Camp Sirena, Makarska, Dubrovnik, Prapratno, Makarska and back to Split

We stayed at Camp Sirena for 4 nights. The hosts (Milan and his wife) were very friendly, which made us feel very comfortable here. We dipped our legs in the water and enjoyed the view of the vast Adriatic Sea. Sometimes sunny, sometimes windy. We even had time to clean our "Theo" a bit. The days went by quickly. Chris played the ukulele and I sunbathed in a sheltered spot in the sun :) It was fantastic!

Tuesday, April 13, 2020. The next destination was supposed to be Makarska, the slightly larger city on the way to Dubrovnik. However, we did not expect such a great and beautiful beach. Even the small park was nice for walks. In the small harbor, we had a burger and enjoyed the view. After that, we started our journey back to the bus. It was really a great little town with a beautiful beach for swimming. We then drove to Ploce. Here, we wanted to spend the night in order to take the ferry the next morning. Since Ploce wasn't really attractive, there was fortunately still a ferry at 7:30 p.m. on the same day. So, we lined up and waited to board the ship. However, the two of us should have bought the tickets before boarding the ferry. It was 7:18 p.m. Chris sprinted to the office, which was 500m away, quickly got the tickets, and we were able to board the ferry :D It was another experience that we will not forget! The ferry ride was a bit bumpy. There were quite some waves. Well, after 60 minutes, we arrived in Trpanj and we slept right at the harbor.

The next morning, we continued towards our destination, Dubrovnik. For breakfast, we stopped at a parking lot overlooking Uvala Kuta, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Since there were no camping options in Dubrovnik and we were already a bit tired from the trip, we rented an apartment for 4 nights. Some peace and space for the next few days did us good.

On Thursday, we visited "the old town" in Dubrovnik. We took the bicycle and although we had to push it 50% of the way as it was uphill, we still saved some time. Our apartment was about 3.5 km away from the city. The old town is surrounded by a giant wall, which can be climbed for 220 Kuna (about 28€). We did not do that at this price of course. Since we were there before noon, it was still quite empty and we could take our time to look around. I also saw that even in 1991 there were still attacks on Dubrovnik by the Yugoslavs. A map showed the places where the attacks hit. That's why there are still construction works going on to repair these damages. It's sad to read that there were such attacks even during that time.

In the afternoon, we took a walk in Lapad, in our area. We discovered a beautiful developed route. It goes around the small peninsula around Lapad. We walked this route 3-4 times over the next few days.

April 18, 2020. We left our accommodation and went on a day trip to Pevlaka, the southernmost point of Croatia. Here, on the peninsula, there is the old military area. From here, you have a good view of Montenegro. We looked around a bit and then drove back to find a place to sleep. We found one on a mountain in Dubrovnik. After a sunset, we slept quite comfortably.

On Monday morning, we started towards Ston. We wanted to spend the night here. In Prapratno, south of Ston, we found a small parking lot right by the water. An Austrian camper was already there. Not half an hour later, the woman came to Chris' car and asked for help. Hannes, her boyfriend, got his van stuck in the sand. Well... We needed almost an hour to get the van out of the sand using stones, wood, and later an Audi A4. After a thank-you beer, we chatted for a while. The two of them were from near Innsbruck and had been on the road for 2 months with their baby and dog. They also invited us to Tirol. Thanks!

Short info: On the way there, we took a ferry to avoid the border of Bosnia, because we had read that the border was not the easiest to cross. But Katrin and Hannes said that they had no problems. So, on the way back, we also tried this. Except that we stood in the wrong line for vans and trucks, there were no problems. Oh, and when we entered Croatia, the lady wanted to see the inside of our bus and was quite surprised: "oh, it's a camper". Well, we said we don't have any alcohol or cigarettes with us and were allowed to continue. The Croatians are currently building a bridge so that the border doesn't have to be crossed anymore. The bridge (Peljesak Bridge) is supposed to be completed at the end of 2021/beginning of 2022. (See picture, very impressive... It has a length of 2.4 km, has 4 lanes, and is 21 m wide.) This is also supposed to boost the economic development of the island. As far as I understand, it is a EU project. The Peljesak Peninsula is an important economic sector for vineyards. You can buy wine here every 200m.

The next morning, we drove back to Makarska, where we also wanted to sleep. Since Chris needed some rest, the day was quite calm. The night was pleasantly quiet. The next day, we took a walk and drove through Omis (a very cute town with many great boats) to Split. Here, we rented another apartment for the next few days until we know where the journey will take us. The rooms are currently cheaper than the campsites, so why not :)

We have the apartment until Monday, April 26, 2020. Then we'll see where the journey goes. Take care!!! Sandiiii and Chris