Previous country: Slovenia
Friday 4th July 2025 – there were booths at the border but no one there when we crossed at about 1pm. We are staying at a lovely eco campsite at Krancici with an open air covered kitchen area.
Saturday 5th July 2025 – visited the town of Porec with its extraordinary Basilica with 5th and 6th century mosaics.
Also visited the town of Rovinj which has narrow streets and a Basilica. The sarcophagus is the only tomb I ever remember seeing with a hatch and a key (photo 7 below)!
Had to buy a new Telemach SIM card fof Croatia, the Slovenian one wouldn’t roam. The girl in the Telemach shop tried to get it to work but it wouldn’t. So bought a new one. We are camping on a nice farm at Manjadvorci which has 30 horses and lots of dogs.
Sunday 6th July 2025 – wandered along the coast. Now staying at Zalužnica a little inland because the coast is swarming with tourists. A beautiful coastline but very busy on a Sunday in July!
George was squealing occasionally when going uphill or under load today. I think the drive belt is slipping despite the automatic tensioner. It is possible that the tensioner bearing is going or it is out of alignment. I have a theory that the dust from Guinea which is caustic enough to strip the galvanised coating from the roof rack has been wreaking havoc with George’s various bearings.
Monday 7th July 2025 – forecast thunderstorms which arrived after breakfast. Impressive lightning and torrential rain. Thankfully we had packed away the tent etc. We asked the campsite owner directions to a mechanic. He kindly called him but when we got there they didn’t speak English and with Google translate they didn’t seem interested. We tried many other places but they were either closed or not interested.
Found a garage with a British owner in Zadar. He seemed to think the problem was a cracked exhaust manifold from our description and the recording we had made. He said the only option for repair was another British mechanic in Zagreb. It would need welding and machining he said. I agreed that I would take George for a drive and return with him making the noise for him to confirm his diagnosis. However George wasn’t playing ball and not making the noise so we therefore decided to camp for the night in Starigrad (our intended overnight stop). I am unconvinced by his diagnosis. If it were the exhaust manifold, there would be the smell of exhaust gases and the problem would be worse when cold whereas it is worse when hot.
Tuesday 8th July 2025 – decided to forget mechanical issues and visit the Paklenica National Park. Stunning limestone mountains where people come to walk, hike and climb. Extraordinary pink Lichen here (photo 7). Lynx have been reintroduced here.
Wednesday 9th July 2025 – for the second night a group of about 20 youths (Belgian scouts) were making a lot of noise until 1am. I shouted at them to shut up but to no avail. At least one of them was throwing up in the toilets. Three empty crates of beer and two empty bottles of vodka in the kitchen area this morning! They have adults with them and don’t look old enough to drink and don’t seem to be getting any supervision. I complained to one of them this morning and he apologised but said his English was poor. He then proceeded to hide the empty vodka bottles!
Seriously windy this morning, we put the tent down as soon as possible. Some rain in the night but the wind has dried everything out.
Drove to Strnec near Zagreb to visit Tony, a ex REME army mechanic who drove aid conveys during the war in Croatia and Bosnia. He couldn’t locate what had been causing the problem with George however. The new belt is already showing signs of wear, he explained due to the tops of the ridges on the pulley wearing off. We are staying on a nice small campsite at Samobar.
Thursday 10th July 2025 – we have moved to a very different part of Croatia in the Park prirode Lonjsko polje. The roads are all on embankments (like the Fens) and are in similar condition of subsidence. The Land is incredibly fertile, they are growing maize which is in flower and bigger and more advanced than any we have seen across Europe. They are also growing grass for hay, dwarf beans and Alfafa in strips between the maize. The local houses are wooden and distinctive in style although many are in a poor state of repair. There are few cars here but clearly a bus service. It is like travelling back in time. The river Sava is stunningly beautiful but can rise 10 metres.
There are many storks here nesting on the houses and telegraph poles. The locals clearly love them because some have model storks in their gardens. In fact this area is home to more than two-thirds of the total bird population in Croatia. It is also one of the most important spawning grounds for river fish in the entire Danube basin. Extensive grazing of cattle, horses and pigs (including several indigenous breeds such as the Slavonian-Srijem Podolia cattle and the Turopolje pig) and the preservation of the unique traditional architecture of wooden houses make this area a unique example of natural, landscape and cultural heritage.
The houses are made from local oak with exquisite craftsmanship.
Wonderfully perfect joints in beautiful weathered oak:
Sadly some buildings have been left to rack and ruin:
This areas successful flood management learned over many years has much to teach us in a time of climate change.
We hope to eat traditional local Croatian food in the restaurant here this evening. We talked with Maria, our host, well sign language really! We unfortunately don’t speak German which is what Maria hoped to use. We have dinner arranged for 6pm. Maria was carrying beans, carrots, sweet pepper, aubergine and cucumber freshly collected from her vegetable garden. Dinner didn’t disappoint and was great value at €12.50. Tonight’s amazing rainbow (actually a double one for a while). United Nations here at the campsite tonight – Danish, Dutch, us and an Argentinian.
The Dutch couple have been cycling the Balkans for two months so they gave us some useful tips and pointers and access to their WhatsApp and Polarsteps blog and offered us texting them to pick their brains. We spoke to the Argentinian too who was oddly telling his girlfriend on the phone that he didn’t have anywhere to sleep tonight when his tent was safely pitched! He and the truth seemed blissfully unacquainted. Curious to live like that.
Many Aldi supermarkets in Croatia. They stock pork scratchings in packets in the chilled meat cabinets and they are very popular!
When crossing the border the Croatian police officer rushed over to say that we couldn’t park where we had because it was for police vehicles only! She demanded our car documents (which she tore by accident) and said that the document didn’t say that we were M1/N1 indicating that we owned the vehicle and that we couldnt go to Bosnia. She then went to deal with other vehicles and we went to the booth and crossed the border! She was very surly and aggressive and seemed to want to be deliberately difficult.
Return to Croatia
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Friday 25th July 2025 – had some more of Maria’s excellent cooking. Peppers stuffed with potatoes and zucchini with pork and cheese. We shared pancakes for dessert, one with honey and the other with fruit preserve. It had a frozen chocolate and cream rosette with it. The campsite owner is here this time (he is Maria’s son and was away during our last visit). Had a long chat with him about the area, the buildings and many other things. An intelligent and thoughtful man, originally Bosnian, the family fled here during the war.
Saturday 26th July 2025 – a Dutch guy here found a snake in the toilets this morning. I removed it with the rubber blade to clean water off the floor! He wasn’t happy when I moved him and hissed and tried to climb the wall. Amusingly Google AI says it is a Black Desert Cobra. I don’t think that is likely. Hopefully the campsite owner might identify it later. There are 15 species of snake in Bosnia I understand and only 3 of them venomous. Good odds!
We heard Golden Jackals howling yesterday evening. There are bears, wolves and even Lynx here in the park.
Went for a walk along the river. Further than we intended because the river meanders away from the road and some oxbow lakes block the way back to the road. Some lovely wooden houses on the route back through the village. Blacksmith made escutcheon on a heavy oak door:
Local village houses:
Wood carving including shooting stars:
End timber joint on a house:
It is cheaper to build new than repair the old so many are falling into disrepair or even collapsing.
Oak Dovetail corner joint:
There is a football match at 4pm in the village and a party with live Croatian music at 9pm. However we can hear thunder at 3pm so whether the match will be rained off we don’t know. I suspect it will be short lived but the pitch maybe seriously slippery and muddy.
Talked to the (originally Bosnian) campsite owner about the shocking behaviour of the campsite owner extorting money from us. He wasn’t at all surprised and went on to say that he must have been a Serb. The tensions still run very deep.
Some of Maria’s delicious beef goulash with potatoes and mixed salad for dinner.
Sunday 27th July 2025 – back near Zagreb to visit Tony, the Land Rover mechanic for the turbo change (at last). He has set aside the day for it. Hopefully no studs will break etc when the manifold comes off. Sensibly he has set time aside for if they do. I ordered spare studs from the UK just in case. Hopefully I have ordered everything needed. I ordered 14 different parts no less.
Monday 28th July 2025 – finally turbocharger change day. We have been told to be at the workshop early – 9 or 9:30am! Balkans time is haphazard I think. Early is 7:30am or earlier to me!
Hurrah, hurrah!! George is fixed!!! Tony Skidmore, the Land Rover mechanic is an absolute legend. The old turbo was confirmed as definitely on the way out. A couple of the studs into the cylinder head came out with the nuts and were unserviceable but thankfully I had bought spares so we are all sorted at last. George is driving like a new car after his “lung transplant “. More power and much less in the way of strange noises! We really had to nurse him for the last few hundred kilometres trying to keep the turbo from spinning fast by keeping the revs down. If the shaft had broken then debris would have seriously damaged the engine. So on tenterhooks for miles! After George had finished in surgery Tony wanted to take him for a test run. However George decided that he didn’t want to start! Tony thinks the electrical ignition switch is falling and had unfortunately sold his last stock a week ago. He gave us the part number and we need to find one or order to a DHL service point sonewhere on route. Rachel identifed that there are lots of Land Rovers in Albania. So we may email to see if we can get one there (or maybe a whole unit with the key and lock barrel). We plan to head for Serbia.
Tuesday 29th July 2025 – stayed at a new campsite on a smallholding last night. With horses, sheep, cows and pigs. When we arrived we were offered pasta bolognese made from their own beef with salad from the garden. One of the sons, about 4 years old, took a real shine to me and kept running to me and hugging my knees! Expecting showers for most of the day. A bit too much rain in the last 3 days. There is a lovely covered area here where we can shelter. Loads of very cheeky kittens here who steal your food at the slightest opportunity. They stole some fusilli from Rachel’s plate and finished off the remainder in the bowl. And stealing breakfast:
They even tried to drink our coffee!
I managed to break my reading glasses. All attempts to superglue them failed. When we visited the supermarket I joked that if I found some in Croatia they would probably suit Dame Edna. Lo and behold we found a pair with diamanté highly suitable for the Dame herself! As we aren’t going to a fancy dress party I rejected those and went for a pair with a Bill Nighy vibe.
On the way there was a “pop” and an exhaust blow noise. We stopped at a mechanic and he immediately diagnosed that the problem was the exhaust gas recirculation blanking plate. He removed it and a plastic spacer had blown to pieces. He found 2 bolts of the right size, cut them to a shorter length with an angle grinder applied some gasket sealant, tightened the bolts and it was sorted. Another customer kindly translated for us. He asked for €20 which seemed more than the local rate but he worked it out and found a fix for it without fuss so no problem.
Tonight we are staying on a vineyard.
Wednesday 30th July 2025 – the vineyard has been so peaceful. We are the only ones here and no traffic noise (except tractors). We were offered a degustation but as we don’t drink we declined although we wonder what Croatian wine is like. I think they are growing Chardonnay.
We travelled through an area of .uch more intensive agriculture. Much bigger fields and tractors. Lots of Maize, sunflowers, cereals (already harvested). Also Tobacco and Soybean (photos below).
We visited Pristanište parka prirode Kopacki rit. A wetland nature reserve of international importance. There are European pond turtles, Dice snakes, Green frogs, Eurasian beaver, otters, and newts here. Several fish species- Carp, catfish, Zander,Norther pike and Weatherloach. Also Red Deer. White tailed eagles and many other birds. Also Slavonian Oak, Hungarian Hawthorn, Water violets, White willows and European frogbit.
The reserve is the second biggest spawning ground for fish in Europe and 90% of the water comes from the Danube. It acts as a holding place for snowmelt from the Alps and rains in Germany.
Took at 45 minute boat trip. Saw many eagles, some Jackal pups, heron, egret, turtles, frogs and a snake.
European pond turtles:
Jackal pup:
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