Weds. 16th October – island of Krk
We left Vrsar and followed the coastal road. Every turn is a breathtaking view. Croatia is absolutely beautiful, clean, well kept and prosperous. So much nicer than shabby rundown Italy! The weather has also been glorious since we got to Croatia.
We stopped on the way to visit Pula. It has an old town and a Roman theatre. It was beautiful but a big busy town. After a walk in the old town we came back to the van.
Iy selected another campsite from the ACSI book as the discount is unbeatable. It was in the isle of Krk but no need for a ferry as there is a bridge.
Others campsites are much more expensive. So we had another 4 star camping with amazing facilities. We parked the van near the edge of the water. The views were amazing. The camping, like often in Croatia, had its own private beaches. As everywhere in Croatia the place was still full of German families. I am starting to think that German kids never go to school!
We got the chairs and table out and then had a walk around the massive grounds and the beach.
Thursday 17th Oct. – Starigrad Plakenica
Another beautiful drive along the coast!
Friday 18th Oct. – near Split
On the way to Split, we were planing to stop and visit the old town of Sibenik, which is supposed to be very nice. I selected a parking spot from the App Park4Night within walking distance of the centre.
There were Road works and we could not get to it. We joined the main road again and after another road shut, we followed the signs to the town. Unfortunately towns in Croatia are often in steep hills. There was no way to find a place to park the van, the GPS took us through such small narrow roads at some point that we thought we would get completely stuck…. eventually we decided to leave town and the crazy roads and traffic and reach for our next campsite.
After this experience we decided to avoid large towns as it is too complicated to drive in small narrow streets with the van.
We continued to follow the stunning twisty coastal road. This road is a biker paradise! The weather was still gorgeous, warm but not too hot, blue sky, pristine transparent water, passing many villages, pebble beaches, marinas, fortresses and historic building along the way.
We arrived at the camping quite early.
Once settled in the camping, Alistair took the dog for a walk around the very large grounds and various beaches of the camping site. They even had a dog beach with agility training facilities!
Alistair came back very excited… he said Scruffy got in the water to get his ball. Now if you don’t know our rescue dog, he is absolutely terrified of water and even walks around puddles of water in the pavement to avoid touching the water! It is mental. So I was quite stunned.
We both took Scruffy to the dog beach. I had to see that! The water was very calm, no waves. We threw the ball and when it fell into the water, Scruffy, after a bit of hesitation got up to his chest in the water… as it was still too far to reach the ball, he eventually threw himself in the water and swimming to pick it up. He did it twice! I was stunned! We had him for over 8 years now and his phobia of water got worse with age! So, an old dog can certainly learn new things! He seemed to have fun with it.
In the evening two hungry cats came around and I gave them some of scruffy dry food. Scruffy did not move from his bed.
Saturday 19th October – near the border with Bosnia
As usual in the morning, Scruffy was playing with his food. He eventually ate most of it. So I gave the left overs to hungry cats. Scruffy just sat in his bed watching two cats eat his food. He did not seemed that bothered by it!
To continue along the coast and reach Dubrovnik, there is a bit of Bosnia to cross. So I found the last campsite not far from the border, so we can cross early.
We left the campsite and as we did not have long to go we stopped to visit the Klis fortress, as dogs are allowed in. Its origin goes way back to the Iron Age, with the Romans, Turks, Venetians, the Austro-Hungarian empire…. everyone controlling it at some point.
After that we stopped at a Lidl for some shopping and drove, along the coast to our destination for the night. We are still surprised at how more expensive things are. The coffee that we buy in Lidl UK is twice the price in Croatia!
We arrived relatively early and went for a walk along the very long pebble beach. Once again Scruffy surprised us by going into the water to get his ball back!
WiFi is too slow to put photos here so they will be in Facebook instead!