5th October
Packed up in the morning and had a last coffee with Vincent before saying our goodbyes. If he hasn't carried on cycling to India we hope to see him in Bordeaux in December! What a lovely guy! We drove onwards with three border crossings ahead of us today. We passed easily from Montenegro to Croatia and the drive up the coast was very pretty - the view down to Dubrovnik well worth a photo. After an hour or so we came to our second border into Bosnia (there is about 10 miles of coast belonging to Bosnia that we had to pass to carry on up Croatia.) This border again was fine and after literally five minutes drive we got back to Croatia and expected it to be okay as we'd only left a few minutes ago! Really stupidly, we thought, they questioned us very thouroughly and pulled us over to search the van! This is the second time Croatia have been arseholes. They definitely have a thing against 'hippies' as whilst we were being searched we saw a young backpacker guy with dreadlocks getting put in the back of a police van. He looked at us and gave a shrug and we felt very sorry for him. Anyway, obviously we didn't have anything wrong in the van and the police man believed us that our tea was tea and not weed and they let us through. After this waste of time we were a bit annoyed to find that the motorway was also closed and we had to go a very long diversion around. It was actually quite a nice scenic diversion and we stopped for lunch in a lay-by before getting to the motorway. Boring motorway drive for about 100 kilometres and the rain started to come - the end of our summer we think! Vincent had recommended that instead of paying for the motorway we take the inland road in Croatia as it was quiet and not ridiculously wiggly like the coast road. We were very happy that he'd said this as we found ourselves passing tiny villages, rugged mountains and gorgeous autumnal forests. A different side to Croatia than we'd seen before, and we even thought that the drizzle added to it. We had about two pounds in Kuna left over so we stopped at Lidl to stock up on snacks (it's surprising how much you can get for two pounds!) We searched for a free camp and found a nice field just off a lay-by which seemed very quiet and we parked up there. It rained all night so we stayed in the van anyway eating crisps and jaffa cakes and reading our books.
Dubrovnik. ^
Wild camp 1. ^
6th October
Woke up and moved on straight away but quickly found another scenic lay-by where we stopped for tea and scrambled eggs. We have our helpx in Austria in a week and we have decided to wild camp our way there. The rain was coming down now and we drove onwards, still admiring the scenery, and passed back up through Plitvice National park (we even passed the campsite we'd stayed in!) I actually drove for about an hour but then we came to a car accident where we had to stop and I think Pete got scared and he wanted to drive again. We came to a small town called Slunj and as we passed over a bridge I saw below us, on a small lower road, a couple of parking spaces with a portaloo at the end. I thought this looked ideal to at least stop for lunch so we drove down and parked up. The rain was relentless so we didn't even get out the van to look around, we just had lunch inside and chilled out reading for a few hours. We hadn't stopped in this town for any particuler reason but as we were hanging out in the van we couldn't help noticing the dozens of tourist cars pulling up and the coach loads of tourists walking into the town. When the rain had settled a bit we put on our jackets and ventured out to see what all the fuss was about. The town was very quiet and we carried on around and went for a lovely walk along the river. The walk turned into a real nature trail as we found an enormous earthworm and five luminous orange and black salamanders about 15 inches long. The trees were beautiful - this is the first sight of autumn we've had - and the cottages in the village are all set in the river and each had their own water mill grinding their own flour. There was also an amazingly strong smell of wood smoke as all the houses had their wood burners going. Couldn't get more picturesque really. It was quite late now and we retreated back to the van as the rain started again. Another snacky dinner and an early night.
Scenic tea and eggs stop. ^
Lunch in bed. ^
Lovely Slunj. ^
Wild camp 2 ^
7th October
Woke up and drove on to have early morning tea in another lay-by. I can't remember what village it was but we passed a huge round castle and pulled over to have a look. There was a door open and we were able to walk in and look around the ruins. It was really amazing - straight out of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and not another tourist in sight. We carried on north, stopping in Karlovac for a bit of shopping and filling up on diesel as Croatia is the cheapest in Europe, and before we knew it we were at the Slovenian border. We had no real itinerary in Slovenia, just six days to explore. So I thought we might as well head towards a bit of road that the map says is scenic. We decided instantly that if we were going to be anywhere for autumn it should be here. The countryside is absolutely stunning with rolling green fields and forested hills. We were winding our way through small villages and stopped at a picnic spot for lunch. We got out our cooker and tea and everything. We also scrumped a whole bag of crab apples and a whole bag of damsons plums, planning to make jam at a later date. In the afternoon we were looking for a nice little wild camp and we followed a track up a hill off the main road. When we got to the brow of the hill we saw it just led to a few houses so we decided to turn around. Pete thought that he could reverse down this track and it all got out of hand and all went wrong. We ended up with the back half of WEX up a vertical verge with a tree stump behind so we couldn't reverse. All the weight was on the front left tyre and the right front tyre just kept spinning. We tried everything to get it out including putting wood under the front tyre to get some grip and pushing it. We even walked up to the houses but there wasn't a soul in sight. WEX was looking like he was about to topple sideways and we figured the only way to get him out was to get towed. We called the AA (eventually getting through after finding our emergency number for them wouldn't connect) and they said they'd be there in an hour or so. A couple of people who lived on the hill came back from work and found it all quite funny. Thankfully the Slovenian rescue man came after about 50 minutes - a lovely smiley man with a huge moustache - and wasted no time in attaching his winch and towing us out. He made sure there was so other damage adn then sent us on our way. Phew! Three hundred pounds on AA cover well spent! Feeling happy and relieved - and slightly wary of verges - we carried on our way to find a wild camp. We tried a few tracks and in the end followed our way through a small village and found the best wild camp spot ever. It was on a track in beautiful green hills right on the edge of a forest. There was even a small picnic table made from tree stumps. Pete went off for a forage in the woods and came back with one big cep which he was very happy about. We had it in a lovely warming stew for dinner. We also saw a farmer drive by in his tractor (whether we were on his farm or not we don't know) and we asked him if it was okay to stay and he gave us a big smile and a 'yes'. We were both feeling a bit fluey with this sudden change of weather and before bed we drank a steaming hot toddy each. Delicious. We slept soundly that night.
Castle in Croatia. ^
Lunch in Slovenia. ^
WEX in distress. ^
Our saviour. ^
Wild camp 3 ^
Ceps. ^
8th October
Woke up early, opened both the back doors and took in the breaktaking view of a misty mountain morning in Slovenia whilst under our duvet! We had coffee at the camp and then went for a walk in the forest. It was primeval and lovely at this time in the morning. There were also more mushrooms than I've ever seen in my life. They were everywhere. There were orange ones and purples ones and red ones and Pete was in heaven. We got a few wood blewits and on the way back to the van we found loads of shaggy inkcaps. We went back and had shaggy inkcaps with fried eggs for breakfast and it was great. After our delicious foragers breakfast we walked back up the path to collect a whole bag of sloe berries. We drove onwards, again heading to nowhere in particular, and we stopped at a supermarket to get sugar and gin. Whilst Pete was driving a pricked all the sloes with a needle and added them to the gin. Sloe gin will be ready for our homecoming! In the afternoon we found ourselves in some small mountains where it was even more forested and the trees were red, yellow and orange. Again we followed a few tracks in search of a free camp and found a little glade surrounded by trees. It was another ideal spot. Pete went off again for a forage - he really is loving it here - and I set up the rug out side the van and made a pot of hot tea. He came back with two huge ceps today and we had a lovely afternoon hanging out in the forest. We also boiled our apples and plums and made four pots of jam. For dinner we had a very ceppy cep soup and another hot toddy before bed.
Good morning Slovenia! ^
Dressed for a forage. ^
Dressed for autumn. ^
Breakfast. ^
Wild camp 4 ^
Ceps. ^
9th October
Sadly we woke up to rain. Pete had definitely got out on the wrong side of bed (proper grumpy) so we set off straight away. We went a scenic route through the mountains and got a bit lost trying to find the right way. The villagers of one town were having a laugh when we drove up and down three times! We did eventually find the right track though and were on the look out for a cafe with wifi. This is much harder than it sounds in Slovenia. We passed one town and followed signs to the centre where we found... a pharmacy. They obviously don't have a cafe culture here. The next town we passed a few kilometres north was Lasko. This looked a bit more like it and we parked in a big car park by the river. We walked to the centre where we found a bar attached to the supermarket. We asked the lady if there was wifi and she said 'no'. We were deciding what to do when a man on the other side of the bar beckoned us over. He said he ran a youth centre around the corner which opened in an hour and we could use free internet there. We got a coffee and we sat with him, Jurij, and chatted a while. He was in a 'Stomp' style band who made instruments from rubbish and has toured internationally, including playing the Queen's Jubilee. He had set up a youth centre to help the kids who have nothing to do and stop them turning to drugs. He was really lovely and said that he had woken up very grumpy too and it was good to meet nice people. Pete thouroughly agreed and cheered up completely! After our coffee, and his two beers (the normal thing at 11 in the morning), we followed him to the youth centre. It was in an old buildings basement and was cool - with a stage for gigs and a kitchen and everything. He left us to use one of the computers and when we were finished we said goodbye. He invited us to stay with him, which we declined, but we promised to contact him if come back to Slovenia, which we hope to. What a nice way to start a day! We drove onwards and everything got a bit more built up. I chose a smaller road hoping to find somewhere a bit quieter and from this we followed another track. We spent over an hour looking for a wild camp up this track, stopping to admire the myriad mushrooms in the forests. When we finally gave up we followed the track back to the main road and just before we joined it we spotted the perfect place. It was the edge of a field but with no house in sight and we pulled in under the trees. I made some lunch whilst Pete went for a forage and came back with more blewits and a load of bay boletes (one of his favourites. Seriously he is so happy.) After lunch he went off again to get even more bay boletes - he's going to dry them - and I happily chilled at the camp. We are loving free camping in Slovenia as everyone is very friendly and even Jurji said this morning that the Slovenians don't think of their land as their own; they think that nature is for everybody. Another dinner of hot shaggy ink caps (we found a whole field of them today) and garlic on toast.
Forest bath. (Not wearing shorts.) ^
Jurij's Youth centre. ^
More mushrooms at Wild camp 5 ^
10th October
Woke up and after getting ready we left without having a brew as the rain had started to fall. We didn't have a long drive today and on the way we stopped at a petrol station to top up our oil (and Pete reversed into a flower pot.) We are definitely getting some funny looks when we are in public after not showering for so long! We had another petrol station stop, where we got a coffee and the man kindly filled up all our water bottles from behind the counter, before getting to Dravograd. This town is right on the border with Austria but we were liking wild camping in Slovenia so much that we thought we'd stay one more day. We followed a very small road - pretty much a track in some parts - along the river. We came across a lay-by next to a forest stream which looked like it could be a good spot, so we stopped and decided to have some lunch anyway. We chilled out here for a while but after lunch and a pot of tea we decided to drive on a bit to see if there was anything better. About a kilometre further along the windy road we found another lay-by which was similar but had a big picnic bench and some where we could park the van with the door away from the road. This was much better and we parked up. Had a day reading and doing nothing - the surrounding hills were too steep to walk in - and we cooked pasta for dinner just before the rain started again. We weren't sure where this road went, according to the map it went past a village, but we hadn't really seen many cars going up or down. But at about eight o'clock, when we were all tucked up in bed, a man stopped outside and knocked on the door. He said we were on private land and mentioned something about paying money - although we managed to steer the conversation away from this. We smiled and apologised alot and even offered to go but in the end he said it was okay if we stayed only one night. It rained hard all night.
Washing up in the stream. ^
Wild camp 6 ^
11th October
Set off first thing this morning as we didn't want the man to come and ask for money and also it was raining still. We stocked up in Aldi, as we expect that Slovenia is cheaper than Austria, and then headed to the border. I had our passports at the ready but there was no one there to even watch us drive across, which seemed strange to us now. We arrived in Austria in probably beautiful scenery, although we couldn't see it through the rain. We had a campsite in mind and we followed the satnav over a very high mountain through the terrential rain to find that it was bloody closed. Thankfully the satnav showed us another campsite a few kilometres along the road and we followed it there. This campsite was open, although there was no one in reception, so we parked up and waited out the rain. After six nights in the 'wild' we were very much looking forward to a hot shower and a day of interneting. After we'd had some lunch and the owner had shown his face at reception we were able to do both those things. The clouds have even cleared and the sun has started to shine. Now we are here, Pete is cooking a pork, apple and cep stew with polenta which smells amazing and we have two bottles of wine to drink!
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