A pleasure Mein Herr but the thanks of course belong to Elliott Bristow, he has his own website here - http://www.retroroadtrips.com/ they were on Channel 4 late at night if I remember correctly.
It's always very interesting for me to see where people have been in Croatia, as there aren't any routine tourist places that they push you into like most other places, it comes down to your lucky guess, hunch or what someone told you to where you end up roaming in the end., I think you've done very well. You used to be able to swim in Plitvice lakes, but now a rowboat is as close you can get to interacting with the water. Wild camping might be forbidden, but it's not enforced, so you'd be ok as long as you're not on someones property. I never pay for campsites. Great photos, and great bus that got you through the heat.
yes...late night ch4....loved every part of it...the voice overs....the music...the simple camera work, like directly out the front windscreen or side window.....everything. i can see why you chose the name. road dreams.
Cheers Sven, thanks so much for taking the time to look through the blog, I played it safe for sure but I loved every second, such a beautiful country, really stunning in places, how lucky you are. I can understand why they have banned swimming at Plitvice, it's such a popular place and so beautiful but having said that I do think the lake shore near the cafes and jetty could have coped and allowed a little interaction but hey nevermind, I got my swim later in the day up near Karlovac. I loved reading about your trips on here, so please please don't keep us waiting too long before the next adventure. Sreca Dobro ! Neil
There's a great little scene of a tintop making light of the snow and wagging its bum in programme 1 (16.06) on youtube, great for playing spot the bay, he seems to be in one for some of it too.
Hi Neil I did a trip in my 78 panel in summer 2012 - no probs and I'd only bought it 10 days before had a good service before we went; put a decent parts and tool kit together; breakdown cover ;p and packed n went. As I was on my own and it was a lot of trust to put in a new purchase, I popped the van on the autozug train at dusseldorf as its under the max height and we got off at Innsbruck with around ten BMW isetta bubble cars then down through Austria, past Venice and Trieste, to Istria in northern Croatia, down to a great small camp from the ok mini camp guide - puntica in razanac. Very good service and facilities. nice little fishing village with good food, few shops, beach and lovely people. Stayed some nights en route in service stations - no problems at all. Visited the mountain parks en route to the zadar area - bears, wolves, boar etc. very pretty but steep and demanding drive. Route back took through the hills below mount ucka and into Slovenia - bored of motorway! Lovely route and no hassle at border with queues as one horse town; loiblpass pass instead of kara******en tunnel after lake bled; then pottered back via the gmund Porsches museum to the train again out of Innsbruck - and then home. 16 day trip, 2167 miles. Around 25 mpg. Didn't take the van this year but next year is the plan .....
Hey Farrah2uk, so lovely to hear all about your similar trip the previous year, it has me both reminiscing and pining on a dank dark January morning here in London, I so hope you get to do it again this year, I will be very jealous ! We were certainly both very lucky with our vans, mine has not always been so reliable I can assure you ! I really like the idea of the autozug train but it will be a very very tight squeeze in height for mine i fear, a stock height westy with a pop top roof measures around 2.04 metres I think but I will look into this idea, so thank you very much for that thought, could always let some air out of the tyres I guess . Yes Camp Puntica was lovely, very friendly people, although I did drink a little too much of the free homemade wine on the sardine night which proved very unwise. I was also very taken with Slovenia but the whole trip was just fantastic to be honest, so let's hope we both get to do it all again sometime soon and if you do, please do a little photo road blog, I would love to read it. Happy New Year to you and your van and of course to all ! Neil
Oooh I'm looking forward to the pictures already Busmonkey and judging by your current "tart up" you'll be completely self sufficient and certainly better prepared than me, you might consider a net curtain for the sliding door though, very effective and very simple to do. Where are you planning to go ? Best Neil
Not sure of the route yet exactly Neil. Mrs Monkey & I have just spent lunch looking up your stop offs. I'll be asking @Sven for some tips as well before we leave in April. Some years ago we ended up in Greece & some islands by ferrying out of Venice but I'd like to do it by land. I fell in love with Crete so maybe... We're a bit wary of Albania (probably because of ignorance more than anything) however, so this will need further thinking Good call on the net! We've got this sort of arrangement: with nets everywhere! plus a can of fly spray & a full length curtain on the slider for privacy when changing but still being able to keep the door open! (that was camping in a swamp in New Orleans) We love your bus & miss our '74 ever day! If it's ok with you I'll PM you nearer our departure to pick yr. brains? Regards, Neil
gawd I am so jealous Busmonkey, that will be some trip for sure, Montenegro - Kotor Bay, Sveti Stefan are well worth taking in if you can, stunning places, never been there in the camper as my insurance was not valid but I was very impressed when I visited a few years back, I think you need a green card once you get beyond Croatia. It will be a fantastic trip in any vehicle but doing it in an old VW Camper really does make it truly special as you know. Please please do a little photo blog for us all and yes do feel free to ask me anything if indeed I can help in any way !