Holidays 1985

Off to the sea: to Yugoslavia, for many reasons: it's a place still to be discovered, the sea is clean and you don't spend much. On this trip we'll see beautiful things and some bad ones will happen to us. First stop at the Vallalta campsite in Rovigno, an FKK naturist campsite; the arrangement was to meet a cousin of Tina's who, with his family, comes from Belgium every year and holidays in this spot. The campsite is huge, almost all of it by the sea; after much wandering around by bicycle, we finally find them and manage to squeeze between their caravan and another, so as to be close together. The first mishap befalls us when: after putting the dinghy in the water and mooring it, we turn in for the night; the wind picks up and it starts to rain. In the morning I go to check that all was well and find the boat on a rock.

After deflating it and taking off the engine so as to put it back in the water, we decide to take it to a paying dock; I take the wrong channel and have to turn back; while manoeuvring I hit a large motorboat that had, below the waterline, a ladder which tears a hole in the right inflatable tube; the other two hold, but I start to sink. The most ridiculous part is that, trying to save a bag so it won't get wet, I end up in the water amid the laughter of all the campers watching me from the shore. Having recovered the hull, in Rovigno we found someone who repaired it for me. The journey continues to the island of Krk; here too we stopped at a naturist campsite; by now we're used to being naked, it's a lovely feeling of freedom and the people we meet are friendlier, cheerier and without hang-ups.

We carry on to the island of Rab, arriving in the evening; the campsite is full, we have to wait until morning to get in while someone leaves; parked in the square in front, we get ready for the night. Unfortunately we are opposite a dance hall; the racket of loud music forces us to move to the harbour, where we find two other German camper vans. At six in the morning the militia knocks on our door; they order us to hand over our passports and to be at headquarters by 10; they will then tell us that stopping outside campsites is forbidden and that we have to pay a fine; explaining the reason for this unintentional stop and showing all the receipts from the previous campsites, they let us go, even apologising, but we have to leave the island at once, and so we do.

We carry on along the coast, always stopping at campsites, unfortunately not always clean and equipped; only the naturist ones we find in good condition. We get as far as Dubrovnic, surrounded by magnificent walls and with a very beautiful and well-kept old town. It was a lovely holiday, lots of sun and lots of good fish at a low price.