The hills are alive with the sound of Moosic....

After Venice we headed off to Lake Garda for a couple of days, we were lucky that the weather was lovely so we could enjoy the wonderful scenery. We stayed on a campsite called La Ca' right on the side of the lake,but it was busy enough that all the front lake facing pitches were occupied so we picked a pitch higher up on the terraced site, still with a nice view and maybe less exposed to the wind. We left the bikes on the van here and spent our time either walking along the lakeside promenade or relaxing in the sunshine on site. I imagine we saw a very different Lake Garda to how it would be in the height of season, but it was pretty quiet which is how we like it!

Before we left we decided to have a meal in the campsite restaurant - big mistake! We were looking forward to having a proper Italian pizza before we left Italy, but they weren't cooking pizza that night as well as quite a lot of other items on the menu that we chose as an alternative. There was only one other couple dining there and had we not got chatting to them we probably wouldn't have stayed, but we did stay and sadly the quality of the food was awful! Keith had mixed fish which when it came was 95% Calamares with a couple of sad looking prawns thrown in and the green salad was a bowl of chopped iceberg lettuce. It reminded us of Faulty Towers! Anyway we enjoyed chatting and exchanging motorhome stories with the other couple, but we didn't bother staying for dessert or coffee!
On Saturday, after five days in Italy we moved on to Switzerland and a pretty campsite near to Acquarossa. The site was situated in a meadow in a river valley with huge mountains either side, the only sound was the clanging of the cow bells from the adjacent field.

After waking up on Sunday morning with the temperature in the van at 10°C (outside temperature being less than 5°C!) we were grateful for the heater in the van, but once the sun came up from behind the mountain it warmed up nicely and we went out for a cycle ride, stopping along our way for a coffee and a naughty plate of chips at a bar restaurant in little village. The scenery for our ride was just spectacular with snow peaked mountains in the distance and beautiful little Swiss villages perched on the hillsides.
I will have more photos soon, I just need some free wifi! The paid internet I have right now is for one device only, Oh the joys of internet when you're travelling!
We would love to stay longer in Switzerland in the summertime when the days are longer, but it lived up to the reputation of being ridiculously expensive so I'm not sure we could afford it! So after a two night stay we continued our journey homeward - next stop Germany.

Homeward bound....

After a day on the road we arrived at Camp Serenissima in Venice, we stopped on the mountain road along the way to buy locally produced honey. We had bought some Lavender honey when we were heading south and it really was the most delicious honey I had ever tasted, so we just had to stop and buy more to take back to the UK! The journey up through Croatia, through Slovenia and into Italy was pretty easy except what they say about Italian drivers is true!
Our first day on site was dedicated to a few necessary chores (using the washing machine and tumble dryer) and a cycle ride out along the riverside then on Wednesday we caught the bus into Venice. One of the attractions of this site is the bus stop opposite the entrance and we were able to buy a guide map and our bus tickets at reception.

The journey into Venice was through a scruffy industrialised area, along a long bridge and then the bus arrives at the terminal on the edge of the historic city.
Venice was built on a collection of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges, the first thing you notice is the lack of traffic noise - there are no roads or cars just canals and boats ferrying around all the people. If you want to travel in style then the way to do it is on a Gondola, but we decided not to splash out the necessary 80€, extravagance is not our style!
The architecture of the city is amazing with so many special places of interest - churches, art galleries, museums and the like, but the place every tourist heads for is St Marks square and the Basilica. It was teeming with people but you can't take away the splendour of the magnificent
buildings all built in about the 15th and 16th century.

Sadly the Basilica is undergoing restoration at the moment so it's not looking it's best!

We just wandered round enjoying the grandeur and the people watching -so many nationalities in one place! Some of the atmosphere is obviously lost by the fact that the whole city feels as if it's geared toward the tourist, so many tourist nicknack shops and fast food outlets (this is Italy so fast food is Pizza!) If you want to have a special lunch then the square is the place with its white coated waiters lavishing attention on the diners and a quartet playing elegant music. After you have dined you can then stroll among the designer stores and perhaps buy a new Gucci handbag? You will be safe - the armed guard will make sure of that!

Anyway we bought a few souvenirs from the tacky kiosk and got the bus back....

Our last week in Croatia

Oranges anyone?

After 3 nights of peace, quiet and tranquility at Camping Lupis in Loviste it was time to leave, we didn't really have much choice - they were closing for the winter! We had a lovely time whilst we were there, just strolling around the bay, stargazing in the evening or just enjoying the sunshine down on the beach.
We decided to slowly start making our way towards home so chose the ACSI site at Split-Stobrec, but as we approached we both thought the same thing - just one night here will be enough! Actually the site was very pleasant with large level pitches close to the beach and the facilities were good, but the surrounding area was so built up and there was a constant noise of traffic from the nearby busy road.
Nevertheless we stayed for 2 nights and cycled into Split city centre on Thursday. The cycle ride was not fun as we had to ride through scruffy residential areas and it started to rain as well! I was feeling pretty fed up and when we arrived the city centre was heaving with traffic. The main sites in the centre were interesting, with the remains of the palace, but there were just too many trails of tourists following their guides.

Sorry to sound a bit critical here, but Keith and I much prefer the countryside and the quieter places, like our visit to the abandoned village on Tuesday.
Friday was Keith's birthday so we decided to head back to Starigrad-Paklenica on our journey north up the Croatia coastline and escape the hustle bustle. We ended up at the wrong campsite (thanks to the sat-nav!) to the site that we intended, but we found a lovely pitch on the beach about 10 metres from the sea so it turned out alright in the end. The weather was not so good, but the day ended with a beautiful sunset.

We decided not to go out for a meal to celebrate Keith's birthday and it was a good choice as the rain
came down with vengeance after about 9pm and we would have got soaked walking back to the
campsite from town! It rained heavily all night but we awoke to a lovely day, we spent the day relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, going out for a walk later in the day.
We had planned to move on the next morning, but the forecast was just too good to spend the day on the road so we stayed another day and went out for a bike ride stopping at a deserted bay for our picnic lunch.

That's what we have really enjoyed about Croatia - being able to find isolated areas where you can relax and enjoy peace, quiet and the beautiful scenery

So after a month in Croatia it's time to move on, back towards home (eventually!)

Next stop Venice, Italy .........

Rucksacks and walking shoes....

We decided to give our cycle legs a rest today (Tuesday) and hiked 5km from our site at Loviste up to the abandoned village of Nakovana, the area being a historical site. The walk was quite straight forward so no risk of getting lost but it was all uphill to get there! Fortunately the weather wasn't too hot so the climb didn't take too long.

When we arrived, like many historical sites in Croatia (and other countries for that matter) it was very understated and with a complete lack of sign posting quite easy to miss!
We wandered around the buildings, some having been abandoned in the last twenty years and some obviously from hundreds of years ago. All stone built and lacking in any proper roads, just paths and tracks between the dwellings.

We peeked into the derelict houses and could see the old bread ovens built into the stone walls and we also found a millstone in situ but no obvious way it was turned.

I wonder how old this is?

When I got back I looked up on the internet a bit of history and the area has been inhabited for thousands of years, evidence of early Neolithic civilisation having been found in a cave in a nearby hillside. Because of it's archeological importance the cave can't be visited, there were hundreds of artefacts found in a hidden section. Centuries later the whole area was certainly an important one to the Illyrians, who ruled the area prior to being conquered by the Romans. The Grad hillfort, occupying the summit of a nearby outcrop, was an important centre of Illyrian power, and is thought
to be a possible power-base of the Illyrian queen Teuta, and a centre of resistance to Roman rule.
Even though the cave itself can’t be visited, the abandoned village of Nakovana, with its old stone houses and cobbled lanes, was a wonderful place to enjoy a stroll back in time.

Last night was a beautiful starlit night so we put the lights on our bikes and cycled along the village road to an unlit bay where we sat and listened to the gentle lapping of the sea looking up at the millions of stars, there are so many more stars when you get away from light pollution!
I wish I could take a photo of all those stars....

Croatian wildlife and strange noises in the night...

One of the first things we noticed on our first night at Orebic was the strange howling noises coming from the hills. It didn't sound like any creatures we had ever heard before, a chorus of plaintive howling sounding really spooky. So I asked the campsite receptionist and she told me it was the jackals - a cross between a fox and a dog. I then looked it up on the internet and the weird cacophony we were hearing was from the Golden Jackal, a distant relative of the wolf, but much smaller, about the size of a fox. We were lucky enough to see one crossing the road yesterday - sadly it was gone before I could get a quick photo.

It was fascinating to watch this colourful chap crossing our pitch - amazing markings, it looks like they were painted on!

We have seen some rather large flying insects and are bugged by mosquito and midge bites, we don't go out without our insect repellant on now

I was sitting outside enjoying a cup of tea the other day when a massive (about 3 inches long) cricket landed on my foot - I'm not sure who jumped faster him or me!
This little chap was out scavenging for nuts and berries on the site and stopped for a photo shoot before scampering off

And finally a quick update..... We wrenched ourselves away from the wonderful view to a campsite on the tip of the Peljesac peninsula at Lovista, a small (but beautiful!) village at the back of beyond. It's incredibly tranquil here and the site is impeccable - right on the seafront, the silence disturbed only by the howling of the jackals in the evening. 

A little corner of Croatian heaven......

We left Zaostrog on Sunday for a site in Orebic on the Peljesac peninsular about 50 miles north of Dubrovnik. Strangely, whilst travelling down the coast road we had to drive through a 10 mile stretch of Bosnia, it must have been a deal when the old Yugoslavia was divided to give the Bosnians a piece of coast, but it was decidedly odd having our passports checked at border patrol then having them checked again 15 minutes later as we left the country again! By the way, it didn't really look much different to Croatia which is not surprising!
When we arrived at the site we chose our pitch set on the hillside overlooking a beautiful sea view, but the best pitches were already occupied. We settled in and soon started to explore our new area going out on a boat trip to a nearby island - Kercula - the birthplace of the intrepid traveller Marco Polo, while we were there I managed to persuade Keith, who doesn't like heights, to go up the church bell tower, the view was well worth the climb up a tiny stone spiral staircase to the top.

When we got back to the site we noticed the best pitch was free so we swiftly moved across and here we are again - best pitch, best view across the bay! Not only that but we have had glorious weather here since we arrived so we've really had a chance to enjoy the fantastic views.

Another wonderful sunset...

Zaostrog

We left Camp Marina after our trip to the Krka National park and moved another 100 miles down the coast to the small seaside town of Zaostrog, another site right on the seafront but we chose a pitch set back with a view across to the beautiful clear blue sea. If you look carefully at the above photo you can see our van directly in front of the bell tower of the monastery (we were woken every morning at 7.45am by the bells calling the monks to pray, thankfully the bells were silent after 8pm)
From this site we were able to cycle both ways along the coast on quiet roads and on our last day we went out for walk up into the hills behind the town, stopping for a picnic along the way. As we were walking along a quiet residential road we were talking about the mandarins on a tree ready for picking and a voice from behind the tree said "Would you like some?" The owner of the house was sitting on her veranda and spoke perfect English, she offered us as many mandarins as we would like including "one for the road!" What a lovely kind gesture! When we got back we were ready for a swim in the sea.
Croatia is certainly a beautiful country and we have been lucky with the weather in the last week,the tourist season here is ending so many of the seafront kiosks have closed already, it makes it pretty quiet but that suits us!

This is where we had our picnic

And who lives in a house like this? A hobbit maybe?

This tree is now missing some mandarins

A beautiful bay we encountered on our way home

Motorhome ramblings......

Some of you may wonder what it's like to be away in a Motorhome for such a long time (our trip is 8 weeks), the most common misconception is that we are missing the comforts of home, well generally that is not true we have everything we need in our snug little home - we are never cold, in fact it's so much easier to heat the smaller living space and if we put the heating on it's often a bit too much! We have hot and cold water, toilet, a hot shower and a small but fully equipped kitchen area including microwave. In the evenings after dark and when it's too chilly to sit outside we watch DVD's on our TV, we have brought with us the complete box set of Breaking Bad (Yo Dude!) Our bed is very comfortable but we do get a bit fed up having to make it up every night! Some motorhomes have fixed beds but they are bigger and often you lose a fair amount of your living space. We have a reasonable amount of storage space and we try to keep fairly tidy otherwise you end up living in chaos.
We use the shower block on campsites for our ablutions and they are usually spotlessly clean and I haven't seen a continental toilet for years! I'm not sure about some of the campsite rules and regulations.....

We stay on a site for as long as we can find new places to walk and cycle, often about 3 to 5 nights and we don't spend too much time sitting about on site
We enjoy meeting and talking to the people we meet on the campsites although on this trip we have hardly seen any other English people - where are all the Brits?!
The Croatians are friendly and most speak some English. Over time we've got better at
communicating with people when we don't speak their language and no, I don't just raise my voice in English until they understand me!!! You know what I mean.....
We do miss our friends and family whilst we are away but we try to keep in touch by email, text and WhatsApp, I'm looking forward to getting back for my Knit & Natter group!
Fortunately Keith and I get on well while we're away, probably better than when we're at home, maybe it's because we're away from the day to day stress of life.
We often find things to laugh about, for example, the sharp eyed of you may have noticed that we have a small pop up tent which we use for storage, well the other day when we got home and opened it to get out our loungers, out came a sleepy cat who we had inadvertently trapped in the tent when we went out earlier!!!
We also spend a fair amount of time people watching and I tell you there are some strange ones out there!
What we really enjoy most while we are away is just exploring the local area,wherever we are, on our bikes or on foot, avoiding the tourist 'traps' and seeing how the locals live.

The best moments are finding a good place for a coffee (and hopefully a cake or croissant)

and watch the world go by or having a picnic somewhere out in the countryside....

And finally for a quiz (sorry no prizes for the winner!).........
What flavour yogurt have I just eaten? (It was delicious by the way!)

Krka National Park

On Tuesday we let someone else do the driving for once and went on an excursion to the Krka National Park, the only way to see all the sights of the park. We set out with our driver in a minibus at 9am and were very pleased to have 2 other English people with us in our group of 6, the other couple were German. We have hardly spoken to any other English people since we left home, the campsites being mostly occupied by Germans with a few Dutch, French, Austrian and Italian campers.
Our first stop was a viewpoint

We then drove on another 20 minutes to Skradinski buk, the largest of the waterfalls in the park. It's not just one waterfall but a whole amazing series of falls over a large area

The falls were amazing and we were given the rest of the morning to walk around the falls on the wooden walkways and bridges, looking at not just the falls but the lovely woodland surrounding it with little pink cyclamen growing wild amongst the trees.

After that we were back in the minibus to travel to another viewpoint, this time to view a monastery built on a tiny island in the middle of the river. On the island the monastery has been there since 1445 and is now occupied by only 5 Franciscan monks

Our next stop was lunch of traditional Dalmation ham and cheeses at a rustic restaurant. We were served up with a completely undrinkable white wine which had an after taste which reminded me of the smell from the inside of a Wellington boot!!! The Evian water was much more palatable......

We were then transported to two more sets of waterfalls including a walk down the hillside and a visit to a cave where Bronze Age relics were discovered

And finally the day was rounded off by a visit to the Krka Monastery with a guided tour round the beautifully decorated chapel and then down into the catacombs....

We returned to the campsite after a wonderful day transported to all the amazing sites of the Krka National park