Without planning, I headed north again to meet my sister and her friend. I stopped and stayed both at the Bacina Lakes and the Sveti Jure National Park. Both of which were inviting and beautiful places with lots of things to experience.
After crossing the border twice again once to Bosnia Hercegovina and then back to Croatia I took a break at a designated spot overlooking the Bacina Lakes. It was already the first of October, and you can tell that the tourist-season had come to an end since most of the mobile toilets had been removed from the resting stations. I was thinking about the further progress of my trip since the Toilets everywhere had been a massive help for me as a traveler. When you sleep in the car, it is a general rule of thumb that you should not stay at the same place for more than one night. The combination of moving around and looking for a right spot eats up fuel and will cost you quite a reasonable amount of money since fuel is not the cheapest stuff in Croatia. I quickly decided to visit the campsite at the Bacina Lakes and check this place out. 
Bacina Lakes
It was a lovely small campsite, run by a family and directly at one of the lakes. I decided to stay a few days since searching for a new spot each day would directly translate to spending the same amount of money for fuel.
The safety you get from a campsite is quite a different one, at least the feeling of it. Leaving the van alone for hours meant nothing to me, so I decided to explore the area around the lakes via bicycle.
A charming stone road around the seas were neither cars nor motorbikes are allowed gave quite a pleasant drive. The warm air was quite lovely, and the parts with shadows and sun had a perfect balance as well. No sweating or freezing. Just the sounds of nature all around me and no person to be seen. I passed some small properties and backyards were people grew grapes, kiwis, pomegranates, figs, olives, lemons, and oranges.
As I passed through a small village, I came across a little monument for those fallen in World War II which reminded me of the Bunker at the main road, leading to the lakes.
Further on I discovered another hidden gem which I did not notice at first even though it was direct across the campsite.
To defend my eyesight, I must hasten to add that nature had almost reclaimed everything of this abandoned campsite.
As I was strolling around and taking pictures, I wondered if I could stay there for a few nights. I encountered a guy who was walking his dogs and did not seem too pleased with someone around in this area. And with that, I am talking about greeting the guy who just gave me back a sharp look, no intend to greet me too.
Looking back I can understand the guy who was apparently living in that area since people before me had left quite a lot of garbage all over the place.
Sveti Jure National Park
After a few days, I drove further north the coastline, turned inland and headed south through the Sveti Jure National Park. A postcard-ish landscape, almost deserted.
When I talked to a guy at a local supermarket, he told me that 15 Years ago almost 15.000 people lived there. Now the area scratched hardly 1.000. He said that there are no Jobs and all the younger people are migrating to the big cities on the coast or entirely moving to other countries to make their luck.
The weather these days was not too bright, with winds at the coast and a general cloud cover. This gave me a reason to book a local campsite which gave me the time to get my van cleaned, my clothes washed, all sorts of this kind. Mainly not really the funny parts but necessary. In plain sight, there was the most significant mountain called Sv.Jure, which could either be hiked or driven up with the car. I really wanted to go up there since the owner of the camping place told me that, given it is a bright day, you can see Italy on the horizon.
Unfortunately, there was no such day during my stay. No, I was not just too lazy – I mentioned before that a drive up there was also possible. Well, I did use the time given productively so, at least in my books, it was not really wasted time. During a few sunny hours, I did go on a few bike trips, but the landscape was basically a constant up and down which drained my energy really fast.
The time kept flying by and the stay, although the camping ground was empty, was still quite funny since the owner and his wife showed up every day with little treats in the morning. We are talking about Tomatoes and peppers from their garden, homemade goat cheese, dried figs to homemade liqueur and wine in the evening. No price tag on it, they just gifted it to me.
As time went by my sister and her friend arrived, and it was time for us to move on.
EU - Adventure 