Van Life Croatia was as far as we got

Welcome back to Combi Life. We have quite the adventure in store for you today as we're waking up on top of a Croatian island and have to drive 2,000 kilometers across Europe. This is someone's house. Which, if you're a subscriber of Combi Life, you'll know is always easier said than done. I have to go back. Apparently I'm not allowed through this small border. Stick around, we're celebrating a huge and rare milestone too. Let's go exploring. Get those armpits in the water. I'm stinky. Let's have a look what the view looks like from the top of this hill. This has to be one of the highest parts of the island, right? Yeah, definitely. I can't see anywhere higher. It's a bit hazy today, isn't it? You can tell when it's this hazy there's either a forest fire or it's really hot. It's the latter, I believe. Straight into the camera. Did it. I tell you what, you can really get an appreciation for the foundations of the old village. It must be an old village, right? Yeah. Look at it down there. It looks, it's actually quite a size. That's what we passed on the way up, isn't it? Yeah, but from the sky you can really see, huh? Yeah. We were having this conversation with the Combi crew on Patreon about what these mystery structures could be. On Patreon, I uploaded a high-res aerial photo so you could really see the scale from our last camp in Croatia. Look, there's the Combi and look at the size of the structure nearby. You can see here that the walls are super thick and there's no space for doors or windows. So, is it a village? Nancy, the anthropologist, wondered if there might be some kind of raised agricultural beds and Robert mentioned that the main food source in Roman times was fermented fish which were salted in stone vats. We're still not certain, but one thing's for sure, these huge stone structures can be seen all over the island of Hvar. I'd love to hear your thoughts too and hopefully solve this mystery. So, please do leave a comment below. Much, much later. I think this is going to be our last camp spot in Hvar because we basically have to leave the island because this trip's coming to an end and we have to get out of Croatia, but it's a pretty stunning place to stay, isn't it? It's amazing. Right in the middle of a vineyard, there's a cemetery over there which you like. I love a graveyard. I find it a bit spooky, but it's okay. The moon's just rising up there. There's a church. Beautiful, isn't it? You can see the sea behind us. Sunset over there. Oh yeah. Right behind you. Sunset behind me. Nice. She's a little supermodel. Look. I'm going to turn it. Alaska, van, church, moon. Oh, that's a great picture. Stunning. And then we've got little George. Yeah, there's a good side. What a little poser. Handsome boy. Handsome boy. Yeah, great pictures. Have you ever had a grape from a vineyard straight off the vine? No. Do you think it's okay if we do, we just take one? Yeah, just one. Just one grape. Yeah. Got one. For you. Nice, look at that. Cheers. That's a nice grape. Super fresh. Early the next morning. Oh my god, look at the creepy detail on this gate. You want to go get some bones, Alaska? Okay, let's go. Right there. Go in the shade. Why do you like graveyards? I just like graveyards because they're peaceful and it's nice to see people being remembered. Like even though they're gone, they're remembered. Like someone loved them enough to give them a grave and they come back and they tend it and like you can see that they're still remembered. So I think that's really nice and sweet. A whole family. You've got people who lived nearly 100 years and people who didn't live at all. The baby there died the same year they were born. 1869, 2018. Three people still going. Well, they've got the dashes. They're on the, they're on the board. They don't have an end date. Dinka, Ivo and Marija. Maria? Maria, must be. That's spooky. What, their grave is already ready? I just think it's practical. Our last stop on the island of Hvar was one of Europe's oldest towns, Stari Grad, where we explored the streets hoping to find some traditional Croatian foods and learn a little bit more about this fascinating Mediterranean island. This was the main trading street of Stari Grad. Obviously, it's a very different situation now. This behind us is from the 14th or 15th century. The apothecary was here. It's like an old-timey pharmacy. Is that what that sign means, do you think? That's the coat of arms of the Italian guy who was the apothecary. That's the coat of arms of the Italian guy who was the apothecary. Okay, enough history. Time to eat. Really good. This is a traditional Dalmatian dish. It's fish cooked in tomatoes, onion and white wine, I believe. It smells delicious. Cheers. Cheers. I think so. I've lost count at this point. We're getting cheaper. Where are we going? Where are we going? You guys ready? Alaska hates escalators. This is Richard's first escalator. This is his first escalator. His first escalator. Alaska, come on. Arriba, vamos. Champion. How's that? Muy bien. Jump, jump, jump, jump. Oh, that was nice. She's actually probably taking one. We are here in Krka National Park. Absolutely stunning part of Croatia. It's been 40 degrees here today. So hot. The dogs are loving it though, in and out of the water. And it is absolutely beautiful, isn't it? The waterfall. Stunning. So many people though. I mean, obviously a national park like Krka attracts a lot of tourists every year, but it's still worth a visit. I was actually here about 15 years ago. I think I've got a picture of me also with short hair from 15 years ago. I'm sure I haven't aged a bit. Of course. Just as handsome, right? Yeah, definitely. Let you guys be the judge of that. We've lost George. He won't come back. He's chasing fish and ducks. The fish are actually chasing him now. He doesn't realise that behind him. They're all biting his bum. Look, look at them. It's crazy. They're all behind him. Where'd the fish go? He keeps going underwater though to have a look at them. It's quite funny. He's really taken to swimming since like in the last month or two months since he he's first learned to swim. He just can't get out of the water now. Have you guys been to Croatia? It's definitely, definitely worth a visit. All of the islands are stunning. I sailed through here many years ago and it was really, really worth a visit. Croatia is a fantastic country to explore. I highly recommend it. We weren't allowed to swim in a national park, which is totally fine because it meant there was lots and lots of fish and it's been a great day just checking them out. You know, it makes you wonder how many fish there would be in the seas if humans weren't allowed to interfere with their natural habitat. Anyway, rant over. We're going to have a little dip at the local beach. This will be much needed. Such a hot day. How many dogs are there? There's four. Look how cute they are. Five? Six. Six dogs. It's a lot of work. What kind of dog are they? One in the inside, they're poodles and Chinese Prestige and the top ones are bichons. Come on, we'll eat you girls. They are eels. This is the bottom. It's weird. It's cold at the top and warm at the bottom. I heard someone talk about it. They said the seawater's at the bottom and fresh water's at the top. That's why it's cold at the top and hot at the bottom. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Right, get those armpits in the water. Are they stinky? Yeah. From all the trekking through 40 degree heat we did today. It is really warm to hit the bottom. It's really weird. It's like actually quite cold up top but like your ankles are hot. It feels like someone's just peed. By the time we had finished frolicking in our sunset bath it was dark. Surely it's not down here. Our Kombi was on the verge of breaking down and we had to begin a humongous 2,000 kilometre drive the next day. This is someone's house. It's abandoned. That's okay. In the morning we awoke on the bank of a river and immediately decided to escape the rapidly rising heat, find some shade and troubleshoot our dying engine. Let me explain what's going on. We're having issues with the Kombi. It's not driving very well. That's a little bit of a concern. When you stick your foot down on the gas and give it some beans for the hills it's misfiring at high rpm so to troubleshoot that I always think it's either the air, the fuel or the spark that has a problem in those three categories. I very much doubt it's the air which I suspect it's the spark however that's much more difficult to troubleshoot so the first thing I'm going to do is see if I can notice a problem with the fuel and I can do that by logging in to our engine. So I'm going to log into my engine here and have a look to see if there's anything obvious as to what the problem is because we have a lot of driving to get to our end destination and we're not going to make it with the engine slowly dying as it seems to be. So I can see here that the fuel pressure should be somewhere close to 40 but actually when I give it some beans on the gas pedal the fuel pressure is actually dropping down to even 20 psi and it does sound like the fuel pump is working a little bit too hard so I think either the issue is... What the hell is that noise? Interrupt this commentary for some seaplane landing. There's loads of them isn't there? Hopefully this is the issue the fuel filter's blocked. I see it's pretty blocked. We interrupt this important announcement for a bit of rolling. Oh yes yes if you don't like engines you will like dogs. Definitely starts much better. The fuel pump is no longer whining like it's struggling like a fat man on a shitter. Don't come for that on YouTube. Tell you what the engine doesn't look quite as shiny as it did when we first built it but man still going strong. Shit I've done it. Oh there's bugs everywhere. Oh there's so many bugs. Oh sea bugs. Hi George. Hi. Hi George. Hi. Hi. Hi George. Hi. Ben as usual in the sea. Can't get him out. Gotta go somewhere. Just gonna stay in the sea. Oh well. Faith was of course right. We do have somewhere to go. We've got 2,000 kilometers or about 1,200 miles to drive across Europe back home to my island of Jersey. Each time I've crossed Europe it hasn't exactly been plain sailing and it seems this time was no different. Barbed wire. Your passport. I don't have my passport here to be honest. I'm not allowed through this border. I have to go back. So back to Croatia. Apparently I'm not allowed through this small border because I'm British and we're not part of Europe and this is only for Europeans so I have to go to the main border in another part of Croatia to get a stamp to cross the border. Brexit. The next day saw trouble-free motoring and border hopping as we crossed Slovenia, Austria, Germany and France. Sadly without enough time to really enjoy their beauty. We did however hit a pretty big milestone as Boomerang's odometer was about to reset. Reset the clock. Reset the clock on Boomerang. It's gone back to zero. I can't believe that we've actually managed to reset the clock. It's a once in a combi's lifetime when you own it I think. I don't think you really go around more than once. This is definitely a special moment. So much has happened in all of that time. So many adventures driving all the way across America, all the way around the UK, down through Europe and across Morocco and what an amazing adventure that was. So many more adventures to come I'm sure. Boomerang has been one trusty steed. Where to next mate? Where to next indeed. All up I'd say this latest leg of our never-ending road trip has been mostly a success. Of course not without some drama. For better or worse that's always guaranteed with Combi Life. But the point of this time on the road was to see how we'd get along living together off-grid and on the move in our tiny home on wheels. We had found the balance of working as digital nomads and proven it was possible and we had definitely achieved the adventure we'd set out in search of. Surprisingly even George the pandemic pup who hates cars had a great time on this extended sleepover. So I guess the only thing left is can I convince Faith to do it all again? And the answer to that is yes and no. But that is a story for next time.