Croatia Pt 1: Getting down to Novigrad, Istria.
Read time:13-15 minutes
Croatia’s westerly border caressed by the Adriatic Sea is often dramatic, rocky cliffs and outcrops fall directly into the water. You’ll only find sandy or shingle beaches belonging to hotels or campsites. which are all man made. Much of the coast line climbs quickly up towards the Dinaric Alps (Dinarides) the southeastern offshoot from the central alps stretching all the way down to greece. Along that coastline over 1200 islands can be discovered due to the unique geology of the region. The large islands are accessible by Ferry and most you can get to with a boat, private or hired.
So I broke out of central europe, packed up the Citroen Berlingo with the new addition of an insertable bespoke bed frame. So…. you need to know about this! and perhaps I will write a separate piece just on the glorious benefits of the transporter car class of campers. So this bed frame screws into the chassis behind the driver side, it has two deep drawers that pull out from underneath, one out of the left hand passenger door and the second (the longest) that comes out the back door. It’s somehow coffin size and the top board folds over and is supported by additional fixings on the adjacent side. This creates a double bed base for sleeping on. When it's folded up we get two adult bikes in there, a fishing rod, mattresses, suitcases and everything else you need to go camping for a couple of weeks. Cool or what!?
Ok I did have to cut out makeshift window blinds from a large amazon box I got the week before for some privacy and it's no thrills camping, no TV, no indoor lounge or microwave or fridge freezer… yet. But who needs all that anyway? I'm going on an adventure! to see the world.
Then with my girl strapped in at my side we made a break for the Austrian/Slovenian border. They didn't even see us coming, the border was open as it should be and we passed by at 60kmh without stopping. And that's in 2021! I will come back to Slovenia but that's a trip for another day. Breezing through Slovenia in a couple of hours, then taking a right at Ljubljana we made the coast first and then the Croatian border crossing at Dragonja (northwest corner)
Novigrad Istria, Croatia
This trip was always going to be a about camping, camper Caring it and to some extent seeing how little we actually needed to have a decent holiday. So we were traveling relatively light as we enter isria. The beautiful north west district of Croatia. As you come down off the highlands the patchwork quilt of farmland opens up before you. It seems like everything grows here in the red soil. The red reminded me instantly of Australia and the climate is certainly comparable to parts of the south. Plenty of Vineyards, olive fields, Everything Mediterranean plus everything north of the Med can be found on these small structured farms and small holdings.
Novigrad is the name of the place we are heading to. It's not the biggest town but it's the end of September and the campsites are starting one after the other to close for the season. Yes! That's what I thought too, it's still warm, still fine weather, it seems so early! There is however a great spectacle which triggers this. Other than the obvious onset of autumn and winter. It could be likened to one of the great migrations, the running of salmon or swallows from Africa.
The Germans return home. They have been migrating here for years, spending their summers on the warm Rocky ledges, sleeping in mobile white boxes, which flicker with blue light at night. In the mornings buy the pool, by the afternoon in the cafes. They know how to holiday. And when the time comes before the season is quite done, On mass they head out like ants on a hundred different trails traveling north and are gone. If you're lucky like we were you will catch a glimpse of this and remain just an onlooker. If you're unlikely you'll get caught in the jams it causes and will be stuck in tailbacks that stretch over 20 kms. The border crossing at Dragonja into Slovenia is a choke point often getting congested.
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| Amines Maravea |
We hadn't booked or called in advance. We literally just drove there and asked for a pitch. A risk strategy you might think but late in the season they are either open with space or closed so the odds were in our favor. We were instructed to drive in and have a look around, find a pitch we liked and then come back and give them the number. So they could turn on the power and get our details. So we checked out the cheapest pitches down near the sea, all of which were free and parked up on the even ground. We didn't need any power and had nowhere to plug it in anyway. The only thing we had to charge were the phones and we didn't need a high voltage power connection for that. Pitches were about €20 for a night, which seemed good value to me.
Our procedure, which got more and more refined as we went, was as follows. Park up, throw out the bikes, pull out the mattresses. Fold out the bed, throw in the mattresses with the sleeping bags and pillows on top, cover the windows with the cardboard cutouts and then set up the table and chairs outside for dining. Then the most important choice was whether or not to use the dining table for food or just for drinks and head out to a recommended location close at hand.
On this occasion a storm hand rolled in so we walked up to a local restaurant Fortuna.
A big selection of local, Italian and European dishes. Huge pizzas and tasty local wines and bears. Between us we had a mozzarella salad, with three full sized mozzarella balls in it, which I've never seen in my life and made the rest of the meal something of a challenge. A truffle risotto with prawns, an octopus salad and a massive pizza. I always think if you remember what you ate it's a good sign. The service was friendly. Our waiter spoke both English and German, often to us at the same time! keeping us on our toes.
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| Novigrad |
The morning brought with it sunny skies and warm temperatures, 24-28c we had on a regular basis around the first week in October. We walked the 45 minutes coastal path to Novigrad. The path is also perfect for bikes and for the less mobile there is a tourist tractor dressed as a train which trundles up and down the coast from Aminess Maravea to Novigrad. It’s a picturesque town built on the foundations of a Ramon villa, which subsequently grew due in part to its good defensibility and access from the peninsula. The old Town still retains a good portion of the medieval city wall and narrow lanes crisscrossing the center. This gives the places an old charm and you can quite easily strole from the old harbor up to the church tower in a matter of minutes.
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| Photo by Max Kobus on Unsplash |
After walking the city wall and enjoying the sea views from the park at the head of the town we took coffee in one of the old town cafe/bars. By that time they had run out of anything croissant like so we made use of a local bakery where I managed to find a green donut. These are the kind of things I find it hard to resist in a new place confronted by something I've never seen. I’ll call it the tasters' instinct. I know it's not traditional Croatian, although I couldn't find anything unique in any of the bakeries we visited with the exception of a long thin strudel loope with filo pastry. Cakes and pastries here are heavily influenced from Austria and Italy and as all nations do these days we pick and choose the things that fit best to our own tastes. I wondered about that for a while thinking about how much traditional food has been forgotten, lost or just evolved to match our overstimulated 21st century tastebuds. Then I finished off the donut and didn't feel guilty.
I noticed that they seem to have more ATMS than shops in Croatia. There’s one sometimes two waiting round every corner. This is partly because Kuna is the local currency and not Euro. That and the high demand from the tourists who wait until the last minute to get their cash out. The exchange rate from my bank was good so it was easy for me to take it directly out of my account from one of those many machines but it's worth checking before you travel. No one likes to be stung by high exchange rates and charges. Not all the machines are the same and some will get you with extra charges. On the other hand most places take cards, all the main types so we didn't need that much cash anyway but we like it. It helps us keep an eye on how much is going out.
I needed a gas canister for our camping stove and after a couple of hours taking in the town we found Piko Sport, which is a fishing and camping shop by the old harbour. They had just what I needed and for a fair price.
Back at the campsite, which had everything you might need should you choose not to leave at all during your holiday. two pools, a restaurant, food store, bakery, so many washing up stations, clean and well equipped shower and toilet facilities, a beach bar I think too and probably more. It was time to head for the beach and slow things down a little. The coastline is beautiful. Nature offers stone ledges and rocky bays with crystal clear water. Where access is a bit more tricky near towns or campsites platforms and steps have been built. I would recommend ocean booties because with rocky and slippery terrain protecting your feet is worth it. Believe me, you don’t want to step on a sea urchin hiding between some stones. Take a mask with a snorkel, maybe a paddle board or windsurf. The waters warm at this time of year and without the crowds of high season you can pick your spot and really enjoy it.
Part 2 coming soon.
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