Thursday 30 September Portoroz - Croatia

We are crossing the border into Croatia today and visiting the towns of Pula and Rovinj.
Before we leave at 09:00 the receptionist has told Doug that there is a problem at the border with a work to rule going on and it is taking a while to cross. Great!
Once everybody is on the coach I drive all of a hundred yards and then stop. Six of the group are going to Venice on Saturday and I need to pay for their tickets along with their passports at the local Kompass travel office. Twenty minutes later we are on our way. I had asked the lady in the office about the border and she said that yesterday their coaches were taking between one and two hours to get through!
The border is only a few minutes away and arriving at the Slovenian control we join a queue of four coaches.
It only takes about 15 minutes to become the first in the queue and a very nice guard asks if we are all British and wishes us a good day. What a nice man.
Now for the Croatian control and when I arrive there is only a German coach ahead of me. I jump off the coach and show my waybill to one of the guards who then points to an office. I enter and the German driver is in there talking to a lady the other side of the counter.
She seems a bit flustered as I pass over my waybill (a waybill is a green sheet of paper with the vehicle, driver, company and travel details on) and soon shakes her head and tells me this is for the EU and I need one for outside of Europe. I do not know what she means ands the German shows me a book of waybills where you complete the passengers names on the back and this is for travel in non EU countries. I didn't know about this and didn't need one when I spent a week in Croatia last year or when I went to Russia. These waybills are like the old ones we used to use. The German driver kindly offers me one from his book but the lady shakes her head and says no.
I am concerned I will be refused entry into the country when the lady looks at me as she throws the waybill back and says "just go, go". I go!
We are in Croatia and it has only taken about 25 minutes.
The motorway is quiet as we drive south to Pula arriving by 11:20. Pula is a lovely town but also a busy one until you reach the centre and its pedestrianised streets and squares. There are lots of Roman artifacts here including a magnificent Amphitheatre.
At 13:15 I drive from the coach park to pick the group up nearer the centre on a piece of ground by the harbour where an old railway line runs. A police car turns up and moves me on, I cannot stay for even 5 minutes. I drive back to the coach park, which is close by, and walk back up to send the passengers down to the coach. I soon realise why I have been moved - the old railway line isn't so old and a train is coming along pulling some empty freight carriages!
Once everybody is back on the bus we head north and the lovely resort of Rovinj. The sun is still out and it is a very warm day again which only enhances the beauty of Rovinj as we drive down the hill into the town ahead of us.
The last time I came here we saw the most magnificent superyacht called Luna dock here. It was a stunning ship and I late googled the name to find out that it is only the 19th largest yacht in the world and is owned by Roman Abramovich who also owns the largest. They only cost about £700 million each!
Everybody loves Rovinj with its shops, bars, old town and harbour. I don't see a lot today as I have to park the coach away from the dropping off point.
We leave here at 16:30 and it should only take about an hour to return to Portoroz.
All is well until we turn off the motorway and head down to the border crossing. The traffic has stopped and we join the queue. The going is slow and we inch forward a couple of cars at a time. It is dark by the time we reach the border and I pull over to the coach bay and walk into the office once again. A couple of guards are in there as I once again show the wrong waybill. They are very nice and explain that I must have a different one the next time I come to Croatia. I am relieved because I was worried I would have a problem getting out of the country withoiut this waybill, especially as they are on this work to rule.
We rejoin the queue that is stretching beyond the Slovenian border and then pull into their coach bay. Once the young guard has finished on his mobile he asks if we are all British and when I say yes he asks if I'm sure! He also asks how long we have been waiting and I tell him about two hours and then the barrier is raised and off we go.
By the time I have dropped at the hotel, parked the coach and had a shower it is now 20:45 and dinner finishes at 21:00 so I decide to go and have a beer and something out to eat.
There are three little busses that operate between Lucia (where I park the coach) and Piran going via the seafront and my hotel. I catch the number 1 bus and halfway along the promenade he turns right, away from the seafront, and stops. I jump off not wanting to be taken the wrong way only to see the bus turn around and continue past me towards the hotel! I'll know next time