Mon 1 Aug 2016. Karlovac through Zagreb (Croatia) to Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Mon 1 Aug 2016. Karlovac through Zagreb (Croatia) to Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Rained lightly overnight, bought clothes in from line outside before they got any wetter.
Flower boxes on houses, barns bigger than houses, hawk on fence, observation tower in fields, stork crossing paddock - definitely a Northern European feel. 

Driving into Zagreb, the Capital of Croatia however was gloomy in deteriorating weather, such a hold-up on the line at highway toll-booths (40 mins), we decided we were too late to make the Lotrscak Tower cannon firing at noon (the highlight of the "Things to Do"), so decided to give Zagreb central a miss (although GirlRob had been looking forward to finding out more about the Museum of Broken Relationships!!) 

Agh - how Garmin saw the highway toll booths

Touched extreme edge of Pannonian Plain, travelling towards border, stopped to spend our last kuna on fuel, vignette, and coins for toilet. But wait, they managed to squeeze in another toll (honestly, for the last 5km in the country? What possible infrastructure are we paying for?)  which of course we had to pay in euros, and were given kuna change!! (hmm…how to spend in next 5km??)

Welcome to (wet!) Slovenia. How clean, how green suddenly, how prosperous. Pretty villages, pretty churches. Hadn't realised until now how monochrome has become the usual vista. 

Stopped for lunch in parking bay for can of tuna and vegetables, with flatbread. Tasted good with our "one for the road" cuppa, which GirlRob makes daily with the morning cup of tea. Beggars were accosting every vehicle - gave our euro coins (and leftover kuna!) to a guy with gammy leg. Ran into real rain, 20km south of Ljubljana, and it set in - not good conditions for some drivers. 

Lucky, lucky, lucky....

Arrived Ljubljana Resort Central on the Sava River, without difficulty. Got a real tickle when they said, "sorry swimming pool closed unless temperature over 23˚". Yeah - could we possibly have left the heaviest part of summer behind by moving into August?? Claimed our site and went off to buy groceries. Tumult in the shop when we tried to take two nectarines from box - sign (in Sloviniak!) obviously said "buy the box only". Fed the sparrows our stale bread whilst enjoying a late arvo cup of tea, amusing to watch a parent bird feeding pesky child, another having a preen nearby after a good feed. 

Read camp leaflet, one of best we've seen - clear, just enough info on camp, restaurant overview, city (including bus instructions), surrounds/excursions (broken into 30 mins, 1 hr, 1 day), general facts, including distances to borders and nearest capitals, brief enough to recommend, and send you looking for further detail at reception (should try to get one to send to Linda/ Legende/ Albania...)

Sun 31 Jul 2016. Around Plitvice Lakes, to Karlovac

Sun 31 Jul 2016. Around Plitvice Lakes, to Karlovac
Started early to beat the crowds. Walked the Upper Lakes for four hours today, past 8 of the green and blue lakes. More of the impressive long-drop waterfalls today, although the cascades over the rocks in the forest itself were really pretty too. 

Think you would have heard this one fall...

Gradinsko Lake:

Sooo beautiful.....

Not sure if one of the flowers spotted was an orchid; found fungus, water grasses and wild flowers. In one of the pools watched a camouflaged frog sneak up on one of the large indigo and brilliant green dragonflies - without success. 

Mali Prstavac drop:

Veliko:

Batinovac:

Heat increased steadily in afternoon, glad most of the walk was in shade, so happy to see the bus-train at top to take us down again. Noticed the sinkholes on walk back to carpark.
Agreed it was one of the best national parks ever - although there were villages inside it, there was strictly no swimming, absolutely no rubbish, the boats were all electric or rowboats so there was no pollution of these pristine waters. The only criticism we had was that pet dogs were allowed, a couple menacing anyone who came near their owners, or getting into a fight with each other. We asked one of the Rangers who agreed they could be a nuisance but said “policy set high up”. 

Would have liked to see national dress and dance

Pulled out of oven-like carpark as more buses were arriving, on the road north towards Zagreb. Stopped at boring-looking campground, AutoCamp Radonja - as owner said, people pull in from mid-afternoon onwards just to get off road and use amenities. He still wanted €20 though! Asked us to park on sandy ground as the weather forecast promised rain - we chased the very little shade around until other campers arrived. Hand washed the two days’ worth of stinky clothes. Ham salad wrap for dinner, followed by local jelly cake with raspberries. GirlRob just managed to finish her book before giving in to fatigue...