Our route after Mostar was to travel the short distance to the coast of Croatia, just to the north west of Dubrovnik, for a little more sun and sea. It also meant another border crossing, back into the EU this time. It was however the longest wait in the hottest temperatures. What was slightly frustrating was that there was only one 'window' at each side of the border and when they saw our right hand drive vehicle, we were waved on through each one, without the passports even receiving a glance!
The temperature in the day is in the mid-thirties and driving a Land Rover without aircon is still reasonably comfortable with at least two windows wide open and the vent flaps under the windscreen also pushed open. In the later models, starting with some of the TD5 models perhaps (but I'm not sure), these vents were removed. It wouldn't be possible to get enough cooling airflow without them.
Without a doubt the single biggest success has been the silver foil bubble sheets that Dawn made for each window and the fact that the windows are vertical and so don't present an angle for the sun's rays. The rear side windows, the two quarter lights at the back as well as the two alpine windows are left blocked all the time. As soon as we park, unless we are sure of shade, the other ones are stuck up, particularly the back window which is where the cool box sits, plugged into the auxiliary battery.
The cool box has been another success. It's a top of the range Waeco Tropicool Classic which we have used for several years. These coolers work on the Peltier effect. When a particular semiconductor junction has a 12volt DC applied across it, one end of the junction gets hot and the other cold. The cold end is placed inside the cooler compartment and hot end is outside. A big fan then blows heat away from the hot end. The cool end in theory is able to be a maximum of twenty degrees lower than the hot end. So the cooler the hot end, the colder the cool end becomes. We have had cold milk (for breakfast muesil) and hard butter most of the time and also cold beer in the evening.
The Dalmatian coast of Croatia is another 'fusion' of craggy mountains dropping to the sea. What makes it even more compelling is that the mountains are almost 'Dolomitic', in that they have a vertical rock face near the top. Also they run parallel to the coast and there are a series of islands running along the coast too. We went to Zaostrog, to Camping Viter, which is at the beach with a view out to sea appearing as if it is looking across to an island but in fact it's a strange extension to the mainland, joined at the south eastern end only. So at night there's a few twinkling lights to look at. The island of Hvar was just offshore too, so not a lot of horizon and a lot of land to look at. There's a few ferries running too and it's possible to take vehicles on most, so a Croatian island-hopping holiday is feasible.
It's a little busier here with quite a variety of nationalities on the beach. We met Daz and Amy here; a young couple from the UK. They were driving a very old camper, model is Eldiss Autoking 790. The 790 defines the length in cms and yes, it's huge. Daz and Amy have adopted a stray puppy they found in a lay by and took it to the vet for a checkup before carefully restoring it to health. They hope to find a willing keeper before they have to return to the UK. After just a few days, Lucky (ha!), already 'sits' and offers a paw.
Why are campsites in 'Europe' always located near bells? This one is next to a monastery and the bell tower has none of those muffling wooden shutters usually found.
So the bells were very loud and piercing but fortunately they stopped ringing in the evening and didn't start again until 7:45 when someone there had the task of giving them a right good tug for about five minutes, (just to make sure so to speak).
As we would find elsewhere in Croatia and Slovenia, the campsites are of a very high standard. The offices are manned from early until late, the toilets are cleaned frequently and there's soap, toilet paper and paper towels. There's none of the UK Caravan Club 'closed for cleaning from 10:00 to 12:00' here. They just clean around you. What seems really appropriate is that the automatic washing machine room is located next to the men's toilets whereas the hand clothes washing sinks are round at the women's.
After a few days at Zaostrog we drove up the coast to Split. This is was a return trip, the longest gap between visits anywhere in our holiday life. We first came to Split in 1980; a destination on Inter-Rail. What a fantastic summer holiday an Inter-Rail month was. It was around £125 to go anywhere in Europe and you even got about £25 cash back if you handed your 'ticket book' back at the end. Why was that?
In 1980, Split was in what was known then as Yugoslavia, a country that had been held together for better or worse by a life president, Tito. He had died just a few months earlier and the people hadn't yet come to terms with this. His portrait and photographs were on display in every shop and office. I remember that the city was very poor and we had trouble buying food of any description. There were few tourists, although we managed to meet five on our campsite, students like us. There had been two guys from the USA, two from the Netherlands and a Polish lad who's only English was "no problem", a phrase that he used all the time and especially when 'downing' another vodka.
Today's Split is an altogether different place. It is very much on the tourist trail and we found many people there, walking the streets of the old city and looking at the Roman remains and the slightly newer buildings.
This is a statue of Grgur Nit, a bishop of about the 6C. I've no idea why the artist captured him in this pose, but it seems almost Pythonesque, not just because of his name but because of the soldiers nearby who look as if they are only halfheartedly guarding him.
Split is really worth a visit because the buildings are stunning and there are many narrow walkways to wander through.
There's one more curious statute, this one apparently an attempt to capture someone "giving the finger". At the time this piece was made, apparently one finger wasn't insulting enough and the rudest of rude gestures required four fingers.
As we walked around Split, I noticed a Santana 'Land Rover' from Vienna. It was parked just outside the walls and I knew it was being driven by a couple we met on a campsite in Albania. What a coincidence again, not only to be in the same place but at the same time? We actually bumped into them as we walked around too!
I think there's a photo of me from 1980 at this headless Sphinx and I think it's fair to say I haven't changed too much, although the Sphinx has aged even better.
There's another Sphinx too; this one has a head. Dawn posed with her/it, just for balance.
Just along the coast from Split is the 'island' of Trogir. We stayed overnight and actually it's a very nice place, with some amazing yachts. A huge one flying the red ensign, was moored in the town. It's name was Sea Force One and I approached a crew member to ask who was on board but disappointingly he said it was owned by a company and chartered, so no celebrity selfie for me.
Still following our plan and amazingly keeping to schedule without trying, we moved north and inland to another location re-visit, Plitvice Lakes.
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