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| Looking north to the Cres town ship. On our way back from a ride. |
We got going early for our departure from the Island of Cres. We had hoped to catch the 08:30 ferry crossing back to the the Island of Krk. From here we would either take another ferry to the island of Rad and back to the mainland or ride around and then up to the Plitvicka Jezera (Plitvice Lakes) National Park (beautiful water falls and lakes). We
did make the ferry trip just in the nick of time, a few roadwork delays had us waiting...
In the end we decided to ride as we would be quicker to get to our destination at a camping park close (10 kms) from this National Park. The ride was cool in the mountains but not too cold. There were plenty of other bikers from across Europe all in big touring groups, some with over 40 bikes and guides!!. We were happy to be by ourselves and looking at these guys and gals I think some of them were thinking the same thing. Big groups are slow to get moving...
A little info about the park - Plitvice Lakes is the largest of Croatia's National Parks & the oldest. The lakes are known for their cascades and the ongoing bio-dynamic process of tufa formation under specific ecological and hydrological conditions. Tufa or travertine is a porous carbonate rock formed by the sedimentation of calcium carbonate from water. It builds barriers, sills and other forms in karst rivers and streams. The travertine formation process is especially prominent in the Plitvice Lakes waterfalls and is constant, happening even while visitors are enjoying their walk through the park. With this travertine development, magnificent waterfalls are created. Over time, the water changes its course, leaving some barriers dry but stimulating tufa growth in other places. The phenomenon creates the feeling that the Plitvice Lakes are never the same from one day to the next. Many species of plants including 55 different species of orchids have been recorded in the park. 321 species of butterflies, 161 species of birds & 21 species of bats. Brown Bears are also an inhabitant of the forest (thank God, we didn't see one!!) They were probably relieved they didn't see us either. On our return to the bus station we did come across 2 baby snakes, maybe a tipan? They looked rather angry when they curled themselves up & were ready to strike. Steve was using his foot to move them off the road......hence them being a bit angry.
Along our travels we would normally look for food stops that seemed busy. Often a good sign that the food and/or service is good. We try to pick the local businesses rather than the multi-national ones (we haven't seen many in Croatia). The food has been quite nice....coffees (lattes) have been strong enough to stand the spoon in, even if you ask for a very weak one.
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| Lunchtime stop. Pizza today. |
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| yes I stopped shaving. |
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| 1/2 supreme and 1/2 Veg with corn? |
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| Was a nice (city) road side stop. |
So we got to the national park with time to complete the big "5 hour" walk in the afternoon.
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| Very clear blue water, due to high mineral content |
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| Must use the board walk throughout the park |
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| Great scenery |
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| water every where... |
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| Deb's blue bell flower... |
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| under a waterfall. |
Short waterfall video.
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| Bus station 2 |
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| The bus that took us back to the 'station 2' |
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| The Bus, with 4 wheel steering trailers. |
We stopped just south of Split for a few days on Saturday arvo. We had 2 days of not riding. Just before leaving Oz I did something to my back. At the time I thought I slightly pulled a muscle in my bum (the one that pulls your leg back). It was only a slight strain I thought. But now I am sure I have 'tweeked' a nerve out the left side lower back. So my left leg and bum muscle (cheek!) are getting sore. So I thought a few days not riding might help with recovery...
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| View up the hill from the balcony. |
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| Across the bay to Island of Brac. |
On Monday we continued down to Dubrovnik (about 180kms). Took about 4 hours to do. Riding beside the Adriatic on the right and huge granite mountainsides on the left. Anyhow Deb and I decided to try to get a unit close to the old town. We did alright, for 120 euros per night we have a nice apartment. A full sized kitchen, lounge room, bathroom with washing machine. Only about 100 m to the old town. So we have made use of the equipment. Eating in, washing and wearing clean clothes each day!!
We have booked 3 nights accommodation, and will leave on Thursday morning 26th Sept.
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| Natural History Museum in Dubrovnik (before Steve got told off about taking photos) |
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| check out the ceiling decorations |
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| Ready for Bell Ringing! The old bell ringers. |
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| Views from the Old Wall |
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| Looking down from the Old Wall at the Water Tank (well). |
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| Steve! and belly... |
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| Deb, I think they had real tall people in Dubrovnik!! |
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| Apartments for rent everywhere, tourism is their number 1 business |
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| I hear those church bells ringing..... |
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| Steve's connection to the WiFi World!! |
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| The Old Folk |
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| An old window with bars to keep people out - or in? |
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| Looking into the Mariner |
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| It's a hot day |
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| The lone bell |
Views from the top of the mountain
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View from the cable car roof top.
It was great to see from above where we had walked earlier in the day. We had great weather, although a little warm for walking & lots of people. |
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| Steve's great aerial! |
On our last afternoon we rode up to the top of the mountain behind the city to have coffee and a snack and to watch the sun slide below the Adriatic. Our snack ended up being free, as we complained that the 'fries' we got were not cooked through (they weren't). Anyhow the management decided we had nothing to pay when it was time to settle up.
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| Coffee and Hot Chips on the hill. |
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| Look across the sea to Italy. |
On Thursday morning we will be heading back North, as Dubrovnik is as far south we planned to head for this trip. We'll head over to the Hvar Island for a few days before taking a ferry ride into Split on Sunday and then on Sunday evening (20:30) we'll be heading across to Italy. Cruising up the spine of Italy for a bit and then down to the Mediterranean coast and through to Germany (probably via France). Although I want to visit the Porsche museum in Stuttgart and the Technical Museum in Speyer. We did visit it's brother last time at Sinsheim, so this might change our travel direction...
Cheers,
Stephen and Debbie.
Here is the
Google Earth .KML file of our earth track.
