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  1. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    Bella Coma BC Canada
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    93

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    Thanks for sharing your adventures with us.
    best wishes
    hank

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    South Wales UK
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    Quote Originally Posted by Da Tow'd View Post
    Thanks for sharing your adventures with us.
    best wishes
    hank
    Hank
    You are more than welcome, just keep those rubber boots handy as this 'Overhead Watering Can' has been getting heavy in the outpouring liquid lately and it's just started again!!!

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    South Wales UK
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    Stage 9A “A day in Senj”

    After four years it was disappointing to find that the Internet ‘HotSpotSenj’ still didn’t connect you to the Internet even though you have got a really good connection signal all around town as well as the campsite.

    When I went to find out why it turns out the person who installed it left shortly after! Maybe they were ‘pushed’ so didn’t bother with the actual Internet connection which was left as a ‘parting gift’ for the Council?....

    So all the updates and any internet connection has been obtained while sat outside the campsite reception as sadly their signal is that weak you can only connect while sat outside the office. An External Antenna was not on the previous and still not on the current shopping list for this campsite…..

    Meanwhile……

    Remember that picture from yesterday with the very Dark Sky?
    Well the ‘Overhead Watering Can’ was turned on again last night along with a very high & blustery wind that is called the ‘Bora’ with the result that we had a very ‘rough’ night as the ‘Tin Tent’ was rocked about, and this lasted till around 06:00 hrs this morning, then a couple of hours later the Sea and Sky looked like this…..





    Then on our way into town we stopped to take a closer look at one of the Poppies as it was a much more vivid red colour than the other surrounding it….





    Then we get to the Supermarket and see this sign for the Parking area and cannot figure out why the symbol for a Tent was included as the parking area is covered in both Concrete & Asphalt which gave us a mental picture of some poor person trying to knock their Tent Pegs into either Concrete or Asphalt and having a near impossible job to do as well as a lot of blunt pegs!.....



    Later on in the day the Sky really started to clear up and the Sea became quite calm after last night…..





    While this evening we got to see a decent Sunset…..











    On the road again tomorrow on the next stage to Nin & Autocamp Peros….

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    South Wales UK
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    1,901

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    Stage 10 “Senj to Zaton/Nin”

    After another wet start to today when the ‘Overhead Watering Can’ was switched on at around 05:30hrs this morning along with the Thunder & Lightning that was directly overhead!
    It was a case of getting packed up and ready to go in between the rain showers, and we just about made it….

    As we then set off through Senj and the rain puddles….



    Passing this church as we climb the hill out of the town…..



    Then start to make our way along the Coast Road with the storm clouds overhead….









    Passing the old ‘Sentry Post’ on top of the hill, a left over from the war that went on here….









    While not much further along was another ‘Sentry Post’ but this had a Mobile Comms Mast and Antenna alongside….



    Yes those are ‘Rain Spots’ in the picture as we go through patches of the stuff….



    This would have been a nice view of the outlying islands on a nice day….





    As the Ferry makes the short crossing from Pag to the mainland and the GPS keeps telling me to ‘Turn right’ as it thinks it is on the route, but we are staying on the ‘Coast Road’…..



    Next village further on…..



    Followed by….



    Which was right on the sea front, well at least the road was…..







    Then out of the town and back on the ‘twisty windy’ Coast Road once more, which I think is much more interesting than the inland ‘Toll Road’….















    Next village of…..





    Not sure if the road had been ‘scraped’ here to be re-surfaced, but the tyres on Flamenco Red were making some strange sounds as we travelled along on it!...









    Connecting bridge from the island of Pag we think to the next island of Rab….



    While this next picture is of the elevated ‘Toll Road’ which for a minute as we came around the corner I thought we were being directed onto by the GPS, but that was soon corrected!....



    Not sure if all the ‘buoys’ in the water were attached to ‘Lobster Pots’…..







    As we then get closer to the elevated ‘Toll Road’….



    We make a ‘Left Turn’ as shown by the ‘Bent’ arrow on the sign post…..



    Then go under the ‘Toll Road’ and stay on the Non Toll Road towards Nin….





    As we then come to the bridge which is closed when the ‘Bora’ wind comes along and makes crossing it quite dangerous….







    As we then spot this little church on a spit of land that goes into the sea….



    Remembered this place from last time, so we must be on the right road…..



    But this large field with all the small trees in is new…..



    We finally arrived at the campsite after a journey of nearly double the distance of what the GPS originally told us, and after getting set up, we went back to see Ana with our little ‘surprise’ which was a 3KG bag of Sugar Free Sweets. Made by a company in South Wales not far from where we live.

    Ana has an allergy to sugar and used to enjoy the sugar free sweets that she could get before all the fighting started here in Croatia , Bosnia and the other places, but since then she has been unable to get any more until today so the look on her face we think says it all, Christmas and everything else came early today….



    Our pitch for the next 3 weeks…..



    While this is the new section of the campsite with the Holiday Homes and swimming pool that is just being finished off….





    With a look back to the older part of the campsite….



    While putting this together the ‘Overhead Watering Can’ has been turned on again and we can hear the Bullfrogs enjoying the rain, while the weather outlook for the next few days is not looking good!....

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    South Wales UK
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    Stage 10A “Our first couple of days in Zaton/Nin”

    Wednesday:

    After we arrived and got everything set up and the rain started on Tuesday evening the Bora Wind then came at 02:45hrs on the Wednesday morning so it was a case of get out of bed and go and take the sun canopy and windbreak down before we found ourselves flying to the next place on this trip!

    Thursday:

    While it has been very overcast with a few tipples from the ‘Overhead Watering Can’ being tilted a few times we managed to get out on the bikes for a couple of hours and saw some nice improvements around the area…..

    First stop was the small city of Nin which is a nice laid back place that you can really appreciate as you cross the pedestrian bridge….



    With this ariel picture that I copied in the Tourist Office (Forget the Arrow and Circle)…..



    As we got over the bridge we saw that the old wall that surrounded the city was in the process of being re-built….



    While up in the centre is the statue of ‘Grgur Ninski’ who was a Bishop from Nin and the chancellor of the Croatian Court, while in the 10th Century he was the main fighter for the old Slavic language, the peoples language and glagolitsa in liturgy….



    While the small white building directly across from ‘Grgur Ninski’ is….



    Inside the church is extremely small….



    As we went passed the statue of ‘Grgur Ninski’ as so many people have done we gave his ‘Big Toe’ a good rub in the hope of better weather but so far there has been no response as it still feels like 12C! (Cold. Due to the Bora Wind)….



    While behind the statue is what we understand is part of the Cathedral which is the beige building and the church bell tower….



    Off down one of the roads….



    We find ourselves at…..







    Then looking back as we make our way back to the footbridge…..



    While on the footbridge I manage a panoramic at sea level…..



    As the Tourist Office is just before the footbridge we call in and find one of the local items that is still produced very close by……
    ‘Sea Salt’…..



    Next stop was over to Zaton Holiday Village which is very large and has a campground and apartments that you can hire…..

    Restaurant complex…..



    Shops…..



    Then as we ride through the campground we see this rather pockmarked ‘Tin Tent’ that looks like it went through a very bad experience in a Hailstone storm but only on the front all the way up to the roof…..





    Continuing through the very large campground…..







    As we come to one of the sanitary blocks with the showers, hand-basins & dishwashing etc facilities in…..



    Coming out of the Holiday Village we then continue around a small section of the coastline in Zaton and see some very nice improvements like the new concrete low wall between the gravel beach and the sea…..



    While up around the corner is the old clothes washing facility which has been spruced up…..







    While on our last visit 3 years ago this next section was completely open, but has now been built up with footpaths, flower beds, lights and a children’s play area …..







    Then we saw that the house that now says ‘Apartments’ on the front has been completed while the one to the left shows no progress but we understand that the owners live at present in the USA and have not been back to make any further progress….



    While this next house is my good lady’s favourite along the road as it looks really nice with a really nice view to be able to see some fantastic sunsets…..



    Now Friday morning and I am sitting here listening again to the rain hitting the roof of the ‘Tin Tent’ while at the moment the ‘Bora’ wind has subsided, so not sure if the sightseeing trip we hoped to do today will take place.

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    South Wales UK
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    Stage 10B “Continuing our time in Zaton/Nin”

    Friday:

    Rain totally stopped play!....

    Saturday:

    Finally for us the rain stopped last night, so today we decided to take a trip up to a town called Gračac to see if we could find what looked like a nice high waterfall…

    Seems someone else was out early this morning looking for breakfast….



    While the mountain range looked like it had a layer of cotton wool spread along it….



    Then a short while later we were on our way passing the outskirts of Nin….







    Coming to this ‘Gate’ that we got through nicely.….



    Next up was the town of Vrsi….





    With this rather nice house at the ‘T’ junction.….



    While shortly after we start the ‘Mountain Climbing’…..



    In the next picture you can see a grey line which is a water pipe, running from left to right……



    While this is the same pipe it is actually part of a Hydro Electricity facility….



    Then we reach Gračac…..





    But we find out as we have a coffee that there is no waterfall here, but there are some caves which you can visit 4km up the road, so off we go…..





    After following the ‘sign’ from the main road we find the entrance and go into the office but are advised against taking the tour as ‘You need at least to be wearing 2 pairs of long trousers, strong walking shoes, as well as a waterproof and lined coat as inside the caves is very cold’ which was good and honest advice……



    So we decided to come back suitably equipped and started to make our way out and back to the campsite until we saw the sign post at the end of the road to Knin, so we turned right instead of left.…..





    Then came to the city sign…..



    Shops…..









    Eventually coming into one of the main roads in the town…..



    Found the Railway Station Car Park and looking over the other side of the road we could see this very large structure on top of the hill which turned out to be Knin Castle……



    While here is the railway and one of the old steam engines that was built in Hungary….











    While around the front on the main road is on the left of the next picture part of the Railway Station then just right of centre is a large monument to all the fighting that took place in the last conflict in the region…..



    The square in front of the station with a small water fountain….



    The monument…



    While set into the floor between the water fountain and the monument are these glass panels that describe certain things and events that happened….

    This one describes the 143 Mass Graves that were discovered with 2110 bodies that were exhumed as well as 1200 individual graves that were also found….



    While this next picture of the glass panel tells about different ‘operations’ that were carried out by the armed forces at different places….



    Next was a visit to the very large Knin Castle…..
    So after coming out of the Railway Station car park and following the signs we found our way to the next place had a picnic lunch, and then drove up via this road to the castle….



    While I then went off to see if we could go in and how much it was going to cost…..



    Found it was ‘Open’ so paid the entrance fee and got to the ‘Castle Plan’ and the place is HUMONGOUS!....



    Then as we get into the grounds we see this wedding party having their album pictures taken….



    Next stop was the water well…..



    Then looking over the wall we see the entrance….



    While looking through any of the ‘Windows in the walls’ we saw that all of them are pointing down and can be used to fire arrows or pour boiling liquid through the bigger ones onto the enemy below…..



    Next was a small Barracks building which we think might have been for officers which has been turned into a Gallery with a modern art and sculpture exhibition….





    While outside and in various places around the castle are Poppies while this one was strange with the cross in the middle…..



    Then as we climb higher inside the castle…..



    Then look over the outer wall, we spot the waterfall that we thought was in or near Gračac, so I zoomed in and got this picture…..



    While it was this far away! (It’s inside the RED circle)....









    As we walk around and look over the walls to the lower sections we spot the Bride and Groom posing for some more pictures….







    Then we get to this building which was formally another Barracks but only the shutters on the windows were open to be able to see the exhibits on the ground floor, all the other doors were closed and locked which was a bit disappointing….



    So looking through the windows with the camera against the glass produced these pictures…..









    Then a panoramic from ‘Over the wall’ of the town and the wide ‘brown’ line going through are the railway tracks…..



    Making my way then over to what was identified as the ‘Museum’ a wagging finger on the other side of the door from a human being tells me ‘No Entry’ so I turned around and made my way back to the centre….



    Where we once again see the Bride & Groom….



    Then this rather strange sculpture…..



    Castle visit over, we decide to get back on the road after also spotting a Lidl Supermarket on the other side of town from the castle walls, I found it on the GPS so off we went as it was in the direction of the waterfall…..

    Pass Lidl and continue along the road when we see the sign for the waterfall so off we go down this rather narrow lane….



    Then we get there……









    If I had brought a bottle of ‘Shower Gel’ it would have been very easy to indulge in a ‘Cold Wash Down’ using just the spray that was coming across the bridge……



    As I was coming away I spotted a little creature on the ground while my good lady spotted me!.....



    While this is what I spotted and I thought the back of the insect was fascinating with all the lines while underneath were a pair of wings as it then opened up it’s back and took off….



    Then it was back up the narrow lane…..





    A quick wave to this guy in the town centre and we were on our way back to Zaton but by a different route…..



    As we came to a place that we intended to visit from the next campsite we have planned, while not realising this would be on our return route to where we are currently staying, if you follow me?.....



    As we pull into the car park and start the short walk to the Roman Amphitheatre, I am accosted by this little blue butterfly that appears to want to land on my feet, but finally lands on the ground and stays still long enough….









    Then as we make our way back we see this excavation of part of a wall in the Roman Settlement….



    While out at the front is this water well….



    Which still has water in the bottom….



    Further along just as we hit a ‘bump’ in the road my good lady presses the button on the camera so we end up with ‘The Leaning Water Tower of Croatia’!...





    Home time for the sheep…..



    Then as we finally get back to the campsite, the cotton wool clouds have lifted from the mountain range and we can now see the patches of SNOW!....



    It’s been a long day but an enjoyable one…..

  7. #27
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    Nov 2009
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    South Wales UK
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    Stage 10C “Continuing our time in Zaton/Nin”

    Sunday:

    Sunshine came back with some wind but thankfully not the ‘Bora’ so it was time for a bit of washing then after that we took the bikes and went for ‘Sunday Lunch’…..



    With a pair of clean plates, an empty glass and a bill for 170HRK (£17.80) ($30) we took it easy on the trip back to the campsite and being ‘Full of dinner’ had a really nice lazy ‘zzzzzzz’ afternoon!

    Boy it was nice to relax…..

  8. #28
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    Nov 2009
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    South Wales UK
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    Stage 10C “Continuing our time in Zaton/Nin”

    Monday:

    Woke up to a glorious morning with a clear blue sky and a sun that was warming the ‘Tin Tent’ up as we opened the blinds so after breakfast we decided to get the next Bus into Zadar….



    As we arrive and get off then make our way over to the Old Town we see some of the fishing boats still in port after the bad weather so waiting for the sea to settle down again before they once again set off…..



    Then it was into the streets and narrow alleyways of the Old Town….



    As we came to the outdoor market which was mainly Fruit, Vegetables & Flowers….





    Turn right and we see the Church Tower which today was open, allowing you to go up the 180 steps after paying the 20Kuna fee for a nice view over the city….





    Off we go up the first set of rather well-worn steps….



    Reaching the first level we find a drawing and description of the Bell Tower….





    Then on up to the second and third levels via the circular concrete staircase…..



    Where we get into the part with ‘The Bells’ which I am rather glad I timed it so they didn’t start ‘Boinging’ as I hadn’t got my earplugs!.....



    From that level the staircase became very narrow but hanging over the edge for the next picture you got a clear view of all the Bells…..



    The we got through the small door and out onto the balustrade at the top with a very nice view to be had…..









    While my good lady can be seen as the little ‘spot’ as she sat on the steps just off the centre in the next picture…..



    Back down and time for an Ice Cream as we see these rather exotic ‘Ice Cream Displays’ in the café…..





    Moving off along another street we see offerings of Lace while the ladies sit at the side and make other pieces which are then put alongside the others….



    Another of the churches in the old town but all of them requested ‘No Entry’ when wearing shorts, and ‘No Pictures’ so we stayed out although not all the tourists did…..







    Some of the items left behind by the Romans….







    A bit further on and we came to this small square with 5 Water Wells in that were all permanently closed off so you could not see into the well…..



    As we stopped for a coffee in a nearby café, going inside to use their facilities and answer a call of nature I spotted this picture on the wall that showed the wells in use and the café owner allowed me to take ‘a picture of a picture’….



    While it was easy to see that the Romans were also in this area….















    We then made our way to the sea front…



    As we followed a number of people walking along the sea front/promenade we could hear the ‘Sea Organ’ being played by the wave movement, but to be honest with the size of the Video File that I recorded it is easier if you Google ‘Zadar Sea Organ’ and play & listen to a video on U-Tube….



    Then a bit further at the entrance to the harbour we get to the ‘Greeting to the Sun’ which consists of three hundred multi-layer glass panels set on the same level as the quay paving, in the form of a circle having a diameter of 22 meters. Beneath the conducting glass panels are photovoltaic solar modules providing symbolic communication with nature for the purpose of communicating – by sound in case of the Sea Organ, and by light in this case.



    While around the outside rim of the ‘Greeting to the Sun’ are a number of GPS Co-ordinates but when I tried putting a couple of them into Google Earth, the first one came up as a spot in the ocean, while the second was in the middle of a field near the town of Ourique in Portugal with not a building in sight near either of the sets of co-ordinates…..





    Making our way then past the cruise ship we pass this fishing boat….



    As the crew carry out repairs to the fishing net on the stern…..



    We then see this rather nice but no doubt very expensive powerboat while you can take the rather less expensive little ‘Ferry’ from one side to the other….



    Back through a couple more streets for a bit of lunch and then we make our way through another of the Gates in the town wall….



    As we then start to make our way passed these apartments to find the Bus Station for the journey back to Zaton/Nin….



    Turning left and along another street we spot what is probably the largest Window Box we have ever seen with a glorious colour display of flowers hanging down……



    Finally get to the Bus Station and wait at Bay 28 for the bus and the trip back as a group of students suddenly step in front to wait for the bus, but a quick word left the ‘leader and friends’ backing off and waiting until we had got on an paid for our tickets, some people seem to forget their manners these days!…



    Then we are off on our way back…..





    Which by the time we got back left us with a bit of time for some sunshine before we started to prepare our evening meal…..

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    South Wales UK
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    Stage 10E “Continuing our time in Zaton/Nin”

    Tuesday:

    Well the sunshine has finally arrived while today was around 26C (78.8F) there was very little wind which eventually died out so we went for a trip out in the bay on the Kayak….

    Setting off and looking through the water is seems like you are paddling over a flooded field even though it is the sea bed….





    Then as we get into a small harbour we see these upright shells on the sea bed…..





    As we then see that they are Clams, and left them alone to get bigger…..







    As we then came out of the small harbour and went to a marker that was in the sea about 100 yards away from a quayside where we saw a small clump of Mussels attached to pole as it came out of the water….



    While on the concrete blocks that were just under the water keeping the marker upright we saw small Oysters….



    After a short run along the coast we turned around to make our way back and got a nice view of the mountains and the large holiday park complex that is quite close to our campsite…..



    As we continued to make our way back to the small quayside which is the small white rectangle just above centre in the next picture, and managed to collect some Mussels from the opposite side of the Quay which will be a nice starter this evening….



    Sadly another nice day ‘bites the dust’ as we watch the Sunset!.....


  10. #30
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Calgary, Alberta
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    614

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    Another nice batch of pictures. The city shots are interesting with blocks of buildings with the courtyards. The kayaking certainly does give an interesting view of the shore. Is the camera waterproof or are we confident of no tip overs? Camped on the ocean again to get such a nice sunset shot?

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