which were absolutely heaving, mostly with lorries.  We gave up looking and carried on to Panorama Camping on the edge of Salzburg.  We had driven through a lot of sleet mixed in with the rain, but closer to Austria we were driving in snow! 

This site is another excellent site, with very good, spotlessly clean facilities, a great view over the city and to the mountains beyond and just a 5 minute walk from a trolleybus route – what’s not to love!

We were given a choice of parking up wherever we wanted.  This was not good news as we always struggle as to where is the best place!  We chose one, but that wasn’t big enough to accommodate the bikes within the pitch, then we chose another and even put Colin up on ramps and drank a cup of tea before deciding that no, this was not the best place, and finally moved to a much better position, albeit further from the facilities!  We are here for three nights so it had to be right!

We then headed off to walk down the hill to the trolley bus stop to check it out for the morning, then we went out for a bargain Sunday meal at McDonald’s!  Watching the pennies we are at this early stage of the trip, and I just wasn’t in the mood for cooking tonight.

Poor selection of photos today, so I have included a panorama of Rothenburg’s city walls with the covered walkway for some pictorial interest! As you can see it was very much colder today, actually glad I brought my hat and gloves!

Day 12:  Monday 25^th March 2024

Whilst it rained overnight, the view out of our front window this morning was essentially blue!  Beautiful blue sky, snow covered mountains, all revealed this morning.  After a breakfast of rolls we completed some domestic chores before setting off down the hill to catch the trolleybus into Salzburg centre.  We had bought day tickets on our mobile phones and we didn’t have to wait too long for a bus to come along.

Our first destination was the Hauptbahnhof, where we were able to buy a day ticket for the whole region which we wanted for tomorrow.  Then we hopped on another bus to the Mirabelle garden.  This was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me as I had last visited Salzburg in 1977 on an interrail trip.  The photo shows me with a little stone man in this garden some 47 years ago and now!

We continued to explore, crossing the river on a pedestrian bridge festooned with padlocks which made for an impressive feature in the sunshine.  We wandered around the old town with its amazing architecture and narrow streets surrounding the grandeur of the Markt Platz.  There were reminders at every turn of the Sound of Music film locations. 

We enjoyed a café in the Café Tomaselli, apparently some 300 years old, and Geoff had an apple strudel.  We went and had a look at the Funicular up to the castle, but that was not covered by our day ticket so we gave it a miss, but certainly something to do next time, which we hope will be on an Interrail adventure in the coming years!

We were feeling a bit tired by now, so hopped on #7 trolleybus which ran alongside the river to the end of the line, then caught a #8 bus back to the end of that line and back to the centre.  We spied a roof terrace on the top of the Hotel Stein and it proved the icing on the cake of a perfect day, I had a Hugo, a new cocktail choice for me, and Geoff had a beer which we really enjoyed in the sunshine with the view of the castle, the river and the old town in front of us.

Home via the station and a Spar to stock up on essentials.  The view from Colin with the sun setting behind the mountains was spectacular and we cant believe what a fabulous little site this is.

Day 13:  Tuesday 26^th March 2024

We had a great day planned today, so we were up and away from Colin by 9.30 and on the trolley bus to the station by 9.50.  Yesterday we purchased a day ticket for all bus routes in the region with the intention of travelling to Wolfgangsee and back on the 150.  However, having studied maps and timetables, as is our want, we decided to do a round trip, 150 to Fuschl, then on to St Gilgen, 156 from St Gilgen to Mondsee and the 140 back to Salzburg. The whole day worked like a charm.  The buses were excellent, Setras and Mercedes (for those in the know!) and we had fabulous views in perfect blue-sky weather.

Fuschl was our first stop and we walked straight down to the lake on the lookout for a suitable coffee stop.  The place was virtually deserted and nowhere seemed to be open yet, but we spied some people sat in a hotel and discovered a perfect coffee and cake venue with white linen tablecloths and a tulip on ever table, Seehotel Schlick.  We really liked Fuschl, and it was a regular destination for Truronian holidays, staying at the Mohenwirt hotel, which is now Hotel Jacob.

The next bus was bang on time, as we have come to expect, and it was a relatively short hop to St Gilgen, a much bigger settlement on the shores of Wolfgangsee.  When we got off the bus there was a cable car station right next to the bus station, we thought it looked a good idea but at 34 euros each we decided to give it a miss and headed down to the lake.  Geoff got very excited when he saw a boat, but sadly the service was not due to start for another two days, for the Easter weekend. 

By this time we were both feeling peckish and started to look for somewhere for lunch.  Several restaurants were closed but we found a delightful place called Kendler Hotel where we sat outside in the sunshine and had an excellent meal with wine and beer.

Time to move on and we walked back up to the bus stop and caught the 156 to Mondsee.  This driver was heavy of foot and rather reckless when it came to bends.  We were quite glad to get off!  Fellow travellers included a mother and daughter from Costa Rica. Again, the views were fabulous from the bus and we arrived in Mondsee town as the skies were becoming a little more cloudy but it did not detract from a lovely walk along the lake promenade where Geoff treated himself to a Solero.

Home on the 140 bus to Salzburg, again through lovely green scenery and the interesting suburbs of the city to the station where we caught our last trolleybus back to the campsite having picked up a cake to enjoy with a cuppa for tea!

Day 14:  Wednesday 27^th March 2024

Moving on day today, but not so far, only just under 80 miles so we took our time with breakfast and getting ready to leave.  It was incredibly warm this morning, 20^oC, such a surprise after the last two very cold mornings.

We headed around Salzburg on the motorways, choosing to move onto the 159 south after our experience on the bus yesterday.  We feel a closer connection to the country by driving through towns and rural areas.  It proved the right decision as we saw some amazing scenery and pretty little towns.  We stopped briefly to do some shopping and take on fuel and stopped in a layby for coffee.  The road followed a gorge to begin with, in which the railway line and the road weaved their way through together and an ICE train sped by on its way to Salzburg.

We had intended to get back on the A10 motorway but changed our minds and continued on the 99 route which took us over the mountains.  As we climbed higher and higher, the temperature dropped lower and lower.  We reached the ski resort of Obertauern in lovely sunshine and a low of 7^oC.  We saw children in brightly coloured ski clothes and all around us, ski lifts, cable cars, chair lifts and ski runs.  We also got a shock to see 4 statues of the Beatles!  Apparently, the Beatles stayed at the Hotel Edelweiss in Obertauern in 1965 and they filmed the snow scenes for the song Help!

We were on the lookout for somewhere suitable to stop for lunch, but not finding anywhere and being quite close to our next campsite we continued to Camping Brunner am See on Millstatter See, north of Villach.  Our first glimpse of the lake was lovely, showing reflections of the mountains beyond, but by the time we had checked in and levelled Colin the rain set in and looked locked in for the rest of the day.  After lunch and a much needed cuppa, we had a lovely video chat with Jenni and Sophie, which cheered us no end, especially as Sophie chuckled through most of it! Then to top the day off we had a great chat with Jon on his way home.

No photos of the new campsite today because of the rain, hoping for better weather tomorrow because we have a cracking lake view! By the way, Truronian also operated a holiday in 2008 which stayed in a hotel just a stones throw from where we are now!

WEEK THREE: AUSTRIA TO CROATIA

Day 15:  Thursday 28^th March 2024

A lovely blue sky greeted us this morning, but we knew it wouldn’t be around for long so we made the most of the dry weather and went for a walk around Dobriach.  It was really quite dead as it clearly doesn’t come to life until the summer.  Everywhere we looked there were photographs of happy people playing on the grass and in the water in the summer months.  It seemed that most of the visible lake front was owned by different campsites or hotels and the use confined to their respective clientele.  Our waterfront was very attractive but roped off at the moment to preserve the grass which looked as though it had been recently returfed.

We found the Hotel Zanker which Truronian had used years ago.  It does seem that this early part of our tour is following our coach holiday portfolio, but honestly it wasn’t planned like that!

We saw a bus so decided later that day we would catch the bus into the nearby town of Millstatt, which we drove through yesterday.  We completed some boring domestic chores, and Geoff bought our tickets on his phone before we boarded the 1240 bus.  As ever, bang on time and a really smart vehicle took us the short 15 minute drive along the lake shore.

The little town was attractive, but we found the same, that the facilities were all geared to summer activity, including a huge multi diving board tower.  We stopped off at a café and then did some shopping at the local Billa supermarket before catching the bus back.  It was raining quite steadily by now so we just headed back to the site and retreated into the van away from the rain and cold.  I rang Sue for a chat and we played rummy before supper.

Hopefully a better weather day tomorrow as we enter new territory – Slovenia here we come!

Day 16:  GOOD FRIDAY  29^th March 2024

Exciting day today, we were up, paid up, emptied and on our way by 10, first through a pass to Villach, following an A road as opposed to the motorway.  We stopped en route for coffee just before we joined the A10 and then A11, signposted Slovenia

We knew there was a big tunnel coming up because Jonathan had come that way a few years ago for work and had told us about it.  It was 4.9 miles long and required an additional toll, over and above the vignette we had purchased before leaving the UK.

We left Austria in cloudy weather and emerged into Slovenia into awful wet, cloudy weather.  The valley was very industrialised but we soon turned off in the direction of Bled, which was only about 30 minutes driving time from the border.  As we drove nearer to the lake it was clear that this was a very commercialised area, dependent on tourism.  We saw lots of campsites, hotels and restaurants in Bled itself and our site was at the far end of the lake, the journey along which was lovely, but rather dull.  I had imagined a blue sky and a blue lake after all the photos I had seen when doing my research, but not today.

The site was relatively empty when we arrived and this was the first day it was supposed to open, but as we got out of the van we were greeted with a cheery ‘hello’ from a fellow Brit from Bristol!  We had a brief chat as it was pouring with rain, but they had been travelling for three weeks, visiting Hungary and the Czech republic before this and then later we discovered they were in a huge A class motorhome!

Pitching up was easy, very flat pitch not requiring levellers and we were soon enjoying that cuppa!  We had a walk around the site and in both directions along the lakeside.  A walkway/cycle path goes all the way round and that is on the agenda for tomorrow.  We got the bikes off the back of the van for the first time and had a ride round the site, to check them out.

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow, but already this is a lovely place, one of my dreams for this holiday – tick!

Day 17:  Saturday 30^th March 2024

It was a lovely sunny morning, but sadly too cold to sit out for breakfast.  I’m sure that day is not far off!  We set off on our bikes and cycled along the northern shore of the lake into Bled and the bus station.  The views across the lake were stunning, but for some reason I neglected to stop and take a photo, I may regret that as the weather is not so good tomorrow.

We were intent on finding the bus station and locating a suitable place to lock up and leave our bikes.  Fortunately, the bike rack at the station was empty so we were able to do so safely.

The bus station was full of people, mostly youngsters with their back packs.  In fact at one point I looked around and realised we were the oldest to board the bus by years!  The bus was late, very late, and everyone was getting a little restless, then the driver insisted he needed a rest so we had to wait even longer!

The bus trip was worth it, the views en route were great and the destination, Bohinj lake was just beautiful.  It is part of Slovenia’s only National Park which has achieved UNESCO nature status.  Much less commercialised than Bled, we had been recommended this lake by Geoff’s doctor and it did not disappoint.  We stayed on the bus till the end of the line, although this area was not very inspiring, turned out to be a large parking area for a ski resort.  As we set off to walk the length of the lake we stopped at a bar, intending to have a coffee but ended up with a very tasty and very good value lunch.

It was a really enjoyable walk along a path which followed the road route, but was elevated to command the best views.  We felt we deserved our ice cream at the end of it!

We caught the bus back into Bled and were amazed to see an enormous queue waiting to board our bus which was continuing to Ljubljana.  We had to push through the throng to get to our bikes and we had an interested audience as we disentangled the locks and donned our helmets!

Home to Colin and that cuppa!  We had walked nearly six miles and cycled 9.

Day 18:  EASTER SUNDAY  31^st March 2024

The clocks went forward last night, here and at home, so we were later than usual in rising and shining this morning.  The weather was dull with the threat of rain later, so we walked down to the camp site entrance and caught the road train into Bled.  We always feel we should use the road trains if they are there!  The route was different to that we did on the bikes as the train went up a steep hill to stop at the railway station before coming back down to continue around the lakeside road.

We got off at the far side of the small town, having had a tour of the back streets on the road train.  We went into a lakeside restaurant which we had spotted on our arrival on Friday, where we enjoyed the Bled cream cake, basically a custard slice with my first hot chocolate for forty days!  The views were excellent and continued to be so as we walked back through the park which was sandwiched between the town and lake, which gave us the classic view of the island with the Church, albeit not in the same weather conditions as the tourist shots!

We opted to walk back to the campsite.  We would have liked to walk the whole way round the lake, but part of the footpath on the roadside was being reconstructed and signs everywhere advising people not to walk that way or risk a 160 euro fine per person, caused us to walk back the same way we had cycled yesterday. We were nearly home when the heavens opened and by the time we got back to Colin we were well and truly soaked! Definitely time to open our Cadburys Easter egg, brought from home especially for today!

We spent some time planning a revision to our tour plan.  The weather is the main determining factor, and it looks to be better later in the week when we want to visit Plitvice National Park.  We ended our time here with dinner at the restaurant overlooking the lake next to the campsite.

Yes, we could have wished for better weather but we have seen it all and whilst I have loved it, I wouldn’t necessarily want to come back, not that is, unless wall to wall sunshine was guaranteed!

Day 19:  Monday 1^st April 2024

Very wet night and still raining this morning but we were expecting it.  We packed up and left Bled by 10 and headed back to the motorway towards Ljubljana.  Easter Monday meant that all the shops were shut, but Bled town was still quite busy with tourists, undaunted by the rain.

As we headed south on the motorway we passed loads of Motorhomes and cars coming in the other direction, no doubt they had been to the coast for Easter.  The motorway passed through some high passes, and we stayed on it as the alternative route virtually ran along the same route.  We turned off in the direction of Rijeka onto an A road equivalent, and this took us through interesting countryside and villages.  We stopped for coffee en route and then to clean Colin.  He was covered in what seemed to be dust which had smeared with the rain.  We were quite pleased with how he looked, but we realised within a few miles that the dust was in the atmosphere as it was being deposited all over Colin again!

The weather today was rather strange.  For most of our drive it was dry, but with a haze, not low cloud, or fog, but it was just there and may well have been responsible for the deposits on Colin.

We crossed the old border, now defunct, at 1.33pm.  At last, we were in Croatia, our main destination for this tour.  To say we were distinctly underwhelmed is not an exaggeration!  We could see the Adriatic, but it was grey and dismal.  We had planned to stay at an ACSI campsite near Selce, on arrival, the receptionist suggested we walk around the site and when we did, we were not at all impressed, so much so that we decided to leave and wing it!

Park4night showed a site further down the coast with tiered pitches looking directly out to sea called Kamp Odmoriste Leso.  The drive there, along the edge of the Adriatic was nice, with a view across to Krk island.  At least we thought there should be a view, no such luck today because of the wretched haze!

The site proved a real winner for us.  Small, but with excellent EHU, water point, wifi and view at a bargain price!  There was only one other motorhome there when we arrived and a phone number to call.  We were told to pitch anywhere, and they would be along later to collect the money. 

We were soon set up and sat outside with our cuppa, but then ….. the blooming rain started again!  So, to add to the haze, heavy rain blotted any view.  Do I sound disheartened?  Well I am really, this is not what I expected to see having done so much research, but then again it is very early in the year, and better weather is forecast for later in the week …. I will try and keep the faith!

Day 20:  Tuesday  2^nd April 2024

Happy Birthday Andy!

We had planned a leisurely day today, and we didn’t actually get out of bed till gone 9 so it started well!  By our standards it was very warm this morning so we had breakfast outside with the most incredible view.  In fact the pic top left, shows our view from bed with our cup of tea – stuff of dreams for me!

We enjoyed mooching around today, doing odd jobs, painting a pic (no where near good enough to include in the collage!), and wandering around admiring the view.  A lot of the afternoon was spent just sitting outside – an absolute revelation on this trip so far – and we totally chilled.

A supper of salmon risotto accompanied by a bottle of Cremant ate outside, sealed the deal on a fabulous day, topped only by a sunset – how lucky are we – and, by the way, faith restored!

Day 21:  Wednesday  3^rd April 2024

Moving day.  Sadly it was too cold to have breakfast outside so we ate up and packed up and promptly left this lovely site before 10.  Our first destination was the nearby coastal town of Senj which I noted had a Spar supermarket and a fuel station, we needed both.  The fuel station did not have any diesel and the supermarket required a pay barrier to negotiate so we gave up on both.

The town itself was a nightmare to negotiate as they were resurfacing the main road through without any traffic control, so we had to weave our way out of the town.  From here we turned inland over the mountains via a very windy road full of hairpin bends.  This revealed stunning views back over the islands before we popped over the top and down the other side. Geoff was concentrating, so he said, not at all grumpy!

Once over the mountains we emerged into rural Croatia, and the buildings showed decay and abandonment.  One town we drove through looked as though it was ravaged by war.  We found a fuel station en route, which I think was located to serve the nearby motorway.  We fuelled up (cheapest so far at £1.24 per litre) and managed to pick up a coffee.   A sign showed us a Lidl was up ahead so we were able to stop and do our much needed shopping, we had run out of milk!

We arrived at the main entrance to Plitvice lakes around 1pm and parked up to have a look around and work out a battle plan for tomorrow.  We were able to scout maps and entrance arrangements and costs.

We continued to Camp Korana, just a couple of miles up the road, which had a ranch style entrance and proved to be a large park with electric points dotted around encouraging you to park wherever you chose.  We found a nice spot near one of these and were soon settled.  The site has a restaurant, a shop and provides a bus to and from the lakes so we are really pleased where we are.

WEEK FOUR: CROATIA

Day 22:  Thursday 4^th April 2024

Today we knew was going to be one of those days we would always remember.  The weather was on our side from the get go and we were up and waiting for the bus to take us to Plitvice before 9am on a gorgeous sunny morning.

From all the research I had done I expected lots of people and long queues.  I had bought our tickets online last night so we were able to go straight in, and whilst there were a lot of people, nowhere near what we expected.  The initial view of the  biggest waterfall captivated us, and the views we experienced at every turn just took our breath away.

Plitvice lakes is within a limestone canyon and is a series of 16 turquoise lakes on the Korana River separated by tufa barriers which result in cascades of water falling from each level to the next.  We started at the bottom, entrance 1 and therefore saw all the waterfalls face on as we walked up through the park, on granite set paths, rustic boardwalks, cinder paths and rugged woodland walks.  The boardwalks were designed to snake through the barriers to reveal the best views of the water.

We marvelled at the colours, which looked even more intense in the bright sunshine, reminding us of the turquoise sea we have seen so often on Scilly. However, we noted that there was hardly any evidence of wildlife, a few tiny fish in the water but hardly any birds or other animals.  Unlike our campsite where the birdsong is almost deafening!

The walking was interspersed with an electric boat trip and, at the end, a very welcome road train pulled by a Mercedes truck.  Both of these rides were included in the day ticket – only 10 euros each for what proved a magnificent day out.

We had walked nearly 7 miles during the 4.5 hours we were in the park.  The bus ride home provided a welcome sit down, then we spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing in the sunshine outside Colin, bliss!

Day 23:  Friday 5^th April 2024

Moving on today, back to the coast.  Our next destination is Zadar and the direct route via the motorway was going to take 2 hours.  But we don’t usually do direct, and if we can, we prefer to avoid motorways unless we have a long way to go in a short amount of time!

Instead, we decided to head back to the coast over the mountains, joining it just a few miles south of Senj where we turned off to head to Plitvice earlier in the week.  The drive was amazing, through rural Croatia again, where we saw abandoned hamlets this time, particularly in the mountains.  We went up and down a lot of hairpin bends, so many that I started to go dizzy again, as I had in Madeira after a bus ride up hairpin bends.  Geoff discovered that this route was very important historically as a major trade route from the coast to the hinterland.

The view from the top over the islands was incredible, as was the 50 miles along the very windy coast road.  Apparently, it is a favourite ride of motor bikers and several were in evidence today, it must be manic in the summer.

We arrived at our next site, Falkensteiner Premium Camping at 3pm and after a wander around the site chose our pitch.  It was a large gravel pitch, demarked by hedging and with electric, water and waste plus good free wi-fi.  We really like it here and being just a stones throw from the coast and a short cycle or bus ride into the old town, it ticks all the boxes.

Jon rang as we had a wander round and we sat in the sunshine catching up on his news.  Then we decided to treat ourselves to supper in the on site restaurant before taking in the sunset.

Day 24:  Saturday 6^th April 2024

Beautiful blue sky day, just exactly what we had been hoping for.  We enjoyed breakfast outside and took our time this morning, reading and relaxing.

We had researched the local buses and decided to catch one into the centre of Zadar today to get our bearings.  To say the reliability of the buses is hit and miss is an understatement.  We waited nearly half an hour for the bus which should have turned up 20 minutes earlier!  It was very hot waiting and I nearly gave up and went back to the van.

The bus ride, which was air conditioned took us along the coast road and we could see clearly where we would cycle the next time.  We walked over an impressive fairly new footbridge to gain access to the old town and our first port of call was the tourist information office where a very nice young lady went out of her way to be helpful and advise us which route to walk in the town and which local islands to visit and how.

We took her advice, but stopped off for a drink in the Peoples square first.  There was a Sushi and Wine festival going on and we walked through it to get to Five Wells Square and the Landmark Gate.  These were part of the old walls which surround part of the old city, which is on an island.  We walked around the edge of the whole island, stopping part way to visit the Roman Forum and the Church of St Donatus.  Geoff had a wander and found a small Trattoria so we decided to have a pizza and salad for lunch.  Re-energised, we continued around the edge of the island, which was paved with the most beautiful white stone, including the famous Sea Organ.  This is a series of steps with holes, through which the sea flows and makes the most amazing sound, almost like whales, it is very restful.  Adjacent to that is the ‘Greeting to the sun’, a huge disc paved with light sensitive tiles which apparently radiate a series of random lights at night, sadly we didn’t see that.

We checked out the ferry office and boats, which appear to be a long way apart, because we are thinking we might do a day trip on Monday, then walked back to the footbridge via the city walls, which gave a great vantage point for the city on one side and the waterfront on the other.

We caught the bus home and chilled outside with a drink and a good book for me and football on his airpods for him!

Day 25:  Sunday 7^th April 2024

After a full and exhausting day yesterday, we decided to stay home and relax.

So, nothing to say but here are a few photos taken down on our beach and of the site, including the sunset from last night!

Day 26:  Monday 8^th April 2024

We were originally planning to go off on a boat to an island today, but when we went to take the bikes off the back of Colin we noticed that the whole of the back bumper panel was practically hanging off!  Geoff rang Red Pennant and they arranged for someone to come out and fix it for us.

While we were waiting, we did some more washing and tidying up as well as me finishing my audio book which I only started yesterday – it was that good!

When the young man, who spoke hardly any English, had fixed the van, not wholly satisfactorily, but time will tell, we watched our neighbours from Slovenia have their motorhome loaded onto the back of a breakdown truck!  Clearly their issue was much more serious than ours.

Belatedly we set off on our bikes to ride the route we would take tomorrow to catch the ferry.  It was a lovely ride along by the edge of the water which curled along the coast past a couple of posh marinas, with the most amazing yachts, which looked to be owned by Russian Oligarchs.

We stopped at the quay where a man and his son were feeding the seagulls.  He saw me taking our usual selfie and offered to take a photo for us, which I politely declined, but then we proceeded to have a lovely chat with him about the weather here compared to the UK.  We continued into Zadar harbour where a lone boatsman offers a pedestrian ferry to the old town.  He was across the other side of the water today, which was just as well as we had only come to look.  The cycle home took us to the Forty bar where it was necessary to have another Hugo for me and a coke for Geoff!

We may not have ventured far today but we have enjoyed staying close to home and we are pleased to have sorted the bumper problem with minimum effort.  Our Red Pennant insurance may be expensive but it is definitely worth every penny.

Day 27:  Tuesday 9^th April 2024

We had planned an exciting day out today on a ferry!  After breakfast outside again in the sunshine we headed off into Zadar centre on our bikes.  Having checked out the route yesterday we were confident about where to go and how long it would take.  We had a coffee in a café next to the footbridge over to the old town as we were early for the ferry, and even had time to have a quick wander around the market, including an indoor fish market, which we discovered by accident.

Our ferry today was Dora, and we were off to Preko on the island of Ugljan, which was opposite Zadar old town.  We sat outside and it was very hot waiting for the ferry to depart, but as soon as we did the breeze alleviated the heat and we enjoyed the 25 minute ride across the water.

We alighted the ferry to find a couple of buses waiting to depart, one to the north of the island and one to the south.  We had intended to walk along the coast to the next village, but instead we jumped on the bus, which was full of locals, picked a name on the map and asked to be taken there! The very nice bus driver said he would tell us when to get off, although I monitored our route on Google maps (an indispensable app on this tour!).

We got off the bus in Mrljane.  We walked down to the coast and on to Nevidane.  We didn’t see hardly anyone else, certainly no other tourists, other than 4 germans on bikes.  It was a lovely coastal walk and we really enjoyed the peace, the beauty and the warmth, almost too warm, so trees proved a shady welcome.  We stopped at a bar in Nevidane, but it only served drinks and we had been looking for lunch, but we didn’t really mind.

Having more time on our hands, we caught the bus to the end of the island, Tkon and then back again to Preko, which gave us a real flavour of the whole island.  We had half an hour to grab another drink in the bar on the quay in Preko before boarding Dora again back to Zadar.

Home on our bikes, stopping at a local pizzeria for an early supper which rounded off a fabulous day.  I almost dare not say that we both caught the sun today, especially in the light of the awful weather everyone is experiencing at home!

Day 28:  Wednesday 10^th April 2024

Happy Birthday Sue!

After a leisurely breakfast outside again we headed out of Zadar having enjoyed 5 nights here on what has proved to be a lovely site.

It took us quite a while to escape the town, getting caught up in a one way system and driving past the campsite again, 5 minutes after we left it!  We stopped for fuel before heading south on the coastal road again.  Another stop at a Spar for some essential groceries and we were on our way again, driving along the road opposite that we travelled on the island of Ugljan in the bus yesterday.  We weren’t terribly impressed with the area through which we drove initially, it had a run down air and the land was scrubby and rather neglected.  There were no designated parking bays along this stretch as there had been further north and we struggled to find a coffee spot and ended up parking on a disused road, but with a sea view!

Further south, near Sebinic, the terrain became much more interesting and the road which hugged the coast fringed pretty bays with lots of boats and everywhere were bright orange roofs which showed up in contrast with the very blue sea.  The weather wasn’t as sunny today as has been the case the last few days, but the temperature was between 23 and 24 degrees.

As we approached Trogir, our next campsite location, the scenery became dramatic with the old town sited on an island and surrounded by hills, water and the suburbs.  The route into Camp Rosac was interesting …. It was very narrow, bumpy and busy!  Negotiating sharp bends with cars whizzing around them was scary and our plans to walk or cycle back into the town were soon revised.

We pitched right next to the beach with a fabulous view.  There were quite a few other vans here before us, and we were fairly close to a German van, but their door opened on the opposite side to ours, so we did not invade their space!

We had a lovely call with Jenni and the children before settling down for the night. 

WEEK FIVE:  CROATIA

Day 29:  Thursday 11^th April 2024

We woke to a view of a calm sea in front of us, with blue sky and very warm, perfect for another alfresco breakfast. 

We caught the #44 bus into Trogir bus station this morning, along with several other campers, who, like us, have clearly decided that the road is too dangerous to risk as a pedestrian.  As it was, I almost had to close my eyes as the bus driver swerved and braked hard to avoid hitting oncoming traffic.  The locals seemed quite used to it all.

When we got to the bus station, we checked out the buses for Split, as that is our intended destination tomorrow.  We bought our bus tickets in advance from the office and were surprised to discover that the advance tickets were half the price of those purchased on the bus.

We had a wander around the local market, with lovely flowers and plenty of vegetable plants on sale.  Then found our way into the old town.  Immediately we were met with narrow alley type streets in all directions, with smooth stones underfoot.  We found our way to Trg Ivana Pavla, a lovely square next to the cathedral and tourist information office, where we had a coffee and planned our route.

The walk through the old town, which is on an island, was fascinating.  We were amazed at the number of restaurants and bars hidden away, all of which were open, in fact the whole place was buzzing as if it was mid-summer.  At the far end of the island the tower and some of the old walls still remained, alongside the quay which was stacked with huge multi-million pound yachts.

We wandered around the perimeter of the island, stopping to watch the world go by at a couple of seats in the shade.  It was in the mid-twenties by early afternoon, which is pretty much our top temperature before we melt!  We opted to catch the 2.15pm bus back to the campsite where we sat in the shade marveling at our view.

We have noted that late afternoon usually heralds a breeze and today was no exception, so we took the bikes and cycled along the coast to Okrug Gornji, not far but we thought we might find a bar.  Well, we found loads, but they were all closed!  Fortunately, the bar in Colin was open so we made do with that!

I have to say that I have absolutely loved today.  We are in a more touristy location, but this is the Croatia I had come to expect after reading so much online and seeing videos.  This part of the country is far more picturesque than any we have seen thus far, Plitvice excepted.  I am sure that there is much more to see which will inspire us further.

Day 30:  Friday 12^th April 2024

We are getting used to this leisurely outdoor lifestyle!  Caught the 10.30am bus into Trogir this morning and then the #37 bus to Split.  This was a bendy bus, for those in the know!  It was a very smooth ride, albeit stopping at every stop to Split through a very built up area.  Apparently Split is second to Zagreb in Croatia in terms of population, and we were surprised at its size and industry.

We got off at the bus station and walked to the far end of the old city and a square called Trg Republike.  This was a magnificent rectangle really with three sides of red fronted buildings facing onto the seafront with arches all the way round, reminiscent of St Marks Square in Venice maybe.  It was very impressive and made for a great backdrop for our coffee.

We walked along the promenade, known as the Riva with its palm trees and many pavement cafes and restaurants.  We checked a few of the menus but were not really inspired by any, too touristy for us really. The place was buzzing, but in a more cosmopolitan, big city way, quite different to Trogir of yesterday, somehow that felt more intimate, being a much smaller town.

We walked through the Bronze Gate entrance into the Diocletian’s palace.  This took us into an underground passageway, which led to a basement area and then up some steps to emerge into the centre of the palace.   The area designated the palace is made up of a series of buildings, including a cathedral and Temple of Jupiter, but it is like a mini city of its own, with lots of alleyways filled with shops and restaurants. 

We wandered around trying to take in the mixture of buildings which were fascinating, but we were just as impressed with the views down the alleyways, revealing private residences all on top of each other in a very hap hazard way.  We walked around one corner and discovered a lovely garden in the middle of the palace walls.  Further on we stumbled over a restaurant which had tables either side of a walkway, the menu looked good and we enjoyed an hour over an excellent lunch. Geoff had a long chat with the waiter when he went to pay, apparently he supports Newcastle Utd as well!!

We continued our walk through the old city, back along the Riva and eventually back to the bus station.  It was very hot, 28^oC, and we were wilting a little.  The bus was on time and busy, but the journey which should have taken 55 minutes ended up taking 85 minutes!  The delay was entirely due to volume of traffic which didn’t appear to surprise any of the locals on board.  We had to connect in Trogir and thought we would have a half hour wait, but fortunately just caught the bus back to the campsite.  We were ready to have a rest after another great day out.

Day 31:  Saturday 13^th April 2024

Moving day again and we were sad to leave this lovely place.  Our breakfast view will linger in our memories for some time.  We left this our 200^th campsite (since we started caravanning in 2014, I am so sad I keep a record!) just after we watched the bus drive past, we did not want to meet that on these narrow roads.  Fortunately, we had a relatively clear run through the worst sections and were soon en route, first to Lidl for a stock up, then rejoining the number 8 coast road south.

Our drive took us first through Split, not too bad, but very busy with traffic.  Once we got on the road south the traffic lightened, although the coast was fairly built up for some way south of Split with the settlements merging in to one another.  We were looking for a convenient stopping point for coffee and managed to find a rough piece of ground under a tree right next to the sea in a place called Dugi Rat.  Thank goodness for the tree as the temperature was showing 26^oC in Colin, so we needed the shade.

The next town was Omis, which was built on either side of a river emerging from a gorge into the sea, over which an impressive motorway bridge had been recently built.  We really liked the look of this little town, but Colin is a big beast to try and park, so we just kept going.  Further on we drove around Makarska, which David and some other friends had visited a few years ago.  It looked lovely from a distance and again we had to drive on by, may be another time. We stopped briefly in a layby to photograph the coast as it was really stunning with the mountains seeming to go straight down into the sea. a camper van turned in behind us and it was British – a rare sight indeed.

Another attraction which we had to miss because of accessibility was the Skywalk, near to Tucepi.  I saw it, high on top of the mountains above the coast, and I have included a screenshot of what it would have looked like had we visited, but we would need a car to do so, so we gave that a miss too.

Our campsite for one night was Camp Vitor in the small village of Zaostrog.  We are actually really glad that we didn’t stop anywhere on route as it was a delightful spot.  We were set up quite quickly on a shady pitch, although not very level this time.  I had to drive up on the ramps to level side to side, and the wheels spun so I could only get on to the first level, so we were a bit lopsided for the night!

We did a load of washing and then hung it out to dry on a makeshift line before taking the bikes for a spin up and down the coast either side of the site.  It was really beautiful and very quiet.  The hustle and bustle of Split and Trogir were not evident here as pretty much everything was still closed.  We are located right next to a Franciscan Monastery, and they have a lot of bells!

After supper we walked out to watch the sunset, which was stunning with a deep red sun sinking into the sea.  An interesting fact about this little place: Dalmatia is the home of the Dalmatian dog and Zaostrog is the place with one of the oldest depictions of Dalmatian dog! 

Day 32:  Sunday 14^th April 2024

We were very excited today as we were off to Dubrovnik!  Having said that we would have been just as happy to stay another day as this really is a lovely campsite and charming seaside village.

We were away from the site by 9.30 and on the coast road #8 heading south again.  As yesterday, the views down this stretch of coast were breathtaking, both in front of us and behind.  The traffic was very light, and we tootled along, pulling into bus stop bays or parking areas to let any cars go by that were unfortunate enough to be behind us! As we dropped down from the mountain road, we drove through a river plain which was rich in orange trees, evidence of which was all along the road with private sellers in abundance.  As we climbed again, the plain opened out in front of us, with its intricate pattern of irrigation.

We were looking forward to seeing the Pelijeski bridge which connected the mainland to the island of the same name.  This was linked to a brand new road which allowed travel within Croatia to Dubrovnik, thus avoiding going into and out of Bosnia, which has a very short coastline on the Adriatic.  The bridge did not disappoint and it had a fabulous viewing area with very smart picnic tables which we took advantage of for our coffee break!

We were booked into Solitudo Sunny Camping in Dubrovnik for three nights, slightly more expensive than we are used to but infinitely less expensive than a hotel we were intending to book for a night here!  The site is brilliant.  With hap hazard pitches, all with electric and water, and we ended up with a fabulous view of another new bridge which is the gateway to Dubrovnik from the north.

After setting up we had lunch before heading off to catch the #6 bus into town.  It is a very frequent route, every 20 minutes on a Sunday and every 15 minutes in the week.  It terminates right by the main entrance to the old city, so could not be more convenient for us.  We had purchased 3 day Dubrovnik passes which give us unlimited bus travel and entry to the walls and other attractions within the city. 

The bus was absolutely packed and we were amazed that the driver kept letting more people on!  We were like sardines!  The driver was supposed to give us a 3 day bus pass when we showed him our Dubrovnik pass, but he just waved us on.  It is supposed to be valid for 3 days from the first time it was used so ….!

It was incredibly hot, so we walked through the old city to a square where we cooled off with a drink.  We then walked out of the city onto the quay where all the tourist boats depart from and looked at the ferry to the Island of Lokrum which we may do later.  An ice cream was our next mission to cool us further before tackling the long flight of steps out of the north gate to take us up to the cable car.

This was definitely on my wish list for Croatia.  To view Dubrovnik from above and to see it in context with the whole area, including our campsite.  The views were amazing, and I just kept beaming, I was so happy to be up there!  Geoff went off to visit the Museum of the Homeland War, which was in Fort Imperial, next to the Cable Car station.  In 1991, Dubrovnik was attacked and under siege.  The war was finally settled in 1995, but the old city suffered badly.

There is a panorama bar and restaurant at the top which is booked up months in advance, but we only wanted an aperitif, so enjoyed kir royale’s with a spectacular view across the mountains, but in the shade of a lovely umbrella!

Back to the campsite for supper, with a stunning sunset over the distant islands lingering for ages.

Day 33:  Monday 15^th April 2024

We thought yesterday was brilliant, but today ……. well it was in a different league!  Like Plitvice, we rank the walls of Dubrovnik high on the best ever list!

In all the books and guides we had read and through my online research, the advice was to go early to walk the walls, and very good advice it was.  We left Colin at 7 and were climbing up the first (very long) set of steps onto the wall at Pile Gate, 5 minutes after they opened at 8.  Whilst there were a few other early starters, we were fortunate to have a large part of our two and a quarter hour walk round to ourselves.  I lost count of the photos I took, every turn revealed another stunning vista and the morning light just added to the spectacle.

In addition to the views across the sea and up and down the walls, we were intrigued by the life which was being lived within the walls which was visible to onlookers.  A school with a basket ball court, washing hanging between the walls and peoples apartments, on pulleys.  Lovely gardens tucked away in little corners, including vegetable plots with potatoes!

Google showed that we walked up 29 flights, and 8000 steps in total, and there were indeed a lot of ups and downs, but we managed with a few stops in the shade to recover!

We had promised ourselves a belated breakfast and we found a great one overlooking the Lokrum ferry quay.  I had my first breakfast cocktail, a Bellini and Geoff managed to eat a full English, which I am sure Jonathan will not approve of!

We wandered up and down some of the alleyways off the main thoroughfare, took advantage of a couple of the museums included in our Dubrovnik pass and found another excellent viewing point of the exterior city walls on a breakwater beyond the harbour as the cloud and breeze increased. By 1pm we were fading fast, so caught the bus back to the campsite and chilled in the shade next to Colin for the rest of the afternoon.

No apologies for the plethora of photos of the walls!

Day 34:  Tuesday 16^th April 2024          

Cloudy morning, but still warm enough to sit out for breakfast.  We had chores to do this morning.  We were quite a long way from the services building, so we drove round to do the necessary tasks before enjoying a coffee in Colin.

We caught the bus into town, but got off a few stops before the city walls to walk in as we had noticed the walk took us past a wonderful viewing point high above the rocky coast, against which the sea was crashing this morning as it was very windy.

We had a walk around some streets we hadn’t visited yesterday.  We stopped briefly at a new exhibit which echoed the Homeland War museum which Geoff visited at the top of the Cable Car.  It was very moving, showing TV footage of the bombardment of the city and it seemed very real as we recall our very young family being so important in our lives from 1991 to 1995.

We continued and viewed the walls from the eastern side of the city before stopping off at the Arsenal bar for another Kir Royale, an aperitif for our lunch just outside the city walls, which was superb.

A walk was needed to burn off that lovely lunch but first we caught a bus out to a suburb, just for a ride and a nose at the area before disembarking near the Cruise port and then walking back along a very smart promenade. The Viking Star was in port today, and the increase in tourists walking around the centre was noticeable, particularly the groups following closed umbrellas!

A quick shop at a supermarket and then the bus back to the campsite, which was heaving and we only just managed to get on.  By this time it was raining quite hard, so we donned our pack a macks and headed straight for home and that much needed cuppa!

Day 35:  Wednesday 17^th April 2024

It had rained most of the night and was still raining this morning.  We watched the Viking Sea cruise past us while we enjoyed our morning tea, no rush to get up early.

We caught the bus down to the port and then another to the bus station where the #10 bus to Cavtat was due to depart at 11.00am.  We were pretty sure that our city bus passes were not valid on this but we asked anyway, 17 euros later, complete with our return tickets we boarded the bendy bus along with a Scottish couple who were doing the same as us, namely a day trip to Cavtat.

The ride was amazing, with stunning views back to Dubrovnik and for miles along this lovely rocky coastline.  Cavtat was a delightful small seaside resort fringing a pretty bay, with the requisite pale coloured stone promenade.  We stopped off for coffee and donuts first before walking its length and then around the promontory.  We stopped off at the Church and Monastery of the White Snow!  It was delightful inside, rustic but with some lovely painted walls.  

The views from this, glimpsed through attractive pines was very blue, with flecks of white from the waves.  It was nowhere near as windy as yesterday, but there was a considerable swell which resulted in the waves crashing over the rocks.  We sat for sometime on a rocky outcrop with several other people watching them, and enjoying some youngsters getting sprayed and thinking it was great fun!

We walked back to the bus stop which was next to the quay and a very well located bar where we enjoyed drinks before boarding the bus for the return journey.  The views were just as good in this direction!  For those that know, the schedule must have been designed by BJ!

Home to the campsite for our last night in Dubrovnik and a fabulous sunset, which bodes well for tomorrow.

WEEK SIX:  CROATIA

Day 36:  Thursday 18^th April 2024

We have stayed in Dubrovnik for 4 nights and practically settled in!  But today was moving day again, this time a new country … Montenegro.

We didn’t rush to leave but we were on the road before 10, navigating out of Dubrovnik and leaving via a road which wound its way above the city, giving fabulous views to say goodbye.  We probably wont come again, as the memory we have now is just perfect.

It was a windy start but sunshine all the way out of Croatia.  We stopped for fuel and provisions at Lidl and pressed on for the border, stopping only to grab our coffee in a layby on route.

The Croatian border was no problem at all, we only waited about 5 minutes, and we were driving down a hill past a sign welcoming us to Montenegro.  If we hadn’t talked to Jon about the experience we would have thought we had arrived, but about a mile down the road we hit a queue and waited in it for over 30 minutes.  I was a little apprehensive as we reached the passport man, as he had detained a French car for some time, during which they had to access more papers which he had in the boot.  However, when I gave him our passports, the man appeared delighted and stamped them immediately and gave them back with a smile!

The route to our campsite passed through Herceg Novi, which is near where Jon and Madz had a holiday in a very posh villa with fabulous views a few years ago.  We were staying in less grand surroundings (check out the photo of reception!), but with a lovely view over a river! As we approached our campsite the rain which had been threatening over the mountains finally started.  It was relentless for about an hour and the roads were soon full of huge puddles.  We arrived at Autocamp Naluka in the rain and pitched in the rain.  Geoff, who does all the outside jobs was soaked, I was exhausted as I had to put the kettle on!

After our cuppa, it stopped raining and, within a very short space of time, the sun was out, the sky was blue and the puddles seemed to miraculously disappear.  We had a walk along the edge of the bay and a drink in a very smart bar and restaurant just a stones throw from the site.

Looking forward to our bus day out tomorrow!

Day 37:  Friday 19^th  April 2024

Bus day today to Kotor.  Geoff had found a timetable on line and there was a different one in the reception, but both agreed on a 10.15am bus departing just across the road from the campsite so we planned on catching that.  Breakfast was enjoyed outside next to the river, albeit it was a little chilly, with ducks and moorhens for company.

The bus was hilarious!  Old and rickety with a museum piece of an Almex ticket machine (for those that know!).  We were the first to board and watched with growing amusement and concern as more and more people piled on the closer we got to Kotor.  The standing load must have been very close to its maximum (21 seated and 39 standing) by the time we reached the city. The journey to Kotor was all around the coastline of the Bay of Kotor, some of which we had driven when we arrived yesterday.  The views were amazing and we were particularly interested in two small islands in the middle, close to the village of Perast, which we really liked the look of, maybe worth a return visit one day.

After collecting a city map from the tourist booth, we went in through the main gate and were instantly impressed with the first square, and many alleys leading off it.  After Trogir, Split and Dubrovnik, we were used to such streetscapes, but this one had a different feel, more intimate and absolutely charming.  We had a coffee in another square, opposite the cathedral and then just wandered around choosing a direction we liked the look of.  We could have climbed up to the Fortress, another UNESCO site, which was improved by the Venetians between the 16^th and 17^thcenturies, but we couldn’t face the many uneven steps which that would have involved.  Instead we walked around the lower city walls.

We had lunch in one of the less busy squares and then spent a pleasant hour completing our wander around the city.  We headed out to the bus stop and a sign caught our eye advertising boat trips to Our Lady of the Rocks, which turned out to be one of the islands we had seen on the bus trip in.  It was also calling at Perast which we had liked so much, so we asked if we could get off there and Geoff did a deal!

The spontaneous trips always seem to turn out the best.  We had a fabulous speed boat ride from Kotor to the man made island, where we had a 20 minute wander to take photos and then the boat captain, who was very chatty, dropped us off in Perast!  Time for an ice cream before the next bus back to the campsite.  This should have been very straightforward, but the first bus which turned up wasn’t going to our village, however, the driver insisted we get on his bus and he took us part of the way, then we caught another back to the campsite – a real adventure and a brilliant day.

Day 38:  Saturday 20^th April 2024

Another day …. another country!

We have really enjoyed our very brief stay in Montenegro, but today it was time to move on to Bosnia Herzegovina.  A short distance from our campsite was a turning to a road which ran up out of the Bay of Kotor.  We had viewed it on the map and seen where it went when we were out on the water yesterday so decided to go that way to Mostar rather than the main road. 

What a fabulous decision, the views back across the bay were spectacular and the road, which was really good and wide, went through numerous tunnels before we eventually emerged the other side of the mountain range.  From there to the border and beyond to Trebinge, the scenery was incredible.  (I apologise for all the superlatives, I am almost boring myself, but honestly we were exclaiming to each other at every turn!).

We anticipated a long wait at the borders, plural, but as it turned out, we were behind 4 cars at the Montenegro border and none at the Bosnian.  We were asked to show our vehicle details to the Bosnian border control, as well as passports, but a quick glance at those and he waved us through! 

We drove around Trebinge, we had intended to stop briefly, but we wanted to get to Mostar asap so that we could walk around the city today.  We continued, across several high plains, all seemingly very fertile with acres of vineyards and even more stunning scenery, which we began to be a little blasé about and we eventually arrived at Camping Neretva at 2pm.

We were soon set up and after the usual cuppa, (has to be done) we walked into town, first to the railway station to buy a ticket for tomorrow and then on into the old town.  Our first impressions were not that encouraging, and sadly, for us, it didn’t really get much better.  The bridge was impressive, but it was surrounded on both sides with loads of tourist stalls, all selling pretty much the same things.  The most interesting thing was the road had been paved with pebbles, which were not easy to walk on but looked nice, and the 16th century mosque.

We saw some terrace cafes overlooking the bridge and decided to have a drink in one of those, well it was easier said than done, as the access was well hidden.  We were approached by a lady asking if we wanted to eat in her restaurant and we would normally say no thank you but she said it overlooked the bridge so we followed her.  Very glad that we did because we would never have found the way there ourselves!

We decided to take a taxi back to the campsite as we had already walked 10,000 steps!

Day 39:  Sunday 21^st  April 2024

We had to be up very early today as we were catching a train to Sarajevo at 6.36am.  We had booked a taxi but we were worried as to whether it would turn up so we started to walk up the long track from the campsite to the main road.  The taxi did turn up on time and I think the driver was rather offended that we had started to walk!

There are only 3 trains a day to Sarajevo and we thought it wouldn’t be busy on a Sunday at this time, how wrong we were.  The train was packed and we were lucky to get a seat on the right side of the train as advised by Seat 61 as having the best views.

Mostar station looked as though it was a film set for a war time drama.  It was old and neglected but fortunately the Spanish designed Talgo train was not.  We enjoyed the 2 hour journey, and the views were indeed worth seeing, with towering mountains and deep green river punctuated with dams and reservoirs.  As we neared Sarajevo we saw tall bridges high above us and realised that we were climbing in circles higher and higher, similar to a journey we had done in Switzerland, it was very impressive.

Impressive is not a word we would use to describe Sarajevo station.  If anything it was even worse than Mostar!  We had hoped to find a suitable café for breakfast but nothing was open.  We then went looking for a tram into the town centre but the front of the station was a building site as they were renewing the tram tracks. We followed others who seemed to be walking to the centre and eventually found a tram onto which we jumped, with no ticket!  We got off in the town and bought some tickets at a tabac, and then, quite by accident realised we were at the place where Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in 1914, which was the catalyst for the first world war.

By this time we were starving and still hadn’t found a café which was open at 9am on a Sunday morning.  Geoff had the idea to go into a hotel, the first said they didn’t serve non residents, but the second, the Hotel Europe, did and we had an excellent breakfast attended by an extremely helpful waiter who was trying out his English. 

We had several more tram trips, including to the end of the line to a place called Ilidza, which was less than inspiring and by the time we returned to the city we were very cold.  The trams were all old, in pretty poor condition, with absolutely no heating!  The temperature was only 7^oC, which was 22 degrees colder than it had been in Dubrovnik just a few days ago!

We had covered a lot of the city and its sights today, but we both felt that we needed to connect with recent history and learn how those who lived here had coped with the war which we recall watching on our TV screens in the nineties.  We visited the Museum of the Siege of Sarajevo, which focused on personal stories of those who lived through it, which was very moving.

We made our way back to the station to catch the train back to Mostar at 4.46pm and were surprised again to see hordes of people waiting to board the train which was waiting on the platform with doors locked.  As soon as they were opened, they piled on, no respect for queues in this part of the world!  We were disappointed not to get as good a seat as this morning, but at least we had one.  Lots of people had to stand all the way back to Mostar.

Our view of Sarajevo – we would not return.

Day 40:  Monday 22^nd April 2024

We have enjoyed our time in Montenegro and Bosnia, it has been an adventure, although short and sweet, but we were looking forward to getting back to the sea and to much warmer weather.

Our journey was scenic, following the Neretva river all the way to the sea.  We expected delays at the border again as this was a fairly major road from Mostar, but we sailed through with no wait at all!  The first town in Croatia we came across had a Lidl so we stocked up and then joined the coastal route #8 again at the huge plain littered with orange trees, then had coffee in a layby overlooking the the plain. 

We drove over the impressive Peljeski bridge onto the island of Peljeski and continued to the town of Orebic and Nevio Camping through beautiful blue coastal scenery on either side of the island.

The campsite was excellent with shady pitches arranged on terraces.  We had to choose a pitch, which always presents us with a problem, but we settled on a large one with a great view over the sea.  It took a fair bit of maneuvering to get on to the pitch as I had to reverse a long way, but at least we are facing the right way to leave easily!

After the usual cuppa and a sandwich, we had chats with Jenni and Sue.  Then our neighbours, arrived back on their bikes, we recognised them from the Dubrovnik site, a couple from Lucerne in Switzerland.

We decided to walk into the town and the ferry port.  It was a steepish hill down to the sea but then a lovely walk along the coast to the port.  The views were spectacular and we were really lucky to see it all in such good weather today, the forecast for the next few days is not so good.

Having checked out both the vehicle and a separate passenger ferry, we stopped off at a restaurant overlooking the ferry queue and the harbour beyond.  Our intention was just to have a drink, but the sun was shining on us and the warmth and ambience encouraged us to stay for supper!  Geoff obviously gave the waiter too big a tip because he gave him a complementary shot glass of Grappa!

Day 41:  Tuesday 23^rd  April 2024

We woke to sunshine pouring into the van, with a blue sea all along the side of us!  We had breakfast alfresco, and had a nice chat with our Swiss neighbours, who were heading off to Makarska today, before setting off on our bikes into Orebic.  We whizzed down the hill and were at the port in just a few minutes and it had taken over half an hour to walk yesterday!

We locked the bikes up and had a coffee in a café overlooking the ferry.  It was due to depart at 11.30am for Korcula and suddenly loads of people were queuing in front of us!  We had bought tickets online, but lots were buying tickets onboard, fortunately ours were cheaper!

The boat trip was fun, and we were lucky with the weather as the forecast had predicated rain, but it actually stayed dry all day save for a few spots when we boarded the ferry to come back.

Our arrival in Korcula town saw the walled city, sited on a promontory with walls all around was very impressive.  We started our exploration with a trip to the tourist information office to pick up a street map and ask her recommendation for the best route around.  She suggested we visit the new Marco Polo Centre, situated next to the cathedral in the middle of the town.  We climbed up the Marco Polo tower and had a great view of the town and of the cathedral.  The centre itself was well presented and the town claimed that the Polo family lived there even though Marco Polo was born in Venice.

We walked around the perimeter of the town walls, which took about 10 minutes it was so small, and we found a café to have lunch and watch the world go by.  The ferry back to Orebic was at 3.10pm and we cycled back up the hill to Colin nearly as quickly as we had cycled down – thank goodness for electric bikes!

Day 42:  Wednesday 24^th April 2024

Domestic day today, which coincided with heavy rain.  We woke to sunshine and started to have our breakfast outside but had to scuttle back inside as the heavens opened.

Nothing much to say, and no photos to speak of, but more activity planned tomorrow!

P.S: An evening walk down to the beach below our campsite, gave us some extra views for today.

WEEK SEVEN:  CROATIA

Day 43:  Thursday 25^th April 2024

We were up and away from this lovely campsite by 9.15am.   We had felt some pressure from our German neighbours as they clearly wanted to move on to our pitch with their caravan and two yappy dogs when we had left.  We had come back to find them wandering around it yesterday and they asked us when we were leaving!

We had a ferry to catch at 12.30pm from Makarska to Sumartin on the island of Brac.  Google said it would take 2 hours to get to the port, so we had plenty of time or so we thought.  I drove back to Peljeski bridge, stopping briefly to take more farewell photos of Orebic and Korcula island, it looked amazing in the morning sunshine.  We had coffee at the bridge and then a little further on stopped for fuel and a quick shop, then I checked google maps again and was shocked to see that it would take just over an hour to get to Makarska and it was 11.20!  Geoff drove expertly along the coastal road, exceeding the speed limits, and we only just made it, with 7 minutes to spare! 

Makarsa looked lovely, especially in the sunshine.  I would have loved to have had time for a look around, but maybe another time.  The ferry was much smaller than I expected and Colin looked very big inside it.  The crossing was excellent with views everywhere we looked, including of rain squalls in the distance.  We disembarked and drove a short distance from the quay where we stopped for lunch before continuing to Boutique Bunga campsite.  Geoff wanted to follow a scenic route, contrary to Google maps and our sat nav’s advice.  It involved a twisty road full of hair pin bends to Pucisca, then along the coast, on an equally twisty road full of more hair pin bends.  It was great fun, if a little hairy in places.

We arrived at the site, which seemed almost brand new to us, with excellent facilities.  I had booked online, and everything was ready for us when we arrived, and we were allocated a really good pitch with a great view and pretty much all day sunshine, if it shines that is.

We settled in and had a wander around, good decision to stay here, we will explore further tomorrow.  The location of this site, on the north of Brac island, gives us a wonderful sunset view as well as breakfast sun, well at least we think so regards the latter, will confirm in the morning!  As you can see from the photo, the sunset was fabulous.

Day 44:  Friday 26^th April 2024

Beautiful morning, with the sun shining on the water and right next to Colin, but too cold to sit out today.

We cycled into Supeter, and found the bus station, next to the ferry port.  The Split ferry was in and unloading, so it was very busy.  We locked the bikes up and fastened them to a tree before buying our bus tickets from the office at the bus station.  We were going to buy them via the Arriva App, but the office had a special offer on which was much cheaper!

We boarded the bus to Bol, a very smart, new Setra.  Bol was located on the south side of the island so we enjoyed the ride, along with a full bus of locals, which took us high above Supeter with fab views across to the Croatian mainland, then over the top of the island and down to Bol, with fab views across to Hvar island.  We left the north side in brilliant warm sunshine but arrived in cool rain! 

First port of call was a coffee, inside to keep warm and dry, then we decided to walk in the direction of Zlatni rat, also known as Golden Horn Beach, which is a natural spit made up of small pebbles.  Unfortunately the rain and wind changed our minds so we decided to visit a winery instead!

The wine cellar Bol was the production site of Stina wine, built in 1903.  It was a large warehouse type building right on the promenade which had been beautifully restored and renovated.  There was a private tour within the main building, but we were able to sit in the bar and enjoy a glass each, and had a chat with the wine waiter who was very informative, confirming that the vines we had passed above the town were those producing these wines.

We had spotted a Taverna earlier so decided to go there for lunch.  When we walked in we were surprised to see our wine waiter having his lunch, along with a group of locals.  We thought this was a good sign and so it proved to be.  They were all having the dish of the day, which we didn’t fancy, but our meals were the best we have had on this trip so far!

Back on the bus to Supeter, and we were surprised to find that the bus followed a different route from the outward journey, following the route we drove yesterday down the windy roads with hair pin bends, we were jolly glad we didn’t come across a bus when we did it.  The difference today was that we could enjoy the views without worrying about what was coming around the next bend!

We had an hour or so in Supeter when we returned and it was a delight, with a lovely harbour area in which cars were banned and a pathway all around the bay.  By this time the wind was getting up so we cycled back to Colin.  All in all, a great day out.

Day 45:  Saturday 27^th April 2024

We had to be up and away very early this morning as we were booked on the 7.45am ferry from Supeter to Split.  It was a lovely morning and we joined the queue with not very many others, but not for long.  It was a huge Jadrolinija car ferry and this one had a café, so we were able to have coffee and Geoff had bought croissants from a bakery next to the ferry queue, so we breakfasted in style!

The journey was short, arriving in Split alongside 2 huge cruise ships, and the views were amazing. Sadly we have become quite blasé about them, but they are etched in our memory and on thousands of photos to remember in years to come. We had decided to use the motorway north to Zadar to speed up this part of the journey.  It was a toll road, but worth every penny, not just for the fact that it saved us a lot of time, but the views on top of the mountains were excellent. 

We retraced our route south from Zadar to Karlobag on route 8, the coast road.  If anyone is planning a trip out here, drive route 8 north to south, it really is a treat.  We knew we had a bit more time today and as we drove down the hill towards the port I was dismayed to see the ferry speeding away from the port.  When we got to the ferry parking area, there were lots of cars there and it turned out the ferry left early as it was full.  The ticket man said that it would be back soon, schedules appear to have gone out the window today as they were so busy.  We discovered later that it was school holidays in Slovenia and Poland, and they are all staying in our campsite!

We boarded the next ferry and had a short trip across to Rab. This is our sixth island and is a change to our planned itinerary, and from what we have seen already, that was another great decision.  When we disembarked, we headed to a supermarket to stock up on a few essentials before checking in to the campsite.  It was a large site, but with a great ACSI discount.  We are benefiting from the fact that all these families are on holiday as the whole site is now open for the summer.

After setting up, me reading and Geoff listening to Newcastle win 5-1, we walked around the site and onto  the beach which is part of the campsite. There were a couple of loungers on the beach and we had a lie on them and soaked up the remains of the sun and watched the world go by.  David rang and we caught up on his holiday news, he is in Switzerland.

Day 46:  Sunday 28^th April 2024

Leisurely morning for us, but we were still around the first in our area of the campsite to emerge from our van!  There was a lot of noise last night and we think Slovenians and Polish like to party late and sleep late!

We decided to walk into Rab old town this morning rather than use the bikes as there are hundreds of bikes around and we figured they would be more of a hassle than not.  It was a lovely walk, with glimpses of the old town around each curve in the path teasing us along the way.  The photos show the weather we were blessed with today, and that, as in other towns we have visited, just enhanced the impression.

We had a coffee just inside the old town before walking all around, up onto the walls above the sea and the many Churches, including a so called monastery, which was actually a convent.  We stood outside listening to the Nuns singling, which was lovely.

Our plans for supper were to cook at home, but the campsite receptionist had told us about a fish restaurant ,called Sanpjer, on the harbour front. It was full of locals including many in traditional dress, and it looked so good we decided to treat ourselves.  We walked back around the coastal path, which was concrete, encouraging all the cyclists to ride by at top speed.

Back at the campsite we dozed in the sunshine, aided by the lunch time wine, and then had a lovely long chat with Jenni.  A new caravan arrived opposite us from Slovenia and I enjoyed watching them pitch and set up – it took hours!

As sunset approached we decided to walk along the coast in the other direction to enjoy it, and it was a corker … this really is a lovely place.

Day 47:  Monday 29^th April 2024

Our ferry to our next island wasn’t due to leave till 4.00pm, so we had a lot of time to do chores, wash Colin and generally complete usual domestic duties.

We have liked this site, especially its proximity to the sea and to Rab, but it has been very noisy in the evenings.  A German lady, travelling on her own and camping in a tent had a chat with us this morning and she was leaving because it was so noisy at night, she said it sounded a lot worse from inside a tent!

We only had a 16 minute journey to the ferry at Lopar, so took our time, stopping first at a supermarket and then in a shady layby to bobby dazzle Colin and take in the most glorious view across the islands to the south west of Rab island.  We think these will be the signature photos of this holiday.

We were first in the queue at the ferry, only one and a half hours early, a little different to our escapade at Makarska!  It was very hot, and we managed to create a breeze in the van by opening windows.  We passed the time by wandering around and chatting with a German man who we had first met at the campsite on Brac.  He had been to Pag island and was continuing to Cres, rather than staying on Krk island like us, but he recommended one of two campsites we were interested in.

The ferry trip was lovely, very warm, but with a nice breeze and 360 degree drop dead gorgeous views.  We were first on so were first off the ferry, and straight up the hill and on our way to Krk.  We found the campsite, Jezevac Camping, easily and the reception was efficient and we were checked in quickly.  We were allocated a pitch and it was a long drive through a very full and huge site.  The pitch was good, but right next to a games area and there are a lot of kids here.  Not sure this was a good choice, but the plus side is that we are very close to the old city.

After supper we had a walk around the site and on the beach, with views of the sunset and Krk town, bathed in the evening sun.  The site is absolutely heaving with motorhomes, campers and caravans, including a British caravan with an Oxford caravans hitch cover!  We are very glad we are only staying two nights and will be out all day tomorrow.

Day 48:  Tuesday 30^th April 2024

The noisy kids who didn’t stop making a noise till very late last night were replaced by the noisy workmen on a new apartment building near the campsite!  It didn’t stop us breakfasting outside though and today promised to be the hottest yet.

We were determined to make the most of our day here, so walked around the coast into the old town of Krk, our first mission being to find the bus station.  This done, and a bus ticket sorted, we then went in search of coffee …. in the shade.  This turned out to be the mantra for the day.  A walk into town in search of a pharmacist sent us scurrying into a park to cool down, and it was only 10.00am.

Whilst we wanted to see the old town, Geoff had also found reference in our guide book to the coastal town of Baska, on the south east part of the island.  The bus left at 11 and we were accompanied by several locals who had done their shopping in the main town.  The route was amazing, driving first to Punat, on the shore of a large circular inlet  with a massive marina, full of up market sailing boats for hire.  The route then drove over the top of the island, affording fabulous views to Cres in one direction, Rab in another and the mainland, back towards Camp Leso, our very first campsite in Croatia, a month ago now.

Baska was a delight, reminding us of St Ives, because of the narrow streets behind the wide promenade, and of a Breton resort from the sea front.  We had to walk down into the town from the bus stop, and we searched for shade and then for a café for a cold drink.  We hadn’t intended to eat out again today, but it was a case of needing a shady place to pass the time and a table with a view and a lovely shady spot just couldn’t be turned down!

We returned to Krk on the air conditioned bus in the afternoon (it showed a temperature of 28 degrees outside) and wandered around the old town, which had a very different feel to the other walled towns we have seen on this trip.   We walked back to Colin and dozed off after 7 hours exploring and a couple of large glasses of wine – another really good day.

Day 49:  Wednesday 1^st May 2024

We have spent 9 days island hopping from Korcula in the south to Rab in the north and today, our last island is Cres, albeit only for a couple of hours.

We left Krk site just after 8am, intending to have our breakfast on Cres island after the ferry crossing.  We should have learnt by now that best intentions with regards to ferries have never worked out for us this holiday, and so it was that we got to the ferry queue in plenty of time for the 9.15am crossing, but so had a load of other people!  We were a long way back when we saw the ferry fill up and leave us all on the quay watching and waving!  We decided to have our breakfast while we were sat there, lamenting that if it was one of our buses we would have put a dup on, when I suddenly noticed that cars were moving, and they had indeed allocated the Lopar ferry as a dup!  We bundled our breakfast things into the sink and jumped into the driving seat.  Amazingly, they got everyone on, by utilising an underground deck for cars. 

We enjoyed a fabulous crossing under blue sky and warm sunshine.  The drive across Cress was excellent, if a little scary at times.  We set off from the ferry on an excellent road, but part way across the island the road narrowed onto what must have been the old road, with a nasty drop off the edge!  Further on we stopped at the highest point and had great views across to Krk island on one side and to Rijeka to the north and to Istria in the west.  Incidentally it is exactly one month ago that we drove into Croatia and around Rijeka for the first time, when I was so disappointed with the colour of the sea!

About 5 miles from Porzina ferry port, the narrow road stopped and a new road in the making began.  It was a gravel road, not unlike those we used in Australia, and similar to one we drove on in Norway.  We had to negotiate around the workers, and clouds of dust enveloped us as they went past.  We were glad to get off that and back onto the completed road shortly before the ferry queue.  Lots of people were running by us to buy their tickets, but we had bought ours online, which made life so much easier.

Another restful and relaxing ferry trip before disembarking in Istria and climbing a steep hill to the main road south to Pula.  It was only just over an hour to our campsite, Arena Stoga.  Check in was easy except we were sent off to choose a pitch, but we found one we liked quite quickly and we have views over the sea from 3 windows, and have shade and privacy – win!

After a cuppa, we had a walk around the site, which is huge, but fortunately we did not find a better pitch, even though some had fabulous views.  We know what the weather forecast is over the next few days, and the increase in wind, just while we were walking round, heralded the arrival of the rain, so we feel a sheltered spot is a better bet.

To summarise, the 8 islands we have visited were:  Ugljan, Pasman, Peljeski, Korcula, Brac, Rab, Krk and Cres.

WEEK EIGHT:  CROATIA TO ITALY

Day 50:  Thursday 2^nd May 2024

We woke to a lovely sunny morning, but a little cooler than we had become used to.  After breakfast inside, we walked down to the bus stop and caught the #1 bus to the bus station.  We had bought tickets online and the scanner worked on the bus thank goodness! The bus station, like others we have seen across Croatia, was a bit run down, but we managed to buy some tickets to Rovinj for Saturday.  We are fortunate that we can connect with this using the bus from the campsite.

We walked to the principal attraction of Pula, namely the Arena, a huge oval amphitheatre.  Built in the first century AD, this is the sixth largest surviving Roman Amphitheatre, accommodating 22,000 spectators.  We went and sat on the top floor of the seating area, taking in the size and splendour of the building before exploring the cavernous rooms underneath which were used for keeping wild animals.  We had a lovely chat with Jenni so we could show off our surroundings!

After a welcome coffee, we visited the Zerostrasse, a series of underground tunnels, beneath the fortress (which was built by the Venetians). The tunnels were constructed before the first world war as Pula was the main naval base for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  It contained an exhibition of Pula Trams which were introduced in 1903, sadly no more.  There was a lift to the fortress and we walked around the top which gave fabulous views of the city including the aforementioned Arena.  We were chuffed because we got a senior rate, first time on this holiday!

When we emerged from the tunnels it was raining.  This wasn’t a surprise, and we were well prepared with our pac-a-macs.  We wandered around some of the shopping streets, taking in the market both covered and outdoor, with a large number of stalls selling olive oil, for which Istria is famous, as it was in Roman times, when large amounts were shipped from here back to Italy.

We returned to Colin for a lazy afternoon while the rain got heavier.  By early evening it stopped and we were blessed with a lovely sunset which we could watch from the comfort, and warmth of our van.

Day 51:  Friday 3^rd May 2024

Not a lot to report today.  We have had a domestic day, and stayed close to home.  We felt we needed a rest after hopping on and off all those islands!

You wouldn’t think that washing could be very interesting, well it is in our life!  We both went and loaded up a washing machine, inserted the appropriate number of euros into the money machine and pressed all the relevant buttons – so, you may ask, how could this then become a drama?  Well, Geoff decided to insert a 20 euro note into said money machine, assuming he would be given 20 coins.  Afraid not, the money machine kept the money as credit, and we were not ready to use the tumble dryer, so on the face of it, we had lost our money.  Now Geoff is not one to take the loss of 20 euros without some sort of argument, so he rang the number on the machine to report our experience and a very nice young man with impeccable English said he would give us our money back!

Washing and drying done, we cycled to a nearby shopping centre to do some essential supermarket shopping, just a few things as we were carrying them home in our rucksacks.  Then, after a video call with Sue, we went off again and explored the area around the campsite, which looked to be the route of the trams, the history of which we saw yesterday in the tunnels.

As I didn’t take many photos today, I have included a couple of photos of the trams from 1903 which I took in the exhibition yesterday and a couple of the flower market.

Day 52:  Saturday 4^th May 2024

We had a great day planned today so we were keen to get on, albeit we didn’t need to catch the local bus to the bus station until 10.30am.  We were going to visit Rovinj taking advantage of the long distance bus to Zagreb, which stopped first at Rovinj.

There was an initial concern at the bus station as the bus was filling fast and people started talking about reserved seats.  We checked our receipt to discover we had reserved seats 5 and 6, and we hadn’t realised it!  We were in 31 and 32 so kept our heads down and fortunately no one challenged us as we couldn’t face changing!

The journey was fairly boring, but the destination was anything but.  Rovinj was stunning from the off.  We walked down to the harbour, visible from the bus station, and then around the coast towards the old town which was sited, as with many other Croatian old towns, on a promontory.  It was very picturesque and lots of others thought so too as the waterfront was very busy.  The weather was clear and sunny when we arrived but it clouded over a little as the day wore on.  We walked around the edge of the town and then walked up to the Cathedral, with its 58m high tower, modeled on St Marks in Venice.

We walked back from this high point, down steep stepped streets and alleyways which were quite charming, but very busy with German voices dominant.  We found a harbourside restaurant where we stopped for a light lunch before wending our way back to the bus station for our journey home.  The buses were either 3.00pm or 8.00pm, so we plumped for the first!  Back to Pula to change immediately onto the local bus back to the campsite for one last ice cream in Croatia.

We have been in Croatia for 30 days, plus the detour into Bosnia and Montenegro.  It has surpassed our expectations in terms of coastal scenery and historic towns and we are so pleased that we have been able to see all that we have seen.  We have another three and a half weeks to travel back to the UK, and those days are planned to be just as scenic, we are loving every minute!

PS: The first pic, top left, is of a Church in Pula on our bus route which has seen better days. It looked like it should have been in Florence, with the ‘wedding cake’ styling, and we had seen it in some of the old tram photos in the exhibition yesterday.

Day 53:  Sunday 5^th May 2024

There was a lot of activity around us early this morning as several vans left before we had our breakfast.  We were much more leisurely leaving the campsite just before 10am when no one else seemed to be doing so, therefore no queuing!  We had an easy run out of Pula, it being a Sunday.  I have included a photo of the poppy sculpture roundabout which we passed several times on the bus.

We avoided the motorway and stuck to the ordinary main roads out of Croatia and through Slovenia.  Istria is olive oil country and there were lots of vineyard type oil producing outlets, but they were all closed today!    Our road passed close by the Lymski canal, a turquoise fjord, technically a ria.  We stopped briefly for Geoff to take a photo from a large tower erected for that purpose.  Apparently, it was a base for pirates, particularly the well-known Captain Morgan!

We stopped for coffee at a viewpoint overlooking the hilltop town of Motovun.  Coincidentally I had been reading about some motorhomers who had camped there this week and said how lovely it was.  I waited ages to try and catch it with the sun on it, but no luck!

The border area was very busy, no checks at all, but a large volume of traffic which caused us some delay.  We decided to give Trieste a miss altogether and used the motorway, which wasn’t toll paying.  An interesting turnoff showed a town called Prosecco ….. we nearly turned right!

After stopping at Lidl for provisions (they stay open on a Sunday in Italy) we arrived at our campsite, Camping Aquileia.  This had been recommended by someone on Facebook as being well located for the Roman archeological ruins. 

After settling in we went exploring and were very impressed with the scale of what we found.  Aquileia was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, founded in 181 BC.  According to a guidebook, it was one of the liveliest communities of early Latin Christianity and one of the most important ancient ports of the Adriatic, this concurs with what we read in the exhibition in Pula Arena.

Geoff had a look around the Archeological Museum while I just soaked up the atmosphere, which was very peaceful, despite the busy road which took cars south to Grado, more of this tomorrow. Back to Colin for supper in the fading sun, with views of the mountains to the southeast of us in Croatia.

Day 54:  Monday 6^th May 2024

We were really looking forward to today, a cycle day!

After breakfasting outside we set off on our bikes down an excellent bike trail which was the route of a former railway line.  It was very well maintained with a white line in the middle.  It was 10km to Grado, an island joined to the mainland by a causeway, which is clearly a very popular seaside destination.  The cycle path ran alongside the road across the causeway, which was nearly 5km. It was a fabulous ride, on the flat with a fair head wind, which increased as we got closer to the sea.  We loved it and kept exclaiming so for the duration!

Our first requirement on reaching Grado, was a coffee, this was situated alongside a harbour which itself was at the end of a long canal.  We cycled along the canal which was full of moored fishing boats, all piled high with nets and boxes for fish.  Further on we joined a promenade path, there were signs for no cycles, but everyone else seemed to ignore them so we joined them!  We had a great view of the beach, which was littered with regimented parasols and loungers, in the process of being laid out for this season – not our cup of tea at all!

We parked our bikes next to some more Roman ruins, and wandered into the old town with its Basilica, Santa Eufemia and narrow streets flanked by modern shopping streets and restaurants, loads and loads of restaurants, all empty and fully laid up expecting lots of customers.  We weren’t looking for lunch today, just a snack and we found a nice-looking café in rather a grand building which did the job.

We headed back to Aquileia, with the wind behind us this time, and stopped off at Titus Macer’s house.  We had seen this yesterday and decided to buy tickets to view it properly.  It was a huge space, with easily identifiable rooms with very impressive and detailed mosaic floors.  A leaflet showed an artists impression of what it would have looked like and it was amazing, Mr Macer must have been a very rich man!

Back to the campsite and just in time, within minutes of us arriving back it started to rain, which wasn’t forecast, how lucky are we!

PS:  We checked our cycle apps and we had done 20 miles!

Day 55:  Tuesday 7^th May 2024

Moving on day, and we were excited today, despite the rain, to be going to Venice.  On the recommendation of the motorhomers we met in Pula, we are going to try out the campsite at Fusina, which has a waterbus stop taking you directly to Venice in 20 minutes. We left in rain and it got heavier as we travelled.  We stopped en route for more provisions at a Euro Spar.  I didn’t think we wanted much, but the shop was amazing, with a huge variety of top quality produce, so we bought rather more than we intended. 

After a brief coffee stop we headed on to Venice, avoiding the motorway.  Even though I was watching Google maps closely we went wrong a couple of times as the road network was very confusing.  We nearly ended up driving over the causeway to Venice which would have cost a fortune, I just spied the turning in time!

The long road to the campsite was through an old industrial area, and was very run down and quite depressing.  The campsite is large and well equipped, but it too has a rather tired feeling.  All of the seafront pitches had been booked for some time, and the remaining 300 or so pitches were not marked, basically it was a free for all, which does not really suit us, but needs must!  We do have a view of Venice, albeit through a gap in the campers, that might disappear as time goes on!

After setting up we headed off for a reconnoiter of the area, taking advantage of the cheaper washing machines and driers for a towel wash.  We were in a quandry as to what sort of transport tickets to buy and finally decided on two 2 day tickets for the city area, plus 4 return tickets on the #16 waterbus.  Whilst we have bought the 2 day tickets on our app, we have to buy the others from the campsite office on the day we use them.

The weather forecast is showing that the next two days are sunny, but we will wait and see, keeping our fingers crossed.  The sun actually came out in the evening and we had a walk around the edge of the site.  We were watching a large container ship when Jonathan rang, so we had a lovely chat with him while we watched it sail past.

Day 56:  Wednesday 8^th May 2024

Warning:  very long post!

I was awake very early this morning to the sound of ships, great big ships, sailing past the campsite either going to or leaving from the port of Venice.  It was quite fun to lie in bed with my cup of tea watching them through the front window!

We caught the 10.00am waterbus to Venice.  We were early at the stop because I thought it might be busy and I wasn’t wrong.  In the same way that we had learnt that queueing didn’t seem to be the custom in Croatia, it certainly wasn’t here either, and despite the fact that we were among the first to arrive at the stop, we were certainly not the first to board!

It was a 20 minute ride to Zattere and from there we walked around the edge of the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute to view the Grand Canal emerging into the Lagoon with St Marks and the Doges Palace in the background.  Everywhere was a flurry of activity with water buses, taxis and commercial working boats seemingly driving in a very haphazard fashion!  We boarded a number 1 waterbus to the station, all the way up the Grand Canal.  We sat at the back and had a great view of the many very ornate buildings flanking the canal, as well as the multitude of  bridges.

We had visited Venice, we think in 1998, for our 15^th wedding anniversary.  That was in March, and we recall fairly good weather, we remember sitting outside to eat at lunchtime, but we do not recall hordes of people.  Well that was a bit of a shock today.  Outside the station, the pavements were heaving with people, lots with wheelie suitcases.  We spied the hotel we had stayed in across the canal, called Antiche Figure, so we decided to have our coffee sitting outside that and watching the frenetic world go by.

From there we walked first to the bus station, just so we could take a photo of the gleaming smart maroon tram, then caught the 5.2 waterbus to St Alvise in the Cannaregio area of the city.  We were 2 of 3 people who got off here and when the boat had gone, we looked around and we couldn’t see anyone else.  Geoff had found a ‘secret Venice’ blog online and this area was described as the least touristy, but we loved it!  We saw washing hanging out over the alleyways, childrens bikes leaning against walls and the canals were quiet.  We walked a while, thinking it must be time for some lunch and came around a corner to find the Osteria Ladroni, with just five tables alongside the canal it was a perfect lunch stop.

We found a few more ‘secret Venice’ treats, a Spar supermarket in an old theatre complete with frescos and marble, the last bridge without a parapet, the Ponte Chiodo, and the absolute best tip, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a luxury shopping mall inside a historical palace.  There is a story to tell about the latter, we knew that you had to book a slot to access the roof terrace, but when we had tried to do so it had not worked, so we played dumb and went and asked if we could go but were refused.  On our way back downstairs I saw some perfume I had intended to buy on the return ferry to the UK and it was pretty much the same price.  As I was paying, Geoff asked if that entitled us to access the roof terrace and the young man who served us, who spoke excellent English, said he would arrange that for us!  We had exclusive access to the terrace ahead of a queue of people, and we could not believe our luck!  The views were incredible, as the palace was sited right next to the Rialto Bridge on a bend in the canal.

After this, what we needed was a celebratory drink!  We caught a waterbus down to St Marks square, stopped briefly in a beautiful restored garden, the Giardini Reali, before tackling the square.  This was a real disappointment for us.  The Basilica di San Marco, the Piazza San Marco, and the Campanile are all amazing buildings, but the volume of people and the number of souvenir stalls seemed to spoil it somehow.  We remembered enjoying a prosecco in the square itself some 25 years ago, but we opted for a Bellini in a café overlooking the palace, with some live music, which was very relaxing.

We made our way back to the campsite ferry, catching it with just a minute or two to spare before it departed!  All in all, another fabulous day.

WEEK NINE: ITALY

Day 57:  Thursday 9^th May 2024

It was a lovely morning and we were greeted with the arrival of a cruise ship passing in front of us whilst we were having our tea in bed! 

We knew the drill today for the boat to Venice.  We were near the front of the crowd who boarded, rather than in a queue.  Our first waterbus was the 5.2 from Zettare all the way around the western side of Venice to Fondamente Nova, which was the main departure pontoon for Murano.  Well, the boat we were on was full and the queue for the Murano boat snaked for several hundred metres in each direction along the quay.  My heart sank, we had planned an island hopping day onto Murano and Burano, but so, it would seem had a thousand or more others.  We had no alternative but to wait, we really didn’t want to give up on our plans.  It took an hour to get onto the boat and we were jammed on, goodness only knows what health and safety regulations were being broken, or even if they had them!

We got off at the first stop on the island and wandered up and down the canals.  Murano is best known for its glass making, and the shops selling the glass lined the canals.  The number of people really put me off, so we decided to go to Burano straight away, until that is we saw the queue!  Sustenance was required to tackle another queue so we found a nice little restaurant where a couple of glasses of wine, oysters and fish revived us.

Burano was most definitely worth the queue and the long boat trip. We got off on the island of Mazzorbo and walked around the edge and over a bridge onto Burano.  The views of the brightly coloured houses and the narrow but picturesque canals were charming and we wandered around taking in all the sights and sounds.  We were pleased to discover quiet corners, but had to return to the melee to catch the boat back to San Marco.

On this boat I found a seat and Geoff stood by me, but a man gave up his seat and insisted Geoff sit down with me.  Geoff was quite affronted that he looked that old, but I told him to make the most of it, those seats were very welcome!

By this time we had started to become aware of a lot of security activity, helicopters and police launches, and walking back to St Marks Square we saw a sign for the G7 Justice Ministers meeting.  Apparently they were all having a photocall in the square as we were walking to catch our waterbus.  At the time, I was appalled by the crowds, much worse than yesterday in the same area, didn’t stop me taking a photo of the Bridge of Sighs.

We got back to Colin, tired and ready for a drink which we enjoyed outside with our own personal view of Venice in the sunshine, through the gaps between motorhomes, campers and tents!  Some Dutch neighbours who were camping, came and had a long chat with us about leaving in the morning and we ended up talking for ages about travelling and our respective families.

Day 58:  Friday 10^th May 2024

We decided to have breakfast outside today with a last lingering look at Venice in the distance.  When we opened our door, we nearly fell over the Germans who were breakfasting right outside, had we put our awning up they would have been sat underneath it they were that close!  We ended up sat in front of Colin, which gave us a better view in the sunshine.

We left Camping Fusina, glad to get away really, about 10.30 after another German asked if we were having a holiday emptying our water as it took so long!  The site was far too busy for us and too cramped, we are hoping for better when we get to our next nights stop.  We headed north, stopping for fuel and shopping and avoiding the motorway.  We prefer to tootle through the towns and see how the Italians live.  All across the plain was built up so it was a pleasure to get to the edge of the mountains because the scenery improved and there was a lot more green.  The views of villages, mountains, rivers and lakes were amazing, and we were oohing and ahhing at every turn (not sure if that’s how you spell that).  We followed the route of the motorway, which towered above us, but we had a grand view of that and the mountains, still with snow on the tops.

We stopped for a late lunch in a lovely spot with a superb 360 degree view.  The grass was a bright new green and very lush, adding to the alpine flavour which grew as we got closer to Cortina d’Ampezzo, and our campsite for two nights, the International Olympic campsite.  (By the way, the Winter Olympics they refer to were in 1956!) I had been a little concerned about this one, thinking the access might be restricted, but it was fine and we were delighted to see that there were only a few vans here overall, but we are the biggest by far (Geoff says that has a lot to do with the fact that there is a 3.5 ton weight limit on a bridge).  Most are VW’s, like Colin II, and they are owned by keen outdoorsy types, like we are not!

Having said that, we love the site, it is getting busier as I type, but there is so much space and trees and a beautiful turquoise river running by, not to mention the mountains towering above us all around.  We had a walk around before supper and the facilities are excellent, even had a book swap but sadly no English books.

I must say that I do feel the odd ones out here, we intend to do a bus walk tomorrow, not don hiking boots and rucksacks or set out in lycra on our bikes! Probably the main reason is that we are considerably older than everyone else here!

Day 59:  Saturday 11^th May 2024

Today was most certainly a day of two halves!  We started with the intention of doing a walk from the campsite to Cortina and then catching the bus back, but on checking the weather forecast, we decided to leave today to see what we could of the Dolomites while the weather was so good.

We left by 10am and headed north to Dobbiaco Toblach, through amazing scenery, in every direction were snow topped mountains, turquoise rivers and dense woodland.  It became busier the further north we drove with a continuous stream of cars coming in the opposite direction as well as cyclists on a very smart cycle trail.  We continued on a route recommended by some Motorhomers which we had seen on line, and enjoyed what turned out to be wide alpine meadows and stunning rivers.

We were torn at this stage as to what to do.  We had thought to stay on another site in the Dolomite area, but again the weather forecast came into play and we decided we would like to see Lake Garda in the sun, so we made a mental note to return to the Dolomites one day, and then pressed on to Limone sul Garda and the next ACSI campsite.

The approach to Riva del Garda and then along the edge of the lake to Limone was amazing, the lake was a stunning blue and I have never seen so many kite surfers, wind surfers, kayakers, sailing boats, ribs and other speed boats, it was a hive of activity.  The road however was a nightmare!  Geoff was driving, which was just as well as I kept closing my eyes as cars, motorbikes, cyclists and buses all seemed to be hurtling towards me!  There was one scary moment for Geoff when an Italian car was overtaking coming towards us and kept coming in our lane … we braked and the car he was overtaking braked, and we all just made it!

We arrived at the campsite and I went in to reception only to discover they were full!  I couldn’t believe it, having stayed on 26 sites this trip so far, none of them being anywhere near full, it was a bit of a shock.  I asked if they could recommend another and the one they gave me was also full, another didn’t answer the phone and the third I tried said to come along and see!  We found our way further south along the lake, more scary bends, tunnels and narrow sections, to Toscalano Maderno and Camping Riviera.  This is definitely not the most glamourous site we have been on but we found a nice spot, fairly quiet and private, and not far from the lake.  We were relieved to have found somewhere to pitch and relax, the only down side is the electric is 3 amp, so we can’t even boil a kettle!

We think the fact that it is the weekend and the weather is so good, high of 27 degrees today, has brought everyone out to play.  Hopefully, by Monday it will have all quietened down.

Day 60:  Sunday 12^th May 2024

After a hectic week and a very long drive yesterday, we thought we would have a domestic day today and rest up a little.  We did the washing and cleaned the inside of Colin and I enjoyed a video chat with Sue.  The washing had to be dried in the open air, which it did quite quickly in the warm temperatures.  Not as hot as yesterday as it was cloudier, but that suited us just fine.

We had a trip out on our bikes in the afternoon, cycling south along the lakeside to Maderno to check out the vehicle ferry office and then the tourist information office.  A lady in the latter wouldn’t let Geoff go until she had told him everything he ought to know about the region!  Actually, she gave us some ideas we hadn’t thought of so we cycled back to a bar near the campsite and had a drink while we firmed up our plans for an adventure tomorrow.

Nothing more to tell, just a few pics to show how lovely it is here.

Day 61:  Monday 13^th May 2024

Breakfast was fun, we sat outside under our awning in the rain!  The forecast showed an improvement in the weather as the day progressed so we weren’t disheartened as we had planned a great adventure today, a David day (for those in the know!).

We walked along the coast to Maderno and bought our tickets for the car ferry to Torri del Benaco, the first hop in our tour of Lake Garda.  We sat outside and had a great view of our campsite, albeit looking a bit dull in the light rain.  We arrived in Torri with its impressive castle on the quay, and found it was market day, and it was a huge one with lots of stalls all over the town with some really nice looking stuff, but we didn’t want to carry anything around with us all day, so we went looking for the bus stop.  We bought our tickets in the tabac next to the stop and knowing we had another 30 minutes or so before the bus was due, had a cappuccino in a nearby café and enjoyed a lovely video chat with Jenni.

We were at the bus stop in time for our bus only to have to wait another 25 minutes for it to arrive!  It was quite full, and because he was late the driver put his foot down, thank goodness we were sitting towards the back and couldn’t see out of the front window!  The drive did not seem as scary as on the other side of the lake, but we went through some tunnels and bendy bits.

The road ran alongside the edge of the lake the whole way to Riva and we had a great view of the towns along the way, particularly Castelletto, Malcesine and Torbole.  We got off the bus before the terminus and walked along the waterfront through lovely gardens into Riva del Garda.  As with other places on this trip, I was familiar with some of the views after years of typing up itineraries and finding photos to include in our Truronian brochures!  It was interesting to finally see this place which we had sent coaches to year after year.  The Lake Garda holiday was always one of our best sellers, and finally I saw why!

We had lunch and then went up on the Ascensore Panoramico Bastione Riva del Garda, a glass funicular up to a wonderful lookout with bar and restaurant adjacent to the Bastione di Riva, which was built to guard the town in the 16^th century.  We enjoyed a drink with our view but conscious of the time, hurried back down to buy our tickets for the slow passenger ferry to Limone.  Right by the ferry terminal and the old town of Riva, there was a large hydro electric power station, built in the 1920’s.  Geoff got quite excited and would have liked to have visited the museum and done the tour, our kids will understand this!  Fortunately there was not time. 

This ferry was a lovely sedate journey taking a leisurely view of the lakeside and mountains, stopping at Torbole first.  We alighted in Limone and just had time to buy our tickets for the next fast ferry and enjoy an ice cream in the café next to the quay. This next ferry was a hydrofoil and went considerably faster than the earlier ferry, stopping at Malcesine and Gargnano before depositing us back in Maderno.  The sun came out just as we arrived and we were lucky to experience our last lakeside views in warm evening sunshine.

So to recap, walk, car ferry, bus, funicular, slow passenger boat and hydrofoil – six different forms of transport to complete a circular tour of Lake Garda – brilliant day!

Day 62:  Tuesday 14^th May 2024

Moving day today and we enjoyed a last breakfast with an almost uninterrupted view of Lake Garda, until that is a Dutch man decided to move his van from the waterfront to just in front of our van!  (The pic of the sparrow is one who also enjoyed some of Geoff’s breakfast!).

We have, in the end, enjoyed being on this site. It was manic over the weekend, but so well located and I have even managed without the coffee machine and the hairdryer!  The other plus was it was very cheap, so definitely worth staying for three days. 

Our next destination is on the shore of Lake Iseo, Camping Covelo.  This is an ACSI site, but we have opted to pay full price for a lakeside pitch so we were hoping it would be worth it.  We stopped on route to do some shopping, but the journey overall was short and quite boring really, across the plain in a continuous built up area.  The site was indeed worth it.  We were led to our pitch by a very nice young man who spoke excellent English.  It may not have been the best lakeside pitch, but it was probably the quietest and we were very pleased.

After setting up and grabbing a quick lunch we completed check in, enjoyed a welcome drink (a first!) and then headed into Iseo on our bikes.  There was a good bike trail into town, but trying to find the station was a nightmare, we could see it but took ages to work out how to cycle to it!  Having done so, we were impressed with the train that drew in but maybe not with the station.  Not sure if we will use the train or not now. 

We continued on to the promenade which was very nice, having locked up our bikes we walked around the small town, which was quite different to other Italian towns we have seen thus far, but very attractive.  We checked out the lake boats, only to discover that they were really only serving Monte island, the island on the lake, but with several boats to and from.  We therefore decided to maybe go to Monte island tomorrow, weather permitting.

Back to Colin for a drink taking in the beauty of the lake right in front of us, with moorhens, and what looked like a Great Crested Grebe, plus a cuckoo in the background!

Day 63:  Wednesday 15^th May 2024

Wet day ….. only managed a short walk to see the train!  Until the evening, when the sun came out despite the rain, and Colin was framed by a rainbow.