Elisabeth & Teije's reis website

On the beach and a short hailstorm


Home -> Europe -> Croatia -> Travelogue Croatia -> 31 August to 02 September 2007

Friday 31 August, on the beach and a short hailstorm

Great to wake up on a soft bed. A hotel is allright, but every time you have to wait and see how the bed is and my back and neck are quite demanding in that respect. On our air mattress it is always nice to sleep even though it has been a bit noisy at the entrance of the campsite.
Teije swimming a few lengths (upper right) Elisabeth is floatingThe temperature is in any case pleasant and less extreme than yesterday. After an extensive and elongated breakfast we explore the campsite again and in the course of the afternoon we lie on the beach and take a swim. There is a pebble beach along the main part of the Adriatic coast. Real sandy beaches are quite rare, but that does not stop us from enjoying the sun and the sea.
A fierce hail storm We are lucky, no damageThen we have a bite to eat in the restaurant, but while we are sitting there, the air becomes almost black in a few minutes, it starts to thunder and suddenly hailstones fall from the air with great force, some of which are 5 centimeters in diameter! Cars and caravans are damaged and we are glad that we are under a roof, although all the rugs, napkins and even ashtrays are scurrying through the air in the heavy gusts of wind. We had just finished our food and that's a good thing, because the table is blown away by the wind as well!
People panic and run in all directions to save themselves or their tents. We have never experienced anything like this before and when the hailstorm changes into a pouring rain after 5 minutes, Teije rushes to the tent to see if everything is still ok. We have the seats outside and what about the electricity? Soaked he comes back to tell us that the surroundings look like a battlefield, but that our tent is still standing. But everything else is soaked.
Hailstones Ice-cooled beerAnd a few minutes later the wind is gone, it is dry again and the sky turns to its azure color again. The skinny sun is gaining more and more power and starts to dry our tent and chairs. As if nothing happened ... We stand under the trees behind a hedge, but our Belgian neighbors show how their caravan has been totally dented by the big hailstones. Even a quarter of an hour after the storm has settled, we collect enough hailstones within a few minutes to get our beers colder than we've ever had in Croatia.
Cleaning the tentWe were only so unwise to leave the tent open and it takes a while before it is completely cleaned. But we are lucky, at the campsite people are busy for two days to repair all damage and clear dangerous branches and clean the paths. Not all tent and camper owners have been as lucky as we. Extreme weather seems to occur more and more everywhere with the changing climate that we are partly responsible for as humanity. We have never experienced such hailstones (and that in the middle of the summer) in any case!
The outside temperature has dropped by as much as 10 degrees and we go to bed after having cleaned everything as well as possible. And so the weather gods have found us again ...

Saturday and Sunday 1 and 2 September, lazy days on the beach

This morning it becomes clear which demolitions the short-term storm of yesterday has all done: everyone is still busy cleaning things up and inspecting the damage. We only had some flooding and a bit of discomfort but no real damage, we are reasonably sheltered behind a hedge and under the trees.
Once we are reassured that the weather has also been restored (it is already 30 degrees), we go to the beach, but now after we have put everything inside and closed the tent properly; even though the sky is bright blue, you never know. But in the end we finally have our first completely dry day with wonderful beach weather. And Sunday is no different. Except for a short trip to a shopping center in Šibenik, we do not leave the campsite and enjoy the peace at the campsite. Although, peace? This is the most crowded and noisy campsite we have ever experienced. We are close to the entrance and even though there is a sign that no traffic is allowed between 12 o'clock at night and 6 o'clock in the morning, it is all night a rush of vehicles coming and going while the drivers are often also noisyly have a chat with the guard at the entrance while the engine is obviously not being switched off. And our neighbors from a Czech travel agency apparently also have a weekend off because they make a lot of noise until the late (early) hours. And at 6 o'clock, the workers start again with their chainsaws and tractors to remove dangerously loosely hanging branches. It is that we do not know an alternative so quickly, but enjoying a nice and undisturbed rest is not possible at night.
Relaxed reading Relaxed reading And there is not much to tell more about these two days except that we mainly lie on the beach, swim in the sea and regularly sit in the shade to avoid the worst burns. We go faster through our collection of books than planned, but if we become more active again later, we also read less so we do not worry about that now.
Resting from swimming and relaxingSunday evening we suddenly get in touch with our friend Josko and we agree to call each other tomorrow for an appointment. The last few days he was on an unreachable island which explains that we could not get in touch with him. He is completely surprised that we are in Croatia, it was also an unannounced visit and we hope to see him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

 


© Teije & Elisabeth 2000 - 2023 To the top of the page