Thursday 26th November
Wow 12.30 check out so a whole half day of luxury so we make the most of it. Vicki is into the gym by 8.00 and, because my back is still sore, I get to the pool at 8.30 and Vicki joins me after her workout. After a swim, sauna, shock pool and aroma steam ahhhh we are scoffing ourselves as if this is the last breakfast for a while which it probably will be. When we check out the price of the room has jumped from 717K to 792k so we argue that we had established the price and they say that maybe 717k sounded like 770k but this doesn’t gel cos it still doesn’t sound like 792k! So we get our way with no hostility as they really are a friendly hotel. We retrace our steps from the way up and make our way back to Trpanj along the coast but this time I am driving so Vicki can admire the scenery. We are travelling along the inside of the road so nowhere the edge so she is more comfortable. Even though we have been this way and recognise it is still feels different and you see different things travelling in the other direction. Along the way where there are wineries we see grapes still on the vine but not enough to harvest and make vino so even though I want to stop and taste them we can’t find a safe spot and any way it might be seen as stealing. (later on at a market in Split we see where they are selling slightly over ripe grapes sort of like plump raisons so maybe they weren’t ready for harvest and keep them for this). We arrive at the ferry port of Trpanj just on dark and it was rainy and blowing a gale. We were going to stay at a closed camp out of town but the town is safe and there is a good park next to a truck right next to where everybody lines up for the ferry and we are sure there will be no worries. We have a coffee at a small café with a fire going but everyone is smoking and for us not a great atmosphere so move on to a little bar just opening so no one has arrived so I have a beer with a clean atmosphere. Back to the van and watched the ferry come in and take away the last passengers for the nite. Early next morning the ferry wakes us (sort of) coming into port and we are loaded and away by 6.45am. A hot coffee/cappuccino for brekky with a croissant and an hour later we are at Ploce. It is cold and rainy and we enquire at the ferry office about getting the ferry from Split to Ancona. She says that the reservations are full but not everyone has paid so we should be able to get on. We ask if we can go on a reserve list but no. She says the best thing is to go to the office in Split when we get there. It won’t let Vicki do it on line so we hope for the best but we don’t really have a choice. We again drive the same route back to Split but it does feel different. It is really blustery and we see small waterspouts out on the sea. The weather is clear so visibility is real good and the view is fantastic. The sight of huge rocky islands rising out of the sea is dramatic and it is what this part of the Adriatic is famous for. We stop at a new café/bakery and from inside we see the van rocking and rolling in the gusts outside and hope it doesn’t take of haha.
We have made good time and get into the campground around midday, park up in a place closer to the sea even though it is not in the sun and we get two loads of washing done. It is always a relief to do this and though Vicki I know is tempted to do it tomorrow as stripping the bed , washing, drying etc can take up a couple of hours for a change I say get it done then we have tomorrow with no plans other than to suss out ferry tickets. When we were checking in a couple who were on the internet say hey is that an aussie or kiwi accent?’ We reply that we are kiwis as this has become a standard answer travelling but do say we are kiwaussies. We get a laugh and find they are from Northern NSW so we figure they are nearly Queenslanders. Vicki was later chatting to Garrie and found out they are also travelling for 12 months but have just started so she mentioned we had some maps we didn’t need any more so we took them over to him and his partner Julie along with books that we have both read as we know that it is neat to get English books. We ended up chatting till midnight with a couple of coffees and chippies and had a great chat. It is fantastic when you can meet people for the first time and hit it off as if you are old mates. I think we all have friends that remind us of other friends and being from the other side of the world we have a lot in common. It got real weird when we found out another couple that had left the day before knew Rob & Sue that we have befriended previously. A very small camping world indeed.
We had a bit of a sleep in and after brekky we caught up with Garrie and Julie who were also heading into Split so decided to go together on our bikes. We had a map but nothing is as easy as it seems and we ended having a pretty tough & hilly ride about 8-10ks to town. The weather was just beautiful with no wind and blue skies. Lots of families were out on their Saturday picnics and about a kilometre of seaside cafes, amusements and parks gave them the most beautiful setting.
We finally found our way to the port office to see if we could get on the ferry. They just told us to be there at 7.30pm the next nite in case there was a cancellation. She told us there was no standby list that it was just a case of turning up just before the ferry left to see if there was some extra room. So we all head over the old town and had a look around and a meal & bevvy at a small kebaby type café. We thought Split would be a bit ‘cityish’ and busy but this part was really cool and we enjoyed an hour of wandering. The town centre has quite a few ruins that look a little like they belong to Greece but they were definitely worth the look. Garrie & Julie had explored the day before so it was great to have tour guides. We would have loved to look around further and especially to climb the Bell Tower but it was closed and, as it is winter it is best to not linger because it gets dark so quickly and early, so we got on our bikes to head home what seemed to be a bit early. As it was we got back at 4pm and it was getting dark. Unfortunately the peddle on Vicki’s bike had come off and I tried to a quick fix and only succeeded in breaking the peddle so Vicki had to bike without a peddle which was a real pain in the butt. Hopefully we can get it fixed but really along with the rooted gears maybe better to trade or ditch. A very busy day and a good nights sleep awaits. Still up in the air about if we can get the ferry but tomorrow is another day.
In the morning and move our camper to a location that is right by the sea and has more sun to do a bit of a quick spring clean before we head off to the ferry. We have a chat with our newly made friends and Scot decides he has to have a swim in the ocean before we head away. The dust inside the camper builds up so quickly and is hard to keep away so it is always nice to see it fresh and dust free if only for a few hours. The time flies by and before we know it the time is almost 3 and we need to pay and leave. We say our goodbyes to Julie and Garrie and hope to catch up with them in Spain before they head to Morocco. We drive to the ferry terminal where we were yesterday and try to figure out where we can park. Scot stays in the van and I go in to find out if there are any cancellations yet. A bitchface blonde (Scot’s words) wasn’t helpful at all and told me we had to come back at 7.45pm and no sooner so Scot went in another way and talked to another lady. He gave her the Hood charm and smiles and got a bit further but still was told to come back tonight at 7.00pm. He asks if we can put our names down as first cab on the rank but got the standard reply be there at 700pm. They tell Scot we can park in the queue through the gate behind the other camper which we recognise as one that left the camp ground earlier this afternoon. Apparently they don’t have tickets either and we wonder now who has priority to get on first since we have been asking for 3 days but they got there first today?
Anyway, we have a walk around and about 6pm we see the other camper people sitting inside so we decide that we need to make ourselves seen inside too so head in. Scot goes and asks if there is any change and she says no that we are first cab off the rank, until another lady tells her we are second not first. About 7pm nothing is happening but I am getting pissed off that it appears that there are others now in the queue – that we were told didn’t exist – so I quiz the lady who then proceeds to tell me we are now 4th in line. I can’t figure it out and express my dissatisfaction at being pushed down the queue when we have been asking for 3 days now – but I get the sense they think we are English and I feel there is some contempt there.
8pm and the ferry should be leaving and we hear ‘Cars, no campers’ called out. The two car people are happy and get their tickets and head on board. I am ‘Not Happy Jan’!! However we had been talking and decided that since it didn’t look likely to get on it would actually be much cheaper for us to just get the ferry from Trieste like we had originally planned so that will be out next move. As we left the other camper couple appeared to be trying to cajole the ladies into getting them on but we don’t know what happened. We headed back to the camp for a last night.
We head out early as we want to try and get to Slovenia before night fall. We take the opposite roads to how we travelled down which is what we were wanting to do originally, so we take the highway to Zadar which only costs only about 12euro which isn’t bad and then take the coast road all the way to Rjieke. This road is a great drive, good road and only a little traffic and the best scenery in Croatia really. It isn’t a fast drive as the road has lots of horseshoe bends with drops to the sea so slow and sure wins the day. It doesn’t take long and as we near Rjieke some of the coastal mountains show snow on them down quite a reasonable way so it has obviously snowed along this stretch since we passed about 10 days ago. As we head into Slovenia and drive off the highway onto a road that will take us back to Koper (to the great cheap campstop we previously stayed at before) the sun has gone and we can see snow and ice off to the side of the road. It is cold here and there must have been a good snow fall for it to still be around. I take it easy on the road as it almost looks a bit greasy or icy and we don’t think it has seen much sun.
We arrive at Koper. We are very fond of this place and are quite pleased to have the opportunity to be back here again. Although it is right on a very busy highway it hasn’t bothered us before and we don’t notice the traffic this time either. The ferry from Trieste doesn’t leave until the morning after tomorrow at 4.30am and we find out that the ticket office isn’t open until midnight so we don’t have to leave here early, but we want to arrive in daylight to make it easier so late afternoon will be fine.
We head into town next morning to a café we know does great coffee and have a bit of a wander. We find a sports shop that is selling cheap runners and we know we will both need new ones soon so have a look. We both manage to get a pair for about 40 euro – both asics that we know are around $220 in Aussie so a bargain. Time is getting away so we head back to the van, pack up and off to Trieste. As we head over the border the smog get worse and seemingly in typical Italian style that we have experience in that country there is heaps of pollution and it is awful. We find the port and drive down to the office. We are told it is closed until midnight, so we park in the queue and sit out the long 7 hour wait until we can buy tickets and then wait another 4 hours until we leave.
At midnight we head to the ticket office. Our previous plan was to take a ferry from Split to Ancona, a ferry from Ancona to Patras and then another ferry from Patras back to Ancona ready to go to Spain. The guy does us a fantastic deal where because we book an open ticket back to Ancona and because we have a camper we get a free room so we can sleep and 30% off any meals plus I can still use my uni student card and get a major discount for my ticket. The total price of the return trip we pay for is 800euro less than we would have paid for the other 3 ferry trips – a massive aud1300 saving just by driving to Trieste. I am happy with that as we are just a bit over budget so this saving is great. And we are also grateful we didn’t get on the ferry at Split.
We manage to stay awake until 3.30 when we board the ferry. There are hardly any vehicles leaving from here and the ferry is very empty at this point. We head to our room which is an inside cabin with shower and toilet and two single beds. Fantastic, much better than sleeping in an aircraft seat which was our other option. We hit the hay and at least manage a few hours sleep before announcements wake us to say we are in Ancona. Eventually we get up and check out Ancona where we are docked for about 3 hours. They must have loaded heaps of trucks as when we go to leave the ship the deck that we are parked on that was empty is chokka. We have a smooth sailing which is great. We head up on deck to check out the pool….lol. It is empty and is dreadful looking so maybe it hasn’t been used for a while. There isn’t anything happening on the boat other than a few people playing pokies and a limited menu put on in the café at meal times. Staff are on a skeleton schedule by the limited amount we see. We spend all day up in the lounge watching the scenery and reading until tea time. The meals are unfortunately ordinary and expensive so we choose the best of it but wish we could get down to the campervan to cook our own. They actually don’t allow you to go back to your vehicle during the voyage and I can understand why. When we head to the van the next afternoon, just trying to slide between the trucks to get to our van is a nightmare. Walking between the front and back of a truck is hairy as there is no room for movement or you would be crushed. So if that happened whilst on the ocean you would be mince meat. Unpleasant even when we are in dock. They park the trucks so close that we can’t even slide between some of them.
We end our first night watching a movie on the laptop in our little cabin. A reasonable nights sleep and we get up when we hit Igoumenitsa. This place is difficult to remember at first so we nickname it ‘Eat all my pizza’ as it is similar and works for us. We watch the first cars and trucks and a bunch of teenagers leave the ship and this little town actually looks really quite cute. We may change our plans again and get back on the ferry here instead of Patras if we feel the roads are ok to travel on. Woohoo, finally in Greece – country no. 24.
Our experience on this ship is a fairly ordinary one, but we know this company is owned by Grimaldi lines who are renowned for not great, dirty unkempt ships in Europe perhaps lacking a bit of safety. Our room was ok, the beds clean, the bathroom clean but the common toilets were disgusting, the sofas uncomfortable and in bad shape and the staff really didn’t appear to be very happy at all, but hey we were only on there for 36 hours so it was fine.
After breakfast and another 5 hours and we dock in Patras. We are almost last off our deck as there are heaps of trucks first. Driving through Patras it appears as if it is a typical port town. Dirty, rubbish everywhere and just a generally unkempt rundown city. The countryside is similar to Croatia, not quite as rocky, but mountainous and barren. The roads are badly in need of repair, that we have seen on our short time here so I doubt we will be travelling to all the places we have thought of. We are still a little tired from our 4am morning so we decide it isn’t worth travelling too far so I have picked a small camp half an hour out of Patras where it will only take us a few hours to get to Athens tomorrow. The camp has a few dogs that are very bark happy but the labby is a lovely girl despite her barking habits. We sit and have a drink in the fading sun. I do some research thinking maybe we could spend a couple of days on Santorini or Mikonos leaving the van at Athens but most places are closed and even those that are open I am not sure how you get meals as there are few taverns etc open. I think it is too hard so we will have to come back to see the Greek Islands at a later date in our lives at a more suitable time, not in the summer and not in the winter! We get wifi for the first time in a few days and we find out we have a new baby grandson born a few days before, how cool. It’s times like this that it is a shame we are away from home, but we will see photos and hopefully Skype home so we can see our new Grandson.
We could have bought wifi on the ship but I am still in shock at how pathetic it was. 4euro for 4mb….yes 4 mb of data. That wouldn’t even receive an email these days, I am in a WTF mode. Or you can get 8mb of data for 8euro or for the princely sum of 11euro you can get 12mb of data. I think this data must be from 10 years ago as no one in their right mind would pay that kind of money for that pittance of data, again I say WTF!!!
Oh dear we have just realised why we got the 3rd degree on the first border crossing between Slovenia and Croatia. We had breached the Schengen agreement NZ has with Slovenia unknowingly but my innocent bluff (I didn’t know I was doing that at the time) meant they let us through, but we would have been classified as illegal overstayers in Schengen and then travelling back through Slovenia two days ago was another breach. Thank goodness we are ok where we are now. I thought I knew the rules thoroughly but I missed the rules of 4 countries that we should never have been allowed into. Lucky!
Had a banana in Split?
Looks like you’ve left the winter behind now.
Enjoy the stay in the Med.