Istria, Croatia

Istria.

If we thought getting into the environs of Venice was difficult then getting out was even harder. For some reason Kate had it in her mind we should go in the opposite direction so finding the autoban to Riejke became time consuming and frustrating. Twice passing underneath it, its access was not apparent so we appeared to go in ever increasing circles until finally, and totally out of the blue, there appeared this on-ramp. The town of Maestra whIch Is the feed town for VenIce Is a total shambles wIth road works absolutely everywhere, confusIng GPS and confoundIng drIvers (even locals). Combined with torrential rain this is a heady mix. Anyway we are now on our way to the east coast of the Istrian peninsula as we make our way to our overnight stop in a restaurant carpark In Ruper. We are having issues with most campsites being closed so "stellplatz" are now, all of a sudden, very important to us.

Surviving that stop, which was in the middle of nowhere, we headed South wanting to stick to the eastern coastal road. Once again Kate threw a wobbly and constantly tried to turn us back. Now, at the beginning of this journey, we would have done as she instructed knowing no better but now........oh no, we are wiley now! We ploughed forward accompanied by a constant barrage from Kate.......and made it!!!!! Through roadworks, through uncharted roundabouts, through a few kilometres in Slovenia, through all the obstacles Kate threw at us and the beauty of the scenery was breathtaking. The sun was shining, the Adriatic so blue, the roads so quiet and Molly and we were happy happy. We all felt we had come home. The drIve along thIs part of the IstrIan penInsula was quIte possIbly the most scenIc drIve of the whole trIp so far. The wIndIng road followed the coast through beautIful seasIde vIllages and then wound up the hIlls to gIve a panoramIc vIew of the whole coast back to RejeIka. We pulled over often to let followIng traffIc pass and on one such occasIon we decIded to stop for a brew and some lunch. What a great spot It was. To add to our elation we were driving through this really small town called LabIn and saw an LPG sign and gas bottles stacked In cages. Now, if you have read our previous blogs, you will be aware that gas bottle refilling is a nightmare in Europe and our lovely friend Cal (the ex  cop from the UK) had thankfully helped us out of trouble in Dubrovnik. Doubling back we were amazed to be able to get both bottles filled (something technical here to do with threads) wIth no problems and at a mere charge of 50kuna/7euro/14NZ$ each!!!!!! Now we can heat water, gas up the fridge and heat Molly with no worries. It's true! When you stop looking... you find.

So to Pula -to an "open all year round" campsite which, when we pulled up at the gate, looked horribly closed. In fact it was open but only the staff would have known that - extremely strange - but we were fortunate to meet up with someone just leaving who, very generously, turned around and walked us into the bowels of this huge campsite where absolutely everything was closed and locked up ( even permanent caravans were all wrapped in gladwrap) to a 2 stored house where all the staff were.....and there were plenty. We were allowed to park anywhere at all but only a small sanitation block was open and then onlythe female side, so this was a limitation, but eventually we settled Molly down, adjacent to the beach, with a view to die for over the Adriatic sea. To our knowledge there were only 3 other couples there.

Catching a bus the next day to Pula from the local village, albeIt after a very uphill bike ride to get there, we firstly espied an open post office to dispatch all the little baby clothes we have been collecting for Adrian, Eleni and little bleep. This, however, was not an easy process - having to return numerous times to the counter until we got it right (shades of the amazing race again) and queuing each time as well. Three quarters of an hour later it was all done (communist style) and I am pretty sure the parcel will make it??? Next stop just down the road a pharmacy - eyedrops for Gary and Panadol for our fIrst aId kIt. All is looking really good and we set off for Pula's hIstorIc, old town.

Pula holds many really great memories for me and I wanted to bring Gary here but..... it is a tourist town which hums in the season but not out of season. Everywhere was closed and the old historic town, devoid of life and colour, looked extremely sad. It's saving grace though, for us at this time of year,was the amphitheatre standing proud and tall and in amazingly good condition. The azure blue adriatic ocean can be seen through the arches around it's perimeter and as we walked around the outside taking photos we were drawn to the sound of lively, happy music and voices coming from a small bar on the corner. Deciding to explore further, or being just plain nosey, we were informed that in the bar was a very famous musician and singer promoting his new song. "Would you like your photo taken with him" in broken English "Er, no no, that is ok" but it happened anyway and the embarrassed Stefano was dragged out for a photoshoot and video footage with us. What happened next was really weird for we were approached by a lady, a journalist, who had heard that we came from NZ and wanted to interview and photograph us for a story in her magazine. So we oblIged and now we will wait and see.....she says she will send us the story by email.

Stopping to have a beer in the square/forum, where I celebrated my bIrthday wIth Foo and NeIl nearly two and a half years ago, we watched two weddings happen at the "town hall" and after buying some fresh bread and a Croatian savoury pastry we decided to head home by bus and bike.

Having our customary wine prior to the sun setting and sitting outside Molly in the balmy afternoon/evening we saw a kayaker paddle around the headland and into the bay. We both remarked what a fantastic evening it was to be on the water as the kayaker changed course and headed towards us. lIttle dId we dream we would be meetIng the most brave and InspIratIonal man we have ever met In our lIfetImes. Beaching his kayak in front of us he got out looked around and decided he could stay close to the shore at the campsite and endeavoured to pull his kayak up the steep stoney beach. He was exhausted and having difficulties so .......MacgIver to the rescue. Next thing I hear them laughing, shaking hands, checking over the kayak and an invitation has been given to come and share a wine when be has settled himself in and put up his little tent.

This is when we discover who he is, what he is doing, what he has done and what an amazing adventurer he is. Sharing food, wine and stories we spend the whole evening chatting and eating. He is Romanian, he is married with a 13 year old daughter Katrina, he is almost 50 and he has paddled 3, 600kms so far and walked, pulling his kayak behind him, for 150kms over 2 sets of mountains. He has faced high seas, huge waves, hunger, thirst, loneliness, heat, cold, winds, storms, fear and is now a very different person to the man who started this epic journey to paddle to Venice from Romania. He is almost there but now faces the most dangerous part of the journey because of the Croatian wind patterns. We helped him as much as we could. We shared our food, Gary gave him some new Khatmandu dry bags, coffee, bread and probably better than anything - companionship. He is an inspiration and will go home to write a book. Travel safely Lucian, return safely to your family in Romania and we will be thinking of you. We hope when you finally arrive in Venice there will be a fanfare awaiting you.

So after an emotional farewell with Lucian we headed on to Rovinj where we parked outside of the township and walked into the historic city. Once again everything touristy was closed but somehow Rovinj shouldered this well. It is beautiful with not one but two harbours and a maze of narrow streets with battlements surrounding it. We could not spend too much time here, the bad weather was rolling in agaIn fast as was the time, but that was ok. We will come back in the summertime and revel in it's vibrant beauty then. We still had a way to go to Motovun so after a brisk uphill walk to Molly, lunch in the van in a no campervan zone, we were off and the heavens opened!

And here we are in Motovun, in a Stelplatz owned by the hotel at the top of the hill in front of us. We have hot, hot showers; clean clean toilets with paper and handsoap; electricity and rubbish and campervan dump. To be honest better than a lot of campsites. The only problem is the weather.... but alas it is winter!

We did, the next morning, wake to a relatively sunny day so decided to make the 1km treck up the hill to the hotel to pay our camp fee, have a walk around and have some lunch. Well, what an interesting place with wonderful autumn views of the surrounding countryside. This is Croatian wine country, as well as truffle and olive oil, and the changing season has put on an awesome display for us. It is a very old village surrounded by a wall which you can walk around the top of giving you extensive, ever changing, panoramic views of the valley below. Truffle tasting, truffle oil tasting, cheese and salami tasting was on the menu and for those of you, like us, who have never tasted truffle oil....it has a very gentle garlIcky flavour to Its natural truffle flavour. Very hard to explaIn but absolutely wonderful. We bought a small bottle of black truffle oil to use with pasta or cheese - you do not cook with it.

A 2hour lunch was enjoyed at the hotel right at the top of the hill where we had a special menu with special discounts because we were in their stellplatz below and when we returned to the outsIde world It was spIttIng wIth raIn. As we made our quIck descent back to Molly, the thunder roaring around us, the skys grew darker and darker and once inside Molly the rain became torrential. (Home in the nick of time agaIn).

And that is how it stayed all night so next morning we were up and off early but neither of us was prepared for what this particular day was going to bring!!!!!!

But that Is for our next blog - see you xx