Saturday 5^th May 2018

Cathy posting,

Woke up in the free car park in Zadar and after last night’s antics with cars being ransacked and Pogo’s doors being tried we think let’s leave after a cup of tea, we’ve had enough of this car park now, we are heading to Krka National Park (not to be confused with Krk Island) and have looked up a site in camper contact, we have the app and the book and the app can be used off line, it’s also on search for sites and the reviews sound good. It’s about a 70 kms, 1.5 hrs from Zadar and we decided to avoid the A1 toll road this time, the scenery was very green but not that interesting until we got nearer Krka park and then we passed uninhabited houses with no roof, huge holes in the walls or just literally fallen down, the results of the 1991 war we suspect, new houses are built up around them, it’s a strange mixture and an everyday reminder of the war for those living amongst the ruins.

Toll road bridge over the Krka National Park

Arriving at Camping Krka we are pleasantly surprised by the campsite, it’s small with shady areas and lots of trees with gaps for the sun to get through, there’s a small but new pool by the look of it and decent showers with lots of outside sinks for washing both dishes and clothes.

Camping Krka in a shady spot

We are glad of this as we really need to clean Pogo inside and I need to do lots of laundry, believe it or not this is a big chore we’ve been putting off, hard life eh?! We have some great microfibre bath towels and tea towels which dry incredibly fast but they are getting a bit whiffy! We pitch up quickly and we both set about our chores, we use anti-bacterial wipes from Lidl as they are better than a cloth and bucket and smell nice. Dave does most of the inside, I just do the cupboard doors and kitchen. I went and washed all of my clothes over at the sinks and met a young couple from Somerset who are travelling for 3 months in an old VW camper with a pop-up roof, they have 2 small children about 3yrs and 1yr old and I tell them I admire them travelling with 2 little uns, we discuss where we are going and where we’ve been, they have plans to go to Hvar island just like us but this time they’re renting a place and meeting parents, time for a break! And I don’t blame them, it’s interesting to note how chilled they are, all organised with a little set up outside the van, each having a little routine with one child or the other, it reminded us of our holidays in France in one of those tents that’s all set up for you when we also had a 4 yr old and a 12-month-old too, bit easier than their set up though.

I decide as it’s hot and mine dried in an hour I’ll do a 2^nd lot of washing, this time it’s Daves stuff. We sit outside I’m reading Lonely Planet on Croatia and Dave’s frustrated as he’s trying to get a pie chart together to do a blog on costs but even though he’s done these many times before something isn’t going to plan and he’s frustrated, he puts it away and gets a cheap cold beer it’s called “Deep” a Czech Pilsner from Lidl, I don’t like it but Dave will drink anything if it’s cold and cheap, he’s got his eye on the purse strings.

Camping Krka sells fresh bread each morning from 7.am so I go to order some at the restaurant for tomorrow as we’ll be taking a picnic to the national park, the smells from the restaurant are lovely and I check out the menu it’s cheap so we decide to eat there tonight and have the planned dinner tomorrow instead, there are mainly German and Dutch couples in there and as usual we are the only British, it’s homely with wooden tables and benches with little table runners in pink gingham, I’m a sucker for gingham, it reminded me of a swiss cottage, the menu is limited to steak, chicken, mixed grill (sold out), Kebab (sold out) or Sea Bream served with French fries, salad or courgettes, Dave went for chicken and chips always a winner! And I had the fish I’m not entirely sure what it was but it was like sea bream with salad, the fish came whole and I filleted it myself and it was cooked perfectly, I think it was cooked on a wood burning stove.

Dave had a beer and I ordered a 500ml carafe of the local red, Dave fancied a glass too so another carafe was ordered, we got chatting to a German guy about phone signals and roaming charges which inevitably led to talk of Brexit, then Trump and then North Korea, he obviously spoke good English! The restaurant doesn’t take card payment, so we can’t pay the bill as we’ve not enough Kuna, we’ve got pre-paid Caxton cards loaded with GBP and Euro and a Halifax Clarity Credit Card but no joy so they are happy to put it on the tab, we can pay when we leave, well there is no chance of us doing a runner as they have our passports! Instead of going back to the van and going to bed like good boys and girls we opened the red wine we were going to have with the planned dinner intending to have 1 glass….. oh dear!

Cathy