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Today was exercise day. Dianne and Brian had offered to take us out to see the world famous falls in the National Park oh the KRKA river. It is only about 5 km's out of town, so cycling out there seemed the natural way to do it.
We all had a bit of a sleep in, and then eventually made our way to breakfast at the café in the marina. I met up with Pete, Roz and Jo, who were already there, and Brian Cheryl and Di arrived sometime later. (not the best morning people) Ray, was still feeling unwell and was last to arrive.
Once we had our breakfast, we were off to get the bikes. The bike hire place was about a 10 minute walk from the marina in the town centre. The bikes were KTM and relatively new. As soon as we signed up, we were off. Di led the way, and I was tail end Charlie. The first 1.5kms was on the main highway onto town, which is very busy and quite windy. The drivers are very courteous, and seem to have plenty of patience with the tourists. Because the road is what it is, they cannot pass easily, especially when there is 8 very annoying tourists making out they were each winners of the last tour de France.
Eventually, we reached the entrance to the national park. This was closed off by a boom gate, which pedestrians and bikes could go around. From what I could see only service vehicles were allowed through this entrance.
The road to the falls was up and down hill, with the usual very steep hills on once side, and steep drop on the other. I was a little worried how Pete and Di were going to go, because they both have a fear of heights. But they went great, though Di did give a driver a bit of a scare when she panicked when he came up behind her. Finally we could see the entrance to the falls, and we could stop peddling as it was a steep slope down. Just as we arrived a boat load of tourists also arrived. (Brian had been racing this boat all the way, as you see it in the river next to the road.) By the time we locked the bikes up, the queue to get the tickets had grown considerably. The wait in the heat was quite taxing. We finally got our tickets and moved on towards the falls. What amazes me, is as you get closer the area opens up, to shops and restaurant's which are completely hidden from view. The placed was jammed packed with tourists, it was unbelievable.
The walk around the trail that follows the falls was also very busy, but certainly worth the effort of doing. The place would have been closed down in Australia, because it would not meet our OH&S standards. There are no guard rails, nothing, but people using their common sense, and there doesn't seem to be any injuries. Just happy people enjoying an environment that is free of signs that say don't do this or don't do that. We are so over governed back home.
Eventually we made our way back to the starting point. We had done the full circuit of this beautiful part of the world. Just as we were looking for a place to eat, we ran into the B Crew, who were all sitting down enjoying a laugh and a bit of food. We secured a table in another place just passed them.. For a place so busy, the quality of the food was excellent, and the quality of the service was also excellent. The waiters were run off their feet, yet they could still juggle 4 or 5 plates of food without spilling or dropping anything. They obviously had been doing this for a while. Very professional.
It was time move on, so we collect our bikes and headed back .Of course the laws of physic will tell you that if the last downhill is bloody easy, then it will also say the first uphill is going to be bloody ************ was very rarely wrong, and he certainly wasn't in this case. I was determined to get to the top using all 250 gears on my bike, and slowly but surely, I did get there. I couldn't look back because I was going so slow, if I had I would have fallen off. But to his credit Brian was not far behind me, those little legs going flat out, just like you see in the cartoons. He to made it. So I was king of the mountain for 5 minutes! The others, well..... lets say there cycling left a lot to be desired, one exception though and that was Ray, I was astounded he even found the energy to ride let alone do this hill. WELL DONE Ray!
The rest of the ride was quite good, and I was way out in front, thinking I had won the race to the highway, (I was daydreaming that I was receiving the gold trophy and a pass to next years Olympics), I noticed this flash out of the corner of my eye. There he was, his little legs peddling flat out and he passed me, and beat me! There goes my Olympic dream :( After that I just followed Brian into town. We got back in one piece which is good. The others turned up, and the owner of the bike place gave us all a round of free wine in the bar next door.
We made our way back to the mariner, and as with the night before the jazz band was setting up so we decided to sit for a while and enjoy the music and again have a few drinks and nibbly's.
We finally showered and cleaned up, and left for tea which was at 7.30pm. Ryan and Kristin had booked both crews into a restaurant up at the back of town, and they specialised in PECA's. Behind where we were sitting, we could see them all cooking in hot coals in this special fireplace. The lady that broke them open and dished them out was so good to watch. I have decided i am going to try and do these when I get back. We all had a good night out, and I can say I certainly enjoyed the beef PECA I had. Probably the only let down for the night, was the wine, which was a little like vinegar.
It was back to the boat, as we had a long day tomorrow. We all made a decision to go back to Split tomorrow, rather than doing another stop. If we left it to Saturday, it would be a very vey long day. The trip to Split.would however be about 8 hours.
We all had a bit of a sleep in, and then eventually made our way to breakfast at the café in the marina. I met up with Pete, Roz and Jo, who were already there, and Brian Cheryl and Di arrived sometime later. (not the best morning people) Ray, was still feeling unwell and was last to arrive.
Once we had our breakfast, we were off to get the bikes. The bike hire place was about a 10 minute walk from the marina in the town centre. The bikes were KTM and relatively new. As soon as we signed up, we were off. Di led the way, and I was tail end Charlie. The first 1.5kms was on the main highway onto town, which is very busy and quite windy. The drivers are very courteous, and seem to have plenty of patience with the tourists. Because the road is what it is, they cannot pass easily, especially when there is 8 very annoying tourists making out they were each winners of the last tour de France.
Eventually, we reached the entrance to the national park. This was closed off by a boom gate, which pedestrians and bikes could go around. From what I could see only service vehicles were allowed through this entrance.
The road to the falls was up and down hill, with the usual very steep hills on once side, and steep drop on the other. I was a little worried how Pete and Di were going to go, because they both have a fear of heights. But they went great, though Di did give a driver a bit of a scare when she panicked when he came up behind her. Finally we could see the entrance to the falls, and we could stop peddling as it was a steep slope down. Just as we arrived a boat load of tourists also arrived. (Brian had been racing this boat all the way, as you see it in the river next to the road.) By the time we locked the bikes up, the queue to get the tickets had grown considerably. The wait in the heat was quite taxing. We finally got our tickets and moved on towards the falls. What amazes me, is as you get closer the area opens up, to shops and restaurant's which are completely hidden from view. The placed was jammed packed with tourists, it was unbelievable.
The walk around the trail that follows the falls was also very busy, but certainly worth the effort of doing. The place would have been closed down in Australia, because it would not meet our OH&S standards. There are no guard rails, nothing, but people using their common sense, and there doesn't seem to be any injuries. Just happy people enjoying an environment that is free of signs that say don't do this or don't do that. We are so over governed back home.
Eventually we made our way back to the starting point. We had done the full circuit of this beautiful part of the world. Just as we were looking for a place to eat, we ran into the B Crew, who were all sitting down enjoying a laugh and a bit of food. We secured a table in another place just passed them.. For a place so busy, the quality of the food was excellent, and the quality of the service was also excellent. The waiters were run off their feet, yet they could still juggle 4 or 5 plates of food without spilling or dropping anything. They obviously had been doing this for a while. Very professional.
It was time move on, so we collect our bikes and headed back .Of course the laws of physic will tell you that if the last downhill is bloody easy, then it will also say the first uphill is going to be bloody ************ was very rarely wrong, and he certainly wasn't in this case. I was determined to get to the top using all 250 gears on my bike, and slowly but surely, I did get there. I couldn't look back because I was going so slow, if I had I would have fallen off. But to his credit Brian was not far behind me, those little legs going flat out, just like you see in the cartoons. He to made it. So I was king of the mountain for 5 minutes! The others, well..... lets say there cycling left a lot to be desired, one exception though and that was Ray, I was astounded he even found the energy to ride let alone do this hill. WELL DONE Ray!
The rest of the ride was quite good, and I was way out in front, thinking I had won the race to the highway, (I was daydreaming that I was receiving the gold trophy and a pass to next years Olympics), I noticed this flash out of the corner of my eye. There he was, his little legs peddling flat out and he passed me, and beat me! There goes my Olympic dream :( After that I just followed Brian into town. We got back in one piece which is good. The others turned up, and the owner of the bike place gave us all a round of free wine in the bar next door.
We made our way back to the mariner, and as with the night before the jazz band was setting up so we decided to sit for a while and enjoy the music and again have a few drinks and nibbly's.
We finally showered and cleaned up, and left for tea which was at 7.30pm. Ryan and Kristin had booked both crews into a restaurant up at the back of town, and they specialised in PECA's. Behind where we were sitting, we could see them all cooking in hot coals in this special fireplace. The lady that broke them open and dished them out was so good to watch. I have decided i am going to try and do these when I get back. We all had a good night out, and I can say I certainly enjoyed the beef PECA I had. Probably the only let down for the night, was the wine, which was a little like vinegar.
It was back to the boat, as we had a long day tomorrow. We all made a decision to go back to Split tomorrow, rather than doing another stop. If we left it to Saturday, it would be a very vey long day. The trip to Split.would however be about 8 hours.
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