The home stretch, the final push, stoppage time; whatever it’s called, it’s both a relief and a sadness. I’m certainly feeling road-weary, but the last few weeks have been filled with wonderful experiences, and it’s hard to imagine the constant freshness of traveling being over. Though there’ll be plenty of changes for the next few months regardless, so I’m not worried about being bored. But that’s all to come (sadly, much like the photos of the things I’ll now describe… they’re there, but sorting is not on my agenda for tonight).

So. From the lovely lakes of inland Croatia, we proceeded as planned down the coast, stopping rather often to wander about a town, check out a view, or, after too much heated wandering, take a dip in the ocean. The drive was lovely, and we managed to find a place to camp near a river at a rafting launch, after much driving around on the wrong tiny little barely-one-lane mountain roads. The next day brought the easiest border crossing I’ve ever had (waved through without so much a glance at our passports) and eventually arrival in Kotor, Montenegro, of which I’ve written much and fondly before. This time, with a car and a tent, was a very different but also wonderful experience. After a very filling dinner at the butcher shop/grill place, we headed back down the road around the bay, and made our quiet way to the old fortress above the incredibly picturesque town of Perast which, with it’s ivy-infested clocktower and offshore chapels so captivated me on my first pass. We pitched our tent in a very minty field (wild mint is apparently incredibly common in Montenegro) which was once protected by the crumbling fortress walls, but was now simply cozily hidden in their stepped shadows, and watched the colours change over the bay from the remains of the main wall, meters from the road but obscured by its height. The weather was on our side, we were able to watch the stars come out above the fortresses towering remains through the mesh of the tent.

And then the drive towards Dumitor National Park, passing through another park along the way, in which we stopped to hike up the the mountaintop tomb of one of Montenegro’s national heroes, a poet, who after some controversy had been finally installed in his beloved mountain by the communist regime, never to be parted from it again. The tomb was quiet magnificent, but no match for the view – the whole tiny country is mountains, grey rock ringed with trees and green fields, with occasional bursts of terracotta roofs. The weather again cooperated, providing views in most directions but hiding the valleys and the ocean in a sea of clouds.

The weather held just long enough for us to find a quiet field by the road with a bush to stash the car behind (wild-camping, even in unfenced areas, is illegal in Montenegro, and Croatia, so we were cautious, though we never had any trouble). The tent was up just as the rain really started, but our marshy looking field proved itself an appropriate sponge and we slept soundly.

And that’s where our weather-luck ended. As we neared Dumitor, the temperature fell and the rain increased. The drive was magnificent, winding roads through mountain passes and along swathes of deep green pasture, scattered with sheep, shepherds, and their shelters. But by the the time we reached the village at the heart of the park, the rain was going in earnest, and it was clear camping was not an option, so we spent a rather lovely evening in a cosy apartment with a loft, drying the rain off the tent and eating soup. The rain was disinclined to leave, and with our car-time rather limited, we headed out instead of waiting around, which may be one of my few regrets from this trip. Dumitor is somewhere I will return to. But we were off towards Sarajevo and hopefully sunnier climes, slightly delayed and rerouted when google maps’ suggested route through the park proved blocked by an eight foot high snowdrift.

Another magnificent drive, but now it’s time to get some crepes before we leave this paradise of desserts, so that will have to wait. Tomorrow, off to Scotland!