Of the 170 days we have been away, including Thursday 13^th October 2020 overnight at Portsmouth for the early sailing the next morning, there have only been two nights where we’ve not slept in our own caravan equipped with our king sized bed. The occasions were the two ferry trips; first from Barcelona to Civitavecchia (Rome) Monday 15^th March and second Ancona to Split Friday 26^th March. We can’t believe it ourselves that we are managing so well in our one room mobile apartment! 

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Monday afternoon, we went for a bit of a drive out of the campsite along the coastline either side of our camp to see what was local.  The entire coastline is totally postcard picturesque lined with many bars and cafes which accommodate the local outdoor café society.  People are only allowed to visit if they sit outside – many of the fronts are full. Naturally noticing a bar at a dead end, under a kilometre from our campsite, meant the end of our exploring.  We took advantage of an empty table to have a glass of beer and glass of wine to admire the scenery, take some snaps of each other on our mobiles and plan our next visit to the bar by boat. We’ve since done the trip in Teddy.

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Having arrived on Saturday, today is our fifth morning waking up with a view of the coast, blue skies, seagulls flying and letting us know their presence by their squawking, the sea, the beach and Richard who takes his cat for a walk on a lead. We’ve just about gotten used to the sun rising earlier, especially with the clocks springing forward last weekend, and are trying to make more of our longer days which are speeding by.

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The campsite has been buzzing into action the past couple of days with groundsmen mowing the grass pitches, sweeping pathways and making repairs here and there.  It’s very noisy with the petrol driven pieces of kit and workmen with their tools but the wooden construction Sports Beach is looking very good.  I can only assume it’s because there are hopes of the season starting on 1^st April, because I can’t see an increase of touring campers yet, not to mention guests for the bungalows.

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It has been a lot warmer the past couple of mornings, so its t shirt without fleece from around 10am. I know there is a heatwave in the UK and a tendency to take advantage of the sun being out, but having a year out experience like ours, there is no rush for the sun lounger.  There are many tomorrows on many beaches until October.

Whilst the swimming pool and fitness centre are still closed, I suppose waiting for more campers to justify the required additional staff to run and supervise them, we have a choice of walks on the beach, walks to local coves, bars and restaurants and there is even an agility course for dogs, which both Steve and Stella are enjoying.  Stella hasn’t quite got the hang of the tunnel yet, but nevertheless enjoying herself and getting rewarded for completing the course correctly or not.

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This morning I took our first wash load to the laundry and even that route, like the rest of the campsite, has been thoughtfully landscaped and made pretty with wooden furniture and artwork.  It’s so thoughtful and pretty on this campsite.  I just wish the restaurant (more like an indoor building site) and either of the on site beach bars were open.  No just popping down to Mario’s for a drink or last minute plate of onion rings, Italian meal or takeaway here – yet!

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When we arrived at Cabopino, we didn’t know anyone and had an empty social diary.  By the time we left, our social diary was full and we had to block off time just for us.  Arriving at Stobrec our diary is empty again, except of course for daily domestic ‘blue’ and ‘pink’ duties.  We’ve decided to stay for a month so we don’t have the usual holiday rush of having to find out what is where to make the most of limited time.  Having finished our fridge supplies, the freezer is never reliable when we are travelling, we can start afresh with our first big Croatian food shop, somewhat later this afternoon when we’ve had the best of today’s weather.

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Having travelled for almost six months, here are my observations.  If it sounds like it’s raining, it probably isn’t as we now know it’s the sound of leaves and possibly olives falling on to our roof from nearby trees, especially in the wind. Being in a caravan all sounds are magnified on our tin roof.  Television is too much of a habit when I can write posts and be creative with my time.  Steve has been disciplined practicing his guitar almost every day, and the sessions with his brother giving tuition have been endearing to watch. Steve’s guitar is electric, but as he doesn’t plug it in, it’s not intrusive to my space.  I just get caught off guard now and then when he asks what I thought of a particular tune (that I’ve heard multiple times) but just that one occasion I forgot to pay attention.

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We play Scrabble now and then but Steve is one of those people who places one or two tiles and suddenly creates four words totalling an incredible score which makes our games challenging and competitive. We don’t need half the space or half of our clothes at we do at Salamanca, but I am looking forward to spreading out again on our return.  Couples who travel just for Winter or especially continuously really get on well and are always fun company. The pace of life slows down dramatically as there is no time rush to get anything completed. As a non-shopper, even grocery stores, Steve and I enjoy looking at fresh produce, taking photos of foods we don’t recognise, following recipes on the net, and eating the results.  We’ve had several successes. We miss our families and friends, but then if we were at home, would there be much difference in being able to get together? We can enjoy the good weather through the winter months with the absence of nasty biting flying stinging insects.  Apparently they only come to life in the Spring – yes, we’re stocking up with repellents and antihistamine and yes they’ve begun to arrive. Bad hair days really don’t matter to me anymore and Steve can go longer between hair and beard trims. 

Amazon has been particularly appreciated and well used.  I kept my UK subscription going for family and friends’ birthdays and gifts whilst away.  Upon arrival to Cabopino, Marbella, I opened Amazon Spain with one month’s trial and then followed with subscription at only 3.50€ pm whilst we were there, which was invaluable for spare and replacement parts for the car and caravan and essentials like my Molton Brown shower gel.  When we got the ferry to Civitavecchia and we spent over a week at one of the campsites I subscribed to Amazon Italy for the free initial month; that’s all we needed.  Having taken the ferry to split I am disappointed there is no Amazon Croatia.  Ah well, we had a good run.

Mostly we like being away as the weather is mostly constant.  We don’t miss the UK, where the weather changes per day, never mind per minute.

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Netflix and Prime have been entertaining me in the evenings.  In my determination to learn Spanish I’ve been watching as many Spanish language Films and Series, more on Netflix than Prime, notably Casa de Flores and 100 días para enamorarnos/100 days to fall in love (1^st series 57 episodes and 2^nd series 35 episodes – I enjoyed watching them all). 

The big difference is that France, Spain and Italy have mandatory face mask wear.  There’s no confusion on what to do its very simple.  Wear a mask, wherever you are (unless eating or drinking) without exception.  Here in Croatia, having been used to wearing our masks for the past six months, its rather disconcerting to see people walking about without them.

The most amusing travelling quirk is most tourers in their caravans or motorhomes carry minimal crockery, cutlery and glassware.  This means when visiting each other’s pitches, socially distanced of course, we take our own (especially in Covid times).

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Andrea and Phil arrived with us last Saturday morning 27th and left today Friday 1st March to continue with their travels. They were great company and we can’t wait for our paths to cross next.