Krk 2014

On Wednesday at 12.30 p.m. we hit the motorway, bound for Croatia. The last 12 months had somehow flown by, and our annual holiday was already here.

The day before we left, the entire lighting in the motorhome suddenly failed completely. After searching for two hours, we found the fault in one of the junction boxes on the boat trailer. Well, we couldn't really see the fault, but after some contact spray everything worked again.

The motorway was very empty and we made super progress. Only a traffic jam before Passau set us back 30 minutes – but never mind, as long as the road wasn't completely closed. While refuelling, the lighting suddenly failed completely again. Changing the fuse and a quick wiggle of the junction box, and the lights came back on. As it was getting dark, we drove on towards Slovenia with a strange feeling, wondering whether the lights would fail again. On the way I quickly messaged Thomas, asking him to bring a metal 7-pin socket and plug to Croatia (he arrived 2 days after us).

As always, we stayed overnight near Spielfeld. As the jam and the breakdown had set us back 1.5 hours, we only reached our overnight stop at 2 a.m. – so we had to sleep a bit faster.

At 6 a.m. we were already on our way again. In Slovenia we first noticed the toll increase of about 30 percent. We're over 3.5 t, so we have to use the truck toll booths, and as we also have 5 axles, we get to pay the highest price: 21 euros for 60 kilometres – not bad. But you simply have to factor that money into your holiday.

In Croatia there was a pleasant surprise. In recent years I've usually had to argue at the toll booths, as motorhomes with trailers only fall into category 3 at most (the highest is 4). I had taken this information from the Croatian toll operator's website. Shortly before we left, I wanted to look it up again to avoid any discussion at the toll booths, but to our horror the note about motorhomes and category 3 had disappeared. OK, the prices had probably been adjusted, and now I'd have to pay category 4 in Croatia too – a price difference of 40 euros for one way. But at the first toll booth things turned out quite differently. As we had prepared ourselves to pay the highest category, we went straight to the automatic payment machine, put in the toll card, and the category 4 price was displayed. Then a toll booth employee came running over: "Wait, wait!" He changed the price to category 3 and wished us a good journey. We didn't understand anything any more and were a bit confused afterwards – do we have to pay cat. 3 or 4 now? At the next toll booth we also only had to pay for cat. 3.

A short time later we reached our trusted campsite: the 1-star Plitka Vala campsite in Betina on the Murter peninsula.

First surprise: for the end of July, the site was very empty. No crowding or tight parking anywhere on the site, and lots of free spaces.

The warm welcomes from our (by now) many acquaintances on the site are always great. Although lots of spaces were free, we have our preferred area by the path to the slipway. After asking around a little, we found out that our favourite spot would be free the next day. So we spent one night on another pitch and then moved.

With the neighbours' help, the boat was quickly in the water; we already had a berth.

On Friday we could move to our favourite spot, and 30 minutes later everything was in the right place.

Since this year, tourists can only register their boat in Murter and no longer in Tisno. Opening hours are daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Prices and registration have also been changed: you no longer have to fill in a passenger list, and the prices now depend on the length of the boat, which makes it cheaper for us. These changes adapt to EU law and remove possible discrimination against EU citizens compared with locals.

In Murter itself we also noticed that, although it was high season, there were hardly any tourists. Cafés, bars, restaurants and shops were all empty, and the shopkeepers were standing in the street waiting. On the campsite, too, people reported that there were noticeably fewer tourists this year and that the shop owners already didn't know how they would get through the winter.

We took our holiday slowly, first went shopping in Vodice (about 20 km away) and relaxed for the rest of the day in the shade in front of the motorhome. The most strenuous thing that day was the massage in the evening. On Saturday it was time for the first short boat trip. A quick stop in Murter to refuel – the water fuel station with its friendly service (help with mooring, fresh water for the boat and fuel hose) is still there. We quickly filled everything up and headed for our favourite bay, the sandy bay of Mali Luka. To our surprise, there were only 4 boats in the bay. We dropped anchor and jumped into the 26-degree water.

Our weather apps showed rain for Sunday, and so it was: thunder and lightning all night long, and the day itself didn't look any better. The day could only be bridged with a massage.

On Monday at midday things finally looked better. It was quite windy, but the sun was shining. So Thomas's, Joachim's and Wolfgang's boats were quickly launched, heading for the Kornati – or at least in that direction. As Thomas and Wolfgang still had to refuel, we wanted to meet at the Murter channel, but unfortunately things turned out differently. Less than a kilometre from the campsite, our engine showed too high a temperature: 80 degrees. The tell-tale water jet was fine, but it was still too hot.

After checking several times, the fault remained unknown, so it was back to the harbour. We signalled SOS to the next passing boat, which immediately turned towards us. 30 minutes later our boat was safely moored at the jetty again – and that's how we got to know Robert and Karin, whom we invited to a barbecue as a little thank-you.

The barbecue evening was very nice.

Lower unit off and impeller checked.

Result: all fine. But the water pump housing showed signs of wear and grooves, so it was best to replace it.

Seals, housing and impeller were then bought from the various Mercury service dealers in the area, and everything was reassembled. The test run afterwards went without any problems, and the overheating was gone.

On Tuesday the weather wasn't so nice: overcast skies and a jugo (strong wind from the sea) at the same time.

So the boat stayed in the safe harbour, and we rewarded ourselves with an ice-cream sundae in Tisno. Unfortunately the next few days weren't the usual Croatian summer weather either: low clouds hung over the sea. As we had never been to the Krka waterfalls, we simply planned that for this day. At 9.30 a.m. we set off on our scooter for the national park, 50 kilometres away. We had to leave the vehicle at the entrance, and after paying (120 kuna per person) we continued by bus. Less than 5 minutes later we saw the beautiful national park, with little streams everywhere.

We even spotted a water snake. The waterfalls are very impressive and wonderful to look at. Our next destination was Šibenik. It's annoying when you always holiday in the same area and your wife knows the best shoe shops and absolutely wants to go there.

Šibenik was packed with cars. Luckily we had our scooter with us and could squeeze through everywhere. We reached the shoe shop, and less than 15 minutes later the owner had 2 pairs of shoes fewer in her range.

After a few days of bad weather, Croatia finally showed its nicer side. It was windy, but dry and sunny.

So it was off to the boats. The waves shook us about quite a bit, so we abandoned the Pašman tour and spent the afternoon in our favourite bay.
Sunny and warm, but high waves. Never mind – we were in Croatia for boating, not for riding scooters. There were lots of waves between the islands near the mainland, but as soon as we reached the open sea towards the Kornati, the water was as smooth as glass – the best conditions for boating. We took the boats around Žut and then went to the sandy bay for a swim.

A while later Tammo, Sandra and Jasmin joined us, and we spent a relaxed afternoon. The following days were very mixed: wind, rain and sun again – untypical for Croatia in July/August. Still, we spent the days boating and didn't let the weather put us off. In between we visited Vodice and spent the day (in "glorious" rain) in town. A few days later we went to Zadar, as a bora was sweeping across the country. Zadar is always great and relaxing; the little lanes are simply beautifully laid out. Every year a donkey race takes place in the various villages, in which tourists can also take part. We went to the one in Tisno, but only as spectators. Beforehand we had a little bite to eat at the Gurman restaurant in Tisno.

Unfortunately, although the food at this restaurant was very good, the service and our waiter can't be recommended at all. We had to wait 45 minutes for our bill and ask several times. Then the waiter came and simply put the whole bill (13 people / 4 groups) on the table, although we had asked for separate bills. Another 30 minutes passed before the waiter came back and sorted out the bill for us. So unfortunately not recommendable.

Then we hurried off to the donkey race. A little highlight was the visit to the weekly market in Benkovac. It takes place every Sunday morning and has everything you can imagine, from animals, clothes and food to furniture.