Plitvice Lakes

Stressed and angry about missing my turn, I took a few deep breaths and pulled up a copy of Ulman, another offline routing system I frequently use. Rather than use the route suggested by Google maps it suggested another route 12 km further on. As I drove I questioned how I could have missed any road signs. We eventually arrived at the town of Karlovac where I left the highway, paid my 59 kuna toll ( $12 Canadian) and set off in the direction indicated by the Plitvicka Jezera signs- only 95 km away. I swear that every 5 km the signs showed the same posting except the distance was 2km lower.
 Travelling on winding country roads with lots of speed controlled areas, i.e. small hamlets and villages, we crawled along at 35kph, the 6th or 7th vehicle in a convey of trucks, caravans and slow moving tourists. Occasionally a suicidal local would fly up from the rear, hammer on the brakes, cutting into a space no wider than his car resulting in everyone else hitting the brakes and going even slower.
   Half an hour later the Plitvicka Jezera said still showed 65km and I was stuck behind a slow moving mini cargo van, a heavily laden oil tanker and a semi.
Expecting this to be the case for the rest of the trip I was suddenly surprised to see a passing lane open up and I was finally free! With the car set to sport mode I managed to make the last stretch in just over 35 minutes, pulling into our guesthouse parking lot around 2pm.
  Half an hour later we were at the park gates forking over $90 each for 2 day passes.
   Plitvice Lakes is a National Park of 16 interconnected lakes. It is roughly divided into an Upper Lakes and a Lower Lakes region, with a very large lake, Lake Kozjac, marking the division. By very large, I am talking European or English Lake District style large, not Canadian!!!
 Playing it safe, we opted for the shuttle service to get us to the top of the Upper Lakes. The options for trails ranged from 12 hour hikes throughout the entire area down to a lazy 4km, straight to the bottom, trip.
 We chose a meandering walk along a somewhat zig zag path allowing us to see the bigger lakes from several viewpoints.
 With water so brilliantly clear that one could see all the way to the bottom the lakes all had a unique blue/green cast to them, reflective of the high calcium carbonate content in the water, In slower moving water much of it settled to the bottom but at fallsand rapids it apparently breaks apart, releasing CO2 and depositing calcium and thus changing the shape and flow of the lakes,
 The trails themselves ranged from stony sandy walkways to log roads and bridges. Sometimes we were in bright sunshine, at others deeply emersed in dark woods with fallen trees, their moss covered broken limbs a home for various mushroom species. Ever present was the sound of moving water, rushing , gushing, bubbling, laughing, splashing. From babbling brook to massive waterfall, every degree of falling water was represented as we followed our paths back to Lake Kozjak and our shuttle boat back to the main starting point.

  At 5am, I can hear thunder rolling and intermittent bursts of intense rain bouncing off the roof of our temporary home. We have all day to complete the track through the Lower Lakes and the 2 hour drive to Zagreb.
 Today also marks my 64th birthday- memories of playing the Beatles,- Sergeant Peppers on my small  mono record player in the summer of 69.( sounds like the title of a song!!! LOL
 Saturday evening:
   The trip through the Lower Lakes involved a shuttle ride to get about halfway through then we walked down to the start of the Korana River ( where the lakes end) and began a slow steady climb back towards Lake Kozjak. The volume of tourists was probably 4-5 times more than Friday with some of the trails coming to a standstill, especially near the more spectacular waterfalls. We eventually arrived at the boat station, along with about 1000 other people! The wait for a boat back to the main gate was probably a good half hour- the other option-( a 3km walk) wasn't getting any approval from Susanna.
 The return trip to the highway was a lot smoother than the Friday trek to the Lakes. Traffic was a lot lighter and considerably faster.
   We arrived in Zagreb around 4pm and discovered that the city is just as fun to drive and park in as Ljubljana. Our apartment was downtown on a Main Street that somehow seemed unreachable. Every road we approached had an arrow going the opposite way. We eventually stumbled into a parkade a block away, unloaded the car and hauled our "stuff" the 200 yards to the city block where an employee was waiting to assist us with our bags to the 4th floor apartment (5th floor for North Americans!) No elevator!
The building looked like it was about ready for demolition but the apartments themselves were the best accommodations of the entire trip. A very spacious room with a fully equipped kitchenette. For 50 euro a night,it was a bargain compared to the rates we had being paying in other locations.
 We quickly returned to the parking garage and returned the car to the rental location- a hotel on the other side of town. An easy 15 minute tram ride brought us back to our temporary home and we were able to unwind for a short while before heading out to explore our new surroundings.