Diaries of a Camper Holiday
© Patrick Meli
Lisa, my seven year old was nearing the end of her school year and Chris and I were deliberating a possible summer holiday. The previous Easter we had spent four days in Barcelona for Lisa’s tentative first proper holiday and she came through with flying colours. So we were thinking a full blown two-week holiday with her would be safe especially if we added some juicy ingredient to keep her interested.
A few days anguished deliberating and I thought I had it. “A camper holiday” I announced to Chris proudly one evening. A few minutes of googling brought me to Rudolf Moto, a company boasting spanking new campers and sitting in Novo Mesto in the middle of Slovenia. Now Claire, Christine’s sister had been to Slovenia in a previous life and we heard enough of the natural beauty of the country. My juices began to flow.
But how to get to Slovenia? Some correspondence with Bogdan, one of the two Bogdans running the Rudolf Moto show, and the problem was astonishingly resolved. All we had to do was catch a Ryanair direct flight to Treviso, and Bogdan himself would drive the camper to the airport, wait to greet us, give us a tour of our camper and set us gently on our way. Now that was top notch service!
There followed a couple of weeks of frenetic googling and emailing and meticulous planning and the holiday was set for the beginning of September. Lisa was thrilled to pieces about the prospect of living in a camper and we caved in to her begging us to buy her a toy camper so she could “practise”! My itinerary was ambitious. Seeing we were in Treviso I had to revisit Venice where I had been as an eight year old on a school trip. Gardaland was a must for Lisa and Verona seemed inviting. Then onwards to Slovenia, and while we’re at it, why not Croatia as well? Hmmm.
The trip to Treviso was smooth and efficient. Treviso was a tidy little airport reminding me of the old Luqa airport. And there in the tiny car park was Bogdan with our shiny camper! Introductions were made and the workings of the camper explained. A magnificent exercise in space management, the camper could switch between 12V power while driving, gas power for the cooker and heating while at a standstill, and 240V when hooked up to a power unit at a campsite.
At the driving wheel I had a double take. I was reminded that this was now a left-hand drive but being a camper, the gear stick was to my left as I was accustomed to here in Malta. My mind boggled. But I bravely spun round the grounds of a petrol station to get a feel of the thing, ignoring the bemused looks of the locals, before I took a deep breath, took the plunge and hit the road.
We were off! An hours’ journey through the amazing Veneto scenery got us to our Venetian campsite. Europa Camping Village, sitting on the water’s edge was replete with a shopping centre and boasts the best facilities around including restaurants, a supermarket, a beach and an Aqua Park.
Venice beckoned next morning. A bus ride took us to the ferry and within the hour we were landed in Riva degli Schiavoni, just a couple hundred metres away from Piazza San Marco! Incredible! It was a stifling hot day. Chris was browsing the stands and Lisa was flirting with the Gondoliers, one of whom contrived to give her a coloured ankle bracelet! She was conquered and Alfredo became our assigned Gondolier. We spent a great hour swishing the narrow canals hearing him recount stories and legends. He most memorably recounted how a search party set out for him on his first day on the job when he got hopelessly lost and failed to return!
We risked our entire holiday budget on a coffee in Piazza San Marco, while listening to the amazing talent that was the resident violinist. There followed the obligatory shopping where the household’s 354th handbag was purchased. More sensible purchases in some intricate glassware and we were then ready for dinner. My old friend Martin who works just outside Venice joined us at a waterside restaurant just off the Rialto Bridge and we wrapped the day off deliciously.
Next day the temperature kindly dropped a couple of notches and we headed to Burano. Think of a cross between Venice and the coloured houses of St Tropez and you will get the gist of this amazing little town with wonderful little restaurants. You will soon latch on to the fact that I am a sucker for good food.
That evening we were back at Treviso Airport to pick up Claire and Julian, her five year-old. With two kids in tow, next morning we set off to Gardaland. Campers jumped the queue and we were shepherded in a parking space reserved solely for campers. Oh yeah! The kids threw themselves at the rides but by 1300, Julian was fading and getting tetchy and Claire began to panic. “He needs to sleep! What shall I do?” Well, we DO have a camper in the parking lot don’t we? Claire and Julian disappeared for a couple of hours for a nap in the camper and rejoined us refreshed and recharged. Now how’s that for a dollop of luxury?
Next morning we set off for the journey to Slovenia, stopping for a couple of hours to take in the sights of Verona. We made Novo Mesto by dusk and we were immediately treated to dinner by Bogdan. Ah, the Slovenians give us Maltese a good run for our famed hospitality. It’s all friends-of-friends culture here and next morning we were introduced to Sandy who toured us round southern Slovenia that borders with Croatia along the Dragonja River. Sandy insisted that we spend the night in his countryside chateau and the girls and Julian slept inside while I held fort in the camper. Before he left though, Sandy took us to a friend of his who had a delightful little crafts shop in a tiny village called Malinerajec, selling mainly her manufacture of pottery and wood carvings. Malinerajec must surely boast the tiniest chapel in the world, with a maximum seating for four plus one goat, it seemed.
Next day we drove back upwards to Ljubljana and visited the zoo where Lisa had a close encounter she will never forget with an angry lion. It was time to say bye to Claire and Julian who made their way by train back to Treviso while we started the drive to Bled. The innocuous approach road belied the beauty that is Lake Bled. I drove around the fairytale lake replete with an island bang in the middle of the lake on which an ancient church stood. If you haven’t heard the legend of the widow and the church bell, then it’s worth looking it up.
The Camping Bled campsite was metres away from the beach on the west side of the lake and was wedged between two high mountain ridges. Spectacular! We did the requisite boat tour around the lake and climbed up the hundred odd steps to the old church where obligatory souvenirs were bought. In the afternoon we braved the cold water and swam off the beach just so I can say this. I swam in Lake Bled. There. I said it. Seems worth my hypothermia now. Lisa was rewarded by being bitten by one of the lakeside swans she was trying to feed, much to her indignation. She was having no luck with the animal kingdom.
At the campsite, we opened the tent that emerges from one side of the camper and popped open the table and chairs that are stowed away at the back. We cooked ourselves a delicious plate of pasta, finished off by some fresh fruit and washed down by some cold white wine. Oh this is the life. Next morning, we treated ourselves to the tent again for breakfast before we took off for the Vintgar Gorge just above Lake Bled. This is an amazing experience, walking about two kilometres right besides a fast flowing river set deep inside a spectacular gorge. The river ends in an equally spectacular waterfall from where we treated ourselves to a welcome cup of coffee and a hot chocolate.
Now we had to take on the second part of the Tale of Two Lakes and we entered the Triglav National Park territory heading to Lake Bohinj (read Bohhin) that sits under the ring of mountains forming the Julian Alps. Where Lake Bled was buzzing with tourists, Lake Bohinj was quiet and unassuming but even more so breathtaking. We keyed in autokamp on our on-board GPS and we opted for Autokamp Zlatorog, and what an inspired choice it was! Having selected a spot just three metres away from the water’s edge and hooked up to the power socket, we made our way to the nearby Savica Waterfall where after a climb of 510 steps we were rewarded by the sight of the highest waterfall in Slovenia.
The next morning, I woke up uncharacteristically early and the day had just dawned over Lake Bohinj. I fired up the burner to cook some fresh coffee and kicked open the camper door. The image of what greeted me will stay with me forever. The lake water was flat as a board with a thin layer of cloud seemingly hanging just four or five metres above the waterline and the Julian Alps rising above. A family of ducks swimming across was causing ripples that, in the surrounding calm, seemed like tidal waves. I sat on a log on the water’s edge, mug of hot coffee in hand, taking the scene in ….. a slice of heaven in Bohinj.
Our campsite, as it turned out, was just below the skiing resort of Vogel. A ten minute walk led us to the cable car ride up the side of the mountain. It was the end of summer and there was no snow of course, although we got a grandstand view of the entire ring of mountains around us most of which were snow-tipped.
From the cold of northern Slovenian Alps we now had to make our way down to the warmth of Croatia, but not before we stopped at the Postonja Caves, half way down. These are magnificent caves where a 20-minute train ride to merely clip a corner of the caves puts the sheer size in perspective of the corresponding caves we have in Gozo!
Driving on southwards we entered the Plitvice National Park and made our way to our campsite, Auto Kamp Korana. Merely staying at this campsite gives us a free second-day entrance to the Plitvice Lakes. Now these lakes are a thing of beauty. Think of Chadwick Lakes, but the size of half of Malta with beautiful clear water and large waterfalls feeding the 17 lakes each of which is a different colour. Fantastic! There are several different tours around the lake and we chose one that also included a boat ride and a train ride to take in the sights.
Now during the entire trip we had several great meals (did I mention I am a sucker for good food?) but the meal we were about to enjoy is worth mentioning here. Just outside Entrance 1, within the car park complex is a restaurant called Lička Kuća (don’t ask me for the pronunciation!). In the centre of the ground floor of the restaurant is an open wood-burning stove for spit-roasted lamb and different authentic dishes such as veal and potatoes baked under a clay bell. This was great food and Lisa went nuts for the lamb besides openly flirting with the head waiter to win her a free dessert of her choice.
After visiting a different section of the lakes the next day – plus an inevitable repeat visit to Lička Kuća, we set off to the Croatian island of čres (Tsres) for, hopefully, some sunshine and blue seas. čres is mostly a barren island, extremely reminiscent of Comino in its fauna and ambience, but four times the size of Malta. Getting to our campsite of choice, Slatina Campsite in Martinščica was an exercise in endurance albeit rewarding. A magnificent bridge links the mainland of Croatia to the island of Krk, and a ferry boat takes us to čres. The ride seemed never ending and we finally made it to the campsite by nightfall. The campsite hosted a fantastic dive centre – Triton Dive Centre run by a brilliant instructor – Davor Podobnik, and I managed to enjoy my first dive ever outside Maltese waters. It was a boat dive and I was joined by a group of divers from Germany who were making their fourth trip to Triton! The dive itself was pretty uneventful but on the boat ride back home, Davor suddenly veered seawards and killed the engine. We were regaled by the sight of a school of dolphins playing. Oh yeah!
Look up čres on Google Earth and you will see that the island at the south joins the island of Lošinj (Lotsin) by a mere sort narrow bridge under which flows the most intense current as the sea levels on either side of the two islands differ by a few centimetres! The bridge is in the fishing village of Osor where we enjoyed a fantastic dinner of fresh fish, naturally!
Well that was it. We had to head back to Novo Mesto on our way back to Treviso. We did find a couple of hours to stop at the fantastic Castello di Miramare in Trieste, in the eastern part of Italy’s Adriatic coast.
All in all it was an experiment that went splendidly. The camper was an unforgettable experience affording amazing flexibility in planning your holiday as you go along, stopping wherever you like for impromptu visits or spontaneous detours. Campsites are mostly complete with excellent facilities and living in a camper is fun for kids and grownups alike.
The direct flight to Treviso is easy and efficient. Once there you have the luxury of having the camper delivered to you, and as a result, a large number of destinations are suddenly within range – perhaps as far south as Pisa and Florence and extending to Milan, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and even Munich, not to mention Slovenia and Croatia.
It turns out that campsites are a-plenty and all you need to do is learn how to search on your GPS for a full list to give you an embarrassment of choice. There are different levels of campsites; much like hotels but all will provide more than basic amenities at fairly affordable prices – certainly much cheaper, and much more fun, than hotels.
Rudolf Moto are a fantastic bunch of people with excellent brand new campers, and also offer a wide range of guided tours for the cautious. Visiting their website, http://www.rudolf-motorhome.com, is highly recommended.
