December 2016 Jemima the Hymer takes off.

Yes Judy has given the ”new” motorhome a name ”Smiley” first sprang to mind because it appears to have a big smile on the front but a friend is already using that name so Judy said as we were going along; Jemima would be nice. So Jemima it is and little did we know that she would be needing web feet like Jemima Puddle Duck very soon!

Well after six months getting Jemima registered in France we finally managed it with only a week before we were due to set off for our winter trip.Steve had been busy during that time fitting all the gadgets we would need;.Solar Panels with a special controller that would switch the fridge on to battery when the sun was producing enough electricity, he converted the satellite dish to get the internet as well as TV and fitted the special aerial so we can park outside places like McD’s to pick up their free Wi-Fi while travelling. Plus all the other little things that make life simpler on the road like twelve volt sockets so we can charge our tablets and the computer on the dash that records our journey and the dash-cam to record the road ahead. Liquid soap dispenser and tooth brush holder in the bathroom etc.

Wednesday 14th December 2016
We hoped to get away before lunch but packing all the last bits-n-bobs as always takes far longer than expected and we finally got away at 6pm. After filling up with fuel we arrived at Jonquera in Spain at just passed 8pm which was a shame as we needed to buy a new side marker lamp which had blown and we thought the truck stop there would stock them but it closed at 8pm so we parked up in the large car park for the Escudos supermarket with about twenty other campers. Unfortunately we were not able to dine at the WOK-U in Figueras which is our favourite and usually marks the start of our holiday, perhaps on the way back.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday 15th, to 17th December 2016
The Truck Stop didn’t open till 10am so we had a leisurely start, but unfortunately they didn’t have the exact light we needed which is a sealed LED unit so we will have to order it from the UK or Germany when we return if we can’t  find it while away.

The petrol station opposite the Truck Stop did LPG so we took the opportunity to fill up while there.

The journey south was uneventful except for torrential rain and we found a few more new roads had been built which cut out some of the slow bits. Thursday night was spent in the lorry parking area of a petrol station near Peniscola, quite safe and quiet.

We arrived in l’Abir a few miles north of Benidorm at about 3pm and had a walk around then decided to move to a street near a Japanese buffet restaurant so we could have the meal we missed on Wednesday, it was nice, but not as nice as the WOK-U but we waddled out at about 10:30pm and had to walk around for half an hour  until we felt a little less full to go to bed.

On Saturday we moved to Benidorm but were not booked in to our site till Sunday so parked in the street to spend the night which is fine out of season. We took the opportunity in the afternoon to walk around Villasol, the site we were booked into to find a pitch for tomorrow, hopefully two together as Fred & Chris were due to meet us in a couple of days time.
Late afternoon and all night, the heavens opened and our road became a river, it looked as if Jemima would need her namesake’s web feet.

Sunday 18th December 2016 till Christmas eve.
Sunday morning it stopped raining long enough for us to move into the site but soon started again and continued on and off till Tuesday morning when the sun came out. Fred & Chris arrived about midday and managed to get the pitch next to us but after lunch took a look at their booking form and found that the site were charging them 30% more that us because they did not pre-book.
They checked at the site next door who had space and were actually cheaper than we were paying so they quite rightly moved there. we had looked at that site but they don’t take bookings so it is difficult  to not know there will be a place.

During the rain we found a small drip from one of our roof lights so the sun on Tuesday afternoon gave Steve the opportunity to get on to the roof to investigate. The sealant appeared to be applied very badly so Steve did a better job but the whole roof-light will need to be removed when we get home to be sure it is done properly because just a little dampness in the fabric of the motorhome can be a disaster and cause real problems later on.

The sun continued shining all week which is what we are here for. We have booked a Christmas Dinner with the Funsters which is our motorhome group and many of them over-winter here in Benidorm so it should be a good afternoon with them all, we hope . So we will probably be very busy enjoying ourselves so will not be updating this blog till we get on the move again in the New Year.

We wish everybody a Very Happy Christmas and a good New Year and hopefully a much friendlier 2017 than 2016 has been since the referendum.

Highland 500 April 2016 day 5, 6 & 7

Day 5 Friday 22nd April

We took a walk on to the beautiful sandy beach this morning, Steve dipped his hand into the water, it was freezing. So no swimming today.

We moved on to the Smoo caves at Durness, the main cave and waterfall cave were open but the guide didn’t start tours into the other caves which could only be accessed by boat until 10:30 . So instead we walked up the many steps and out to the headland. The inlet from the sea to the caves was really sheltered, no wonder the Vikings found it to use as a safe haven and to repair their boats.

Driving on from the caves the scenery became more dramatic and we were glad we took others advice to drive the route anti-clockwise, half the drive south from Durness was on single track which was not a problem at all as the road was fairly wide and there were many passing places. The glimpses we got of the bays along the route were amazing golden sands which would not be out of place in a Mediteranian setting, except for the temperature, we even had a glorious sunny day. Just after Kylesku the route turned off right (west) to loop round to Lochinver. Narrow single track with many twisty bends and steep hairpins. At one point we met a long “A” class motor home followed by a smaller “C” class, a very tight passing. When we reached the top of the hill where we had first spotted them there was loads of room, if they had hooted to beckon us to come on! anyway the route was challenging but completely doable in a wide “A” class like ours and great fun to drive.

While reading various travel books Judy had marked Achmelvich as having the highest water falls so when we saw the turning off to the right we took it, a sign said “Not suitable for Caravans or Coaches” so we thought it should be ok for us. She must have marked the wrong place because there were no water falls but there was the most glorious beach yet, with not golden sands but pure white silver sand so fine it was almost dust. The road was a dead end with just the beach, a youth hostel and a camp site. On our way out we ran in to the school bus, quite a big vehicle to be using the road, he reversed back a bit and we were able to just get past.

We didn’t stop at Lochinver but were told later that it has a fantastic pie shop, we were heading for a car park near Inchnadamph where we hoped we could park for the night so as to walk up to the “Bone Caves”, ice age caves where they had found Polar Bear remains and evidence of Stone Age occupation. The car park was there level and no “No Overnight Parking” signs so we settled down for the night.

Some guys came walking down the path to a Transit van in the car park and Judy got chatting and it turned out they were Archeologists searching for new caves.

132 km today N58.11556 W4.96671

Day 5 Saturday 23rd April

We woke to rain on the roof which turned to sleet then snow so we sat and read for a bit till about 11:30 when the sun came out so we decided to try the hike up to the caves. But as a precaution we phoned our son Nik to tell him we were heading up to the caves and would phone again when we returned. We felt quite safe as a Mountain Rescue van had parked about an hour earlier and three people had set off walking without gear so probably a social walk rather than a rescue. The 3km hike to the caves was a bit challenging as we had not been walking for some months but worth it to see the caves. Just a look with our high power torch though, because a full explore would have needed a boiler suit, possibly ropes and quite a bit of crawling through small spaces.

Back at the van and preparing to leave and the Transit appeared again with the Archeologists so we had a good chat with them about the caves.

We headed off south towards Ullapool where we hoped to fill up with LPG and if possible some water as we thought we must be getting low but the tank gauge had stopped working yesterday.

Unfortunately the MOT station with an LPG pump was closed but we filled up with fuel farther along the road but could not get to use their tap as it was next to the car wash which was in use.

The road from Ullapool to Gairloch was pretty but a lot of forest with the occasional glimpse of another fantastic beach. Our wild camping database was showing lots of roadside places to overnight but we suddenly spotted an off road picnic spot so pulled off and found it went way off road to the shore of Loch Maree where there was good flat parking with a few motor homes and tents already there. There were also very clean toilets with mains water so we could get some to tide us over.

141 km today N57.68887, W45.54428

Day 6 Sunday 24th April

We woke to a fine morning but decided to have a slow day so watched the London Marathon on TV, filled up with a bit more water then had a really nice challenging hike along the lake shore for three hours then a few chores in the van before continuing our trip tomorrow.

 

 

No travel today same coordinates.

Highland 500 April 2016 day 3 & 4

Day 3 Wednesday 20th April

We left our nice parking spot at Loch Fleet for a short drive along to John O’Groats stopping for a photo of Dunrobin Castle on the way. The iconic John O’ Groats had been transformed since the last time we visited about 5 years ago when it was a dreary run-down place. The council had erected a signpost for photographs, and the run down hotel had been transformed. Unfortunately the lady at the Tourist Information knew nothing about the HL500 and had no maps and unfortunately we find out later, failed to point out the nearby sea stacks which we should have visited.

After lunch and collecting emails from a good Fon WiFi  network nearby we drove just a few miles to Dunnet Head which is the most northerly point of mainland Britain where we hoped to get a good sunset and possibly a sight of the Northern Lights, although the cloud cover didn’t bode well for either. We did a bit of bird watching, laughing at the pour things trying to land on their nests but being lifted by the up draught at the cliff face. It was bitterly cold with total cloud cover but the UV is really high as you can see from my photochromic glasses which are completely black.
Only 48km travelled today.    N58.67062, W4.67684

 

Day 4 Thursday 21st April

A really nice night by the lighthouse at Dunnet Head with the wind rocking us to sleep, we didn’t stay up till 2am just in case the Northern Lights decided to appear so a holiday in Iceland is probably on the cards, don’t think we can drive though!

We drove along the coast road to Thurso and looked for the Tourist Information where we watched a very interesting film about the Western Highlands and learned about the hand cut flag stones which were marking out the boundaries of many of the fields.

After Thurso the scenery started to change and become more dramatic and long sweeping beaches and azure blue seas started to appear which could have easily been round the Mediterranean except for the temperature!

A few miles later after we passed Doonray power station we turned off towards Strathy point parked and  had a nice walk for a few miles to the lighthouse and back, bracing I think is the polite description. It’s alright for the Scots who seem to live in shirt sleeves in all weathers, but when you live in the South of France, Bracing weather takes a little getting used to. but at least the sun is shining most of the time.

As we passed from Caithness into Sutherland the buildings were fewer and the countryside changed slightly to more rolling hills but with a backdrop of mountains. Beautiful views of Loch all the way, before our stop for the night just before the Smoo Caves which we will walk to  tomorrow.

Our parking for the night is beside a small but stunning bay with a clean golden sandy beach. Not swimming weather for us though!

147 km today   N58.54843, W4.67684

April 2016 UK Trip

Monday 4th April.

We left Najac finally after a hurried packing spree trying to think what we needed after the unavoidable delay as a result of the sad death of Steve's  brother Fred. We intended to leave Sunday evening but managed Monday lunch time instead.

The trip was good trying the western route via Clement Ferand and left of Paris. We have been going via Paris for years but in recent years have had very bad traffic jams even in the middle of the night.We decided to park for the night before the ferry, at City Europe as the ferry car park was probably going to be a no-go area with the new security and the reality was what we had expected.with massive fences from a few miles out of the  docks, We had a quiet night after a bit of shopping at City Europe and parked with a few other motorhomes. We filled up with diesel and emptied our waste tank at the ultra-modern fuel station there, before heading for the ferry.

Steve had arranged to pickup some specialist kit for the Motorhome satellite system at Johns Cross so we arrived at our son’s house near Eastbourne at midday and got a great welcome from two really excited granddaughters then had a few great days with Kerry & Cheryl’s and the girls. Steve also managed to get the satellite internet working with the new control box.

We then headed along the coast to stay with Steve's cousin and  meet up with a few old friends before turning northwards towards Peterborough. We spent he night before the show with more friends who had moved from Kent to near Peterborough then headed for the show,

The weekend was very wet and very, very muddy but all the traders we talked to had a good weekend trade and we had a great time wandering around and buying “stuff” and meeting with fellow motor homers. A strange pastime only understandable to the initiated.

Monday 18th April 1st day of HL500

After filling up and emptying down we left the show ground at about 11am and managed to get off the wet grass without being towed which was a bonus and had a really great run doing 608 km to arrive at Loch Lomond at 20:40 and parked up beside the Loch for supper and a catch-up with emails and this blog. The new bits for the satellite system have worked well and we now have satellite TV and simultaneous satellite internet wherever we are, so no more searching for a rare open Wi-Fi or using a different mobile sim  for each country. Expensive but the OldAgeTravellers are now spending their kids inheritance. Recent events have showed us just how fragile life at our age now is.

Tomorrow we head for Inverness to start the Highlands 500 which is a 500 mile route round the far north west of Scotland reputed to be one of the top 10 drives in the world. We have done the Pacific Highway and the bear Tooth Pass in the USA and were very underwhelmed but are expecting much more of Scotland.

Parked beside Loch Lomond First night in Scotland for Highland 500 tour

Tuesday 19th Day 2

We left Loch Lomond towards Inverness, passing through Fort William and made a stop at the Memorial to the British Commandos who trained for their WW2 missions in sight of Ben Nevis.

Travelling along the northern shore of Loch Ness with its deep dark waters we finally arrived at Inverness where we attempted to find some LPG to top up so as to ensure` we had heating during our trip. But the places in our database were no longer there so we headed north towards Wick to another place in the database but they were waiting for a new pump to be installed. On to the next place en-route and success, we managed to fill up so we should be ok for another ten days. As we headed on the snow capped mountains ahead of us suggested that we may be needing the heating.

We continued driving for about an hour till we found a good spot to stop for the night, just off the A9 beside Loch Fleet.

For those that haven’t followed our escapades before, we travel with a computer on the dash, running a live map controlled by a GPS receiver and tracking our every movement on the map. The map also has thousands of “Points of interest” POI’s which show on the map as we travel. Some of which are Wild Camping Spots so with only a very minor detour we  can find a pleasant place to stop. We also have poi collections for Supermarket Fuel Stations, Weatherspoon's restaurants, Public water taps and Toilets and many many more which we are` adding to all the time. This map also has a very accurate speedo which can show KPH or MPH.

Croatia Trip September/October 2015 Last Post

Day 33  Sunday 11/10/2015 - 95826 on Speedo

Sunday dawned bright with the promise of being sunny later so we went for a walk to find out what was around us. Basically Carnon the town was one big holiday resort with nearly every house, at least near the beach that we saw being holiday apartments. Walking away from the beach we found the town and public library, which although closed had wi-fi but only ten minutes free which is good, enough to download emails but not enough for uploading the blog. The daily rate was really expensive so we didn’t bother.

There was an enormous Vide-Grenier  (Boot-Sale) in progress so we had a little wander through but as usual nothing was priced so few people were buying. I really can’t understand that, the last one we did with the Hobby-Lobby we priced everything and nearly sold it all. At least it gives a starting point for negotiation and when we were retailers if something wasn’t priced rarely would anybody ask the price.

So we wandered back to the van and on the way found a “FON” wi-fi network to connect to and managed to upload Post 10 to the blog. Hope you received it OK.

Judy wanted to visit an art shop in Montpellier so we decided to move to a parking place Steve had found in the city. TomTom got us close but very tight streets and one ways made it impossible for us to get to it. Looking on Google Earth at home later we could see that it is in fact a large car park with trucks parked in it so there must be a way in if you know the one way streets.

So we found the shop which was an industrial unit but decided this would be best tackled in the car some time. So we set TomTom for home and arrived at about 21:30 so just slept in the van rather than opening up the house.

Stopped at 21:30 - 96039 - 213km today – 11/10/2015 – HOME

Holiday Stats

Total distance = 4,939 Km (3,069 Miles)  averaging about 24 MPG
583 Litres of Diesel at an average of 1.19 per litre
Total Toll costs was €115 not bad considering the two very large sections of toll roads we used to get across big chunks of Italy.
Time Away = 30 nights with 14 Camp sites costing €453 for a total of 26 nights
so an average of €17.42 a night.
Obviously Venice at €53 for one night was high, but not bad really for a day and a half  just a short walk from the city. We could have stayed on a site on the mainland and caught a bus but not nearly as convenient. Without Venice the sites averaged out at just less than €16 per night.

 Below is the complete trace of our route from home and back.

The little yellow Smileys are each of our overnight stops.

Croatia Trip September/October 2015 Post 10

Day 29  Wednesday 07/10/2015 - 94570 on Speedo

A very noisy night with the rain thundering on the roof. We paid and left not happy with the site, they charged four euros more that the price in the ASCI book with the excuse of “Touristic Taxes”, I suppose that’s what you get if you stay on the Croatian Riviera even at the end of the season in the pouring rain!

We set the coordinates in TomTom for the Fortified  Church in Slovenia we were heading for, Steve had established on the internet last night that we didn’t need a Vignette as long as we didn’t go on any motorways while in Slovenia, another traveller had told us a couple of weeks earlier that it was essential and we were lucky not to get fined on the way down. But perhaps he mainly used motorways.

We really needed to get fuel and LPG before leaving Croatia as it was so cheap but the garage we passed just after leaving the site was very tight and it required a “U” turn in the midst of rush hour traffic so Steve thought it best to go on to the next one then suddenly TomTom turned us left on to a small white road on the map which said limited to 12 Tonnes, which is a pretty big vehicle we thought so it should be ok for us. Well it was just big enough for us. We decided to stop and check where TomTom was taking us on Autoroute on the computer we found it was a small road which travelled about fifty miles west parallel with the boarder before looping into Slovenia just a few miles before our intended destination. Pretty sure we wouldn’t find a petrol station so we wouldn’t be able to get cheap fuel nor get rid of our last Croatian Kuna as Slovenia uses the Euro. But the route was indeed quite a bit shorter than the one we would have picked out on the map. The road turned out to be fine and a very quiet and picturesque drive especially as the autumn colours were appearing.

Turning a corner we saw a deserted dilapidated Portacabin with a”Douane” sign on it, we stopped but there was no movement so we moved on wondering whether we would be thought of as smugglers coming along such a small road but turning another corner we came across a large brightly painted Europe flag then a fairly substantial brick building. The young boarder guard looked at us a bit quizzically, glanced in the back of the van then at our passports and waived us on.

The Church we were heading for was at Hrastovlje about ten miles further on unfortunately we arrived at noon and a sign on the gate said it was closed from 12 till 1 so we had lunch while we waited. About 1:30 we walked up again but it was still closed unfortunately maybe for the season.. But from what we could see it was quite interesting from the outside. There were thick castle like walls about twenty foot high. surrounding a fairly small church. It was a shame we couldn’t see inside though because we had read that there were some terrific frescos inside. Oh well another place to come back to.

Steve set TomTom for a Sosta parking place in Trieste and TomTom again  took us down a tiny road, but we met a bus coming the other way so it must be OK. We drove through a couple of tiny villages and at one point it felt as if we were driving through somebodies garden then suddenly with no ceremony we were in Italy so straight through Slovenia still without finding fuel. So expensive Italian diesel it would have to be.

We  arrived at the Sosta in Trieste quite quickly at about 2:30 and realised that we wanted some rest rather than “doing” another City so set TomTom for Grado which we saw was at the end of a peninsula and would probably have quiet beaches to chill out for a couple of days.

The Sosta was large charging 16 Euro for 24hours with a graduated charge from 4 to 25 hours with all services including electric. But across the road was a very large car park which said campers 4 Euro for 24 hours but no services except water which we found later. We didn’t need electric so went for the pay-n-display 4 Euros.  They were both council run so a bit strange to have the two and of course the people in the cheaper one were just walking across the road and emptying their WC Cassettes in the other ones facilities. So the only difference was electric and a barrier. We actually didn’t need electric or to empty our waste.

We went for a long walk and found that the whole peninsular was in fact a holiday complex, in the season some form of payment was required for the long stretch of sandy beach with swimming pools and all sorts of other amenities but out of season the gates were open for all to use. With many people running, jogging or just walking along the prom. like us.

 

Stopped at 16:30 - 94723 - 153 km today – Grado Sosta – Grado – 45.67994N, 13.41272E

 

Day 30  Thursday 08/10/2015 - 94723 on Speedo

We woke to a fine morning but the Meteo had said it was going to rain, not a day for the beach so we decided that today would be a motoring day and with about 750 km of Italian roads it would  probably be a good idea to use the Autostrada which previously we had found not too expensive especially when compared with the up and down speed limits which if you adhered to them would drive you nuts and every driver behind you. plus it would take about three days.

We found fuel at an eye watering 1.35 Euro a litre possibly not high by English standards but much higher than we had become used to.

The drive was good in fact mainly dry we did 621km on the motorway and it cost 60.30 Euro so roughly 10cents a km which is similar to the journey on the way down. But oh so much better on the nerves. We had an Aire de Camping car programmed in and it brought us off the motorway perhaps a bit early so we ended up driving right through Nice which has quite a bit of road works so a few circles on on temporary way streets and getting desperately low on fuel. We finally found a Geant supermarket but it had a very tight entrance and a low canopy so we had a bit of fun getting our aerials caught in the canopy but managed with Judy Standing on the table reaching through the roof light to hold our special WiFi  one so it wouldn’t get damaged. The Aire was not there nor were the next two  so we ended up driving quite late with everywhere saying no Camping Cars until we found a layby  high up above St Raphael without a no Camping Car sign. But Judy had a bad night wondering if the Police would be knocking on the door.

 

Stopped at 23:30 - 95476 - 758 km today – Near St Raphael – 43.47426N, 6.57877E

 

Day 31  Friday 09/10/2015

Nobody knocked on the door but we left early to drive to St Raphael and parked at the harbour to have breakfast but the Aire de Camping Car was right in the middle of a busy car park so we moved on towards St Tropez, didn’t like the look of the first few sites then spotted an Aire de Camping Car  just as we were about to turn round to go back to investigate a couple of sites on the other side of the road we couldn’t pull over to as it was a solid traffic jam. The Aire was supposed to be 13 Euros a night with a credit card machine to pay but it was switched off but the water and electric was left on?  We asked another French Camper and he said Gratuiete No Problem so we stopped there. Looking at Autoroute to see exactly where we were it showed us only a few hundred yards from Port Grimaud where we had visited 25 years ago and had wanted to come back to.

So we had a nice walk around to bring back memories of our first Motorhome holiday in France.

We were then treated to an air display by the French Aerobatic team practicing over the bay.

We can’t find any internet here so will have to try to send this blog tomorrow.

Stopped at 12:00 - 95530 - 54 km today – Near Port Grimaud – 43.28005N, 6.57877E

Day 32 Saturday 10/10/2015 – 10:30

Although it was a nice day we realised that we still had quite a bit of travelling to do and as we were so near home and Steve had to pay the French taxes by Thursday it would be much easier from home. So we set off aiming for a Camper Stop in our database at le Grand Motte near Montpellier. The drive across country was really nice up and down mountains through wooded areas. Apart from one tiny town TomTom took us through, he did  quite well finding a nice route until Marseille where he took us up onto a free motorway which took us past all the industrial bit then dumped us in the middle of Marseilles for about two miles of the city but then the Police had closed the overpass we were supposed to be taking which would take us out so we had about an hour of traffic jam and impatient French drivers on a Saturday. One even decided to stop at the side of the road and eat their lunch of unpeeled prawns and salad so the two lanes had to squeeze into one to get past. I know lunch is important to the French but really!!

Out of the city we had another 30 minutes or so of motorway then a really nice drive through the edge of the Camargue. Spotting the lovely white horses and water birds.

We arrived at the camper stop and it was really nice with a 24 hour card payment machine 11.50 Euro for 24 hours with all the necessary services.  Access to the miles of sandy beach is about 100 meters away so a nice place for a few days if it is sunny. Except for WiFi which was a really expensive system which needed a card from the office which was closed for the season. Surprisingly, although it was amongst houses there were no “Fon” connections available which is a consortium of providers like SFR & BT throughout Europe, who have thousands of open connections available for subscribers. So another day we are unable to send this blog. Something we  really need to research to find a reasonably priced mobile way of getting  the internet. Although to be fair we have only had a few days when we haven’t been able  to connect. The trouble is really going from country to country which we thought the “FON” system would sort out, this holiday we have only  found one.

Stopped at 17:3- 95826 - 296 km today – le Grand Motte – 43.55146N, 3.99360E

Croatia Trip September & October 2015 Post 9 - Plitvicka Jezera National Park

Day 26 Sunday 04/10/2015 - 94162 on Speedo left Camp Krka 10:00

After the usual fill-up and empty we paid the nice lady owner of AutoCamp Krka, her name is Davorka, we had a good chat about how she started the camp site. She was a farmer and was getting  tired of milking the cows and making cheese so sold her four cows and with her small savings had enough to buy a little bit of land with a derelict house on it, her husband built the first toilet block then they opened for camping, then as she made a bit of money they converted the upstairs of the house into apartments then bought more and more land 10 or 12 meters at a time.   But, she says “ my house is still not finished”. We really hope she does well as she really has the good attitude to make the place very welcoming. The Krka National Park we enjoyed very much but we were now heading for Plitvic National Park which everybody says is even more amazing. We had researched all the camp sites but decided that Camping Karona which was a bit more expensive because they didn’t give ACSI discount would be easier as they had a shuttle bus to the park from the site so would be the most convenient. The drive was interesting because we started encountering flat fields rather than the constant mountains as we headed away from the sea. Croatia has a large top end then a very thin silver running along the coast broken by the few kilometres of Bosnia which divides the country. But now we started seeing fields with cows and crops growing. A nice different drive.

 

Stopped at 13:00 - 94361 - 199 km today - Camp Korana, Near Plitvic NP - 44.94826N, 15.64801E

 

Day 27  Monday 05/10/2015 - Still 94361 on Speedo 

We got up early and Steve went to the Camp Shop for some bread for sandwiches for the day in Plitvic Lakes.We met the shuttle bus on time at 9 am and arrived at the lakes at about 9:30 bought our tickets and were away on the trail. There were four options A, B, C, & K, “K” said it would take 6 to 8 hours which we thought was pushing it a bit so  opted for the “C” route which was 4 to 6 hours. We had seven hours before we had to catch the coach back so a little bit of leeway.

The trail started just after the ticket office where we came upon a view point overlooking the highest falls, and they were spectacular. Ok as with Krka it will obviously be better in spring with the high levels of water but it was still spectacular.

The trail snaked back and forward on paths made of, what looked like granite cobbles as it descended steeply  into the valley then at the bottom became a board walk made of sawn logs. Taking a right turn  with water rushing all around us even under the boardwalk we found ourselves right in front of the highest waterfall actually in the spray, it was spectacular.

The boardwalk was endless passing lake after lake and waterfall after waterfall, different heights and widths.Quiet and tranquil or fiercely rushing over a drop. The lakes were a gorgeous azure blue, green absolutely clear with shoals of trout ranging from tiny to about 18 inches long.

We came to a clearing by a lake with a cafe, toilets and souvenir shop etc. Our route “C” said we should take a boat to the other end of the lake so joined the queue. The boat arrived and it was electric so virtually silent, how great in such a tranquil place. The boat took 100 people and we found ourselves sitting with about 98 Japanese and Chinese people on tours with all their cameras, face masks and selfie sticks, although we can’t complain because we have one of those now, except it is small and discrete and lives in Steve’s pocket when we are not using it. Apart from the constant jabber from the other passengers who seemed oblivious to the beauty and  tranquillity around them we somehow shut it all out and managed to enjoy the peaceful interlude before disembarking to hit more boardwalks snaking from rushing cascade to impressive waterfall to peaceful pool. Dodging people who would suddenly stop to take yet another photo as they were dodging us doing the same. What did we do when we only had 24 frames on a roll of film?

We came to a point where the signs for route “C” pointed towards the land train back to the start and we still had four hours left so we decided to follow the signs for the “K” route, wish we had followed that one from  the start. We came across a number of benches beside a lake so sat to eat our picnic and bottle of wine. Of course the inevitable scroungers arrived within seconds of us opening our rucksacks.

We really had a great day, extending the “C” route by probably another five miles but the sad thing was that Steve forgot to start his “MapMyWalk” GPS tracking app on his phone so we couldn’t see the strange wiggly route or the distance we had walked. But we were both suitably tired and a little stiff as we sat to wait for our bus to arrive at 5 o’clock to take us back to the van. What a fantastic day and certainly the highlight of the holiday so far and the weather was perfect, not too hot but dry and warm. A few hours reading and Steve working on the blog then as we got into bed the rain started

 

Day 28  Tuesday 06/10/2015 - Still 94361 on Speedo

The rain continued throughout the night but stopped while we packed up and did the usual chores. Checked out and set the TomTom  for a possible night stop just before we would get to Slovenia where we had read there was a small fortified church with incredible frescos and art work. The rain continued for the whole day and going over the mountains we were actually in the clouds. With some really steep descents in torrential rain Steve was again  extremely pleased to have the magnetic braking system.

The journey took on a strange disturbing tone as we left the mountains we started seeing many abandoned houses apparently fine except for numerous bullet marks and some badly damaged houses with a new one built on the same plot. We also noticed many graves right beside the road and very many cemetery's nearly full of new shiny black marble graves, quite disturbing and bringing the very recent war only twenty years ago when neighbour was against neighbour into stark focus more than anywhere we had been so far.

We arrived at the campsite we had put into TomTom but it had just closed for the season, so backtracked to another which was open but a little expensive just to park for the night in the rain. We don’t usually book into sites just for the night preferring; Aire de Camping Car, Sosta’s or Stelplats etc. but we have now established that what we heard is in fact true, that parking overnight anywhere other than on a site is illegal in Croatia. I suppose that is fair when their major industry is tourism.

 

Stopped at 17:00 - 94570 - 209 km today - Camp Meoveja – Medveja – 45.27077N, 14.26915E

Croatia Trip September 2015 Post 8

Day 24 Friday 02/10/2015 - Still 94162 on Speedo  

We had to get the van sorted out to move early as we had to drive to the Krka National Park which was about 4 km away from our site. The site usually organises an excursion for 40 Euro but had now finished for the season. We arrived at the park and there was a massive free car park which quite surprised us. We bought our tickets at a little kiosk 90 Kun each and walked to the shuttle bus he pointed to. A lady scanned our tickets and said the bus would leave in 5 minutes so we sat on. and waited, and waited. Steve then spotted a sign which said it was only 400 mtrs. “We could have walked it by now!” but by this point the bus would probably have left as soon as we stepped off. Well eventually after more than half an hour the bus left, well, it was probably 400 mtr vertically but about twenty hairpin bends later the bus arrived at the drop off point so we were glad we stayed on. We walked where a ranger lady pointed on to a very nice “Board Walk” just like in the everglades in Florida.

We were ahead of the crowd so had a very nice walk amongst various lakes and steadily iincreasing in size waterfalls until we came onto a long bridge over a lake to see the very large collection of waterfalls.

I don’t think the pictures really do justice we realised that it was the end of the season and the most water would obviously be in the spring but it was quite impressive and beautiful.

Another interesting feature was that the nearly first Hydro Electric generating plant was built there but uunfortunately started operating just two day after the one at Niagara Falls built by Tessla another Croatian Engineer.on 28th august 1895. But it started supplying power to the nearby town of Skradin almost a year before the American one.

After looking around at some interesting exhibits showing a typical family house and the Croatian  lifestyle, the traditional Croatian dress and a demonstration of their wool weaving technique we decided to take a boat trip to see a lot more of the park and lakes. It was three and a half hours for 130 Kun about £13 each so seemed good value. The boat left at noon so reasonable time to walk the 400 mtr it said to the boat. The boat left on time fully loaded, then passed through some beautiful scenery to our first stop at a Franciscan Monastery on a tiny island.. We were met by a park employee who gave us a short history of the island then said we had half an hour to visit the museum and church. Boarding the boat again we continued along the lake and past through a dramatic gorge to finally arrive at Roski Slap first arriving at what should have been a mini Niagara Falls with the boat coming right up to it but although it was good the pictures in our brochure showed just what it should be in like in spring.

The boat docked and we had an hour to explore, which unfortunately was not nearly enough. There were a number of water mills which used horizontal turbines rather than the vertical water wheels we are used to in the UK. Venturing further in search of the lake feeding the falls we saw the series of small falls called the Necklace by the locals with a boardwalk crossing it then we came to the lake which was so still and smooth like a mirror. By this time we only just had time to get back to the boat. There were signs to a cave but it meant a climb of over 500 steps which we were told would take at least twenty minutes each way so not possible. Back on the boat we had a straight voyage back seeing more things in the scenery and actually noticing just how small the Island was which had been occupied by the monks for hundreds of years. We were told in the talk earlier that it was just a lump of rock when they had arrived with no foliage but now after they had imported soil by boat over the years it was green and covered in trees and shrubs as you can see from the photo above.

Back where we started we caught our shuttle bus, after missing the first one because we were waiting at the wrong place. and finally arrived back at our motorhome for the short drive back to the camp site. Hot and tired we actually used the extremely clean site showers then had a meal in their restaurant, unfortunately as it was late in the season we were the only customers but they still produced an excellent fish meal for us at a very reasonable price. A very long but interesting day. and hopefully a curtain raiser for our next stop at Plitvic National Park where the falls are supposed to be even more spectacular..

Day 25 Saturday 03/10/2015 - Still 94162 on Speedo

Steve had quite a bit of paperwork to sort out for the business and important emails so we had a quiet day at the site where we had acceptable. Wi-Fi.. The Mateo forecasts rain for tomorrow so it will be a good day to travel on to the Plitvic Lakes

Croatia Trip September 2015 Post 7

 
Day 23 Thursday 01/10/2015 - Still 94076 on Speedo
Did the normal chores paid the camping and left about 10:00. We had decided at the last minute to head for Trogir because Judy had read yesterday evening that it was really nice. After filling up with diesel we arrived in Trogir at about 11:00 and found a parking place just outside the town by the side of the river with only a few hundred yards to walk in. From across the bridge the town certainly looked nice. Not Roman but certainly very old. With a small but quite well preserved Castle at the sea end of the town.It turned out that the castle was built to house and defend the chief Tax collector in the days when the region was vying with Venice to be a major trading nation. We paid the small sum to have a look around and found it very interesting. there was some obvious damage to two of the castellated corner towers possibly from a long past battle but now it seemed to be mainly used for music events with a permanent stage set up inside the walls. Climbing the steep steps through tiny passageways then an almost vertical ladder was challenging but rewarded us with a very nice rooftop view of the old town. Which turned out to be a maze of tiny streets paved with shiny marble cobbles.
Even though it was a lived-in town, It had a much better feel of care rather than the neglect we experienced in Split. Though to be fair most people we have since talked to say they really liked Split, But a lot of that was that the town by all accounts came alive at night. Perhaps we should have paid to go into the underground parts of the old Roman town to have experienced it fully. Oh well perhaps a reason to visit again.
We walked back to the camper really glad we had taken the time to visit Trogir.
So we set course to our next stop as a base to visit the lakes and waterfalls of Krka National Park about an hour and a half’s drive across the mountains.
We arrived at Camp Krka at about 3:30 to be met by the lady owner with a big smile (quite unusual in Croatia) who said as we climbed out of the van, “Hello, you must be Steve & Judy”.. We were a bit flummoxed by that until we realised that she was just a good business woman and had read our names off a card we had in the window from a rally we had attended last year.Much relaxed by our welcome we booked in and she told us how to get to the park in the morning.
Stopped at 15;30 - 94162 - only 86km today - Camp Krka, Lozovac - 43.800633N, 15.942100E

Croatia Trip September 2015 Post 6

Oh dear, I was so busy trying to quickly learn the new Blogging software that I got the post number wrong last time, that’s the trouble with Cut-n-Paste. I have just changed it so I hope Google don’t email it all out again to you all. Just delete it if they do.

Thanks for your comments by email, I  am really pleased that some of you are enjoying our travels, wish you were here, (not really it would be a bit cramped). I didn’t activate comments in the blog because I think  it can be distracting but I am open to your views,

I mentioned the fire we passed through in the last post so here are a couple of photos.There was about ten miles of this. We heard later that it took seven days to get it under control. The top end of the peninsular being completely cut off. It must have been very frightening.

Please note that you can click on the photos to see them full size and if you go to the web page at www.TheOldAgeTravellers.blogspot.com you can view our whole online album. Judy has already taken over a thousand pics so far so only a selection of course.

Day 19 Sunday 27/09/2015 - Still 93,928 on Speedo  

A lazy day today, sitting and Steve working on the blog getting very frustrated with it as posting photos was not working as he wanted. Especially with a tiny screen smaller than A4 when he works with four screens at home.

Took a nice long walk round the bay to the village and beyond and think we found the restaurant where our friends parked in the garden a few years ago but no sign of that now.  then we were treated to a magnificent sunset, perhaps as a result of the “Super Moon” reported to be happening tonight.

  

 

Day 20 Monday 28/09/2015 - Still 93,928 on Speedo

Steve is really excited, he has found some blogging software on the internet and is waiting for it to download with the really slow internet. Of course` everybody is on it as well in the morning. But they have to sit outside the site office while he can use it in the van using our long range aerial from 100 meters away. But it eventually downloaded and it is doing exactly as he wanted.

Another very long walk exploring a bit more of the end of the peninsular, what a very nice quiet place.

Day 21 Tuesday 298/09/2015 - Still 93,928 on Speedo

Decided to move on but can’t decide whether to take the ferry which leaves at midday or to drive the 100km. decided to see what time we` get to the ferry turn off to decide. By the time we` had packed up drained and filled our tanks and paid it was 10:00 before we left. The site was a bit more expensive than we were told as there were tourist taxes on top so about 19 euros a night, but an exceptionally clean and well appointed site. We actually used the showers here as it was so clean. We usually use our own in the van.

When we reached the turning we decided to take the ferry and were really pleased we did. It was only about £27 for an hours cruise to save the 100km extra drive and the timing worked fine.The ferry arrived right on time.But will it take all these cars?

Yep, with space to spare and Steve somehow ignored English politeness and we were near the end of the queue somehow we arrived right at the front.

The amazing view of the Croatia shoreline with a very narrow strip of usable land before the towering mountains behind,

 

 

 

 

Stopped at 16;30 - 94076 - 147km today – Camping Split - 42.50382N, 16,52684E

This was actually the site we rejected on the way south because it llooked too commercial. But we had been told that it was a good place to get a bus into Split which we were told was worth seeing.

The site was very regimented  but had good sized pitches and all the facilities you could want, but most we didn’t need, so a bit overpriced for our needs .

Day 22 Wednesday 30/09/2015 - Still 94076 on Speedo

We caught the large bendy bus at 09:30 in the morning which became very crowded  and at one point Judy came over a bit feint because of the heat in the bus.

The Old Roman Town for us was a bit disappointing, it was still lived in and had been very badly restored in many places but it had it’s own charm as a result. We walked around and heard the very many town guides telling their customers all sorts of stupid stories, trying to make it sound good.. Perhaps there were some good points but they looked difficult to find.

So after taking in as much as we could we had some lunch and caught our bus back to the site.to plan our move on to the Krka national park.Hopefully it will be a good hike and some dramatic scenery.