We spent the first night in Croatia on Krk, the largest and northernmost coratian island which is connected to the mainland by a long bridge, making it easy to take our car across. The landscape had changed from lush green forests and pastures to rocky, barren coastline almost as soon as we drove across the border. The weather gods turned it on and we enjoyed our first swim in the but slightly chilly Adriatic, before settling into our cosy room in a small village on the east of the island surrounded in olive groves. We spent the afternoon on an adventurous walk led by Mapsme, which wound its way through used and unused olive groves, along used and unused paths, to the sea. We realised when we got back that we were covered in ticks but it was a small price to pay for the afternoon we’d had to ourselves in such a charming spot. The following morning we explored the coastline from the largest city on the island, and soaked up some more sun before heading back to the mainland and inland towards Plivice Lakes National park. Taking the scenic route rather than motorway took quite a lot longer but we stopped along the way to buy cherries, cheese and honey from local stalls on the side of the road. The park is well known for its lakes arranged in cascades which are the confluence of a few small rivers and underground karst springs. The cascading waterfalls are created by travertine, a form of limestone deposited by an interplay between water, air and plants. We set off early to catch the first bus to the top of the park in the morning. Seeking some peace and quiet, we decided to try our luck at getting around one of the lakes off the main tourist trail. I was quietly hopeful we might see a bear, but without luck I happily settled for a large slug, a dead veliki slap snake, large ants (these found me rather than the other way round) and three Balkan Green Lizards. We reached the main tourist lakes around lunchtime and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering along the many boardwalks which crisscross the river and waterfalls through the park. They are forced to change the routes regularly because of how changeable the travertine barriers creating the waterfalls are, so the boardwalks are basic and made from natural timber with question all stability in some places! A lot of old boardwalks can be seen covered in water. After lunch, a ferry took us to the lower reaches of the park and would have been serene had it not been for 30-40 8-10 year olds we shared the journey with. We were both entertained and shocked to see that almost every one of them had a smartphone, and selfies seemed to be all the rage. I suppose it's no different in NZ, but we felt very out of touch. Once in the lower part of the park we could climb up above the waterfalls and look down on them, which I definitely thought gave us the most dramatic views of the day. We were both exhausted by the time we had finished and were pleased to have a relaxing evening meal of cevapcici (long meatballs in flatbread) at a local bar.

Our next stop was Gradac, a small coastal town half-way between Split and Dubrovnik. Although we had been looking for somewhere for some peace and quiet, it was a little bit eerily empty, with lots of cafes and restaurants set up for the summer, but no one around. We spent two nights here and enjoyed a walk in the hills overlooking the ocean. The paths were lined with so many wonderful wildflowers, and zigzagged their way up the steep hillsides though fig and olive groves, and vegetable patches. Of everywhere we've been, Croatia seems to have the largest number of household vegetable gardens. Even in town it was uncommon to pass a house without at least a small, but often quite substantial one in the backyard.