Thursday 27th September (Day 29)
Today was a trip into Trogir. No rush so a slow start and we caught the 11.00am ferry boat for £2.70 a person each way into the town. The option was a mile and a half walk along a very dodgy road and Chris likes a boat ride. So by 11.30am we were in the town which is another gem. We started off with a stroll around the outside along the waterside until we reached the Cathedral of St Lawrence. Here we paid £6 to go into the cathedral, treasury and up the bell tower. The cathedral was quite impressive but having seen so many churches on this trip it was not in a 'must see' category. The treasury had artefacts from the 15th century and later including handwritten bibles and even a hand written book of music. Then the bell tower. This involved a climb of quite significance with little apparent support, not my favourite activity, soon we were at the top of the tower. This then afforded great views over the town. We were three or so foot from the bells which only ring at midday; guess what time it was. You could feel the ringing through your body. We descended after a while and sat overlooking the water and watched the boats and tourists while we ate our lunch before a visit to the inevitable market - the biggest to date. A beer and then the 3.30pm ferry back and by 4.10pm we were lazing on the 'sandy' beach. By 6.00pm the real heat from the sun (it was mid 20's) had lost its punch so back to the motorhome for dinner. Afterwards we sat and played 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' (mobile phone app) and did spectacularly bad. By just before 10.00pm it was too chilly so we said our goodnights.
Friday 28th September (Day 30)
Today was another one of our 'lazy days on site'. A good start with English bacon in local bread, and still we have some in the freezer! Then a few chores about the motorhome. Around 11.00am Chris and I went for a walk along the bay into Ogruk Gorni. A town of little note but a great beach with bars and restaurants on the beach side of the road. We walked up into main town to the market. Three stalls two fruit and veg and one secondhand 'toot'. While on this walk four planes appeared and flew acrobatics in perfect formation and after about 15 minutes they flew off. On the walk back we stopped for a beer before having lunch at the motorhome. The afternoon was sunbathe, swim, snorkel and beer (repeat). Snorkelling has been quite poor along this coast with not very many fish and mostly lacking in colour. I swam with some bread left over from yesterday and at least attracted thirty or forty reasonable sized fish which was a bit of a result.
Saturday 29th September (Day 31)
So today was the going of the ways. Resa, Eric, Sue and Alan are off north with a date for a ferry on 9th October. We have a bit longer. 9.00am saw us saying our goodbyes and we were off. A slight hiccup in that several Dutch caravans were blocking the roadway to the water, waste etc. But we soon got sorted and were on our way to Nin (sounds like something from Monty Python). We stopped at a Lidl on route and I successfully reversed into a lamppost that 'wasn't there', minor damage but very annoying. A lesson learned, if expensive. Lesson 1; use the co-pilot to see you back always; and Lesson 2; when reversing take sunglasses off as the rear view 'sees all' but sunnies mask some of it. Anyway we soon left Lidl and arrived at our destination 'Zaton Holiday Resort'. It was HUGE. Also the camp site closed tomorrow, although we could stay until Monday. It looked like a 'Butlins' (apologies to those who like them). As we approached the reception, along the kilometre long drive there were lots of fire vehicles, not fire engines but mini buses and cars that Station Commanders might use. While waiting for Chris to come out of the reception lots of teenagers in semi-fireman wear walked in. Coaches arrives and more teenagers and young adults, similarly dressed, got off. I think there was some sort of training weekend for them, a bit like police specials! Anyway the camp site was not for us though so we turned around and drove about 1.5km to a small site called 'Autocamp Peros'. We settled in and walked about a 2.5km into Nin, a town we came here to see. Like many other places it was an fortified island village dating back to the Romans. The pedestrian bridge had partly collapsed due to a flood at the end of last year and a scaffold / wood temporary construction was in its place. Unlike some of the other places we visited it was very empty of tourists which was nice. It has a really small church, the Holy Cross, which was very plain from the outside and inside also. (We had to wait to get in there as there were about fifty teenagers inside singing.) Nearby there was also a statue of the Bishop Gregory of Nin, who lived here in the 9th century. He had the church mass spoken in Glagolithic (Croatian) language so the people could understand it. This was against the Pope (and Catholic Church's) wishes and caused great issues. Anyway the statue of him is more like Gandalf casting a spell than what a statue immortalising a bishop would be. We continued to stroll around, it was hot (24 degrees) but windy, and we stopped to watch kite surfers whizzing along and leaping in excess of 6m. A beer and walk back was followed by catching the last of the suns rays before dinner, a DVD and bed.
Sunday 30th September (Day 32)
Well it was the 'last night at the Holiday Resort Next Door'. So they had a disco. I am soooooo glad we did not stop on their site as we are about 1000m away and the music, while not actually distinguishable, had an incessant bass to it. Never mind they will stop by midnight I am sure; perhaps 1.00am?; Maybe 2.00am"; surely 3.00am?; No 3.30am! So not the best of nights sleep resulting in a late get up. I cycled to the pekarna (bakers shop); it was closed. Surely the town of Zaton must eat bread on a Sunday? So I cycled around the town. Eventually I found a building with grills like a prison with a man outside already on his first lager of the day. It turned out that it was a shop which sold bread. Hooray fried egg rolls for breakfast. Our plan today was a 20 mile cycle to and around the island of Vir. Most was a cycle path or backstreet roads with little if any traffic. One feature, which perhaps showed a lack of imagination by officials was the road names. 'Strata XXX, was followed by Straza XXIX and then Straza XXVIII. Other road like 'Put' and 'Bobovik' were similarly numbered some as high a 'L' (50). Anyway we cycled along one side of the island across the centre to the other more popular side with cafes and beach loungers. A coffee was called for. Off we went after the refreshment, making our way 'home'. After a short distance we found dozens of cyclists, a live group singing away and a bar and food outlets. We had stumbles over the 24th Annual Cycle Ride from Zadar to Vir. Half an hour listening to the group, who were excellent, and then a cycle back as it would then be lunchtime. After lunch we cycled to a small church on a hill, the Church of St Nicholas. It was less than 1.5km from the site. On arrival we found a layby with spaces for coaches so it looked like we might be in for a treat. No! It was small and on a hill and, more importantly, locked. Peering in through a high slit window revealed, well, barren walls. Disappointed we returned to the site to sunbathe by the pool and read. Then it was dinner and the first series of 'Lost'.
Monday 1st October (Day 33)
So a really quiet night. (Hooray!) Breakfast over and our dues paid we were off the 80km to Starigrad-Paklenica. Two hours the satnav said. It was a campsite in the National Park of Paklenica or so we thought. "No camp site in here", was the stern reply From the guard. We eventually found the camp site and parked up overlooking the sea. After lunch we cycled up to the National Park and discovered it had an entrance fee so we will return tomorrow when we can spend more time in the park. We decided a cycle along the waterside would be a good idea and enjoyed a six or so mile ride before returning to the bar at the site for a beer sitting in the bright warm sunshine. On the horizon was some dark clouds. A 60% chance of rain was the forecast for 6.00pm. Optimistically that means a 40% chance it wouldn't rain. Well at 6.00pm it didn't. We met up with a Danish couple who were at the Trogir site, Per and Inge. After our evening meal we went over to their caravan for a chat and a drink or two. A great evening followed, although the pessimist won out and by 9.30pm we had torrential rain and thunder and lightening. As I type at gone 11.00pm it is now directly overhead with no sign of abating. Goodnight!?
Tuesday 2nd October (Day 34)
A very windy night with the motorhome rocking about. The morning was grey and very windy still but a pleasant 21 degrees. We are undecided what to do so started by a good houseclean. Late morning saw us go for a stroll along the sea front on a fairly short circular route which was followed by lunch. We had come to this camp site to walk in the Paklenica National Park and decided that wind or no wind we would. So off on our bikes to the entrance where we paid the 40 kuna entry fee and cycled another 2km to the car park from where all the walks started. The park covers a large area and has some of the most challenging mountaineering climbs in Europe. It is formed by two gorges Velika Paklenica (Big Gorge) and Mala Paklenica (you guessed it Small Gorge). It has a variety of rare birds and animals including Red Deer, Boar, Lynx and bears. Off we went around 3.00pm for the Lucarnica Hut (a sort of woodman hut / now cafe). We were advised to take the walking poles so did so. The first part of the climb was very steep and rocky but after about 40 minutes got less so and a better path also. That said it was still almost 90 minutes before we reached the hut. We gratefully sat down and had a small beer. Then the route back. As we left two donkeys laden with items stopped on the way from the 'camping hut' another hours walk up the hill. On the way down we met two more donkeys on the way up with provisions for both the cafe and camping hut. The only really wild animal we saw was a small 45 cm snake of some type. The last part down, the rocky bit made us grateful we had the poles as it made it much easier. It also made my mind up to buy two more in the future. Back to the bikes and a simple downhill 4km ride to the site for a well earned rest and steak and chips cooked in the motorhome.
Wednesday 3rd Ocotber (Day 35)
The decision today was to drive north. The current site has no washing machine and we are running short of things to wear. Going north there is only one ACSI Campsite that would guarantee us a wash of the clothes.It is a three hour journey but if we see another campsite that looks like it would have a machine and in a good position we will try it. (We didn't.) Fairly soon after leaving the site we were flagged down by a policeman and we stopped with a van, two cars and four motorbikes. We sat there with no idea what was occurring until we spoke to a local who spoke English. A 3 to 4km section of the ONLY road along the coast was closed temporarily to film an advert for Bently motor cars. I am going to cancel the order for the Bently Continental now. About ten minutes and we were on our way. I have typed it many times but this coast is unbelievable. Lovely views with the sun sparkling on the sea; Pag and Krk island in the distance and a very pleasant drive (unless you were in a hurry). Eventually we arrived at Camp Selce in Selce! They gave us a map of the site and said park up and tell us where you are. Sounded so easy. However, finding a pitch that was reasonably level with not too much shade and a view of the sea took nearly an hour. So a late lunch followed by the desperately needed washing. (Chris, or I, could have washed a few items out by hand but I won't allow it. We do not do that at home so why when we are travelling.) A stroll into Selce followed which proved to be a lovely small town around the harbour. A beer (what else?) and then a stroll back to watch the sun set and catch the late afternoon rays.