Krka NP to Plitvice NP

Tuesday, 30th June.

There's not a lot to write about today...it was a day of travel, approximately 180kms from the Krka National Park to the Plitvice National Park.  We drove most of the way on the motorway,

going through five tunnels, four of which were quite small and one about 6kms long.  

There was a noticeable change in the scenery when we emerged from the final tunnel, still rather rocky but with much more vegetation than we've been used to seeing, so a welcome change.  Along the way we saw Caffe Bar "Boris" which we found amusing so took a photo, 

bought a watermelon from a small roadside kiosk and when we stopped at the motorway services to have some lunch, three young children of similar ages to our own grandchildren appeared from nowhere and invited themselves into the van.  Although we didn't speak the same language, we got the message that they wanted the watermelon and anything else they could scrounge so we sent them on their way. There were no parents in sight but we'd seen the children walking up to what appeared to be a rough campsite behind the services so we think they were perhaps gypsies.  Our concern was that these children had no hesitation in entering a vehicle belonging to strangers and there was no adult about to look out for them.  We arrived at the campsite which is 2-1/2kms from the national park entrance, in the early afternoon and plan to spend tomorrow in the park having been given tips and recommendations by Mireille and Mark, who visited today after arriving yesterday.

Krka National Park

Monday, 29th June.

Leaving Trogir on Saturday (27th) was a bit of a drama...the long queue at the camp reception of people trying to pay for their stay at the camp so that they could leave, took forever and when we finally succeeded in paying and leaving, we got stuck in a major traffic jam trying to get out of the town!  It took us about an hour to travel 2 kilometres, something traffic lights or a couple of policemen strategically placed would have easily sorted, but, we eventually made it on to the main road for the drive to the Krka National Park, or more specifically, to Camp Krka, near the entrance to the park.  It was lunchtime when we arrived so once we'd attended to that, the rest of the afternoon was spent lazing about, doing as little as possible!
Yesterday (Sunday 28th) was spent in the park, on a full day excursion run by the camp and at €40 each, we thought it good value for the money.  There were 14 of us on the 15 seat tour bus, from Germany, Spain, France, Netherlands and a couple from Australia!  

Throughout the day we paid visits to Skradinski buk, the longest and most commonly visited waterfall on the Krka River, to a Visovac Island viewpoint,

Ozidana pecina cave, Roski slap waterfall, Manojlovac waterfall

and Krka Monastery with its Serbian Church and catacombs.  The tour included a picnic lunch with wine and coffee, all in all an excellent though tiring day.  

We took many photos, some of which appear on this blog.
This morning we slept a little later than usual and had not been up for more than a few minutes when we received a visit from Mireille and Mark, who had stayed in nearby Skradin and had been on a boat tour yesterday, visiting some of the same sites we'd visited though our paths hadn't crossed.  They were on their way to the coast  before heading to Plitvice National Park and as we're all going in much the same direction, chances are we will meet again down the track.
Our day was spent putting the camp's washing machine to work and doing odd jobs in between relaxing, giving the old legs a chance to recover from the walking and climbing they did yesterday.  We treated ourselves to an evening meal at the camp restaurant, sharing a meat platter washed down with beer and wine.  The menu here is not extensive but the food is good quality and well cooked and presented, in fact, Camp Krka is probably one of the best camps we've stayed in.   The amenities are spotless as Mrs Clean works hard all day to keep them that way, so I felt a little guilty after showering this morning as she'd have had to do it all again.  This is a family run campsite, a friendly, efficiently run campsite where we'd happily stay again if we happened to be in this neighbourhood.
Tomorrow we move on to Plitvice, to the national park which will probably be our last stop in Croatia.

Trogir

Friday, 26th June.

Leaving last night's stopover at Zaostrog 

and retracing our steps, we drove north west to Trogir, a little way past Split.  The way to the camp was across two bridges, along some very narrow roads and through heavy, chaotic  traffic so it was slow going.  Once there, we met up again with Shirley and Les who had been there for a few days after having been to Krka National Park and Dubrovnik.  Top priority was lunch...we hadn't eaten since yesterday as we were so full up after lunch at Mario's that neither of us was hungry last night or this morning, but by midday today pangs of hunger were beginning to be felt.  After we'd eaten, we walked up and down a large hill, across one bridge into the old town for a look around.  

It was busy but not too crowded, loads of narrow, cobbled streets to explore and no shortage of cafes and souvenir shops.  We went back to the camp by ferry boat and a walk along the waterfront which was well populated with plenty of  cafe/bars and people sunbaking.  In the evening we patronised one of the bars, having after dinner drinks with Shirley and Les while watching the sun set.

An Old Friend

Thursday, 25th June.

Many, many years ago, when I was in my late teens, I used to go dancing in South Perth with my Croatian friends.  One of the young men who also attended the dances returned to Croatia, after spending several years Down Under, and opened a restaurant near Ploce, on the main road between Split and Dubrovnik.  Today, Mike and I visited Mario at his restaurant 

and spent a few happy hours enjoying his company and his hospitality, and reminisced about the 'good old days'.  The years have not dulled his sense of humour...he is a 'happy chappie' and I am so pleased we were able to spend some time with him.

Blagaj

Thursday, 25th June.

We were off to an early start this morning, riding the 2kms through the village to a National Monument, Tekija Blagaj...a 15th century Dervish House, waterfall and cave. 

 

The cave was not accessible by boat until 11am, too long for us to wait but we roamed around the site, taking many photographs before returning to camp to pack up and leave for the return to Croatia, after what was an interesting and brief but enjoyable visit to Bosnia.

Mostar

Wednesday, 24th June.

Before leaving Medugorje this morning, the four of us walked to the church and at 8 am there were already crowds gathering, though not as yet anywhere near the huge number we saw last night.  Since 1981, Medugorje has been a popular Catholic site of pilgrimage due to reports of alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary, by six local Catholics.  

On the way back to camp we stopped at one of the local bakeries for coffee and doughnuts before packing up and leaving for Mostar, about 25kms north.  Our chief objective was to see the bridge there, considered to be one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkan region.  

By the time we arrived in Mostar and had found parking at the bus station, the rain had also arrived so raincoats were donned and umbrellas unfurled.  Sadly, the heavy rain persisted for our entire visit, making it necessary to dodge puddles and other people's umbrellas but managing to view the bridge and take the obligatory photos.  Having soggy shoes and feeling a little damp, we were easily tempted into a cafe where a very pleasant young man served us with 2 shared meat platters and beers all round for the princely sum of €20!   

After our lunch, we squelched back to the bus station where we had left Boris and Bluey, relieved to find no parking tickets on their windscreens, and headed to an autocamp in Blagaj,

which we eventually found after going through narrow country roads and a dead end, and are now sitting in the late afternoon sunshine.

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tuesday, 23rd June.

We are a little surprised to be in BiH today as we had absolutely no intention, or inclination, to come here! 
After leaving camp this morning, we called in at the nearby Lidl supermarket to replenish dwindling supplies and there met Mirielle and Mark who had returned from their 24 hour visit to Montenegro.  As we found their plans to travel into Bosnia to visit waterfalls, caves etc. very interesting, we decided to tag along, which happily for us they don't seem to mind.
In the supermarket carpark, we met another Australian couple, from Brisbane, chatted for a while and took photographs before going our separate ways.  

Stopping for a lunch break just before the Croatia/Bosnia border, Mirielle and Mark bought half a dozen fresh oysters from the oyster farms, paying about $A1 each for them, scoffed them and pronounced them delicious,

and we were on our way again, passing through the border into Bosnia and shortly after, back into Croatia.  Another 30kms further on and we were at a different border post, only this time our passports were checked before we were allowed into Bosnia.  Our first stop was at the Kravica Falls, very pretty, very popular and Mark and Mike felt compelled to fall into the water for a cooling swim.  

Unfortunately overnight parking is not permitted there so we headed for Medugorje and are spending tonight in a small, privately owned camp..Camp Dane..where for 10 euros we have power, showers and toilets and free wifi! 
After our evening meal, Mirielle and I went for a wander into town and discovered what appeared to be the 'Lourdes' of Bosnia...there were thousands of people attending a mass...it was amazing!

All is quiet now, more exploring to be done tomorrow after a good night's sleep.

Dubrovnik

Monday, 22nd June.

The many photos we took on the long drive on Saturday (20th) from Split to Dubrovnik, don't really do justice to the spectacular coastline, bays and inlets along the way but are a good reminder to us of our fabulous journey.  We made several stops, one of which was at Mimice, where we noticed a large sign advertising Caffe Sydney Croatia.  Intrigued, we went in, had coffee and talked to the young waiter who told us that the owner had lived in Sydney for many years, returned to Croatia and opened the cafe/restaurant in 2000.  It has fantastic views, accommodation and meals...unfortunately the owner wasn't there, it would have been interesting to talk to him.
Another very brief stop was at the border post of Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovena and 10 minutes later at the border post of Bosnia and Herzegovena/Croatia where we were waved through with just a cursory glance at offered passports!
We arrived in Mlini, about 6 kms south of Dubrovnik at about 4pm and met friends Mirielle and Mark from Melbourne who'd arrived the day before.  We'd known that they intended to visit Croatia but didn't know when so were pleasantly surprised to receive a message, while in Split, to say that they would ferry from Bari in Italy to Dubrovnik and be there on Friday.  It was great to catch up and a return boules/petanque/bocce match was played with a victory this year to the Vics, at two games to one,  leaving the series at one all. 

A decider will be played next year at a yet to be chosen venue!
M & M had been into the city a couple of times before we arrived but kindly gave us a few tips and pointed us in the right direction.  We caught a ferry from the lovely little harbour below the camp to the port of old Dubrovnik and happily spent a few hours strolling through the little lanes admiring the wonderful old buildings, 

stopping at one of the many cafes for a sandwich and drink before returning by bus to camp.  We briefly stood on the end of the queue for the cable car but could see that we'd be there for a very long wait so gave it a miss.

Today has been an easy day, with some washing, a few little odd jobs, a walk along the waterfront followed by a swim and a couple of hours reading and relaxing.

Split : 2

Friday, 19th June.

We decided to go riding this  morning and on seeing a young man wearing a pair of Australian flag shorts, Mike stopped to chat, discovering that the young man was in fact Dutch and not from Down Under as we had assumed, but had spent some time windsurfing in Australia, in particular in W.A., which is where he bought the shorts.  He and his girlfriend were about to ride into Split, having been told at reception that it was possible, so we decided that if it was possible, then we should ride in too!  They took off and we followed but sadly could only make it about halfway as the neverending climbing eventually beat us.  Just when we thought we'd reached the end of one hill there was another one!  An older than us lady, walking down one of the hills carrying a bag of apricots in one hand and a bunch of flowers in the other, stopped and insisted we take three of the apricots, 'from my garden' she told us, she must have thought we need some refreshments.   We found a coffee shop so after liquid refreshments and a rest, we turned around and rode down hill back to camp.  Spying a hairdressing shop on the way, Mike went in and bought a haircut though a bit annoyed that his cost $A8, $A3 more than mine!
After a wander through the impressive campsite, we rode around to the adjoining town Podstrana, where we bought and ate a snack lunch, going into Split by bus in the late afternoon, much easier on the old legs than trying to pedal up hills!
The TomTom we bought in England in April has given us a great deal of trouble almost since the day we bought it and we went in search of a new gps yesterday,  though baulking at the price asked.  As we approached the city, Mike spotted a shop advertising satellite navigation systems so we got off the bus at the next stop and walked back to the shop to find that the sat navs they sold were nautical.  Leaving the nautical shop, having agreed that we would have to bite the bullet and spend the money for a replacement, we were walking down the hill into the city when Mike noticed a small computer shop and thinking that someone there might know of someplace nearby where one could be bought, we went in and when asked if he could help, the shopkeeper said he had one in stock.  It is a Prestigio which we've not heard of before and is now ours, at less than half the cost of the one we saw yesterday and is so much better than the TomTom ever was, we hope to find our way around Europe now without the problems we have had! 
Feeling much happier and relieved at finding a replacement, we enjoyed our evening stroll, a couple of beers and a pizza before catching the bus 'home'.