Goodbye Camp Stobreč 

After six wonderful weeks in Croatia, leaving the caravan at camp and touring in the Poacher, seeing all of our must see tourist attractions, except a few islands (which we’ll hopefully explore on our way back) it is time to deflate Teddy our boat, pack up and move on to Montenegro.

As you know, we have to carefully plan our days in and out of Schengen (90 out of 180) but we also have to include calculations for enough days left in Schengen to allow us to travel back to the UK.  When there’s a job that Steve doesn’t want to do, before I even think of volunteering for it, he tells me out of the blue how good I would be at that particular job.  I decided to tell Steve this morning he is very, very good at Excel and counting and working out where and when we should be and if he liked I would choose the next campsite to help out. See what I did there?

The nearest site across the boarder in Montenegro is Camp Full Monte which we thought by the sound of the name might be interesting.  Reading up on it we discovered it’s an eco camp without electricity, which is no good for our power gobbling Nespresso, laptops, new induction hob and hair irons.  I continued looking and think we’ve found a campsite run by a guy called Dusko.  I shall write more about him and his site when we get there.

Having decided we could make it into Montenegro in a day, we will be leaving this Sunday and saying goodbye to many wonderful people we have met and places we have visited.  This includes our favourite bar Konoba Bava, run by Darko and Angie (who does all the cooking) and wacky waiter Neven.  It was the first bar that we visited and since have enjoyed getting there by boat and also enjoyed many a drink and many a meal.  The hospitality is as overwhelming as Angie’s home cooking, especially her desserts.  Neven, who is a friend of theirs and architect by trade, helps out with the waiting gets his guitar out at the slightest opportunity. The evening of Steve, Richard and Chris reading lyrics from Chris’s phone having a song battle with Croatian locals is an evening that’ll last in our memories.  Last night, upon hearing we were leaving, the drinks flowed, many complimentary which contributed to the result of me being poured home. If I had known I was going to write this post I would have taken more pictures of the dishes we enjoyed over the past six weeks.

As with any house move we have begun sorting and packing today, as its quite windy and not warm enough to sun bathe.  When it was windy in Cabopino, Spain the sail boarders came out to fly across the waves.  Here where we are, when its windy the local sailing club hold races and, as for me, I think its a good day to do the laundry.  Practical as ever!

Getting ready to move includes getting the laundry up to date (easy with today’s weather), food management and going through our ‘haven’t used it and do we need it’ pile.   Yes, we still manage to jettison (I have included caravans within the aircraft and ship definition) a few things here and there, either because we have not used them, or they have been superseded with better models.  For Steve weight and bulk is everything when towing.  He likes the caravan to be as light as possible. For me, getting rid of anything heavy or something we don’t need means more storage for successful shopping trips and replacements. I eagerly help him with the sorting and decision making.

Whilst on our recent shopping trip to Pevex we bought an incredibly light weight portable induction hob.  I’ve never cooked on induction before and am now a total convert.  I think every camper should have one. We’re definitely having an induction hob if ever we have the chance to plan a new kitchen.  Anyway, we did bring rather good cookware stuff out with us but as our small saucepan and frying pan were not compatible, they were jettisoned (think queue of grateful campers by our pitch every time they see us having a sort out).  Additionally, we can use the hob outside which means no spitting fat, mess, smells or cleaning required in our kitchen.

We were given a bicycle at Cabopino which Steve refurbished for me. It’s well used here as I cycle around the campsite from where we are at the far end to the Reception or anywhere else I need to be.  Steve bought a bell for my bike which is attached to the right hand side of the handle bar. How posh – I now have a bell as well as the shopping basket.  Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling. There’s no stopping my Steve spoiling me.

I used to cook breakfasts for Steve, but as I only have yogurt and fresh fruit, he now does his own.  Many a morning the day starts with a big boy breakfast.

After our disappointing anniversary evening at a local restaurant, we decided to do our own the following evening.  The Taittinger which had been on ice came out as did the BBQ.  Steve BBQ’d spiced chicken, red peppers and sausages and I cooked the best ever sauté potatoes with shallots and garlic in the olive oil we got from the Garden of Elves in Italy.  We really wanted steak dinner, but the butcher over the road (within walking distance, we didn’t want to drive) only had chicken or turkey. Steve told the butcher we only have turkey at Christmas, hence the menu.

We drank out of special sparkly glasses given to us by our great friends Robin and Diana, who live in our close in Salamanca.  They thought the glasses would double up as a birthday present for me and something special for our travels. We wouldn’t normally carry anything so delicate on our bumpy journeys, but have made a special travel box for the pair which are carefully bubble wrapped before being put away.  The only come out on special occasions which are usually every other day at the rate we are going.