<![CDATA[

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Today we visited what is claimed to be one of the most spectacular natural wonders of Europe and both of us are excited to say it was more beautiful than we expected or imagined.

It was a long day out with a 7:30am start and 9:30pm return. We were on a mini bus tour with 13 other people, a driver and an excellent tour guide called Ernie who kept us entertained and informed the whole day. We respect is not an easy thing to keep up such energy and passion when you are a tour guide doing the same thing frequently. It was also good to get a personal and local insight into the Croatian culture as he shared about his family and life for the local people over the years. He even told us about his personal experience serving in the war.

As the minibus left the city of Split it started to climb the hills fairly quickly. Ernie pointed out an old Roman aquaduct that still feeds the city and filled us in about the Roman history of the area and how brutal life was at that time. The roads are only about 4 years old and very good. As you get higher you have to pass through a mountain range via a series of tunnels, the longest being 5.9km. The drive from Split to Plitvice National Park is about 3 hours going at good speed – approximately 285km total.

Once you get out of the city there are a lot of abandoned villages. Farmers find it too tough to make a living out of the stoney soil and hard to compete with cheap imports so there has been a lot of abandonment and shift to the city (thus the reason for all the ugly apartments). The country side is quite green with trees amongst rocky soil, olive plantations and little pockets of vegetables growing in dark brick red terracotta coloured soil like you see in Australia. We even saw two shepherds minding small flocks of sheep in what we would term a traditional manner (apparently wolves are a problem and you don’t see many fences and paddocks). We also saw domestic goats and wild deer grazing.

Unfortunately the weather which started out sunny started to cloud over and by the time we arrived at the Park there were a few tiny spits. We had checked the forecast prior to leaving and had packed for a shower or two – and were probably the most prepared on the bus other than the guide. Good travel tip, always pack for the unpredicted weather especially if you can leave a little extra in the van etc. if not needed.

We got given our park entry tickets and after a brief overview of our route we followed Ernie down a small hill to an emerald green, crystal clear, fish filled lake and boarded the electric passenger ferry. As we glided soundlessly across the lake it felt like we were leaving civilisation behind and moving towards an ethereal water world like Rivendell in Tolkeins Lord of the Rings. On the other side we alighted onto a wooden deck of hand cut narrow logs from the forested park and made our way up a wooden stair way weaving up the hill over small and large cascades of water, past and over rivers and streams, and around waterfalls until we turned a corner and came across another lake. Here the wooden path went over the top of the water in places and our senses were further delighted by being surrounded by more even larger waterfalls!

All the wooden stairs and boardwalks are made from dead wood from the forest and its an amazing feeling to walk over water and around and under waterfalls, lakes, streams and you name it! At times we even walked down the side of cliffs and actual waterfalls with water gushing beneath our feet and sometimes over our feet! And so the next four hours unfolded. Like other great sites such as the Grand Canyon and Niagra, photos can only show you little pieces of a kaleidoscope of wonder and experience.

The part of the park we visited covers nearly 3 square km of lakes above and underground. There are 16 lakes above the ground and they are all connected in some way – via rivers or terraces, with the first one cascading down to the next and so on. There are natural dams of travertine and the lakes range from aqua, turquiose to glowing green. It was a pity we did not have bright sunshine to see the full effect of the colours, but the silver lining to the many clouds was the misty and mystical effect of the rain.

Waterfalls range from the tiny to majestically tall. Varieties include cascades over rocks or moss, trickling, gushing, or spilling and roaring. Some hills and banks appeared as though they had been poked with a Swiss cheese knife, having spouts of water coming out from spring green foliage.

The whole place looked like a wealthy person had comissioned a water park of immense proportions and beauty – it was so perfect it did not seem real – which is crazy. We are so used to man making beautiful things, we forget that creation had it long before we ruined it!

I will leave it there as I can’t do it justice except to say that we would make a special trip to Croatia just to spend a day or so to sit and take it in, and explore at leisure. The paths are very good – a person of even below average fitness could manage a good look if they took it easy – the 4 hrs went so quickly. In that time we did have another little boat ride and a rest of 20 minutes and toilet break (all that water we needed it).

As mentioned before whilst not ideal the rain did add to the experiece and make it more memorable. The initial spitting turned to thunder and lightening, then heavier and heavier rain, accompanied by hail. Nearly everyone was wet and frozen from top to toe, The temperature dropped to about 4 degrees and when we got to higher ground we saw fresh snow on the tops of the hills – we were about 600 metres up.

I have never been so wet and cold in my life but it was worth it! I will add that my expensive gortex lined Merrell walkers were DRY and my feet cosy with the fine NZ merino sports socks inside. Lucky that Vern and I were dry on the torso (unlike out tour mates) due to our rain coats and umbrellas, trousers were stick to the skin wet though LOL.

Happy and on a high from the experience we moved on to an early dinner at a local restaurant including free plum schnapps. Oh yeah now we’re talking! The meal was spit roast and we sat on wooden benches in a swiss style building – (typical on this side of the hills apparently) with a gas patio burner to dry us off (lots of steam and laughter!) Before leaving the park behind we were also taken to see a bear rescue centre. These are cubs whose mothers may have been run over or such that they take in and raise etc. They were large, happy and cutey cutey behind the fence.

An awesome day and experience that we would highly recommend and we wont forget I am sure.

]]>