Hello once again,
We spent a couple of nights on a huge campsite called Zaton Holiday Resort just outside Nin, thankfully it’s now low season again as the site was just absolutely massive. The lady at reception told us that they have approx 1,500 touring pitches with a capacity of 6,000 people plus another 3,000 people in separate apartments but as it was closing for the season at the end of September it was nearly empty. It was just a stones throw from Nin itself which is the oldest Croatian royal town and is located in a shallow lagoon 14km away from Zadar, it is only 500m wide and can be accessed by one of two old bridges, the one in the picture below is the lower city bridge with a bronze statue of Duke Branimir to the right before you walk over it. It’s full of history which we won’t bore you with but for such a small place it has much to see, so we had a walk around and just took some more photos.
Bishop Gregory of Nin
Church of the Holy Cross which apparently is the smallest cathedral in the world and dates back to the 9th Century
After leaving Nin we headed South to another National Park, Krka which is located in the Sibenik-Knin County and covers an area of 109 square kilometres. It was quite funny as we had chosen a campsite from our ACSI book, Julie also has the app on her phone which has been a great tool as it gives the same info as the book but with the added bonus that you can read reviews from other campers/motorhomers in English and various other languages and after 8 months on the road we have now become quite skilled in the art of reading between the lines and sieving the wheat from the chaff as they say! It said Camping Marina was a family owned & run campsite and it had a couple of reviews, one of which said “the campsite is a huge disappointment not because of it’s location or facilities but because the staff are blatantly rude and unfriendly……..the owners are your best friends until they have showed you to your spot but after that they do not care about you…….save your money and go to Camping Krka instead which is right next door….” So as we arrived sure enough there were the two campsites literally side by side both with huge signs saying only €12 a night, it looks like they were originally houses/farms with land at the back which they have now turned into small campsites to make money from the visitors to the Krka National Park. As we pulled up there was a large bus stop/layby outside and with that the lady from Camping Marina was waving us into her site and then came running out with a clipboard under her arm and said “come in, come in” sure enough she was now our new best friend. We said we would have a look around so she herded us around like a sheepdog showing us the pitches and the toilets/showers etc and we said thank you and then made a dash for the exit and casually walked into Camping Krka next door. Again a lady welcomed us but she was far more laid back spoke perfect English and showed us everything we needed but wasn’t at all pushy but did ask about the lady next door so I guess they aren’t the best of friends either! The sites were almost identical under small pine trees but the facilities were far superior at Camping Krka with a brand new toilet/shower block. I tip toed back to the van, jumped in and drove the few metres into Camping Krka without a backward glance but I am sure our new best friend was now our new worst enemy…….!!
We grabbed a leaflet from reception about the Krka National Park and it seemed very different and more spread out than Plitvice as it has several different areas/gates that could only be accessed by catching a number of different boats, or by coach both at an additional cost, or by yourself using your own transport so we opted to explore using the XT as the area looked lovely with scenic winding mountain roads and lovely views. The park has 7 waterfalls at various places along the vast Krka river, the main and most famous ones being the SKRADINSKI BUK falls, again they have all been formed over thousands of years by the travertine process just like at Plitvice. So the next day we took the bike down to the little village and marina of Skradin where we bought our ticket which included a free return boat trip up along the river Krka directly to the most famous part of the park the SKRADINSKI BUK falls.
As we approached the landing pontoon all we could see was the mist rising above the trees and all we could hear was the almost deafening noise of tumbling water so we knew it was going to be a spectacle to see.
Usually you are allowed to swim in the pools under the the falls, but this year earlier than expected there is so much water now that it’s far too dangerous. You might just be able to make out the swimming area marked by a rope & buoys in this first picture - at the bottom in the centre just above the wooden handrail.
We had a walk around this section which also has old watermills that were built back in the 19th Century and used for milling grain and grading woven woollen items. Some of the old mill buildings are now coffee/souvenir shops but it’s amazing as the water just tumbles along next to the stone walls, bridges and mills.
We carried on round the paths and boardwalks until we reached the other side and got an impressive view down over the SKRADINSKI BUK falls to the boardwalk we walked across when we arrived.
We got the boat back to Skradin where we had left the XT and then headed off to the ROSKI SLAP part of the park. Again it was different altogether so we had a walk round and then spotted a wooden staircase. The sign said there were 517 steps up to a cave so we started to walk up the steps but it was quite hard going but “mad dogs & Englishmen” and all that, we kept going and said these caves better be good. We got to the caves which to our relief were really quite impressive so it was well worth the effort, hard to believe stone age man had actually lived there, I can just imagine him saying to his wife "right I'm off down the mountain to get some water, I'll be back tomorrow" as obviously there wasn't a convenient staircase there then!!. From the staircase you also got a great view of the ROSKI SLAP which was more like a huge set of rapids. We carried on exploring other parts but to be honest some areas were so far apart and you could only view them from the road so we decided to call it a day and head back to camp. We did enjoy the Krka National Park but for us Plitvice had more of a WOW factor with stunning waterfalls and lakes at every turn although I guess it would be the icing on the cake if we had had the opportunity to swim under the SKRADINSKI BUK falls but there’s always next time!!!!.
From there we headed further South along the stunning coast road to our last stop in Croatia the island of CIOVO near a beautiful place called Trogir that we passed as we crossed the small bridge onto the island.
The campsite was small and had a really nice beach where we had a chill out and also went paddle boarding to some coves on the opposite site, again in crystal clear flat waters.
We had a day out exploring on the XT too and found some amazing tracks that gave us breathtaking views over the many islands.
We decided to go into Trogir to have an explore on our last night in Croatia and treat ourselves to a meal. It really was a quaint little place with many small narrow side streets which again reminded us of Barcelona & Venice.
This was the same sailing boat that we had seen in one of the coves when we went out exploring on the XT.
And this was moored up outside the restaurant, it was absolutely huge and called "Forever One", Julie could have stowed away in the stainless steel anchor housing! We looked it up on Google and it is owned by an Italian charter company is 54 metres long and was only launched back in June this year. While we were eating it got dark and there were pretty LED lights all over it and along the undersides too which lit up the aqua blue water around it. It had a huge under deck locker in the bow area and while we were there the crew opened 2 massive electric garage doors that opened just like tower bridge and put all the leather sofas and cushions away.
We scoffed a huge pizza each with a side order of french fries washed down with a very large rose wine, half a litre of beer and some crepes filled with chocolate and vanilla ice cream which came to the grand total of 206 Kuna so about £22 amazing, and the best thing was no cooking or washing up!!!!
As planned we had decided to book our ferry ticket from Split to Ancona for 30th but as usual nothing is ever simple. When we looked a few weeks ago the tickets were about €250 euros but when we went on-line to book the best price we could find was over €500! Julie spoke to Blue Line direct on the phone and got it down to €438 but then I remembered seeing a special offer on their website so Julie rang back and got it down to €242, what a result. Great we thought so we got it all sorted after a few more calls and sending them and email confirming everything and making a payment which again wasn't simple but to cut a very, very long story short we got a sort of confirmation email back and after chasing for a ticket they said don't worry just quote the booking number when you get to the Blue Line office at Split. So off we went to Split, but as the ideal world we live in doesn't exist when we arrived Julie went in and quoted the booking reference but they couldn't find it.......after 15 minutes or so it turned out they had booked us onto the Ancona-Split boat which left at the same time.....they said it was their mistake so after about an hour it got sorted and Julie re-appeared with a ticket, what a relief.
One thing that was now on my mind was what the loading ramps were like as our 7.5m+ fully loaded motorhome complete with trailer is just a tad low on the rear end so any sharp inclines can cause problems (as they did back in May). So it was off towards the loading ramps and OMG it was like a ramp to the moon at a 45 degree angle to the top cargo deck where they were pointing for us to go with a step about half way up, it just didn't look camper van friendly at all. We crept forward and with a few scrapes of the tow bar and a few layers of paint removed from the ships ramps we were on, but it didn't end there as these aren't roll on roll off ships and we were then told to then turn round on a deck space less than the length of the van, so it was off with the trailer and then a 10 point turn ready to dis-embark in 10hrs time, oh joy! We found some so called comfort seats and got our heads down for the night exhausted from van manoeuvring and nerves but as we keep saying it's all part of the adventure.
We waved goodbye to Split, we were quite sad to leave as we had fallen in love with Croatia but there's always next time
And 10 hours later waved hello to Ancona
The time came to unload but we were just as nervous as we knew what was coming but we decided it would be best if Julie drove and I could keep watch over the van, well we came down from the top cargo deck this time with literally millimetres to spare but while checking the underside of the van as Julie descended I noticed that we had caught one of the small jack legs that support the van which we must have done the night before on the way up but a quick adjustment got it sorted (only 2 more ferries to go) but one thing we learnt was that they can adjust the ramps and help you get some clearance as they did it for a large number of very fancy looking lorries.
So back on Italian soil again, a couple of stops here on the mainland including a visit to Pisa and then it's off to sunny Sardinia, we have an overnight ferry booked for the 6th.
Ciao for now.
J&J
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