Bedfordshire – 2 October 2010

In what might be the last of summer sunshine, we spent the day exploring a small corner of Bedfordshire. It felt like experiencing a small slice of village life as we dipped into each. First off the motorway was Clophill, where the village Scarecrow Festival was just getting underway.

In Pirton, we wondered if we had stepped into the set of Midsomer Murders (or in this case Late Summer Murders!), as the village clean up was dragging weeds out of the village pond. In true Midsomer Murder style, we expected Joyce to be there helping, and that one of the villagers should have dragged up a body during the cleanup.

Hitchin is more than a village, more a proper market town. The large pedestrainised market square has quite a European feel, with an outdoor cafe. From each corner of the square are streets full of lovely old buildings. This town did not appear to be suffering from small town depression, so common in other places. Shops were appealing and busy, and the church full of wonderful flower arrangements in anticipation of a concert.

Just down the road is Letchworth, a planned city only built just over 100 years ago in 1903. It was founded by Ebenezer Howard as the world's first Garden City – the concept was to build a city in an area of countryside which would help to make it self-sufficient for food; years ahead of the modern food-miles concept. The town is attractive in spacious planned way, unlike old towns which grew by degrees.

The last stop was at Ashwell, the source of the River Cam, where it bubbles up on the edge of town. The town itself is full of wonderful old buildings, and a fascinating church which not only has the tallest spire in the county, but on the spire, the clock fitted in 1896 only has three faces, as the farmer on the north side complained that his farm workers would be distracted from their work if they could stop and watch this new feature!! What changes, people just find new things to complain about, especially new technology that might affect the workforce!

Off the rails and down the river - 25 September 2010

Today’s activity was supposed to be a steam train ride to York and back but this was cancelled during the week due to the steam engine being faulty.

We had seen a news item about the Great River Race where 300 or so crews row up the River Thames from the Docklands to Richmond, some 21 exhausting miles. A civilised way to participate in such madness is to book a table in a riverside pub (in our case the Dove), enjoy a great meal washed down with a NZ Sauvignon Blanc and wait for the crews make it to your viewpoint then find a nearby bridge (in our case Hammersmith) to stand on and cheer the crews on.

The overcast conditions and chill wind when the boats arrived detracted a little from the enjoyment of the day but at least we were warm and dry and did not wake the next morning with aching muscles.


The race has been run since 1988 and is based on a handicap start with the slowest boats starting first and, in honour of the Thames Waterman tradition, each boat has to carry a passenger over the distance of the course. The boats range in size and style: row boats, dragon boats, outrigger canoes, Irish longboats, lifeboats, surf boats and even one made from oil drums, the only common factor being oars or paddles as the motive power.

Cavtat - 19 September 2010

 Clearly if one is camping and flying home it is desirable to have a dry tent to pack in one's suitcase.

The weather forecast was for settled weather as fas as we knew and a check outsde at 0530 showed a clear and starry sky. So to hear the pitter-patter of tiny rain drops at 0630 was not a welcome sound but it did get us of to an early start. 

 As the rain gently fell we scrambled to get our gear into the car, not overly sure what we would do with a disorganised car-load of stuff in the pouring rain. The prospect of repacking it all under a service-station forecourt did not appeal. However, the rain was just enough to wet the tent and get us moving and although it had stopped, the sky still looked very threatening so the pressure was still on to pack-n-go.

As it was, it did not rain again and we enjoyed our last breakfast at Molunat in the glorious sunshine while the tent dried sufficiently to be packed away.

Just nearby the airport is the town of Cavtat and since we had such an early start we had plenty of time to wander around Civtat's two headlands and admire the mega-yachts tied up along the quay.

Molunat – 18 September 2010

For anyone wanting an idyllic spot in “another world”, then head for Molunat. We felt we had found a little touch of paradise. But unfortunately, paradise was not in touch with the real world. We arrived with 208kn in our wallet, and expected to pay by card, as we had done everywhere else in Croatia.

Unfortunately this rural backwater has not changed to the world of online payments, so by carefully selecting our dinner last night, we had just enough to dine. Saturday's priority was to find an ATM to pay for our campsite, and eat again. Fortunately we had asked for help with this, and a local lad directed us to Gruda. But on arriving, it looked most unpromising. But as we believed he understood our request, we persevered, and found a bank and working ATM off the main road.

Having left camp, we explored this corner of Croatia. The guide book said it is still very rural, and to expect locals dressed in national costume. Sure enough, we did see local dress, and the little settlements were quite delightful. We checked out a recommended restaurant for later, and a fort described as the most important in the area.

The fort took a little finding as there were no brown tourist signs anywhere on the road to it and when we finally located the fort we discovered why. They are clearly in the process of making it into a tourist attraction with renovation work to the walls of the fort and beautiful wide pathways leading to it from an unfinished carpark. We were just a little ahead of the programme as it was as secure as Fort Knox.

Defeated we returned to Molunat and enjoyed the crystal clear 22C water and 25C sunshine. What's not to like about that combination?

Back to the south of Croatia - 17 September 2010

As Krka is inland from the coast we decided to return to Dubrovnik via the inland route rather than the coast we had already seen. A guide book suggested that Drsni was worth a look but apart from a ruined fort left over from when the Venetians and Turks were scrapping over the area we couldn't see much to hold our attention so moved on south to Sinj which had even less to recommend it. Feeling rather desperate for a tourist “fix” we headed back towards the coast to visit Klis. This is a ruined fortification at a fabulous location guarding a pass up from the coast. The elevated vantage point afforded 360 views but unfortunately the distance was shrouded in a mirky fug.

EU money has provided a very flash motor-way down the interior of the country so we picked this up here and drove as far south as current construction permitted before heading back down the coast road from Ploce.

We had a bit of fun finding a campground for the night as locations that might look good in a book in reality turn out to be on a busy road, too far from the beach in either distance or height, closed, or simply scruffy.

Just before we ran out of Croatia and ended back in Montenegro we found a great spot at Molunat and settled in for the remainder of our time here.

Krka National Park – 16 September 2010

And now for something completely different – we left the coast and headed inland to the Krka National Park. This is a stunning area of lakes and waterfalls, and although New Zealand is a land of waterfalls, we do not have anything quite like this. The distinctive look of these falls, is all the green vegetation growing under the falling water and it is the vegetation that creates the waterfalls. The plants use the calcium in the water and the limescale builds up on the plants and the so a structure grows, increasing the water level behind the natural dams. The whole ecosystem is thus a living changing complex where water channels change as the plants and calcium build on one another.

The setup is very efficient; we entered the Park at Lozovac and purchased a Park permit which allowed us free travel to Skadinski Buk, the starting point of the two activities here. The first activity for the day was a 3.5 hour boat trip. The first half hour was through lakes with fairly boring vegetation on the surrounding hills. Then in the middle of the lake, we stopped at an island with the Monastery of Visovac. This is a lovely spot, and we enjoyed the picnic lunch we had brought.


Then a further 30 minutes, mostly through a dramatic gorge, took us to Roski Slap, the waterfall area at the head of this lake system. There was a one hour stop here, and this gave us enough time to walk the loop track, over bridges and board walks around the lush green valley, where the water moved in delightful green stages over mini falls, all green with the vegetation growing from the calcium rich water.

After returning to Skadinski Buk, we were able to do the true high-light of the day – the very extensive board walk around an area full of large pools and large waterfalls. The final falls plunge into a large pool, which was described in the guide book as suitable for swimming. We were so glad we took our togs, as the water was unexpectedly mild. For those who love swimming, it's a wonderful deep and large swimming area.

These falls were also the site of the second hydro electric plant in the world, though actually the first useful hydro plant. In actually generating electricity, Krka was beaten by two days by the hydro plant at Niagra Falls in 1895 but began lighting the city of Sibenik immediately whereas the American one did not start lighting Buffalo until 1896.

For anyone visiting this area of Croatia, we would recommend a trip to Krka.

Dalmatian Towns – 15 September 2010

After breakfast on a terrace overlooking the sea, we started the day by returning to Split. This time we followed a guide to the Diocletian's Palace. This was the retirement house built by a Roman emperor. With the pick of the entire Roman world, he chose this isolated spot, and the town of Split was born. The outer walls of the palace are mostly intact and other parts here and there remain although not quite as glorious as when Diocletian was there, marble has been stripped and so forth.. We enjoyed an acapella men's group in the Vestibule so much so that we bought their CD. The mausoleum has been turned into a cathedral, and shops have taken over part of the original basement. It's a listed UNESCO site, because it is the largest surviving Roman structure.

From here we went to the highlight of the day - Trogir. This town was originally a small islet between the mainland and a larger island, but it is linked by bridges to both. The town has many original buildings, one of the gems is the Cathedral of St Lawrence. A modest entrance price allows entry to the cathedral and access to the tower, with great views over the town.

We finally finished our day in Sibenik. This town is not so picturesque as the other two, but is also UNESCO, on account of its cathedral. This stone building has a stunning clean white exterior, with many wonderful carvings. The interior is initially disappointing, as the grey stone seems drab and dark. But after reading the details of its construction, it is clear why this building is also UNESCO listed.

It is apparently the largest stone building constructed without wooden or brick supports. It was built from stone from the local islands and was prefabricated and assembled on site.