Loaded to the eyeballs and spring delights

After a week or so aboard our catamaran Sunday moored at Lazure Marina in Montenegro, we started the journey back to the Netherlands in the camper van.

We had given Sunday a big spring clean as she is up for sale! In the process, we had a massive clear out of personal possessions that we either wanted to throw out, give away, or keep. The things we wanted to keep we packed into the van

We were loaded up to the eyeballs with everything we were taking off Sunday – clothes, books, games, photos, decorations, and all sorts of household stuff that had found its way onto the boat over the years. In addition to all that, we had some items aboard that we were taking back to our sailing buddies’ son and daughter-in-law‘s house in Austria.

We therefore drove very sedately out of Montenegro and very quickly crossed the border into Croatia.

We have driven through Croatia on several occasions and have always enjoyed the amazing scenery. It is such a beautiful country!

Within half an hour we were travelling along a high ridge staring down at the sparking Adriatic Sea and then – far off in the distance – the dramatic and beautiful old city of Dubrovnik.

Instead of hugging the coast as we have done on previous trips, we took a new road that enabled us to avoid having to travel through the tiny piece of coastline (a 20 kilometres strip) that belongs to Bosnia Herzegovina.

This meant we avoided the necessity of going through two border/customs crossings which saved us not only time but also the nuisance factor of checking in and out of a country that we would have been in for less than an hour.

The new route took us across the Pelješac peninsula, through several tunnels and then the impressive and brand new cable-stayed road bridge back to the mainland.

By the early evening dark rain clouds had gathered. Soon it was pouring with rain and we decided it was time to find a place to stay the night.

Completely by chance we found a beautiful little spot where we had stopped for the night previously – at a tiny fishing boat harbour with a lovely view of the water.

After a comfortable night we awoke to glorious sunshine. We were just stretching our legs before setting off again when Jonathan noticed a tiny kingfisher perched on the sea wall. It was gazing out to sea, totally unbothered by us and just revelling the feeling of the warm sunshine on its little face. What a great start to the day for us!

The sunny weather didn’t last for long but it didn’t matter as the rain held off and we had lovely scenic drive to Graz in Austria where we dropped off the boxes we had transported for Sue and John.

As the day was still young, we kept going and finally stopped for the night in a massive (free) car park outside the mainly pedestrianised medieval Bavarian city of Regensburg.

Built on the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regan Rivers, the city was founded as an imperial Roman river fort.

The medieval inner city has UNESCO World Heritage status because of its well-preserved architecture, and we have earmarked it for a return visit so we can explore some of its famous sites (there are more than 1,500 listed buildings in the city).

Soon we were back in The Netherlands for week or so before Jonathan and I parted ways temporarily. I had to return briefly to Australia to have some medical tests while Jonathan was heading back to the boat to prepare her for sale.

Before heading off in different directions we had a very pleasant few days with Pieter and Hannah.

One of the highlights of our short stay was a visit to the famous bulb fields.

It was a little early for tulips but there were still bright yellow narcissi to enjoy and massive rows of pink, white and deep blue hyacinths to walk through with the added bonus of immersing ourselves in their heady and powerful perfume.

Spring was definitely in the air, and all the gardens where Hannah and Pieter live were starting to bloom with spring flowers, blossoms and fresh green leaves unfurling.

It had been a long time since I had travelled to Australia on my own but it was a very easy trip – interesting too as I went via Incheon Airport in South Korea for the first time ever.

The airport was very high-tech and ultra modern and had something I’ve never seen before – robots available to transport people’s carry on luggage for them if desired!

Despite its very smart and new looking terminal buildings, there were renovation works being carried out and I was amused to see the notice below which apologised for making me inconvenient!