Road Trip and leaving Rovinj!!

Dobar Dan everyone.....
Well we are finally heading back South (towards the sun hopefully). Memories of the hurricane strength winds we experienced in Pula are fading and we are starting to enjoy better weather. Our surroundings are gradually coming to life as restaurant owners, apartment owners, marina owners etc start to gear up for summer. Shops are being painted, boats are being cleaned up and launched and we are finally starting to see a few other mad people on boats, however no English speaking ones yet!
We stayed in Rovinj for over a week. We put Shirley Valentine into the marina there and had a few days away on a road trip which was probably one of the most entertaining I have had in my life!! We left Rovinj around midday after mooring the boat securely and picking up the hire car. We then headed to the Limski Kanal, just north of Rivinj. We wanted a boat trip, however none of the tourist boats were working and we had to make do with sightseeing from land instead. There were some lovely market stalls and we bought a massive smoked goats cheese (Craig reckons it's the best cheese he has ever tasted) and some blackberry wine for 'our blood!'. Amazing what a salesman will tell you, isn't it. The Limski Kanal was beautiful but it was very hazy so we didn't get many good shots.
We then headed to Llubljana (where we didn't find Ikea, however didn't get lost this time) and then up to Lake Bled in Slovenia. We had wanted to visit there from Koper, however didn't make it due to the weather. We booked into a really nice hotel at a very reasonable price and had a lovely meal in the hotel restaurant.
In the morning we went exploring. The area is absolutely breathtaking with the lake, an ialand with a beautiful church, a castle, mountains etc etc etc. You get the picture! We found a boat trip to take us to the island (shared with one Italian couple) and spent a lovely half an hour pottering around. The church (The church of Mary the Queen) has the most amazing interior I have ever seen. We then returned ashore and found the Blejski Grad (castle) which towers over the town of Bled. We found a monk who let us bottle our own bottle of wine for $15. He has met Jennifer Hawkins when she came to Croatia to do a Getaway show!
After this we decided to pop into Austria. We went through a tunnel, travelled for 7,865 metres and........ we were in a different country! We travelled East through Austria for a few hours. There was still a lot of snow around and the scenery was breathtaking. We then headed South again, back to Slovenia through an amazing (I am running out of suitable descriptive terms to try to paint this picture) mountain pass. The road was full of hairpin bends and although clear of snow there was still piles of snow at the roadside. Beside us there were mountain streams flowing with the aqua marine colour that you get with limestone. Then we saw the REALLY high mountains.
Heading back to Croatia, we crossed the border and stayed the night in Rijecka which seemed a bit more like a happening kind of place. We stayed in an amazing hotel (probably about a 5 star equivalent) which is so unlike Craig that I had to pinch myself. The luxury was sooooo nice!
The following morning we headed back to Rovinj and found Shirley Valentine safe and well. We unpacked and went to explore the possibility of a laundry that we had heard about. We stripped beds and found every possible thing that needed washed as laundry is still a bit of an issue due to the weather. When we had traipsed there fully laden, we found it was shut but opened early the next morning. We left the marina and went back to our favourite anchorage.
Then next day it rained cats and dogs and we had a very lazy day on board, playing games and reading. On the Tuesday, we once again dragged our hoards of laundry into town and were told that it would be ready at 5pm. The laundries here do the work for you (of course, it costs much more.... but appeals to my lazy nature!) and you just drop off and pick up! We pottered around town and explored some more, had lunch and then went back and picked up beautiful piles of clean clothes. We almost got it on board dry, apart from one pile which got slightly damp.
We prepared for leaving the next day, stowing the dinghy and tidying up.
At 0600hrs the next morning we were ready to leave and upped anchor. We did a short trip round the harbour to say goodbye to Rovinj. I think I left a little of my heart there, it was such a beautiful place! We wanted to head south for Veruda, near Pula to get the Volvo engine serviced. We motored for a few hours, and wouldn't you know it... just as we entered the bay, the wind got up. We put up the sails and had a great sail for a few hours in about 20 to 25 knots of wind before heading into an anchorage east of Veruda.
Yesterday we headed round to the marina and booked in for a few nights. We found the volvo dealer, however he was a bit shitty with English speaking people as he had been mucked around by one the day before and wasn't very helpful. As we speak, we are sitting on deck waiting to see if he can fit us in today! If he can't, we are heading off tomorrow to head further south to a place called Mali Losinj which means we are leaving the mainland and heading to the islands. We did another big shop yesterday in Pula so that we are well provisioned before we leave and will fill up with fuel etc in the morning.
Ah well, I think it is beer o'clock. Will talk to you all soon.
xxxx Craig and Lesley