Post It from Camping Amarin, Rovinj, Istria, Croatia. Monday 8th June, 2015.

The 23 mile journey here on 26^th May was uneventful and we managed to shop at the Lidl supermarket before we arrived early at the camp site. We have found that the supermarkets in Croatia are a bit lacking on variety compared to the other countries we have passed through but the only thing we are really missing is fully skimmed milk, which we have not found anywhere this holiday, and Sharon is also missing Coca Cola Lite which also cannot be found.

This campsite is very large and a holiday complex really with a aparthotel type complex as well as a very large touring site with many trees. There are three restaurants, including a buffet one, Al La Carte and Terrace, beautiful swimming pools right by a really good beach and all the trimmings you would expect with such a place including a commercially owned supermarket.

It took us an hour trekking on foot looking for a pitch as we tried to find a level one with a good amount of sun, I would describe the camping area as being rustic and on a slope all the way down to the sea. We managed to a reasonable pitch but as the weather had still not improved greatly we did not have as much sun as we would have liked on it. At first I was not so sure about staying here for any length of time as the shower blocks seemed a little lacking but after settling in and using them for a couple of days they were just fine. The numbers of actual showers in each block was only 2/3 indoor with some outdoor ones but when you consider there are 13 blocks there was never one far away. The cleaners kept them well cleaned throughout the whole day, I never had to wait for a shower and only once had to go elsewhere for a hot water sink to shave at and the water was certainly hot.

Despite the actual size of the site it was very quiet and most of the time during the day you could only hear the sounds of the many birds that were in the area. The site was fairly busy as it was still the German and Dutch school holidays but on 1^st June as if by magic many more Italian families started to arrive for the weekend so it made it quite nice. I must say that I was really impressed with the Dutch and German children who behaved impeccably with no disruption at all to our enjoyment and it was quite nice to be amongst much younger families, we had two German families next to us from Bavaria with six girls ranging from around 14 years to 18 months and you would not have known they were there! Very different from our past experiences of camping near British and Spanish families with children.

We were located just outside Rovinj and across the bay from the beautiful view of St. Euphemia’s Church, a Venetian Baroque building which had been restored in the early 1700’s, which dominated the skyline of the old town. The Old town had once been an island and its steep narrow cobbled streets, leading up to the church, were full of tall narrow houses to house the residents and businesses. The small gap between the island and the mainland was eventually filled with earth in 1763 as the town expanded. A Ceramic artist from the town told me the name translated to Ruins in English and it was so named because 800 years ago the town was almost deserted and in ruins before being completely restored and occupied again. There is a street called Grisia which leads up to the church which has many artist galleries of all types and some of the work is very unique. I bought a ceramic bowl for the fireplace, which is unusual for me to do so, and I carefully negotiated the steep slippery cobbled stones worn by the many feet that had passed that way over the centuries.

There were also many good eating places around the old town and the seafood was excellent quality, much better than that in the camp site restaurant. One day we had a pizza baked in a traditional oven fired by wood just off Grisa Street and the outside table and chairs had to be purposely fitted to keep them level. The pizza and salad were really good and the price, as in all of Croatia that we have found so far, was cheap but my favourite meal out was a seafood platter in a restaurant down by the water overlooking the harbour and its many boats. Sharon even had Sea Bass, and enjoyed it, once she had been assured it was filleted with no bones. she only found one so that was good for her, she misses out on fish dishes because of her fear of getting a bone lodged in her throat.

Accessing Rovinj from the campsite was easy as we had a water taxi directly from the jetty on our own private camp site harbour. It took you across the bay collecting campers from an adjacent site on the way and dropped you off by the market place on the very edge of the old town. From here it was easy to get anywhere you may want to. I also managed to get good photographs of the town with its imposing church bell tower from the best viewpoint, the sea. This is the view you would likely see on any book cover etc. about Rovinj. That was until the weekend arrived and with it the Red Bull international flying racing teams, and the boat then took you to the main harbour.

The Red Bull racing, for those who like me may never have heard of it before is like formula One but with small planes. They had a circuit in the bay just off the town and floating tall buoys made up the flying gates. Each plane had to complete the circuit in the best time through the buoys but there were many rules so points could be added or even disqualification for breaching them. We could see a large portion of the course from the camp site’s beach and as the planes gathered speed before diving to complete the course we had a really good view of them. Along with the competitors we also saw planes doing acrobatics, including a sea plane and an helicopter doing almost vertical dives towards the course. I didn’t realise a helicopter could dive at such a steep descent. It also appears at Royal Ascot race course in August this year as part of the circuit.

Sharon and I actually climbed the church Bell Tower to get spectacular views over the town. There were 160 small wooded steps up to the top that had been there for almost 200 years and as you can imagine they were very narrow and well worn. Getting up was tricky but we managed it and the views were worth the effort. She even managed t get her hair cut and it was the best she has ever had abroad apart from when we lived in Spain and had an English hairdresser. Less than £10 for a wash & cut that took ages!

We had met Shirley and Phil, a couple from near London, at the previous camp site and they joined us here as well. It made for a very pleasant opportunity to meet on an evening or in Rovinj for a meal and a good chat. We cooked them Paella one night, our favourite camping entertaining meal, and really enjoyed their company. We shall no doubt meet them again at some point I am sure. They stayed a week before heading off to Garda and because the weather was forecast to improve significantly we decided we would stay here until it was time to head back towards the UK.

We decided to move to their pitch when they left as it would give us, and Smokee, a little more sun. It did and the improved weather a day later soon saw the temperatures rising to the low to middle 30’s C. Then we wished we had a little more shade but the good thing was we had lots of shade on an evening to eat out. Breakfast outside was almost impossible due to the high temperatures with the lower sun getting under our canopy. Still you cannot have everything and I think sometimes we spend too much effort getting the sun when we should spend more time ensuring we have shade, you can always move into the sun we say but never seem to do it that way.

This past weekend saw many of the families leave as the schools were to start again on 8^th June. The complex was still very busy as there was a Croatia wide medical ‘Doctors and Nurses’ conference here for the week and there were lots of organised sporting competitions arranged. It was busy down on the beach but we still were able to sit listening to the bird songs up on our pitch. We did note they were getting the outdoor stage ready by the pool so perhaps the evening noise may start with live entertainment?  By today the campsite was much quieter and as the families departed the Dutch pensioners started to arrive.

Providing we are still enjoying ourselves we shall stay here until Saturday 13^th June and then head for home with some sightseeing on the way? We have still not confirmed exactly which way we shall travel, it will depend on the weather and I believe that Austria and Germany has had quite a lot of rain in recent weeks.

I thought I had better post this story before we actually leave as some may be wondering where we had got to. We were really pleased we came here and Croatia as a whole has now captured our interest so we shall likely come back next year to see more of what it has to offer and venture further south.  Apparently last year they had terrible weather all year, the worst for 50 years the locals told us. Very wet and I recall a friend from the forum who came last September had a poor time weather wise, perhaps we have brought the good weather back again. Let’s hope next time it is as dry as this time for us.

Regards, Roy