If you like your campsites
run with an air of military efficiency, this may the site for you. Camp Zaton
is a huge complex of campsite, chalets and apartments, and entirely enclosed by
a perimeter fence. Once we got past Checkpoint Charlie, it’s a 1km drive to
Reception, where one has to queue in columns to be allowed in, on foot
initially, to choose a pitch. The big surprise here was that it was almost full,
and the second that we decided to stay at all! But needs must and after a
slightly frustrating drive we thought we’d give it a go and see.
The site is an entire
branded ‘village’ with restaurants (all serving similar food), takeaways, bars,
shops, a hairdresser (where Mr B had his first Croatian haircut), various activities,
a pool (partly open after a refurb) and excellent shower facilities – we can
forgive a lot if the showers are up to scratch!
No sooner had we started to
set up the table and chairs and get the kettle on, than the remaining pitches
started to fill up. We discovered not long after that we were at the start of a
two-week German school holiday from two of the southern states, which helped to
explain the busy nature of the site and large number of families.
The first arrival was a
Dutch caravan where, like us, getting it right at the end of a days’ travel can
present one or two challenges, and this poor couple suffered the embarrassment
of their fellow campers watch them knock over a shared water tap, with a mini
geyser erupting and flooding nearby pitches!
It can be weird staying on a
site like this, but once you’re in your own little world/pitch it’s not so bad
and we settled down for a few days’ stay as a base for seeing Nin and Zadar –
the reasons we were in this part of Croatia.
The most disconcerting thing
for Mrs B was the perimeter fence – it’s the only site we’ve ever stayed on
where you literally cannot leave without a 1km drive/walk/cycle to the
checkpoint. Even though the picturesque village of Nin was tantalisingly just a
short distance the other site of the fence, we still couldn’t take the direct
route, but escape we did and spent a pleasant morning cycling across the salt
flats and around the village, whose patron saint St. Gregor of Nin put us in
mind of a certain Harry Potter wizard . . .and rubbing his big toe is meant to
bring good luck…
The village is surrounded by
the sea and accessible by two bridges – and was once a prosperous centre for
the production of salt.
On our return trip we
crossed paths with a large grass snake…
..and came across this
intriguing bit of graffiti just outside the camp. We’ve seen lots like it in
this region of Croatia, and the best explanation we can come up with is the Torcida
fan club of Hajduk Split, the football team…
Next on our itinerary was a
day out in Zadar on the once-a-day bus from the site, leaving Reception at 10:00.
Zadar is a lovely old town, encircled by walls and boasting some very
contemporary attractions to boot, including the remarkably beautiful and
soothing sounds of the ‘sea organ’, (Mrs B is sat on it below) and the solar powered ‘welcome to the sun’ (the giant circle of solar cells in the third pic below).
The sea organ is an amazing series of underwater pipes that give an eerie yet
soothing sound as the waves lap against the structure. You can download a sound-file
we recorded of the organ by clicking the link below (you'll then need to click the download link on the new page and open the file with your media/music software once its downloaded):
We ate cherries from the
market and borek from a pekara in the old forum area for lunch, and Mrs B was
chastised under the ‘pillar of shame’ for good measure.
Before we headed back we
dropped into the museum of ancient glass and then, exhausted, grabbed a taxi
back to the site, leaving the welcome to the sun (a night-time thing) for
another visit. You’re not meant to take photos in the museum, but this amazing
piece of 1st Century glassware was too tempting…
A few days was plenty at
Zaton, and given a choice we’d choose somewhere more accessible next time. Even
as a base it wasn’t great as the transport links were a challenge, so, lesson
learned, we made an early start for the Krka national park, hoping to arrive in
plenty of time for a pitch at Camp Krka, a tiny family site with around 40
small pitches. Even by early afternoon it was rammed however, and with a large
group expected, no good for us. However, as luck would have it, the owners’ son
had a small campsite just up the road and soon we were installed in a large
field with just half a dozen other campervans for company, right on the edge of
the park with some amazing butterflies, bees and huge bright green flying
beetles for company – so good to be back amongst nature again and with a
feeling of space and freedom.
J&S.
Just been catching up on a few blog posts - sounds like some interesting travels, as well as some mixed fortunes in some places - such as Kamp Zadar. Being fenced in with parties of German schoolchildren, well, what's not to like...
ReplyDeleteJudging from the photos the weather looks like its been pretty much blue skies all the way though - and indeed, a slab of that seems to have made its way to Blighty, as you've probably doubtless heard - sunny and extremely hot the last few days. Hoping it holds beyond when we set off for our hols, week after next (likely - not)
N&S xx
Hi both Glad to hear Blighty hot and sunny - let's hope it's not followed by he usual outbreak of hot tempers and thunderstorms! Just driven through some scary evidence of what happens when a fire catches hold in hot and windy weather - we're on the Peliješac peninsular where fires rages two years ago - total devastation :(
ReplyDeleteHope weather holds for you guys
S&J xx