Weeks 40, 41 & 42: From Korcula to Home
- Jun 18, 2022
- 6 min read
I (Steve) wrote a blog post for week 40 a few weeks ago, since then we’ve changed our travel plans and have returned to the UK. We found out a couple of weeks ago that my dad has a brain tumour and we wanted to be closer to home, he wanted us to carry on travelling but I feel much better being around, at least in the same country. As I write this we're waiting for the results of an MRI scan but based on the previous scan we've been told the tumour is benign and operable, so the family has everything crossed for a successful operation and a quick recovery.
We’ve been back home for about a week and the previous week was spent on the road travelling back from Croatia. We made the journey back as quickly as we could without subjecting Bear to too many hours on the road each day. The journey took a week from Prapratno (just north of Dubrovnik) all the way back to our house, with overnight stops in Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Belgium, before taking the Eurotunnel back from France to England… if we count the tiny section of Bosnia, we’ve travelled through 8 countries in 6 days.
The journey home felt quite challenging, each day we had to plan 4-5 hours of driving, which finished up at a campsite that was either on, or very close to our route, so we didn’t waste time travelling in the wrong direction to stop each night. In addition we had to work out which countries require vignettes (passes) for the motorways, some are windscreen stickers, others are online; remember to get our passports stamped in and out of the Schengen borders (they don’t get many UK visitors using the land borders so they sometimes forget we need passports stamping); check for any covid requirements before crossing into another country; find an English speaking vet on the route to give Bear a worm tablet and stamp his passport within the 48-120 hour window needed for the Eurotunnel crossing and; occasionally find a shop to stock up on food and supplies… to keep us going.
By the time we got back home we both felt pretty shattered, and Bear was definitely travel weary… although he was exceptional and travelled with the very minimum of fuss, getting into his travel crate each day without any complaints or protests.
We listened to some great podcasts on the way… including “Short History of” by Paul McGann, which covers a vast range of really fascinating topics. We listened to episodes about; The Terracotta Army; Chernobyl; Henry VIII; The Russian Revolution; Prohibition; Watergate; The Suffragettes; The Berlin Wall, The Ottoman Empire; and Rosa Parks… and we barely scratched the surface. If you’re looking for something to listen to I’d highly recommend this series. The other podcast that we got into is “The Rest is Politics” by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, which I think should be mandatory listening for everyone… if only these two were running the country, we might be in a better place!
Since getting back Yvette has been studying hard to catch-up on the week she missed whilst we were on the road, we’ve both been working in the garden which seems to resemble a tropical rainforest (I’m pretty sure there are some new species of plants in the garden), I’ve cleaned about a million bugs off the van, had a couple of trips out to see my mum and dad… and Bear has been getting reacquainted with some of his favourite walks (and lamp-posts) around the village.
Although I didn’t realise when I wrote it a few weeks ago, the following blog (for week 40) was our final week in Croatia and quite possibly one of the best weeks of our entire trip. We don’t have any new plans at the moment but when we do, we’ll update the blog to let you know.
Week 40
After a great few days enjoying the Makarska riviera we reluctantly packed-up. It was an overcast and drizzly morning when we left, which made Yvette very happy, as she’s been missing the rain! We drove about an hour south to catch the ferry across to the Peljesac peninsular. This is the only way that you can drive from the top to the bottom of Croatia without driving through a small section of Bosnia, many people choose to take this ferry because they struggle to find insurance for driving in Bosnia, luckily we don’t have this problem, however we still chose to take the ferry as it cuts out about 100km of driving on windy coast roads.
We arranged to visit Friedl and Krista (my great-aunt and great-uncle) in Viganj, they live in Graz (Austria) but have been visiting Croatia every year for the last 35 years, staying at the same campsite, right next to the beach where they windsurfed every year, up until last year, when they decided to hang-up their sails and boards.
The area is really popular for windsurfing and more recently kite surfing because of the very strong and reliable Maestral wind! It was fantastic to see them both and we had a great few days catching up and enjoying their company. We enjoyed some great meals out at the local konoba (taverna) and sitting outside in the evening drinking Croatian wine and eating Austrian chocolates… this reminded me of the trips I made to Austria as a child (the chocolate not the wine).
A morning walk with Yvette and Krista (my great-aunt) to enjoy the view from an old chapel high up on the hillside.
The campsite has a really friendly atmosphere and feels like a big family, where everyone knows everyone else… my uncle makes a special point of greeting everyone in their own language each morning, although the conversation then usually continues in German.
On Wednesday we took a boat to the island of Korcula to visit the old town (also called Korcula), instead of cycling the 7km into Orbeic to catch the big ferry across to Korcula, we were given a tip that every weekday a small boat makes the crossing from outside the village shop at 7am to take the school kids and a few commuters to the island, returning at 1pm in the afternoon, when school (and work?) finishes. I think the school day starts and finishes early so they can avoid the main heat of the day. It was great to avoid the tourist crowds and arrive incognito with the locals, even if they were mainly teenagers that spent the entire ‘commute’ starring at their phones and ignoring the stunning views from the boat!
When we arrived in Korcula we decided to take a walk out along the coast before it got too hot to do anything, we only planned to have short walk and then come back into the town and take shelter in a café with a cold drink or two before catching the boat back home. After about 30 minutes of walking we were roasting hot, even by 8am it was 26 degrees and felt much hotter out of the shade. As we walked along the coast path, we realised that we were walking past a campsite and that it was attached to a large hotel resort with a lovely beach and several amazing swimming pools. We headed for one of the bars for a cold drink and to find some shade, it felt like paradise, there was hardly anyone around and it was so peaceful. We decided there and then that we should make this our next stop with Gordon.
The next day we said goodbye to my aunt and uncle, along with half of the campsite who came out to wave us off, thanked them for their hospitality and for such an enjoyable time and made the short drive to Orbeic, to catch the car ferry back across to Korcula. We quickly settled into our new pitch for the remainder of the week, making regular trips to cool off in the sea or one of the swimming pools. We also went out on the paddleboards exploring the nearby bays and paddling across to the old town of Korcula.
We’ve seen so many beautiful places in Croatia but Korcula wins hands down! Every glimpse of the clear blue waters and heavily forested countryside looks like a picture postcard. We got chatting to a local guy who told us that his family had lived on the island for over 500 years and he had travelled the world for work, however he came back to the island so his children could grow up in a paradise, without all the troubles of the ‘real world’... what a place!
Every time we think we’ve seen the best of Croatia, we find somewhere new that takes our breath away and this week has been no exception.
It’s been a really hot week, even the locals have told us that it is unusually hot for this early in the summer, it’s hit 30°C almost every day this week, with the night time temperatures staying stubbornly high and rarely dipping below 24°C… Nellie (the air-con unit) and the latest addition to our travelling circus continues to work hard keeping us all cool and making it possible to sleep at night… well worth the extra hassle and space of having it in the van.
Enjoying a water taxi ride from the campsite to the old town
Amazing photos, as always. And best wishes for your Dad x
Great to have the three of you back safe, although i wished for better circumstances, fingers crossed for positive news!
looks like you had a great week 40, some really good photos!
catch up soon!