Monday 27 July 2015

Italy - the Amalfi Coast

Coming up from Matera, we arrived at Salerno - the start of the beautiful Amalfi Coast. Coming off the autostrada where the speed was 110 kph, we had a very short deceleration lane of 40 kph then a stop sign. Whoa ......!!!! The locals may know about this but visitors sure get a surprise. Then you are on to the coast road and the spectacular vista that awaits.

After a couple of days amidst the mountains in the interior, it was lovely to see the water again and this coast line truly is breathtaking. The coastline runs 50 kilometres from Salerno to Sorrento, a rugged shoreline dotted with small beaches and fishing villages, and amassed with tourists. The road winds past grand villas, with terraced vineyards and lemon groves looking out across the endless sea. Yachts of all sizes are moored in the small anchorages, and some of the biggest super yachts and power boats we have ever seen. This is a playground for the seriously rich.

We cautiously wound our way along the road that twisted and turned every 100 meters, dodging the parked cars on the side of the road as well as the many pedestrians on foot taking in the view. Then there were the motorbikes! Obviously a preferred way to commute with the narrowness of the road as well as the very limited places to park. It felt like we were on an obstacle course and didn't really allow us to take in the panorama in front of us. We had opted to stay at Agerola, high up above the coastline so after turning off the coast road, we had a good climb through many switchbacks to reach our destination 700 mts above sea level. Fortunately we didn't meet any buses coming down the hill, that was our biggest fear. 

Our B & B for the next few nights was a family run stay and the friendliest stop so far. We were treated like family - from Roberto our host who gave us endless information in very good English about the area, the buses to catch and the restaurants in which to eat, to his dad Geraldo (ex professional pastry chef) who whipped up the best bruschetta with their home made cheese for breakfast, as well as delicious cakes for those who preferred sweets. He then explained to us in Italian how they were made - we just smiled at him and said 'Bellissimo' and he beamed back at us. This was truly a little haven of tranquility in the chaotic, hectic pace of the Amalfi Coast.

Our first full day started with us walking the Sentiero degli Dei - the 'Path of the Gods'. We started early morning as we knew it would take us 2.5 hours to do the 7 kms hike starting from Agerola to Positano. The path  took us through the most fascinating gorges, cliffs and precipices of the Amalfi Coast with magnificent wide views of the sea - to Capri in the distance and then down to the hamlets of Praiano and Furore located just below the path. They say it is not a trek with those who suffer from acrophobia, and in places we just didn't look over the edge but such an experience. The path ends at Nocella where there are 1,700 steps to get back down to sea level again. The calves really got a good work out doing those and the legs felt quite wobbly when we reached the bottom, but oh that first beer was amazing.

        

                     About 1/3 of the way along the path where it branches down to Positano

     

                       Spectacular scenery along the 'Path of the Gods' - looking up then down

     

             The start of the 1,700 steps downhill                      Thistle like flowers along the path

Along the path we had passed only a dozen other walkers, and all bar one were Australians. We had followed a French couple for most of the way and bumped back into them in Positano, so we all sat down and quenched our thirsts together. With the help of schoolboy French (our side) and schoolboy English (their side), google translate on the iPad and charades, we spent the next 2 hours 'chatting' and having a great time. After refreshing ourselves with a swim, we caught the local ferry back along the coast to Amalfi where we spent a couple of hours wandering up and down the cobbled alleyways and trying to stay cool. Record temperatures for the summer so far and day after day reaching above 40 degrees - even the locals were feeling the heat. We then caught the bus back up the mountain to our accomodation, an exhausting day nearly finished and no doubt a good nights sleep ahead.

    

             View from 1/2 way down the steps.                  Looking up from the beach at Positano

The next day we headed for Capri and the Blue Grotto. Busing back down to Amalfi, we jumped back on the ferry and after a 5 minute stop in Positano along the coast we were soon arriving into Capri. It was a pretty island, very touristy and very expensive but picturesque along with the rest of the region. We caught one of the small orange buses up to Ana Capri then changed for a bus down to the Grotto. The queue to enter into the beautiful blue watered cave was long and took us nearly an hour before it was our turn. Jumping into a small row boat with an oarsman and waiting our turn with the other 20 similar craft, we then had to lay very low as the tide was high and there wasn't much head room at all through the entry point. Into the cave and the most amazing coloured blue water surrounded us, so blue it really did look artificial. It was a quick 5 minute slow paddle around the interior and we were back out into blazing sunshine. 

       

                     The view from the bus window looking back down to the harbour on Capri

       

                     Getting ready to duck our heads and enter into the Blue Grotto on Capri

       

                                  Our little flotilla of row boats heading out of the Blue Grotto

It's goodbye to the Amalfi Coast and we now head north and inland to the region of Tuscany. And after a couple of nights of hotel accomodation, it's back to camping through the mountains. 

Sunday 19 July 2015

Italy - Matera

Our overnight crossing from Croatia went smoothly, as all our ferry trips with the Jadrolinija Line have done. With the car safely stowed and armed with a pizza, we went up on deck to watch the lights of  Dubrovnik fade away. We had taken a cabin for the night which comprised of 2 small bunks (about the size of our beds on Kittani) and a wash basin. It was a shared bathroom between 6 cabins but the ferry was nowhere near capacity and I think lucky for us we were the only ones using the facility. The engine noise was quite audible and stopped me from getting much sleep. Pete on the other hand felt quite at home and had a good nights rest.

        

                        Our little car first in line and stowed away for the night crossing to Italy.

Up early for a breakfast of sorts and then watched us come into port at Bari. It didn't take long to get everyone off and we were back on the road. We needed to find a bank and change some money, and that proved harder than expected. Firstly, Bari is not a particularly attractive town - existing mostly around the port and ferry terminal and very dirty. Secondly, the roads through town were particularly narrow with cars parked alongside and often just pulled up in the middle. Thirdly, Italian drivers love to honk their horn when they want to pass you, when they come out of a side street and just whenever they want. After finally finding a car spot near a bank, we grabbed our cash and couldn't get out of there fast enough. 

We decided to take what we thought would be the scenic coast road south towards Brindisi. It turned out that for the better part of it, we couldn't even sea the ocean and the roads were littered with rubbish everywhere. This wasn't a good start to our Italian stay. We continued on and eventually stopped in the small town of Gallipoli - a fishing village on the west side of Italy's 'heel' but again the debris lying around was really off putting and many of the buildings were covered in graffiti. The temperature outside had hit 41 degrees and we decided that this part of the country wasn't really doing anything for us, so we decided to push through to Matera.

Matera - the good, the bad and the interesting. The town lies in a canyon carved out by the Gravina river and is famous for its extensive cave-dwelling districts know as the 'Sassi'. As recently as the 1950's, hundreds of people still lived a crowded existence in these cave-homes, but by the 1980's, for health reasons they had all been relocated to more modern buildings on the plateau above. In 1993 it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site as an example of 'troglodyte settlement' and since then has become more popular as a tourist destination. This was the interesting part.

        
   
                              A view of the Sassi with the ring road taken from Matera church 

        

                              Wandering up and down the alleyways of Matera, Southern Italy

    

                      The church at Matera.                              Outdoor restaurant setting up for dinner

We stayed at Locanda di San Martino, an accomodation comprising of 33 seperate 'cave' rooms all newly renovated and joined by pathways and stairs. The entire 'Sassi' is a series of grottoes carved out of limestone on the edge of the ravine with houses seemingly piled on top of each other, the roofs of some are the streets for those above. We enjoyed 2 days of climbing up and down endless steps and alleyways and again walking on those polished smooth stones that we have seen all throughout our travels so far. We descended into the cistern to learn about the towns water supply of old, and spent our evenings dining under soft lights and enjoying the cooler temperatures. We did however have to spend from midday till late afternoon in our room with the air con at full blast - this was the only way to survive the heat (and many places closed for this period of the day anyway). This was the good part.

     

                       Pete down in the cistern                          Locanda Di San Martino - our cave home

Sadly - the bad! We had thought to get on the road early to Amalfi thus avoiding the heavy traffic on the motorways. We moved our car from the free car park up to a residents only area for the loading our of cases which is allowed by the local law. We were away from the car for just over half an hour and when we returned, we found our 2 front tyres had been slashed. The only non-Italian number plated vehicle in the row of cars and I guess it was target for some low life. It was then a 4 hour exercise to get 2 new sports tyres on a Sunday!!! A local resident told us that he had experienced this 4 times - and he lived there!!! The locals were very helpful with putting us in touch with the right people, and they too were very sorry this had been done to us. A shame such a low point to end a great couple of days.

       

              Trying to appear happy after our little car had its tyres slashed. What can you do???

After a delayed departure due to our mishap, we were finally mobile again and a few hours drive to our next stop - the stunningly beautiful Amalfi Coast. 

Friday 17 July 2015

Montenegro

After a sleep in and lazy start, we had only a short drive to get to the Montenegrin border. Armed with all our papers for the car and most importantly our green paper (insurance), we joined the queue of vehicles waiting to be processed. We watched a Swiss car take ages at the barrier, then another one in front of us an eon to be processed and wondered what was in store for us. Surprisingly in less than a minute the papers were handed back with our passports but unfortunately no 'welcome to Montenegro' or even a smile!

We then headed up into the mountains for a tree change from all the beach side camping we had done. More of a track than a designated road but we were soon there, had our tent pitched under some lovely shade in no time at all and then sat back to enjoy the tranquility of the countryside. A small camp ground with only about 20 people and run by a lovely English couple - it was fun to sit around the communal table and have some great conversation in English at long last. At night the stars and satellites were very apparent without any street lights, and with very little passing traffic, all we could hear was the sounds of crickets in the trees, the hoot of a owl in the hills and the occasional bray of a nearby donkey.

Next day we headed our for a day of sight seeing, stopping at first in Herceg Novi to REGISTER for tourist tax and then to a bank to PAY our tourist tax for the duration of our stay here. So much for progress! We then followed the coast road around the bay and down in the very pretty town of Kotor. Yet another huge cruise liner was docked at the wharf with hoards of people everywhere so we pushed on further around the foreshore to a little restaurant perched right on the waters edge for a fabulous pasta and risotto lunch.

        
     
                                      Lunch on the edge of the water in Kotor, Montenegro

       

                  Folłwing the coast road around into Kotor - one small village runs into the next 

After lunch, we headed up to top of the mountains to visit the Njegosev Mausoleum, perched high on the hill at 1500ms. The road up contained 25 switchbacks and hairpins bends as we climber higher and higher - the good aspect was that we were continuously looking upwards and didn't dare look at the view over the edge until we got to a safe vantage spot. The view was breathtaking, the large cruise liner in the harbour looked more like the size of Kittani. But then we had to go back down 😩😩😩😩. This time we could see the drop! Thankfully there wasn't much traffic and we were able to go at snails pace and every so often find a small area to pull over and let the very impatient Montenegran drivers fly past. After we reached the bottom, Pete told me that over lunch he had googled the road up and it was listed on the worlds most dangerous drives. Glad I didn't know that before the trip.

        

                   Looking back down from on high after 25 switchback bends to get to the top

        

              Njegosev Mausoleum - 461 steps from the car park to reach the top for a great view

       

                     Our route up the mountain from Kotor - 26 switchbacks of nail biting driving!!

Leaving our tent pitched, we headed off up into the mountains in the north of Montenegro. Being such a mountainous country with rivers cutting valleys at the bottom, it can take some time to get from A to B. The roads often wind back and forward and sometimes seem to double back on each other. There are many tunnels along these roads dug through the mountain side, some nearly a kilometre long and others really only an arch. And the Montenegrin drivers are very impatient and intolerant of foreigners to say the least!! They race around these mountain roads as if they own them, playing leapfrog over any car they come up behind and often endangering other on road. They cut corners terribly and it is not strange to come around a corner and meet them coming towards you literally in the middle of the road. With a last minute swerve they do avoid you but it can be nerve wracking - no wonder car insurance companies generally charge an extra premium if you are driving here.

We made a stop at the small village of Pluzine at the base of the gorge to enjoy a panorama of the turquoise water before starting our climb again up the mountain. Once at the top, the scenery was quite different. We followed the winding track through wild flowers that were nearly taller than the car, then the area opened out into a panorama of majestic rugged mountains that were truly breathtaking. Out stop for the night was the village of Zabljak - a ski resort in Winter and a hikers delight in the Summer months. On the outskirts of town is Black Lake - a glacial lake sitting 1,416 m above sea level and fed by numerous mountain streams. A popular spot for tourists walking and cycling around the 3.5 perimeter. It took us an hour walking at a brisk pace and had some spectacular photo spots along the way - always a lovely setting surrounded by forestry and in the shadow of imposing mountains.

        

                        Some of the amazing mountain landscape in the north of Montenegro

        

        

                         The turquoise waters around the village of Pluzine in North Montenegro 

        

                                           Scenic Black Lake outside of Zabljak, Montenegro 

        

Next morning we headed off back south towards home with a first stop to see the Tara River bridge. A concrete arch bridge that sits 172m high and spans 365m across the Tara River. A popular tourist attraction here is zip linning across the gorge for those wanting an adrenalin rush. Launching from the forestry on one side to traverse the gorge 824m, the excited voices of the zip liner echoing up the valley. 

        

                                              Tara River bridge near Zabljak, Montenegro 

        

                                                 Looking from the bridge across the valley 

        

                          Enjoying the Montenegrin landscape  - a very picturesque country 

        

                               For someone with an aversion to heights, Pete has managed well 😄

We headed back to our camp for one more evening before crossing back into Croatia for an overnight ferry crossing from Dubrovnik to Bari, Italy. We have loved Montenegro (apart from the anx with the drivers), and enjoyed the mountains as well as the coast. The roads have generally been good, though some quite narrow in places and made for interesting moments. We have enjoyed the food which has a distinct Italian influence and even quite enjoy olives now. So now it's on to Italy for us as and the next stage of our holiday.




Thursday 9 July 2015

Croatia - part 2

After 3 lazy days of idyllic Baska, it was time to head back to the mainland and further down the coast. Staying away from the motorways, our coastal route took us through one small village after the other, winding alongside the picturesque Adriatic and hairpin bends that nearly met back on themselves. Our destination for the evening was Split - a much larger town than many we had been in and a major ferry port connecting to many of the islands. 

After locating our accomodation for the evening, we ventured into town to organise our ferry tickets for the following morning to cross to the island of Hvar. The Jadrolinija Line is huge, with numerous massive ferries servicing many of the Croatian islands. The ferries themselves are very comfortable and the whole organisation is very professionally run. When you purchase a ticket, it is valid for any crossing on that particular date but you are unable to book a specific time. You turn up well in advance, join the queue and hope that you get on. This can be a little disconcerting if you are running to a schedule but we always managed to make our desired ferry. 
   
        
   
                                                        The foreshore of Split town

Split town and foreshore is a hive of activity (though the above picture you wouldn't think so) with people everywhere - restaurants, bars and cafes along with street entertainment and market stalls. After dinner we wandered for a couple of hours soaking up the holiday atmosphere and people watching. We ventured down into the bowels of the Diocletian Palace and the night markets, and then followed the beautiful sound of tenor voices. We soon found ourselves surfacing under the stage of an operatic performance into a open auditorium, the massive columns of the palace flood lit in pinks and greens and the rich voices echoing through the arena, entertaining the crowds. A music festival was starting the following day and I think this was a final dress rehearsal - the voices, the lighting, the surroundings of the stone walls giving a surreal feeling to the evening. Whilst among the hundreds and hundreds of people walking along the foreshore area, we were suddenly recognised by the daughter of friends that we hadn't seen in 15 years. We had paused to watch and listen as a group of young Aussie accents walked by when suddenly we heard one of the young girls say "hey, I know you - it's Peter and Cathy, isn't it". What a small world this can be.

        
 
                       The 5 tenors dress rehearsal performance in the Diocletian Palace - Split

    

             The alleyways around the Palace.                         Pulling away from Split on the ferry

The island of Hvar was our next destination. A 2 hour crossing on milk pond waters with yachts everywhere (all having to motor with lack of wind) saw us pulling in to one of the greener, more lusher looking islands than many we had seen. As we drove to our campsite, we passed through olive groves, orchards of peach and fig trees, vineyards everywhere and the villages full of brilliant coloured bougainvillea and oleander. We were told this was a very pretty island and it certainly was. The campground again was a great location with swimming areas off tessellated rocks. It was well equipped with facilities, and like many had small fridges for rent. This enabled us to keep supplies for lunch cold, as well as our drinking water. We were only a short walk into Vrbroska, a small Fishermans village with a couple of restaurants overlooking the water and we alternated with dining in the ground and eating in the village.

        

                                              The small Fishermans village of Vrboska 

        

                                           Local pleasure boats moored in the harbour

        

             Tessellated rocks at the foreshore in the camp ground - steps built in for access

Up early on our day of departure and a drive the length of the island to get to where the ferry would take us back across to the mainland. It was then a 30 minute drive down the coast to where another ferry took us across to a peninsula to Orebic. This seemed a crazy thing to be doing but was something we hadn't anticipated. If you follow the Croatian coastline all the way south, you actually have to enter and pass through a 10km stretch of Bosnia Herzegovina known as the Neum Line. We hadn't listed this country with our insurance company (not realising we would pass through it) so therefore weren't covered for travel. That along with getting visas made it all too difficult, so we made the crossing by ferry in order to side step the area and apparently most people do it this way. We were also stopping on the peninsula for my birthday and Pete had booked a special hotel for the occasion.

The Adriatic Boutique Hotel located at Orebic overlooking the Adriatic was really something. Originally an old church dating back to 1625, it was renovated in 2012 in the style of the captain's residence in keeping with the maritime tradition of Orebic. There were only 6 rooms, each named after the Peljesac sailing ships. We were in the Paulina room with beautiful old stone walls, a 4 poster bed and luxurious fittings and all with a view out over the endless blue sea. Out the front on the terrace is the hotels restaurant built as a replica of the 17th century sailing ship - Restaurant Stari Kapetan and specialising in freshly caught local seafood. This overlooked the hotels small private beach with areas reserved for each room complete with sun lounges and umbrella. How I would loved to have stopped here for a while........! From the minute we arrived, we were treated like friends and it was a lovely way to spend my birthday.

        

                                       Enjoying the comforts of the Adriatic Boutique Hotel 

        

                               The hotel from the beach with the ship restaurant in the front

Hating to drag ourselves away, we were heading back south along the peninsula to Ston to walk the Great Wall of ....... Ston, also known as the European wall of China. As well as protecting the city, they were built to safeguard the salt pans of Ston which contribute to Dubrovniks wealth and they stretch for nearly 7 kms. We opted to walk only a very small section of the wall as it was reaching 35 degrees in the sun and we were really feeling it. Back into the air conditioning and heading for Dubrovnik. 

       

                                 Feeling the heat somewhat but a great view from the top

        

                                                A section of the Walls of Ston - Croatia

        

                        The view from the section we walked looking over the prized salt pans

As we had flown to Dubrovnik for a few days previously, we were not stopping here this time but driving in gave us a different view. Looking down into the port of Gruz, we could see 4 cruise liners in for the day - no wonder Dubrovnik is always crowded. We did however stop here at a tyre dealership to have the cars tyres rotated and balanced - done on the spot, 30 mins and costing only £10. We also stocked up on some supplies as the campground we were heading to in Montenegro is up in the mountains and fairly isolated. Car done, groceries done, fuelled up and back on the road to the coastal village of Molunut for our last night in Croatia.

        

                                      A glorious day for all the day visitors to Dubrovnik

What a gem of a place we found for our last stop. A very small village but with a surprising amount of apartments. We followed the road right to the end of town and found an apartment that was truly lovely. Up on the first floor with a terrace completely shad with vines, a view out across the water, bougainvillia in flower and a small private swimming area off the rocks at the bottom of the steps - what more could we want. The water temperature was noticeably warmer than what we have been use to - refreshing on impact then just lovely for swimming. The owner was a lovely lady who left us up a jug of wine and a plate of freshly made cake whilst we were down having a swim to cool off. It was such a lovely setting that we opted to forego the walk into the village for dinner but instead bought a selection of meats and cheeses and sat and dined in that evening. Seeing what we were doing, out lovely lady then brought up some candles and insect repellant to add to our romantic evening.

       

                 The view from our balcony and being at the end of the road - peaceful and quiet 

      

                                 The winding steps down to our private swimming area

      

                                 Sunset from the dinner table on our final day in Croatia

So that is us done for Croatia. We will return here after 5 days in Montenegro just to catch the ferry from Dubrovnik across to Bari in Italy. We have loved the country, seen a few of its islands (there are more than 1,000) and found a mix of attitudes and personalities from the Croatian people. Some have been the warmest and loveliest people you could hope to meet, some in the service industry have been aloof and almost to the point of being rude, but we had read to expect this. It is all part of the experience of being in a new country and overall it has been a wonderful few weeks. 
"Goodbye Croatia and Hvala"




         

Tuesday 7 July 2015

Croatia - part 1

At last some constant nice weather and the beginning of our camping. Starting at the top end of Istria, Umag was our first foray into very 'basic' camping - given the last time we did this in Brisbane, we had the camper trailer, fridge, esky, double bed, shade covers and much more. This time we have a small tent, 2 chairs and a coolie bag. But, so long as the weather holds, we will be fine. Campgrounds over here range from 300 person to 7000 - yes, thousand capacity. So we have tried to stay with the smaller ones, and follow the coastline South all the way to Montenegro.

Umag was our first stop - great facilities, very clean, plenty of hot water even for washing dishes. Restaurant on the premises serving a good range of local food and reasonable prices so we are there every evening. Being right on the coast, we had a waterfront spot with views across to Slovenia and Italy. Lazy days spent reading and relaxing, and swimming with gritted teeth when we were hot. Water temperature about 18 degrees and we can only hope it warms up as we head further south. 

        
                       
                          The view from our tent in Umag - our little tent 1/4 the size of this one.

With the afternoon sun really intensifying, our aim was to spend time outside before lunch, then venture into shade or a road trip in the hot afternoons. One day we drove to Motorvun, a small walled town perched high on what looked like a volcanic plug with valley floor surrounding it. Views from the top over vineyards and olive groves, paddocks of hay and the odd cluster of homes that form a tiny village. Istria is a relatively small region so nowhere is very far, including moving from one camp ground to the next.

         
 
                   Enjoying a beer with a view over the surrounding countryside around Motovun

         

                                                           The village of Motovun

Porec was our next stop. Much more touristy than Umag and set around a pretty harbour, a hive of activity with ferries crossing to outer islands as well as day trips across to Italy. We spent the afternoon wandering around the port, looking at boats (funny how we always seem to do that) and a good dinner of cheeses, meats and local wine is a courtyard with grape vines hanging overhead. We had opted to take a hotel here so we could leave the car safely and walk to the ferry that would take us on our day long excursion to Venice tomorrow.

         
  
                                The harbour village of Porec - half way down the Istrian Coast

     

                 Venetian masks stalls everywhere                        Cobble stone alleyways of Porec

A city I was looking forward to seeing again, having celebrated my 21st here long ago. A glorious day and temperature in the low 30's, we had just over a 2 hour trip on a comfortable fast catamaran and we were arriving at Venezia San Basilio. Once we had cleared immigration, we opted to follow one of the boats guides walking to St Marks square (pinning all our twists and turns on the iPad so we could find our way back to port), it was a 40 minute stroll and the famous square opened up in front of us. Already packed with tourists and pigeons feeding, the memories came right back to 1980 (apparently up to 100,000 people per day visit the square in peak season). We wandered up and down the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, Bridge of Sighs for a couple of hours before meeting back at St Marks Square where we had booked a taxi boat for a 40 minute cruise through the narrow canals seeing everything from a different perspective. After lunch, we continued our perusing of the arcades and laneways with high fashion stores galore and all the big names, Murano glass and lace outlets before getting out the iPad and retracing our steps back to port for our return trip to Croatia. A great day was had in Venice.

         
     
                         St Marks Square Venice - up to 100,00 visitors per day in peak season 

     

                     Beautiful buildings of Venice.                             Cruising the canals

        

                                   Looking back to St Marks Square from our water taxi ride

        

                                         Our happy serenading gondoliers waiting for a fare 

An hours trip down the coast was our next stop of Rovinj. The best reviews we had read for camping here was one of the large sites - 6,000 people so with a little trepidation we ventured in. Wow, these guys know how to set up camp grounds. The reception area was like checking in to a hotel, where guests could then choose from apartments, bungalows, mobile home or camping lots. The facilities were abundant, never having to be far from anywhere, super clean with automatic lighting when you enter, and piped music in the toilet block!! (This impressed Pete). There was a grocery store, fresh fruit and vegetables stall, clothes and beach equipment shop, fitness rooms, sauna, hair salon, kiosk, and even a pharmacy as well as 6 restaurants and a pizzeria. They even brewed their local beer on the premises. The area seems to go on forever so you didn't feel cramped or right next door to anyone - an amazing camping experience. We found a plot looking out over the crystal clear blue water under some shade of a olive tree and thoroughly enjoyed the next 3 days, venturing into Rovinj only once for a walk around the old cobbled alleys in the Old Town, still untouched by modern urbanism.

        
   
                                      Our camp ground in Rovinj - more like a resort

     

                  Sunset from our tent in Rovinj                 Delightful hidden bars/cafes in Rovinj old town 

Having been on mainland Croatia since arriving, we decided to head across and see some of the many islands that make up the Dalmation Coast. So we followed the coast road south and around to the island of Krk - joined to the mainland by a toll bridge. First impressions of the island were of pinky white coloured rather barren looking hills, but spectacular in their own way. We headed the length of the island to the most southern point of Baska which was a small picturesque fishing village, now a popular tourist destination. Another tiered campground with views across the water to those rugged hills we had seen driving in. No such thing as sand here but smooth round pebbled beaches, and tessellated rocks with steps built in for access in and out of the water. Despite the number of visitors, we enjoyed this spot very much, it's beautiful turquoise crystal clear water and surrounding hills a breathtaking panorama. And the water temperature was getting warmer, not by much but noticeable!

        

                     Sunset on our campground at Baska - the southern end of the island Krk

        

                 Our tiny tent set under the pine trees - probably the smallest tent in the camp!                           

        

                                                      Beautiful scenery by day 

        
  
                                                         ....... and spectacular by night