Croatia 16 - Cres a first for Suzy and a visit to a small isle, we're on the road to nowhere Razor wire and a crowd of sorrows

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Today was going to be a first for Suzy the motorhome. A trip on a ferry from the mainland of Croatia to the small island of Cres. A 30 minute trip. A precursor to a longer one we plan in the future from Ancona in Italy to Igoumenitsa or Patras in Greece. The plan had been to leave early in the morning but having checked the sat nag we found that the journey of 43 miles would take us nigh on one and half hours which would make us too late for the 9.30 ferry. The calculations did not make sense. We were a stones throw from the Slovenian border and it would not take long to traverse the country as we had a vignette to use the motorways. Croatias roads though did leave a lot to be desired. Back home travelling 60 miles at 60mph meant that in the main you would arrive at your destination within a hour depending on which type of road you were travelling on. Here nothing made sense. We bit the bullet and paid up and picked up diesel at the petrol station just round the corner. We crossed the Slovenian/Italian border without seeing a border crossing nor a guard. Slovenia is a pretty country and we travelled through it at a snails pace. Crawling at 40kph it seemed to take an age to travel from village to village, through green forested woodland and past the ovens which were either empty or the pig was on the spit rotating ready to be eaten. The weather was still cold. It was still miserable and it was still chucking it down. What have we done to deserve such awful weather?

Our next stop was to be the border. Way back in 2012 when Croatia was just a fledgling state wanting to join the Great United States of Europe we were stopped at Pasnak, our passports checked and given the obligatory stamp. The previous couple of years we have been waved through. Today no way was that going to happen. There were six or seven cars already queuing up. They moved slowly to the booth where the slovenian and Croatian guards were sitting. A grey arm came out and a passport changed hands. The car moved to the next window. A blue arm protruded and a piece of paper was exchanged . The car moved off only to be replaced by the next one going through the same process. This happened six times before our turn. Passport checked and put in to the reading machine and we were waved to the next booth. He waved us through but out of the corner of my eye I saw razor wire . Miles of it closing off the border. The migrants from Syria were not wanted here. It looked a little like the Schengen agreement was being ripped up as we drove through. Borderless Europe was becoming a dream. What would our borders be like if we did a Brexit? Safer or not who knows! It seems that the Dutch are thinking along the same lines as us that Brussels has become a monster and needs some kind of change. Perhaps they will be an ally to us if we remain. Obama has caused a stink back home suggesting we should stay in the EU and would be back of the queue with regards to trade with the USA.

We spent the night at Rabac a small campsite in the middle of nowhere and near the sea. There were only a handful of guests other than us. A quiet night with rain again. In the morning we got off early and hit the road for the ferry. We arrived at 8.30 and already there were a few vehicles mainly Slovenian waiting for the ferry. It appears to be school holidays in Slovenia already hence the traffic on the road. We stopped at the kiosk and paid our 234 kuna for the single journey and joined the queue . Gradually the road behind us filled up and cars snaked up the hill out of sight. It was hardly a ferry port just a jetty where the road abruptly ended. I walked to the cafe and bought some pretty miserable sandwiches which ended up in the bin. Salami and gherkins and ham and olives . Not really our tastes. The ferry could be seen on the other side and at 9 it started to head across the bay. Weaving its way from side to side. Eventually it rolled into port with its deck down ready to disengorge its cargo of cars. We boarded and had time to look at Suzy from the upper decks , see the mainland drift out of sight, drank a coffee and watched Cres coming into view.

The landscape on the other side is lunar in character. Very rocky with narrow roads with few passing places. Dry stone walls line the roadside reminiscent of the Peak District. A few hardy sheep are in the fields. The sea is to one side of us. The road stretched for miles and miles with a single unbroken line in the middle. We thankfully followed a lorry with ploughed a furrough for us to follow. The cars behind with death wishes overtook us and the lorry at breakneck speed and on impossible bends. .

With the bad weather we feel that we have a crowd of sorrows who are violently sweeping our house . Or Suzy to be more precise. But we still try to think on the bright side., We have seen some lovely sights and been to places that cheered us up . So we are treating the rain honourably as we are sure in the end that it is probably clearing things out for some new delights. Perhaps we will get to see some dolphins .

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Comments

[jackieandchris2011]

Just caught up on the Blog of your latest trip! Sounds like you are having an amazing time - despite the weather! Hope it improves soon! I assume that you are members of ACSI? We tend to stay on their campsites a lot when we travel out of season. Enjoy your trip - I shall follow with interest

[JenGog]

ACSI sites
Hi yes we do use ACSI a lot but at the moment we are sitting in the pouring rain at Pakostane. On a lovely day it would be nice here . AT the moment we are drinking coffee on the almost empty site. I am way behind with the blogs as this is the first time I have gone on the internet for days. Think we will be off to Rab next . Jennifer