Note from George: Photos to follow soon..

Hello Mums and Dads,

After a drive across Italy we got to the site in Venice, It was a great camp site!
Had amazing showers as we were all in great need of a fresh shower! There was even somewhere to wash some clothes. Most impressive was the view of Venice we had over the sea from our tents, especially at night.

In the morning we went on a 15 minute ferry ride into Venice…and surprisingly it didn’t smell too bad!
It was a very beautiful city and we did a quiz around it to learn more about its history. We got time in the afternoon to go shopping; it had the most beautiful masks and shops. We even tried haggling for some souvenirs.

The weather was very hot so we took a break to eat some really good ice cream (or several). The place was a bit odd as there were no cars but lots of boats! Even saw a UPS delivery boat. Some of the leaders went on a Gondola ride, and Sid had a pigeon decide to go to the loo on him!

For our last night in Italy we had pizza and BBQ meat back at the camp site. Was a great night before an overnight drive to Croatia.

When we woke up from our long drive, including the most amazing landscape as we came down the Croatian coastal road, we found ourselves at the next camp site. Finding the sea only 30 meters from our camp, a 5 meter diving board was a great plus!

The campsite was just outside Split, the heat was intense and we chilled out after setting up the tents. The beach and sea were a focal point for activity and fun, which even included a night swim!

The second day at Split was spent in the city itself. We went around the markets and managed to haggle again for “real” Ray Bands. The market was in a roman Palace and there were a lot of stalls. Afterwards, some of us went on a Segway tour of the surrounding hill, while the rest of the group walked up the hill and admired the view of the city and sea from the shade of a café…which also did good ice cream.

The next day we went on a boat tour which began with a short boat ride and a tour of the city of Trogir. Then we got back in the boat and spent the rest of the day on a small island in a blue lagoon, with plenty of swimming.

After the shortest drive yet, we found ourselves in the beautiful vineyard in Zagreb countryside, owned by fellow scout master Filip. With grapes hanging centimetres above our heads we sat in the veranda where we were greeted by Fillip, and his girlfriend, Ivanka. They treated us to pancakes upon arrival! We then wasted away the evening by chatting, playing musical instruments and eating traditional Croatian food. As it was coming up to midnight, we set up our roll mats on the balcony overlooking the vineyard and spent the night under the cloudless Croatian sky.

Of course this peace couldn’t last for too long, at 8am we were brutally awoken by the sound of a lawn mower and Filip screaming “WAKEY WAKEY!” at the top of his voice.

We packed the van and were on the way into Zagreb where we were given a tour by friends Marko and Eliza. We all enjoyed it and we learnt some very interesting things, besides the heat. Due to the heat we decided we needed yet more ice cream…

We went onto a restaurant for dinner, we are now headed for Germany! WHOOP! 😀

See you Soon!
LOVIN’ LYF.