July 30th we set off for Croatia; after heading to Venice for a couple of nights we had a booking with the Marco Polo ferry to take us from Rijeka to the Island of Korcula from where we would wend our way back up the coast after relaxing for a few days; at least that was the plan. If you want to skip all the travelogue scroll down to 2 below!
Things started off well enough, we arrived at Dover fully loaded and ready to hit the road.
We spent our first might at Chalons-sur-Champagne at the camping municipal (recommended as a stop over site); got up early and headed over toward the Gottard tunnel, mainly by Autoroute although we did cut off a corner from Langres to Belfort on the E54/D9 through some lovely scenery.
Hit traffic after Basle and again just before the Gottard tunnel where we stayed stationary on the road for about 30 minutes. The GPS tried to redirect me over the Gottard pass but it was already 6pm and I decided to hold on for the tunnel .... maybe some other time!
That night was spent on the shore of Lake Lugano in Camping Paradiso; I'd have to be desperate to go back there; 2 minutes after we arrived the strains of a karaoke filled the air along with the stench of fried everything, but it served its purpose for a night.
Here was the first time we had any cause to comment on the van which up to then had been driving well. We had been getting some prop vibration today at around 80kmh and just as we arrived at the campsite the kids had said they had heard a noise but it did not repeat itself that evening or the following morning.
We set off for Venice and as soon as I hit the Autostrada and got above 90kmh all settled down and she drove nicely.
Just before Milan the traffic came to a stop; all 6 lanes, with irate italians steaming off in all directions. After 20 minutes and travelling as many yards I hit the detour button on the GPS and followed the herd up the hard shoulder and out of the next exit 500 metres away.
We picked a way around the northern fringes of Milan through Monza and toward Bergamo; the principle feature of the road we took was that of hookers every half kilometre or so standing besides fields plying their trade in +32C of heat in the middle of nowhere .... seemed odd to me.
By now the prop was bugging me as we were driving at 80kmh much of the time. We rejoined the Autostrada and headed on to Camping Serenissima just outside Venice near Oriago. A highly recommended site set in an oasis of trees including the best indian bean trees i hve seen. The site is a 15 minute bus ride away from Venice itself. The bus stop is directly outside and you buy your tickets in the camp site.
Here we stopped for a couple of nights. We enjoyed a full day in Venice generally sight seeing away from the busier places and taking in some of the magic this old city has to offer. I never tire of the pageant of colours light and shade that are played out at every corner.
We set off the following morning on part two of the Journey round to Rijeka to pick up the Jadrolinja line ferry down the coast. This trip was relatively short and 90% motorway so I left the prop in and decided to grin and bear the vibes.
We passed through Slovenia and arrived at Rijeka without incident and sat on the quay waiting for the 8pm departure; the quay side was busy and by 7pm was awash with backpackers jostling for position to race for the best deck positions for the night ahead. As the evening drew in the skys darkened ominously and we felt the first rain spots of an approaching storm.
Once aboard we were relieved we had booked a cabin as just about every square inch of deck had sleeping bags and mats laid out in preparation for the night; shame not many of them had noticed the black clouds and lighting flashes descending across Istria to the North.
As we departed the port we were engulfed in a huge electric storm which we watched with amazement from the relative safety of the bar deck which had a canopy over it; handy to protect my beer from the downpour !
The pictures do not do it much justice; but it was both awesome to watch and entertaining to see how quickly all the bedding was removed from deck once the penny had generally dropped.
After an hour or so as the sky blackened and the land retreated into the shadows we retired to the restuarant and then to the comfort of our cabin for the night.
The following morning we woke as we left the port of Split and headed for Stari Grad.
At each port a rush of travellers leached onto the quay to be replaced onboard by those moving on down the coast; cars and trucks were manouvered on and off the ferry amid a chorus of shouting and gesturing; no orderly queuing here; just an idea of a plan in someones head which is revised by the minute as vehicles of all descriptions are arranged and reaarranged into the place that will eventually see them on to their correct destination.
For the rest of the journey we sat on the deck and watched the Islands pass with bay after secluded bay each calling you in.
At just after midday we arrived at Korcula and were quite taken with our chosen destination.
It was our turn to join the melee of departing vehicles and passengers; we emerged from the ship onto a gridlocked quay and picked our way out onto the road and headed away from the scrum.
We travelled on down the coast road a few Kilometres and found ourselves a very basic one star camp called Tri Zala right on the shore. We had not booked anything and worried whether we would find a space in high season August but had no problem at any of the camps we enquired in. We chose Tri Zala because it was small; only 20 pitches; was right on the shore and had no facilities apart from an honesty bar on the beach. This consisted of a stone built shed bar with a fridge full of beers in it and a couple of benches set under a tree with the waves lapping at your feet. You want a beer you help yourself and put your name in a book adding the number of beers you drink. You pay when you leave and the beer is at cost price with no markup!
So here we set up home with the intent of staying a few days!
There always a small feeling of Triumph when you arrive at the dot that you set on the map as your destination so that evening we set about celebrating with the bottle of off the back of a lorry champagne we had bought back in France; and Charlie joined in !
We were unaware of what would unfold two days later when we went off on an explore.
2) The Tale of Woe
After a long days driving around the islands lanes at a crawl to limit exciting the prop we pulled in to the village of Racicze with a bit of a bump; as we slowed there was a crunch that got the passengers all excited. I turned off the music and the aircon and as i pulled away got a clunky wrenching metal on metal sound. We pulled in and sat at a cafe next to the sea so that I could have a poke around and try to get a handle on what was going on.
No way it was wheel bearings for reasons i shall share later; I thought the most likely cause was that the uj had come loose so i decided to limp the 6km back to the campsite and take a look. At least we would be back in camp and set for the night. The journey back was noisy but not too alarming. I pulled out the selection of tools i had brought and the jack and set to work.
The UJ bolts were all fine but there was too much play in the wheel. I jacked up the other side to compare and the travel with one hand on the top of the tire and the other on the bottom was a fraction of the problem side. This was the opposite side to the one that I had just recently replaced the hub on; and anyway my Bristol mechanic had done both sides wheel bearings in April which was what lead to the issue with the hub!
This problem was beyond my means; I did not have the tools to strip the wheel down so had to find a mechanic.
He was found 8km away in Lumbarda and it took two gut wrenching drives to his place before he could take the van in; the first one was on a saturday morning only to be told come back on Monday at 9.
On monday at 9am I drove back to Lumbarda at 10/15kmh convinced I was about to loose a wheel. He took the van in with no promises and we lost our accommodation and borrowed a tent from the campsite.
We had also lost our transport; imagine my embarrasment when the only hire car available on Korcula was this ....
Anyhow; I returned to the mechanics place on Monday evening to find the van on the ramp and the wheel stripped.
and then to be shown this..
a collapsed wheel bearing, which when stripped apart turned into this .....
and then worst of all this ...
which you can see is pretty much fubar'ed.
At that point i decided to phone a friend and Aiden kindly obliged in identifying part numbers; and locating a new bearing housing which was all fine apart from the four weeks it might sit in customs before it reached me. In the mean time i also phoned the RAC who politley told me they did nt cover Croatia. This also turned out to be wrong and added another interesting twist to the tale. But I wanted to drive home so put my efforts into th repair.
The mechanic said his VW man in Zagreb had the parts, but it turned out that the mechanic in Zagreb was telling our man that there was no way on earth that he had a syncro 16 sitting in his garage. All this was done through the interpretation of a young lad who nearly spoke english in a far away kind of way. I had the part numbers and when the man in Zagreb faxed over his drawing from ETKA i knew he had the wrong info.
After much deliberating we cancelled the order from Zagreb; we dismissed ordering from Germany because of the possible delay, and just when it looked like we would have to get the van transported to split for a ferry to Ancona and recovery home an old boy walked in to the commotion and said our bearing housing could be fixed in the local shipyard with an old fashioned lathe and a sleeve.
We all looked at him incredulous; but true to his word I picked the van up two days later and have driven it home.
We got home a day late; the repair cost me just short of £400 but would you believe it the prop vibes have all gone away!
I was reminded this trip of why I dont care too much for tents.
On the second night under canvas this was found scuttling around my pillow ..
and then we found this little fellow in my kit bag ..
The final twist in this tail of woe is just too coincidental for anyones good.
The day we were to pick up the van this little number pulled into the port. Its a new $100 million number called Vibrant Curiousity
Turns out the owner is none other than Rein Wuerth the german industrialist. When i picked up the van late that day our mechanic handed me the box my bearings came in with the old parts and you guessed it; they were that same brand. Thats what I call a delivery with personal service !
That evening we set off for home; driving up the coast to Split where we cut inland, up to Maribor in Slovenia, passed Graz in Austria where we all raised a salute and into Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and back on the ferry. We showed Sea France the receipt for the repair and they let us on the ferry without penalty even thogh we were a day late.
3) Epilogue
I have not had any desire to confront my local mechanic with the tail of woe as yet. He assured me he had replaced the bearings on both side; i point i made to the mechanic in Croatia. His response was to shake his head and explain through his interpreter that this side had not been apart fror a very long time. i have the bits for what its worth.
The last thing i suspected was the wheel bearing; but what is even more surprising to me is how easily I was duped into thinking the prop shaft was the cause of the vibration. I had had this on the Tristar and it was the same symptom which eventually culminated in the UJ on the prop going bad.
It indicates to me how finely interconnected and tuned the whole drive path must be and sensitive to any one component giving rise to symptoms elsewhere. I can say without hesitation that apart from the vibration at 80kmh there were no other symptoms. At a 100kmh the van drove beautifully on the way down; it drove a whole lot better at all speeds on the way home !
I am intrigued as to what the shipyard did to the bearing housing; that is now that i have got over the fact that there was a shipyard on a small island in Croatia able to even make a repair. I was told they would machine out and sleeve the housing. Whatever they did has worked for the 2000km it took to drive home. if these parts are going obsolete could this be a fix that works long-term?
Should i continue to drive on it and test the theory or get the replacement and take a look at the repaired item ?
, and maybe find another one for the future.
we woke p to see this parked up in the morning in the bay 
