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As we had hoped, today dawned fine with blue skies above and a bit of a cool wind. The air temperature was about 5 degrees so a few layers of clothes were warranted – however my hands stayed cold till mid
afternoon when we hopped into the car and started driving.
But plenty happened before then.
The park opens at 7.00 am so we were pretty keen to get breakfast behind us (available from 7.00 am), so after waking at about 6.00 am, it was a matter of getting into action ASAP. I am the slowest to get ready so I leapt into action and got organized (sort of). Breakfast, check out and pack the car and we were off for the very short drive to the entrance of the lakes / national park. With Alison Astra parked we then headed to the ticket office and looked at our options for exploring the Plitvice lakes area.
We had heard that recent rain had flooded the walkways of the lower lakes, so that they were only able to be observed from a higher up path. After yesterday's torrential rain this remained true, so we took the bus (a very interesting 3 section articulated bus which easily turned in a very tight turn at each end of its run and could carry a lot of people (necessary as the crowds are huge). The bus dropped us in a spot from where there was an easy round trip walk to look down on the lower lakes.
As expected, the falls and lakes were fantastic - a veritable visual sensory delight with the beautiful bright greens of the vegetation contrasting with the aqua (lakes) and white (waterfalls) of the water and the white rocks. With my amateur photographic skills is difficult to take happy snaps that do justice to the beauty and diversity of what the Plitvice Lakes are ... My few snaps show some of it - those of you who have visited here will understand and you others will just have to plan a visit!
After the elevated walk to view the lower lakes (including seeing the flooded walkways which were closed today) we headed down the hill and took a short boat ride across the middle lake section to the series of upper lakes. I have attached pics to give you some ideas about what I saw – I walked the whole upper section (around 5kms, equal parts up, down and across) and have to say that I enjoyed every moment and delighted in the fact that around every turn (much like this whole Croatian adventure) there is something dfferent to see.
That said, it is also true that the crowds are nnoying. Not that I mind people sharing the space and visiting a naturally beautiful lace, but the paths and walkways across the lakes are quite narrow – a good width or two people going in the opposite direction to pass quite easily. But of ourse people are people and there were visitors of all ages, some in prams and some quite slow, plenty of dogs (poor darlings I don’t know how some of them handled the wooden slatted paths), people well kitted out for the walk, others not so, people who insisted on walking 3 abreast and then seeming surprised
that I would stop and give them ‘a look’, expecting at least one to move over…and plenty of impatient people wanting to get ahead or to stop and take photos then hold everyone up.
But getting there early and leaving after lunch meant that the majority of the bus loads of visitors were arriving as we were preparing to leave and I felt that the crowds would be worse as the afternoon wore on.
I could probably go on for ages about the form of the lakes – but I wont. My few pics will give you a sense of it all, but it is also important to note that the day was totally rain-less, clear blue skies predominated the day and while the air temp at the lakes remained cool, it was heaps, heaps better than the previous day’s weather. We felt that our decision yesterday to opt for a quiet but wet day rather than dashing around the lakes, was a great decision.
And on that note, as evidence of the cold conditions yesterday, when driving out today we noticed a hill that we saw yesterday that we thought had a bit of snow on it, but today it had much more serious snow delivered from falls late yesterday and overnight.
Upon leaving the lakes early afternoon, we headed directly to Rijeka, our next port of call on the coast. We had a few minor issues with Gertie Garman on the way but I wont go into the details, enough to say that we arrived safely, found our delightful Villa Nora well located between the newer touristy part of town and the central, older part. Our apartment is on the 2nd floor of what is quite a large house / villa and our 2-bedroom apartment is excellently kitted out, and my huge bed is very comfortable (so far for sitting on but soon for sleeping on).
But by then we were exhausted, the up and down-ness of the walk meant that my ankles were ready for a holiday by the time I had seen the lakes, but driving Alison through some twisty bits kept both feet and my gear changing arm quite occupied. Bags into the apartment and wewere ready to take it easy.
Fortunately there is a supermarket across a square opposite, past an enormous swimming complex, up a lift to the ground floor (we are down quite a steep hill with magnificent views across the harbor (see pic) and across the road. Armed with essential supplies (such as wine, beer,
cheese and a tasty treat or two) we retired to enjoy the Adriatic sunset and
catch up on a day’s worth of electronic communications.
Tomorrow will be a great opportunity to explore Rijeka and compare it to the other Croatian cities and towns we have met.
- comments
sally.c Great that you finally got some decent weather! :) xx
heatheroz Waterfalls look amazing Jenny. Love the view from your apartment too
[email protected] What a stunning area x