Sunday,
Monday 23,24-Jun-2019 (Crvena Luka, Zadar, and on to Plitvice Lakes National
Park)
Our
visit to Crvena Luka (4 star Hotel and Resort) does need a little more comment).
On Trip Advisor it gets a 4 star rating…
but it did have elements of Fawlty Towers… We have already mentioned the “view”.
The room safe was clever too – you put your stuff in it, locked it… and there
they stayed until “Technical Assistance” were called – with a big key, to open
it for you. Of course, as explained by “Technical Assistance”, if you pressed
the invisible button on the inside of the door, before outing in your combination,
and selecting the right (unnamed) button on the front – before operating the
locking mechanism – all would have been well! I did enquire about where I might
find these complex instructions – but he was at a loss to identify their
location. It had a lovely Wellness Centre
too (you know, quiet music, sea shells on the counter etc., and bright eyed attendant). Beach towels were only available at the
Wellness Centre… but the “bright eyed attendant was never there, and didn’t
respond to phone calls. Turns out that she has two jobs – front office (hand
out towels) and back office, provide massages (or whatever they do) as well… and when doing the latter – no towels
are available! It did have a clever card
operated security too… but for the room without the “sea view” we needed a physical
key… as the security system was “not working at the moment… And why would a
room need more than half a roll of toilet paper? Can anyone think of a need to
hang up clothes in a bedroom… if so then one would need something to hang them
on?? The list goes on.
But
all that aside – we really appreciated our stay there – even if the bed was really
uncomfortably hard. (Fiat’s bed is very comfortable!). But it was good to be
back in Fiat (Karilyn now prefers the name “Isny”… but I am still being
annoyingly persistent with “Fiat”) and our home on wheels – it really does have
all we need and is very comfortable!
So
a few more images from Crvena Luka (which did have a beautiful setting), and our
Dinner at the Il Moro Restaurant (2nd night since opening) was
really good. The water was clear, and the beach sandy (as opposed to “rock”, or
(very) large “pebbles”.
And
we listened to the Sea Organ too – which “plays” as a result of wave action on
a set of pipes that are mounted under the quayside. Hard to describe the sound – but when we were
there – the sounds
were somewhat mournful, except for when a boat wake arrived – where it produced
more of a chirping sound… but it was still interesting – and clearly a visitor “attractor”
(as demonstrated by our own presence!).
One
of the places that hs always been high up on the list of places to visit in Croatia
is the Plitvice Lakes National Park (I think they occasionally appear as
Windows 10 screen saver images). The
only camp ground really nearby was the “Plitvice Holiday Resort” (Croatia
Camping Ground of the year, 2019!)… and we were outside the ACSI discount
period. But before arriving there – we had
a really interesting set of roads to travel… with some dramatic scenery… and a
nice close view of Bosnian countryside as it turns out (we are told, much of it
is still in ruins – just is the case for some of the structures we have seen along
the byways of Croatia). Not many places
to stop and take photographs though.
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| Want to stay in a Tepee, instead of a cabin? Can do. |
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| This is what a NZ$100/night camping pitch looks like... |
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| Want to stay in a tree house, instead of a cabin? Can do. |
Tuesday, 25-Jun-2019 (Plitvice Lakes to Mosenicka Dragga)
What can we say about the Plitvice
Lakes National Park? First of all we have
to comment on the “crowd management” process. First you buy a ticket
(HRK250/person – that’s about NZ$60 /person) – but you can only buy that at certain
times… starting on the hour, for entry on the next half hour. This is not explained…
and the queues can get quite long while you are working it out.
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| Queuing to a) buy tickets (on the right) and b) get into the park (on the left). |
After
that – they let you in in one large pulse… very curious! There were three “routes”
through the park – we chose “C” as it seemed to cover the whole waterfall
region, included a boat ride (across one of the lakes) and a return to starting
point via a Unimog pulling road train (Tractor with seating (the Unimog) plus
two four wheel “carriages”. It turned out that Trail C was 9.8 km long,
included 558m of ascent and 10,255 steps – so a nice stroll in the woods. And
this is some of what we saw along
the way.
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| Could the imagining of Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings come from this setting?? The "Big Fall" or "Veliki Slap". |
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| Just the lower part of Veliki Slap! - water falls everywhere! (and note the walkway) |
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| These iridescent blue dragon flies are ever present... catching them in frame and in focus is more of a challenge... needless to say this is from a few pixels, somewhere in a larger frame! |
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| Still more... |
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| And more... the pathways weave among the falls so you really get to experience them up close. |
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| And more... |
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| Grey haired gentleman with teddy bear... |
A wonder world of water falls, cascades and lakes – all translucently
clear. Expensive – but a place of great beauty.
It was “like” Krka National Park –
but just “bigger”. We also assume that
many (but not all, e.g. the “Big Fall”) of the lakes / waterfalls were created
in the same way as those in Krka – i.e. by travertine processes.
And what did staying in Croatia’s best campsite cost? A mere
HRK525 for one night (NZ$125!). We planned to make Pula in the Istrian Peninsula
part of Croatia the last place we would visit before heading into Slovenia –
but with the time we spent in the National Park – that was too far so we stopped
at a beautiful, grassy campsite just west of Rijeka. It was so nice – we forgot
to take a picture of it… but we did take a phot of their welcome greeting at
reception.
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| We liked this sentiment, on the Reception at Camping Mosenicka Dragga. |
Wednesday, 26-Jun-2019 (Mosenicka Dragga to Pula)
Not much more than driving today – it was not very far, but
by the time we got to Arena Stoja (in Pula) it was mid afternoon, and the
temperatures were high. At various times on the way Fiat reported temperatures
as high as 40C. Along the way, still more beautiful coastline, a vast (Wikipedia
now tells me that in 2007 it produced 13% of Croatia’s electricity needs) coal
fired power station at Plomin – the exhaust stack that is very tall (340m as it
turns out!).
Arriving at Camp Arena Stoja was an interesting exercise too. Relative
to our current experience it was “quite large”, completely occupying what must
have been an Island at some stage. It had around 900 sites – at various costs
(depending on how close one was to the sea / “beach”. After some tooing and frooing in the heat –
we finally settled on a “Sea side” site – mainly because it had some shade, and
a breeze. Access was a little tricky.. and once there even with us as high as
we good go on the levelling chocks (about 15 cm)….we were still far from
level. Makes cooking a bit more of a
challenge.
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| Fiat, finally in position at Camp Arena Stoja. |
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| The view, over the fence, from our camp site. THe odd pylon structure in the back ground was a puzzle - quidditch pitch? No - it is a water skiing attraction... you get towed around in a large "square" from a device that runs around the four pylons. |
Time for another swim. The “beach” was a rocky promenade with
a drop into water about 1.5m deep… but while still very warm, it was much
cooler than the atmosphere – and so refreshing…apart from the salt of course…
I must confess that I now know that I don’t cope well with
high temperatures (it is what I thought might be the case – but I have proof
now!). I can maybe deal with 3 or 4
hours, but after that about all I find that I can summon no interest in any
further things that we should see or do. More likely I would prefer to abort
the plan and move to somewhere where the sun is not beating down on me! Karilyn on the other hand is not bothered by
the sun at all (the heat is a bother – but that is OK) – and causes no change in
her sweet disposition (unlike me!).
Thursday 27-Jun-2019 (Camp Arena Stoja, Pula)
Pula
(Roman Pietas Julia) is known, in particular for its Roman Amphitheatre – the 6th
largest still in existence, as well as the Temple of Augustus (based on our very limited sample of observations, and ignoring the one counter example from Sicily... the Romans did
seem to like the “portrait” aspect for buildings... while the Greeks went with "Landscape"), and some early Churches
from the 5th and 6th
Centuries. Of course there have often been many modifications over the years…
or else little remains! For example, the
Cathedral is still in use (an organist was practising for a recital when we
were there – which was a nice bonus), but while being founded in the 5th
Century – most of what you see today only dates back to the 17th Century. But in the case of the Chapel of St Mary of
Formosa – all that remains is one of the three original Apses.
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| The remains of one of the Apses of St Mary of Formosa |
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| Inside the Cathedral in Pula - the windows and some of the capitals are from the original church. |
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| The Temple of Augustus, Pula. |
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| A really Smart Car… I wonder if it comes with the other parts to change it from a go-kart to a car? |
The
Amphitheatre is impressive – it is still there, and although stones were taken
from it to construct other buildings in Pula (e.g. the Cathedral, and the
Fort), the outer ring is almost complete, and it is possible to make out some
of the internal structure too, and to visit the chamber underneath the floor of
the amphitheatre where animals were dispatched from, and dead gladiators received.
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| The Amphitheatre… of which I thought the most interesting part was the way the Romans used hydraulic forces to prevent the walls on the sea side from slumping. It worked... the only area that has slumped is the part built on rock. |
At
this point… my heat-exhaustion set in, so we returned to the camp site... and
thence to the sea for a swim – our last in the salty Adriatic.
Friday 28-Jun-2019 (Pula to Skoflje, Divaca, Slovenia)
And
so we departed Croatia for Slovenia. But
before that – at the “Camper Service” (i.e. dump water and load water) area at
Camp Arena Stoja – while trying to manoeuvre into the Service area – we had a
chance to chat with someone for whom this was even harder to do – than it is
for us…
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| Leaving Camp Arena Stoja… here is a "real" mobile home! |
And
I thought we were in a “big” vehicle! – there must be so few places in Europe that
you can take one of these “liners”.
As
a result of fixing the “dashboard” rattle… one becomes aware of other noises
that parts of the travelling house generate.
One category of these (and the only other noise of any consequence) come
from the overhead bed. On rough roads it can emit sounds like “plink” and “thwack”…so
while in Mosenicka Dragga I made sum adjustments
to what look like rubber shock absorbers – and this almost completely eliminated
the “plinks” and “thwacks”. As a result
we travelled out of Croatia and into Slovenai in almost complete silence (from
our travelling house).
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| Izola on the mighty (47 km long) Slovenian coast line! |
We were heading for the
Camp Dujceva, Divaca – near the Skocjan Caves – which incudes a chamber
big enough to hold St Pauls Basicillica (in Rome) – one of the “must see” sites
in Slovenia (that is, according to our source of guidance!). We set the
coordinates into the GPS and all went well until the last 5 km (as it turns
out). As we approached the village of Skoflje – it shuffled us off onto a side
road, which then turned into a narrow side road, which then turned into an even
narrower gravel road – at which point the GPS knew about a road to get us to
the camp site – that the good road builders in the area had clearly forgotten
to build.
At that point it just gave up on finding us away to the
destination – as it didn’t happen to know about the road that really did exist
that we were now on! We continued into the village – somewhat at at loss as to
where to go – everything was quite narrow!
But then a German couple came around the corner… and while they didn’t
have much English – we could agree that we were heading for the “parking platz”! So as they couldn’t give directions that we
could understand.. they showed us the way (it was about 100m more!) – and was a
beautiful rural setting – under some shade trees… and the air was neither
humid, nor the temperature overbearing… but the bugs were (after dark!). Aside: When we left the following day we drove straight out of the
village (200 m), then left onto the road to take us to the caves (the same road
the GPS had diverted us from the prevous afternoon!).
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| GPS behaving very badly... on the way into Camp Dujceva, Divaca! But at least the countryside was pretty - and we must have made the day for the farmer working in the field (Stupid Tourists!) |
Saturday 29-Jun-2019 (Skoflje, Divaca, to Ljubljana)
The
day started with a visit to the Skocjan Caves… and we would love to show you
some images from inside this amazing cave system – with its vast canyon structure.
But he sign said, No Photography! I did
ask why… and was told that to do so, I would need written approval “from the
ministry”… which was clear! So you will
have to read about it at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Škocjan_Caves , and to
see photos… follow this link.
Here
are some photos from outside the caves… (where you are allowed to take
photographs).
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| The town of Skocjan - which sits above the vast Skocjan cave system. Sadly, Itt is hard to grasp the dimensions of these features from this image - the light was not helping! |
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| The view on exiting the cave system (and after we were allowed to take photos). For the scale - note the size of the people on the left. |
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| Looking back into the cave from the location where the image above was taken. The pathway we used is at the bottom... but you can also see a hand line running up the image (right to left) at about a 70 degree angle... which was one of the routes used by the early explorers to enter the cave system. |
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| On the walk back to the Visitor Centre you get to enjoy more of the scenery of this Karst country. Apparently - the results of the scientific investigation of these caves has defined the terminology used to describe such features. read more here. |
One
other very pleasant aspect of this tour (along with the 500+ steps) was that
the temperature was 12C – pure delight!
Next
stop Ljubljana.
Sunday 30-Jun-2019 (Ljubljana)
We
are staying at the “Ljubljana Resort Central Tourist Park of Slovenia”… or what one might call “grid land”. Interestingly, GPS also tried to take us by a most circuitous route to get us here - we ignored it, and turned into the camp ground entrance 50 m on from where it wanted to direct us around a series of small side streets! However it is pleasantly studded with trees
of various different species and age…. and the awning is out over grass – all of
which helps with the heat of the day. At least we have managed to avoid the
high temperatures predicted for much of western Europe during this week!
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| ECMWF forecast of maximum surface temperatures for the period 28-30 June 2019. As you can see we are in the "yellow" - and fortunately, far from the "red" zones. |
Ljubljana
is at nearly 300m elevation – and some distance from the coast. At this point
the airmass is quite dry, so while hot, it is not humid.
We
went to church today at the “Franciscan Church of the Annunciation” – (the pink coloured church in
some of the following photos). [We did try for a Baptist Church... but it was 16 km away - a bit far to bike.] A couple of things of interest. There were quite a lot of people in
attendance at the 11.15 Mass, and the homily and readings crossed multiple
languages, and at least French, English and Slovenian… and perhaps others that
we didn’t recognise. At least part of
the homily was translated into English – which we welcomed.
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| Franciscan Church of the Annunciation - early Baroque. [I must confess that for me, the "Baroque" architectural style is equivalent to that of the more recent "Art Deco" style - a bit ostentatious… and ok in small does (only). But it clearly has a wide foothold in Italy, Sicily, Croatia and perhaps, Slovenia] |
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| The interior of the church... curiously ornamented given the usual simplicity of other Franciscan churches we have visited. |
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| The replica of the Fountain of three Carniolan Rivers in front of the Cathedral of St Nicolas (closed to tourists on Sundays) - on Mestni Trg. |
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| Helium to go... and the Cathedral of St Nicolas. |
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| The Dragon is the symbol of Ljubljana... and they have a dragon bridge. George is evident too. |
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| From the tower on the Castle (180 steps)… looking toward the Julian Alps. |
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| Cruising on the Ljubljana River... a pleasant way to while away 45 minutes... |
Ljubljana also has the
Railway Museum of Slovenia – something needed following the breakup of
Yugoslavia. I liked both the “big iron”… and the natty “jigger”… something for Kiwirail
to consider for use by its senior staff and contractors?
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| Slovenian Railway Museum... |
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| Speedy transport for execs... with full health and safety yellow livery. |
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