Now to get to the part of Croatia we were expecting, the Dalmatian Coast! We’ve been to Istria before on a previous van venture so decided to skip past that peninsula (highly
reccomend still!) The highway down to the coast was so incredibly that Cat, Eddie & Sammy all slept through the drive. Switchback motorway, Rain storms, Loads of Tunnels, and a good 10 degree increase in temperature as we dropped!
Treat time, a Campsite! Camping Nin is great. Chilled, cheap and friendly, it only took about an hour for the Sad Sammy to clear out the neighbouring camper from us and give us a really big pitch 🙂 Just kidding, they were already packing up when we arrived, but it’s a nice thought. The torrential rain that Adam had seen on the journey down was still in the air. For the 1st
time this trip we got our the van awning so we could continue to sit outside in the rain to watch the thunder and lightning over a bottle of Slovakian red. Epic storm.
This storm was raging when we learned of the passing of our Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral estate. Thanks to those who’d kept us informed, we are glad we heard quickly and not from one of the randoms who mentioned it the next day. We knew that we’d have a new PM when we returned from this trip, but were not expecting to have a new Monarch. The Queen had been
a constant in our lives up until now. We sat and watched some of the BBC coverage, raising a toast to Her Majesty. God look after our Queen, and now, God Save the King!
We didn’t realise the downside to the open van life until the next morning… Bugs. We’d all been bitten to pieces, and our 2 poor Jam Boys looked very diseased! Thankfully neither of them seemed to notice thier new complexions, but rest assured, the next night we hid a lot more inside the van covered in skin-so-soft!
Nin is a fantastically old little peninsular town. Roman ruins, shiny cobbled pedestrian streets that make you think this place hasn’t changed in centuries. It probably hasn’t really. Just a fantastic place to be and gain good luck by rubbing the toe of Grgur Ninski (Thankfully he’s a statue, not a hard to catch man, or worse, pigeon – Eddie’s been trying to catch one of those for weeks now!) Queens beach was the aim for the afternoon. Appropriate really. This beach had the fantastic bonus of being located in the opposite direction from our campsite to the town (a whole 5 mins walk each). Why a bonus? Down to the plan that was hatched. Cat & the boys headed to the beach, I went back to the van to load up with beach things. Then I carried the
beach tent and a couple of cold beers & snacks to the beach BY PADDLEBOARD!
The Nin lagoon was an incredible place to explore by paddleboard, with Adam & Cat both taking Eddie for adventures, and Cat Paddleboarding to the bar for icecream. Living the dream!
After recuperating for a full 2 nights in one place we packed up in the morning to head to Zadar and conti ue along the coast. Another gorgeous little shiny marble paved fortified old town, we wandered the walls and climbed a tower before pizza and pastries for lunch.
We rewarded ourselves for all that effort with an ice cream by the sea organ, a funky art installation that plays as the sea laps into it- quite cool really! We had some good chat with a nice group of Germans who had seen us as the tower and were very impressed at Eddie’s step climbing stamina.
Parenting Responsibly 