WE MOVED TO… CROATIA

Friday 1st December 2006

Adrian Monti

Shirley Spencer, 29, and her partner Daniel Garraway, 30 moved from Watford to the Croatian coast earlier this year

Why? Croatia?
We went travelling in 2003 and it gave us a taste for adventure. We thought about moving to Australia or New Zealand, but fell in love with Croatia after a short holiday there. We returned to see where we'd live and what we could do there, and finally moved in 2005.

How do your homes compare?
We sold our two-bedroom terraced house in Watford for £170,00 and bought a three-bedroom modern villa in the village of Tar on the Istrian peninsula for €130,000 (£80,000). We have a patio with sea views, and share a pool and tennis courts with other villas on the complex just two miles from the beach.

What surprised you the most about life in Croatia?
The lush, green countryside, cleanliness and neat little villages. Before we came we thought the war, which split Yugoslavia in the 1990s, would have left the towns bomb-damaged, but that's not the case. The climate is really lovely too – long, hot summers and mild winters.

What's the food like?
The supermarkets are well stocked and, apart from Heinz Salad Cream, we can get most things at roughly UK prices. Eating out's very reasonable, though – lunch costs about £16 for four, and we eat a great deal of pasta and fish.

What are your working hours like?
In the UK, Daniel had his own plumbing business and I was a PA. We worked and commuted long hours. We've now set up a property sales and management company (Experience Croatia). In some ways it's more stressful as it's our business, but we love having meetings on the beach!