Update - 21 July 01

"This is 52 A, SITREP."

Well summer seems to of hit us here in Bosnia. The temperatures are ranging from the mid to high 30's, so there's no time better to discuss Day Trips.

While in Bosnia, all the troops are entitled to 2 day trips. These are day long excursions that are given out to all the troops to make sure everyone gets a chance to get away for a bit of a break to relax and see something different in a relaxed mode. On 18 July, I was one of the lucky ones, along with Cpl Gallagher to "Get out of town" for the day.

The day started early, with the bus departing at 0630hrs for Zaton. Zaton is a small beach resort on the Adriatic coast near Zadar in Croatia. We left our happy camp & headed down to Bihac, where we picked up a couple more of the guys and then we were escorted to the Bosnian - Croatian border by a patrol from Bihac with ... Cpl Holdom.

After a bit of a delay at the border, we then headed out to Zaton. The trip was an uneventful 4 hours.

Arriving in Zaton was a breath of fresh air. The entire costal area of Croatia is very rocky & mountainous, but the beach area was very welcoming, with lots of activities, such as Jet Skiing, Para Sailing, snorkeling & swimming just to name a few.

After we got in, the first step was to exchange some money. The local currency in Croatia is Kuna, with $1 Cdn equaling about 5.6 Kn. After a quick change & exchange it was off to lunch & the beach.

The beach was busy, as it is also the Summer Holiday timeframe in the region, like in Canada. All the guys split up & ended up seeing each other at different timeframes throughout the day.

I took off with Sgt Steve Powell from Mortars & MCpl J.P. Lamothe from November Coy. Some of the activities we did were a little shopping at some of the Gift Shops along the beach area and JP & I took out a couple of jet skis.

Later in the day we met up with some of the other guys, which included Cpl Gallagher, for supper. Then it was back to the bus for 1900hrs for the trip back to Coralici.

Cpl Gallagher & Pte Tibbits enjoying a bit of supper, a story, & a "refreshment" after a busy beach "patrol"!

All in all. It was a fun day. The weather was great, water warm, and a nice day to get "Out Of Theatre", kick back & relax.

Other than that, all is very quiet here in Camp. People are conducting a little training, patrolling, and various other jobs & duties that have to be done here. All are in good health & we are starting to look at the calendar to see when the end is.

Next update from me will not be until after 26 July, as tonight (21 July) I head out to Budapest for my last R&R, a 4 day trip there.

Until then, PRO PATRIA & SEMPER PARATUS!

52A, Out!