07 June 2013 Having driven 2,350 miles getting to Dubrovnik we started the journey northwards and back home. We drove about 60k along the coast to the small town of Ston on the isthmus that connects the Paljesac Peninsular with the mainland. Ston historically has been important for the production of salt. In the 14th century the Republic of Dubrovnic who then owned the town built a 5.5k defensive wall to protect its investment. Some of the walls have been restored and we were able to do a spectacular walk along them for about 3k to the satellite village of Mali Ston. On the other side of the peninsular is the beautiful Prapratno Bay with a delightfully sited campsite where we stayed.... read more

05 June 2013 We bravely had a before breakfast swim in the nearby beach which unusually for Croatia was sandy. The Adriatic waters turned out to be quite cool! The morning was spent on a pleasant walk to a 15th century Franciscan monastery set 152m above sea level and with beautiful views over to Korcula and Orebic. It was then a drive through the vine covered mountains of the Peljesac Peninsula and along some more attractive coast to the southernmost point of this trip, Dubrovnik. We read on the BBC website that many German and Austrian cities, towns and villages on the Danube and other rivers were flooded following heavy rain in central Europe. We had visited some of them and we wish them well. Several places had marks on their town hall walls showing historic ... read more

03 June 2013 Our first task of the day was to visit a garage close to the campsite to get the puncture fixed. This was quickly accomplished by the very helpful and friendly owner and staff. We then drove 95k southeast along the coast known as the Makarksa Riviera which is dotted with attractive towns and villages and has mountains cascading down to the sea for its whole length. A 20k wide coastal strip of Bosnia and Hercegovina splits Croatia in two (see map). We cannot get motor insurance to cross this so were forced to take a ferry from Ploce to the Peljesac peninsula in order to bypass it. As it turned out this was very fortunate because we had a beautiful 50 minute boat ride and are staying in the very pretty small resort ... read more

01 June 2013 It’s been a difficult start to June. When I returned to the van after posting the blog last night, Wendy reported that rainwater had been dripping from the roof light over the settee which is also our bed! The rain fortunately stopped and bit of investigation showed where it was coming from but I couldn’t identify the cause, however I taped up a plastic dish to the ceiling in the hope of catching any further ingress. Soon after we went to bed the rain started again in earnest and we got further water on our duvet which meant rigging up mark 2 water catcher using a washing up bowl and the canopy rafter. This fortunately worked. When we emerged in the morning I noticed that one of the tyres appeared to be partially ... read more

30 May 2013 We drove over 300k during the day in generally wet weather. We entered Croatia (this was appropriate because we have arrived at the halfway point of the trip) and as there was nowhere else to stop carried on to the capital Zagreb where we arrived in the early evening. Surprisingly, the campsite was part of a motorway service station.... read more