West Coast, Istria

The joys of off-season camping! Our section of the campsite in Vrsar on the Istrian peninsula must consist of over 50 pitches, but with only about half a dozen currently occupied, we have a wonderful, uninterrupted view of the sea and islands. The weather is great and the Oldies are being particularly lazy, soaking up the sun by day and enjoying the ridiculously gorgeous sunsets each evening. Paradise!

It’s not an entirely peaceful paradise, however. Spring has well and truly sprung, so nature is at a pretty noisy stage right now. Birdsong is set at high volume. I thought that we gulls were supposed to be loud, but the scops owls really take the biscuit. ‘Beep, beep, beep’, they go, like a slowed down version of the warning signal on a reversing truck. All night long. Totally oblivious to the poor creatures they are keeping awake. These owls really don’t give a hoot!

But then, you won’t find me complaining. It is still nothing like the racket that humans make at the height of the summer: parties, discos, live bands, and, worst of all, campsite singalongs. Give me nature any day. Well, that’s the nature of it. It’s more natural, isn’t it? Naturally enough.

I could happily stay here forever, but the Oldies have somehow managed to drag themselves (and me) away from our little piece of heaven to go on a few outings. Over the past few days we’ve been exploring the western coast of Istria from Fažana to the Slovenian border.

Fažana has got to be one of my favourite spots along this coastline. A pretty little fishing village in itself, it is further blessed with its proximity to the famous Brijuni National Park – a group of 14 islands just off the coast. This was a favourite spot with Marshal Tito too, who apparently made the Brijuni Islands his personal State Summer Residence and received many a famous statesperson here. Whatever about his politics, you certainly have got to admire his taste. We sadly didn’t have time to travel out to the islands. Sure, it would have taken hours to persuade the Heroine of the High Seas, a.k.a. Her Ladyship, onto the ferry. She was happy enough, however, to enjoy the views from the walking and cycling path that runs for miles along the coast here.

I’m quite glad that, like myself, this cat is wooden and is never going to reach the top of the post. You can be sure I wouldn’t be standing here otherwise!

Novigrad is a beautiful little fishing town with much of its medieval town wall still intact. It can’t have been easy to launch an attack on this town from the sea in days of yore. Nowadays, the seafront beaches and walkways run along the outside of this wall, with sunbathers standing upright and leaning against it in their efforts to get that perfect all over tan. There you go. The wall still has its uses!

Umag is a strange mix of old industrial and modern commercial buildings, tired-looking concrete apartment blocks and ultra-modern luxury penthouses. I, of course, only had eyes for the sea and was enthralled with this lovely little bay. And just around the corner – one of the largest harbours I’ve seen in Istria. It must be certainly a popular spot in the summer, with so much room for pleasure boats.

From Savudrija we enjoyed the stunning views of Portorož and Piran in Slovenia across the bay.

This is a quaint little spot, complete with a lighthouse and… well, what would you call these? I’ve heard of coat hangers, so I suppose these must be boat hangers.

Back at the ranch, the Oldies have just had a huge thrill in the shape of yet another dollop of nature. They were staring out to sea after dinner as usual, when they spotted a large pod of dolphins just a few hundred metres out. It was a particularly frisky bunch too, with  many of them leaping high out of the water as they progressed along the coast. I must also admit to being excited by the sight. What magnificent creatures!

Even if they are too big to eat.