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Hi All,
Yes it has been awhile but we have been busy, no excuses, however I will get on with it. After leaving Budapest we headed to Croatia. Now, Em was slightly nervous about Croatia given she had been raving about it since she and Laurel went a few years back. Em needn’t worried, the place is spectacular.
Our first stop was Plitvice National Park for the waterfalls. These are no ordinary waterfalls as they appear to come from the surrounding rocks, trees and shrubs. It is truly remarkable to say the least. After walking the trail, which took about 3 hours, supposedly 5-6 according to the chart, we made our way to the coast at long last. We headed towards Zadar only to find most of the campsites either closed or shit. We finally found one and got a spot near the water to find they used a different electric connection to our lead, so no electricity. That did not stop them charging us some 27 euro which is quite expensive. Too make matters worse; they were in the process of cutting the grass which brought on Em’s sniffles for the night. The next morning, we headed south,
through Split and on towards Dubrovnik. Tom Tom led us onto a new motorway, so new in fact the petrol stations were closed, and yes you guessed it, we needed fuel. We finally got to the end and asked the toll operator for the nearest fuel station. He mentioned something we could not understand so we figured Makarska was only 30 km away and we should make it. What we did not realise was that it was 30km of windy steep roads. When we made a left turn, the needle would travel below empty and when we went right it would come back up. After 25km we finally hit the coast but realised we were about 400m up the mountain and the traverse down was frightening, particularly given we had to coax in neutral. There was all but a 1 ft high fence between us and doom. We finally got down and made it to a petrol station for some gas.
The road then hugged the coast and was breathtaking to say the least. After a short drive we found a campsite. On arrival and given it was on the water, I asked if you could swim here of
which I was told no. After some confused looks it turned out you could, but it was to cold…not likely I replied. As we were hungry and cooking on driving day is a pain in the ass, we booked ourselves into the campsite kitchen for their one meal on the menu for the day, a meat platter. After setting up, we had a customary beer at the bar then returned for a 7pm booking to be greeted by a plate of meat….brilliant. Whilst other tables had leftovers, we polished ours off looking for more. At this stage, the owner, who we named as dodgy Uncle Pete (sorry pal but there was some similarities), joined our table for a chat. After finishing off our beers DUP asked if we wanted another, so we did and when I offered to pay he indicated it was on him…sweet! Then he offered another, of which we obliged, then some desert, of which we obliged, then another beer of which we obliged, then as we were leaving, we could not go without his home grown port, of which we obliged. The funny thing about DUP was that every so often he moved his chair a
bit closer to Em. I then figured, to Em’s delight, that every time I would go to the loo (a fair bit given the booze he was plying us with, he would get a bit closer again). It got to the point that I was forced to sprint to the toilet (up a hill mind you) then sprint back to save Em. I ended up asking if I could use the staff toilets. Needless to say it was a very fun and cheap night that resulted in a nasty hangover. We have met people at campsites since this who know DUP. The hangover was nothing a quick dip would not fix, so off for my first swim and it was icy, but hey it was still water and it felt great. After the meat platter, the following night was a fish platter of which we indulged, which consisted of 3 fresh fish on the BBQ and salad. Thankfully we stayed clear of DUP for the night. Sadly we left the following day as it was a great campsite and made our way to Dubrovnik. Again, a beautiful drive including a couple of km’s through Bosnia. You would have hardly known
except for dodging the snipers and land mines (just kidding Mum).
We checked into the one and only campsite in Dubrovnik that was surprisingly not too bad. We were able to ride our bikes into town and walked the old city making our way around the wall. Unfortunately the famous doll’s head garden is gone, or we could not find it anyway. We then had lunch where Em and Laurel once did to have the octopus salad. Afterwards we then booked into a day trip for the following day to Montenegro given we could not get car insurance there. It was a great day, most picturesque and you can see it will prosper in the coming years with tourism. We had lunch on the coast devouring the best mussels we have ever eaten.
From Dubrovnik we then made our way back up the coast to get a ferry to Hvar. On the ferry we met an Aussie couple, Ryan and Natalie, who happened to be from the Central Coast with Ryan knowing Christian. On arrival on Hvar we were greeted with a 1 ½ hr drive from one side to the other on some of the worst roads
imaginable. Twice I was nearly forced off the side which was quite a drop. I then figured Lola would not be any worse so they will have to get out of our way, which they did. We found the campsite to find it miles from anywhere. After one night, we ventured in to Hvar city to find some accommodation. We found a lovely old couple who rented out apartments in their home. We got a 1 bedroom apartment with kitchen and a view of the islands for 32 euro a night, 4 euro more than the campsite, and it had a bed and our own toilet..woohoo!. Lola even got undercover parking which is new to her. The owner, seeing my lovely and stylish long blonde locks, asked if we were Swedish; take that bald brothers!
Hvar is incredible. After chilling on the beach for the day we headed out for dinner and found a great terrace restaurant with incredible sunset views. After dinner, the waiter asked us where we are from of which I replied Australia. He then said, “my favourite singer is from Australia” Fair question I thought. Em dutifully replied in the most ocker accent I have
ever heard “pie n chips hey”. The waiter looked at Em, then at me and before I could stop laughing said, “no Peter Garret”. He then walked off before Em could try and explain she thought he said his favourite meal. Some minutes later, some staff came up to the terrace and looked then laughed at Em. They also looked at me thinking ‘you poor bastard’ no doubt. Given Em could now not stop laughing, we made a hasty retreat.
The next day we hired a boat and spent a day touring the many small islands. The day after, we jumped in Lola and found a great secluded beach, spending the afternoon reading and swimming. Back at the apartment we met a lovely Canadian couple and had dinner and the customary wine with them. The following day we jumped on a ferry to Split to get an overnight ferry to Italy, 9 hours of fun…not. So that was Croatia done, beautiful scenery, lovely people, awesome food, great fun and sad to leave, but we must go on.
Arriving in Italy we were greeted to Italian driving. They are seriously on another planet. First stop, Rome. Now I see
why Rome was not built in a day however given Italy stops for a couple of hours in the afternoon I am not surprised. I will not go on about Rome as most of you have already done it.
After Rome, we ventured to the Amalfi Coast. We were recommended a campsite by a German couple in Rome. These guys gave us a tour of their caravan of which Em and I agreed that was required for our next adventure and strangely I found Em trying their dinner, or not so strangely, and it was canned fish. Back to Sorrento, it was a small and friendly campsite set amongst lemon and orange trees. After taking Lola to a mechanic to have some transmission fluid put in (she has sprung a leak), we spent the day in Sorrento which was lovely. Made lovely in fact as I managed to walk past a pub showing the Anzac Test of which I felt we were obliged to sit and watch for 2 hours. Afterwards we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the campsite.
Next day, we went to Pompeii and spent the day roaming the ruins. The following day we
took a day trip to the island of Capri to spend a shit load of cash. It was a great day however but disappointingly the blue grotto was closed. We walked a fair bit , had some expensive lunch then took an expensive boat trip around the island before getting back on the expensive boat. You get my drift but it was a most enjoyable day.
The next day we hired a scooter and rode the Amalfi Coast. It was breathtaking and was the only time the Italian drivers seem to care that you are also on the road. We spent a couple of hours at Positano, lunch at Amalfi and then to Maori and back.
We then left Amalfi and headed south, stopping at Matera to see some caves, and are now in Sicily. Tomorrow we have another ferry ride to Sardinia where we will spend a few days before heading to the Northern Italy to meet up with friends…yeh someone else to talk to.
Hope all is well with all,
Love,
Ben, Em and Lola the leaking wonder car who has travelled around 4500 miles on the journey thus far.
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Dad
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AAhh Pompei
I am surprised DUP didn't go for you Ben with your long blond hair!!! You are certainly bringing back memories of Pompei with its phallic symbols and brothels and then the magnificent restaurents in Sorrento, did you get to sing " I still call Australia Home" as previous, It all sounds and looks great, keep up the good work with the travel blogs Stay Safe, Dad and Caz