We made our way back to the other side of the Peljesac Peninsula to check out a bike ride which we had spotted on the map. However, when we got there we found that the gravel track had now been tarmaced so we decided we would give it a miss and head for the ferry.

We had a couple of hours to spare so I went for a dip in the ferry port to cool off (something you wouldn’t try at Dover!) and Sharon relaxed on the beach. Whilst she was there a young lad turned up and started talking to his towel! Sharon thought he may have a small dog or cat wrapped in it however as he opened the towel a piece of water melon fell out and a guinea pig emerged – turns out the lad lived in one of the houses across the road from beach and had brought his guinea pig across to have a look at the sea!

I wouldn’t be doing this in Dover

Time to get out as ferry arrives

Yes it is a guinea pig at the beach!

Making our way back North we are effectively retracing our steps as the bottom part of Croatia is a narrow strip with the population squeezed between the mountains and the sea. We had spotted a few possible campsites on the way down however these all turned out to be full and before we knew it we were back in Split and thinking our chances of getting a pitch here would be slim. As it turned out we got a pitch OK.

The campsite at Split is one of the best we have stayed in terms of facilities however the reception area is chaos with any enquiry of any kind requiring queuing for ½ hour or so. The reception staff seem suitably stressed and surly. As the mix of nationalities is high the default language at reception is English which the staff speak fluently, however this is not the case for all the guests and the staff seem to delight in letting their guest struggle on in English even when it is obvious what they are after – this would appear to be the only entertainment they have! It reminded me of the cafe at the old Afan MTB centre where I watched a group of guys spend 5 minutes or so discussing what filling they were going to have in their baked potatoes directly in front of the person serving, only to be told when they came to place their order that the baked potatoes had run out! We figured, after ten minutes or so of watching at reception that we had some solutions and did toy with the idea of offering our services as consultants and sort out their problems for a free pitch for a few weeks or so!

Those Mohijtos we had in Zadar – we couldn’t quite decide if they where the best we had so guess what? Yep we have come back for more! Well, we were passing and we needed somewhere to stay in this area – honest! Can confirm they were just as good but research needs to continue!

As good as remembered

From here our plan for the next week or so is to head to the Paklenica national park and then back to the Istrian Peninsula for a few days before heading back into Slovenia.