Action Men,Croatia

Today was to be a relatively easy drive along the coast from Dubrovnik to Split in Croatia but things never quite go to plan. We headed off at 7:30 am and   six kilometres into the drive Red Car, our car, ceased on a downward incline. Ken knew it was the fuel pump and luckily for us we were able to pull off the road at a wayside stop overlooking the Adriatic. Guess if you are going to have to do running repairs it is great to have a view to die for, especially if you are the passenger.

Kerith and Peter in Yellow Car, which is going like a steam train I might add, were behind us and they pulled over. We radioed Dave and told him the problem. He did a rapid U turn and came back to check out our prospects. Peter insisted on staying to help and Ken suggested that the other four cars continue the drive as it is much easier to complete the necessary repairs when you don’t feel the need to rush as others are being held up. We would meet them in Split later.

Peter and Ken worked like the “bobsy twins” and once again everything was out of the boot, tyre off and Ken laying on his back under the car with Peter working from inside the car to fix the wiring. The power of two! It was fortunate Pete had given us a spare fuel pump two weeks ago when we had some earlier problems. Anyway forty minutes later we were good to go with a new fuel pump in place.

Yellow Car and Red Car were off. We followed the beautiful coast road stopping for coffee and lunch at Poice and Gradac. At Gradac both car drivers received 40 Euro parking fines. Who knows how we pay them?

Superb spots and no tourists; except for us. Lots of children and families; frolicking in the water, sailing, boating and just generally enjoying the summer break. The beaches consist of the tiniest and whitest pebbles and the two and three story houses are built right on the shoreline. Pink and cerise oleander and purple and red bougainvilleas make a beautiful contrast against the white buildings set so close to the sea with tiny sea craft  anchored in the shallows.

We passed what we thought was an inoperative road toll. We drove though without stopping and waved to the friendly official. Peter and Kerith following behind did likewise. We continued about twenty  kms and repeated the process. Us, slowing down, smiling and waving but failing to stop.

Some five minutes later Kerith on the CB announced ” I have just consulted the map and I think we have just driven through Bosnia- Herzegovina” Interesting as we didn’t even know we were going to traverse through this little country. It hadn’t been listed as one the countries we would pass through and it wasn’t on the side of the car.

There was great merriment about the fact that we had lost Macedonia, two days ago and found Bosnia- Herzegovina today. Did Dave know, we wondered.

Later Dave rang to see how we were going and he too was full of the Bosnia- Herzegovina story. It hadn’t been listed but guess what, he had a flag for that little country.

We now know that Bosnia- Herzegovina is landlocked except for 26 kms which borders the Adriatic Sea and divides Croatia into two parts and presumably gives the country sea access. The things you learn when you do a drive through!

We rejoined the group thanks to Ian M’s excellent spotting skills. He was sitting at a beach side cafe looking up at the road which winds down the mountainside to the town and he sighted two little MGBGTs. A phone call from Dave and we rejoined the group and made our way into Split. Hard to get accommodation here as the Split Festival starts tomorrow, anyway after a lot of wheeling dealing, and that’s another story, we had a place to sleep.

Croatia

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