Murter 2013

As every year, our summer destination was Croatia for boating. So this year too we headed south, bound for "Otok Murter".

We left Hanover on Wednesday at 12.30 p.m. in the rain, stopped briefly overnight in Spielfeld (Austria) and arrived in Murter (Croatia) on Thursday at 12 noon in glorious sunshine and 33 degrees.

The journey was free of traffic jams and (actually) really great – except for the toll booths in Croatia. Our motorhome has 3 axles (1 tandem axle) and our boat trailer 2 (1 tandem axle). As soon as I stop at a toll booth, they always want to put my vehicle in the highest category (cat. 4 = truck), which costs about 50 euros more for the route. But motorhomes with trailers only get category 3 at most, and unfortunately many toll booth staff don't know this. So there are always lots of discussions at the toll booths. I always simply stay put at the booth with my vehicle, and this year was no different. The cashier didn't speak English or German, got louder and more nervous, and after 15 minutes she went to her supervisor, came back and just said: "Sorry, sorry" – and we had category 3.

It's very helpful to show the Croatian website of the toll operator, so that the person can read the information in Croatian.

Link 1 in English and link 2 in Croatian:

We were lucky and parked our motorhome right by the water. It was very hot, but always very windy too. So the sea was relatively cold at 21 degrees, and there was hardly any calm water for boating. But never mind – boat in the water and off we go.

The food at "Gina" is very good and also reasonably priced. It's always fun to spend a great evening there.

The "Gina" restaurant is one of our recommendations. You can have a very good morning coffee at Konoba Denis in Jezera. The café is right on the harbour, and it's simply wonderful when the village slowly wakes up. On Sunday we rode the scooters to Zadar with friends. First stop: the DIY store. Yes, it's open on Sundays too, and I couldn't walk past the special offer on workbenches without buying 3 of them straight away!

We continued (without the workbenches) to Zadar harbour. The little lanes invite you to stroll.

In 2005 a sea organ was built at the harbour. The sea organ, created by the architect Nikola Bašić, produces music through the movement of the waves. You'll hardly believe it, but now I know where Father Christmas spends the summer. Our way led through the lanes to Zadar's inner harbour. Thanks to the light breeze, we could cope well with the 36 degrees. In Zadar's historic centre, next to St Anastasia's Cathedral, you can discover the two-storey round Church of St Donatus. After a "strenuous day" in town, some rest and relaxation was called for. So off to the boat, to the next bay, and drop anchor.

As swimming is sooooo exhausting, we naturally needed some food. So we weighed anchor and headed for the island of Vrgada. The somewhat hidden Adriana has its own boat jetty. We quickly moored the boats and told the seagull to keep watch and not to s... on our boats. The next day "women's sightseeing" was on the agenda – which means buying shoes in Šibenik.

Šibenik itself has a great old town, with little shops and restaurants everywhere. It is – or was – a little cult for us to make a detour straight after Šibenik to Raslina and the "Stara Raslina" restaurant. A few years ago I reported on it and had only good things to say. That has changed completely. Last year we already noticed a few things. The food at "Stara Raslina" is good, but not cheap either. As my wife wasn't very hungry, she only ordered "black noodles" as a starter, costing 60 kuna. On the bill, without saying anything beforehand or anything about it on the menu, the starter suddenly became a main course – and of course the price promptly doubled. So the noodles suddenly cost 18 euros. We didn't say anything, as the other guests we were with know the landlord very well.

This year we went to the restaurant again. Our acquaintances had a boot full of presents for the hosts – why, I don't know. The food was great as always, but the fact that the landlord kept teasing our acquaintances' child during the meal wasn't very pleasant and rather disturbing. In Croatia you are always offered a schnapps on the house after the meal to aid digestion – at Stara Raslina, apparently only to guests who bring presents. So for us that was the end of that restaurant. The food is really good, but everything else doesn't fit, so we no longer recommend it.

A beautiful sunset at the harbour helps you digest everything. The next morning, calm weather – so finally some proper boating.

Our destination was the salt lake on the island of Dugi Otok. In a calm sea, the destination 50 kilometres away is quickly reached.

A short trip through a narrow strait, and we were there. There is a charge for the national park: 200 kuna per boat. So we moored the boats and off we went. From the jetty, just this little path leads up, and you're at the salt lake. The salt lake lay calmly before us. It is said that "The Treasure of the Silver Lake" was filmed here, which is why the lake became so famous. A path runs around the lake that is easy to walk.

As we walked around the lake, we were never alone. At the southern tip of the lake, the high cliffs rise up.
After a swim and an ice cream we moved on. A little tradition is the "street party" on the campsite: a little sangria, something to barbecue and simply nice people, and the party is perfect. The nightlife in Vodice is simply great – without writing much, we'll let the pictures speak for themselves. This year was no exception and time flew by far too quickly – but we'll be back.