Safely through the Albanian/Montenegrin Border, towing the caravan behind us, we realised no-one asked us about Stella and we certainly hadn’t volunteered any information on her or her Spanish Passport.

Our goal was to return to Kamp Naluka, stay a couple of nights to sort ourselves out as to what we needed to cross into Croatia, give Steve the driver well earned liquid rewards and of course for Stella to say hello to Dušan (the camp owner), because he probably had doggie treats in one of his pockets.

The Route

I needn’t have worried about my fresh fruit supplies as there continued to be a constant line of stalls by the roadside predominantly stacked with watermelons. Having spent all of our Albanian Lek, into the journey we knew we needed to top up our Euros for Montenegro as what we had in our coffers wouldn’t get us very far. There was no point looking for an ATM towing a caravan so we concentrated on going down memory lane and how many wonderful experiences we had had exploring Montenegro.

Apart from the most southern town of Ulcinj in Montenegro, which we didn’t go through on this journey, we left mosques behind us and hearing the odd church bell (remembering we were travelling on a Sunday) also the regular broadcasts for the calls to prayers.

As soon as we got towards the coast at Petrovac, we knew the Summer Season had arrived in Montenegro as each beach we saw was in full swing, not a grain of sand to be seen between sun loungers, parasols and beach bars and nor was there any sign of masks. Additionally, the roads were busier the further north we drove, and we got caught up in the new experience of traffic jams. By the time we got to Budva there were tourist police in force with whistles and small paddles who were directing both the traffic and the pedestrians. Pedestrians were mainly tourists in their colourful beach ensembles queuing at the zebra crossings together with children carrying imagnative shaped inflatables larger than they were. The weather was still hot and I’d convinced myself it was cooler than Albania. I had to, the Poacher doesn’t have air conditioning (as we all know too well) and we still had a bit of a drive ahead of us. Steve was doing well. This was one of his most confident drives towing the caravan.

We discussed driving anti-clockwise around Kotor Bay from Kotor to Morinj but this would have meant we were in the wrong direction to negotiate the tight turn into Naluka. Feeling confident, having successfully negotiated the Kamenari-Lepetane Ferry (circled in white above) on the way out towing the caravan, we decided to ‘give it a go’ (our catch phrase) again. When we got towards the ferry lanes, what a difference to our previous experiences of this crossing. During our eight weeks’ stay between 9th May and 12th July it became our local personal drive on and drive off ferry, no queues, no waiting, just one sleepy ticket office, no rushing and it saved us a 45 minute drive around the Bay.

Not this time though. Not only was there a queue of cars but also a considerable number of coaches backing up into the road before we even got to the ferry lanes, probably being a Sunday didn’t help. Every ticket office was open and every ferry in service. Twenty minutes later we weren’t too concerned about getting the caravan on the ferry as the ferry staff directed us into a lane with the shallowest access ramp giving us priority for boarding. However, I still got out and we used our walkie talkies, with me checking all angles, just to be on the cautious side. Remember with the wheels of our caravan attached to a motor mover there is only a 10cm (4″) height clearance allowance for ramps or other obstacles.

Arriving the other side, after seeing Steve off again with the walkie talkies, I climbed back into the Poacher and it was time for my head out of the window to shout ‘GO’ for our right turn. Before we knew it, we were back at Dušan’s place which was unrecognisable as it was full. He quickly sorted out some space for us in his Olive Grove which was more than comfortable for us. We set up quickly so we could give Stella a walk and go out for dinner. Steve told me our water pump had failed. I’ll share what that means. It means no running water in our caravan kitchen, bathroom or shower. Just like at home, stuff happens. Not a worry though, as the camp’s facilities were more than adequate for me and totally spotless. Ah, now one of you is wondering about our loo? Without TMI, caravan loos are not plumbed in and work with chemicals and a cassette. Steve effected a clever temporary repair on our water system. For the men out there who know Steve, you would be impressed but not necessarily surprised.

That afternoon we set off for Hercig Novi for an ATM withdrawal and to get our Antigen tests done at a private clinic. Handing over 30€ for the two of us we received our printed proof of negative results which we submitted on line within an application for entry into Croatia. I also printed out a copy for our windscreen. Our on board printer has been invaluable. My thanks to Steve for being so practical in setting up a mobile office in our caravan.

We met a Polish couple in their mid-thirties on the campsite through Steve because they had issues with their car and Steve offered to help them. We found out he is a colourist for films and she’s a film producer of a couple advertised on Netflix. I was in my element. I love films, so obviously the evening was far too short for our conversations. Now having forgotten how a caravan loo works, I know, you’re probably wondering ‘what’s a colourist’. He does the tinting and colouring editing to completed films before they are released; only the visuals, not the sound effects. He must be good as he’s won a couple of awards.. The two of them have been especially busy through Covid with the high demand for home screenings. They set off for the Subaru main dealer in Podgorica, with hardly a drop of oil in their engine. We have no idea if they made it as unusually we forgot to exchange contact details.

Needing to stock up on soft drinks, we walked to one of the two local supermarkets for supplies, which is conveniently opposite the Tramontana Beach Bar. We toasted Kotor Bay. Twice to make sure we did it justice and thrice because we were enjoying the views.

We remembered the first time we visited the Tramontana when it was cold, we wore jackets and were the only guests. With August in full swing, it was packed just like a normal holiday resort in normal times with a night time temperature around 20. Our original waiter Felipe who waited on us on his and ours first day recognised us as we walked in. Such service. In fact our favourite Polish film friends said the beach, which was in the process of being set up as we left four weeks ago, was so busy over the weekend, they couldn’t get on it!

We achieved so much in Montenegro. We toured the Bay, established a Sunday ritual for English breakfast and Risan Market, risked life and limb for a view from a rock, visited Skader Lake and saw over 30 Dalmatian pelicans, helped the Kotor Tourist office write an article on sustainable tourism, found Monty the baby lost tortoise, bought hooch from the boot of a car, stayed in a wooden cabin in Europe’s biggest rain forest and got bitten, walked around a lake in ugly boots (in my opinion), visited four national parks, sampled as much local food and wine as we could humanly consume, drove off road, white water rafted in Europe’s largest canyon, drove up the Serpentine, survived an impact on the caravan by a German driver, met so many interesting people and so much more – it’s all in our Big Year under Montenegro. We were pleased we enjoyed Montenegro before we had to share it.

Everyone knows I’m not a morning person, but we arranged to leave early for Croatia. Seriously! We would have done so too if the others on this small campsite were not late risers as we didn’t want to make excessive noise upon leaving. Our route was to get us to Dubrovnik, not very far, but we thought getting from Montenegro to Croatia, Croatia to Bosnia and Bosnia back into Croatia might be timely at the crossings. We really wanted to get to Omis, slightly South of Split but thought that was too optimistic.

As we made preparations to leave Naluka our jockey wheel decided to play up as well as the water pump. What is it about things that expire on their 10th anniversary?!

On the road as we drove to the border just north of Hercig Novi we were a little sad at continuing north and again noticed how normal everywhere seemed to be, especially the bus station, which until now had been a Bus Park and was suddenly full of passengers and transfer vehicles.

We reached the Montenegro/Croatia border. I had our trusty waterproof A4 box of essential documents ready on my lap, this time including a four year old purchase receipt for the caravan, kindly emailed to us by Neil of Freedom To Go Caravans where we purchased it August 2017. I was ready to be quizzed on the caravan’s non-existent registration document yet again.

Note: it is normal to register any trailer with its own registration number and documentation for Europeans, but not required for UK trailers where the caravan takes the registration number of the towing vehicle.

Not including Andorra, Liechtenstein, Vatican City, San Marino or Monaco, Montenegro has to be the smallest and most diverse country we’ve every visited.

View from the cockpit

We’re sorry to say goodbye to Montenegro, but having been back for two days, there wasn’t a lot more to do and see.

The caravan is towing well, to help the stability, we’ve transferred some weight to the Poacher, which could probably do with a service by now, but we’ll leave well alone. Oil, water brake, clutch steering fluids are checked after every long journey, and assuringly we use very little oil and water, and nothing else. This is comforting as outside temperatures have been up to 40 plus, and it is amazing to see the water temperature gauge halfway up, even before I start the engine.

Tyre pressures, 28 Front, 48 Rear and the caravan at 65 have again not needed any topping up, the wheel-nuts have been checked for torque, again they are the same as the day we left. The anti-sway on the caravan is easily within tolerance, and working well. Tyres have obviously worn a tad, with all of our hard mountain driving, sometimes without asphalt, but will easily make it back home. One sidelight is not working, but we drive on dipped headlights at all times in any case.

The caravan water pump is kaput, but we have a spare on order and it’s all stripped out for a quick replacement. The fridge is on gas, the electric element is possibly overworked; we have a spare, but I’m not going to pull the fridge out whilst it’s more than working. The toilet flush dared to come apart but a trusty cable tie solved that, it is as good as new. There are a couple of other minor items like a Jockey wheel and spring loaded blinds that are looking a bit tired but still functioning.

All in all the tug and wobble box are in good condition. We are on day 299, continuous, some people have a couple of breaks in their caravans, maybe using them 20 days a year. Thanks go to Dave of Safari Engineering who prepared the Poacher for this trip and Paul who services our caravan for the great work they have done in getting us on the road, and ensuring we stayed there thus far.