Very sad to know that we were unlikely to cross paths with the Avery's any time soon we said goodbye and ambled up the much better road to get on our way. No sooner had we driven 3km up the road than that terrifying warning message popped up on our dashboard again. This time not the engine light the message read...You have lost pressure in your right tyre! Finding the nearest gas station we pull over and although there is nothing visibly wrong with the tyre it did look a little flat so the helpful attendant pumped up our tyres and after 5 tense minutes of reading the manual we are able to recalibrate the pressure system so that the warning light disappeared. Disaster averted we set back off towards the Serbian border. We were about 2km away from the border when the light started flashing again and the dreaded message pops back up. Umming and ahhing about what to do we decide the best course of action was to get through the border then pull over. We proceed to the most run down border Dani and I had come across in Europe. We pass our passports over to the Hungarian officials as I need to be stamped out of the Schengen zone (Dani holds an EU passport so this isn't necessary) and we were waved through. We then drove through no-man’s-land to the Serbian checkpoint past old derelict buildings that seemingly once housed duty free stores and got to the next set of officials. This time we both needed stamps as Serbia is not EU and were pleasantly surprised by how nice they were. Quickly stamped and waved on we were suddenly asked to stop…as we'd been told that at the quieter crossing they can go through your whole car just because they have a lot of time on their hands. Not that we had anything to hide but our car was so carefully organised that it would be a nightmare to unpack and repack. The officer sternly asked where we were going and I informed him that we were heading to Subotica at which point with a flick of his hand we were dismissed! (I've never been so relieved) Just in view of the checkpoint we pulled over to look at the tyre. This time we could see a visible slash facilitating the leak. Thankfully we were both armed with the knowledge of how to change a tyre yet neither of us have actually done this...(Thanks Dad). I should probably mention at this point that the temperature gauge on the car read 37.5 degrees and it was burning hot. We rang Spaceship to locate the jack and the spare wheel as neither of us had been paying much attention at that point in our car tour and were told how to remove the spare from under the car. It took us an hour and a half to work out all the logistics of this particular car but hot and sweaty we finally get there! We could start our Serbian adventure. Having spent far longer doing the hour-long drive than necessary we decided the best course of action was to find our campground rather than explore Subotica. I knew there were 2 campgrounds located close to the lake so we set off in that direction hoping to spot the familiar camping sign. This is another failing of Google maps as they never give you the address only the township. Not seeing anything like a camping sign driving round the lake seemed our only option. About 500m down the road we spotted the tent symbol on a board of lake amenities and followed it. Another 200m down presented us with a sign that said "Kamping reception 500m" with an arrow pointing through a gate. Inside, there were 2 old caravans that looked like they hadn't moved since 1989 and one tent pitched up, as well as a very much abandoned reception. There was also one electricity box and a block of toilets that have also seen better days…at least a decade previously! We drove up to the restaurant on the lake where they told us we could park anywhere and that there was no charge. So despite the lack of usable facilities free is free...we were staying. This didn't seem so bad when a group of young Hungarians drove up and started pitching tents. I thought “this can't be so bad if others are here”. That seemed like a reasonable attitude until I heard a rustle outside the car and saw that there was a man sitting in a creepy party train complete with halogen lights just outside our window. He got out and walked around the back of the car and then got back in his train and rode off to park. We slept surprisingly well after the creepy man and the incredible heat inside the car. As we headed full throttle into European summer we sensed this was going to be more and more of a problem. The plan was to go and explore Subotica the next morning, however we still hadn't sorted out our spare tyre and the last thing we wanted was to get another flat and not be able to use our newly cemented skill of tyre changing. This meant finding the Volkswagen dealership in Subotica and asking their advice. They were very helpful and sent us in the direction of a tyre workshop to see if our original could be repaired. In broken English, Serbian and sign language we managed to agree that this very friendly man would fix our tyre as well as put our current tyre back on the VW rims. We were to come back in 2 hours and it would cost us €30. Although this was more than the man in VW had told us it should cost it wasn't much more and this man genuinely seemed to want to help us. We drove into Subotica and at last we would be able to wander around this Art Nouveau haven. Subotica is beautiful and well worth the stop if you have a thing for either Hungarian (yes I am aware that Subotica is in Serbia) or Art Nouveau architecture. The synagogue is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen and although it's not currently open to the public, the promised refurbishments that have been on hold for years are finally happening. It's actually so beautiful that we would come back to Subotica when it's open just to see inside. We returned to the tyre workshop just before it closed and the man we had dealt with earlier had left his brother with instructions. He artfully slid the wheel back under the car and secured it so that we could head off into the sunset. Now, electronic maps are notorious for sending you in the wrong direction or making odd choices about where you should go but our app had been pretty good so far. Not this time! In the 37 degree heat. This time it decided we were going to take a highway that had clearly been out of action for the better part of a half a century. The road mapped out was a series of unconnected bridges that led to a sheer drop. This was not going to be our route so we had to turn around and drive for the 3 time that day, past the tyre workshop and back to Subotica. This wouldn't have been so bad if the exit we were supposed to take on the highway (once we finally got on it) hadn't been shut! Luck just wasn’t on our side! This resulted in a 15km detour taking the next exit. Google maps also has this great habit of only having the town that our campground is in rather than an exact address (I know I have already moaned about this before) so knowing this town was about 4 streets we thought...how hard can it be to find?! Well, once we had driven the entire length of the town…and the next one over, Dani was ready to throw all her toys out of the cot! This was the second day in a row that an hour long drive had turned into over double that! We pulled over and managed to locate (using yet another app) the place we were heading for. The motel with attached campground had been less than a 100m from our original turn junction but as always happens in these kinds of situations, we had a choice between left and right (a 50/50 split) and we had gone the wrong way. Problem number 600 for the day...it looked seriously shut!! We followed the signs for reception and there was nobody there. Then we waited with a father and son who also wanted to check in for about 10 minutes, before Dani decided to explore around the back. What a beautiful sight the slightly disheveled old woman was as she walked around the corner jabbering at Dani happily in Serbian. We were shown to the pitches, which were lovely and had a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside. The site was littered with fruit trees and we were finally able to relax with, you guessed it…a nice cold beer! We were gobsmacked when another couple arrived at this incredibly isolated campground. They proceeded to unpack the most boxes we have ever seen carefully stacked into a car and then even more astounding was the fact that they had managed to set up camp, cook and sit down to a meal in 30 minutes. Another sweltering night preceded the next drive to the little village of Sremska Kamenica before heading on to another Avery recommendation. Sremska Kamenica is a sweet little town just outside of Novi Sad, which is famous for it’s locally produced wine. Bermet (red and white) is a dessert wine that was once served on the Titanic and tastes a little like a chilled version of mulled wine. Now, we’re not sure whether this place is always quiet or whether it was a Sunday thing but it felt pretty deserted. It had some interesting architecture and after wandering around for an hour and sampling some wine we picked up a bottle and headed off to Zasavica.
Zasavica is another tiny town near the Sava river. It is also the home of the world’s most expensive cheese that is made out of donkey milk. If you happen to have a spare €55 you can get a small sample pack to try (we didn’t have a spare €55). The campground located just outside the national reserve where the donkeys live is beautiful and very well equipped even if it is on the expensive side. After a peaceful and cool night’s sleep the only thing to do was go for a wander on the reserve. You get free entrance if you are staying at the campground so we headed off the 300m down the road. I’m not sure it’s the wildlife haven we both imagined, but we did get to pat a few donkeys and the colts (baby donkeys) were gorgeous. We also climbed up the viewing platform, which gives you a stunning view of the surrounding wetlands. The rest of the time at the campground was spent sorting, organizing, journaling and blogging before making a decision to drive right through to Zagreb instead of stop elsewhere in Croatia. I know this may seem like a strange decision but having travelled Croatia before we knew we didn’t really have time to head to the coast and we had no real desire to see the countryside leading to Zagreb. As beautiful as it may be there are very limited camping spots along this road and our option was to stop 15 minutes from the Serbian/Croatian border or drive through. We were meeting Dani’s Mum 2 days after, so it made more sense not to have a long drive to Slovenia either.
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