{"id":9270,"date":"2024-08-29T17:42:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T16:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/?p=9270"},"modified":"2024-08-29T23:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T22:24:01","slug":"day-25-plitvice-lakes-and-warerfalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/29\/day-25-plitvice-lakes-and-warerfalls\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 25 – Plitvice Lakes and Waterfalls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Strap yourselves in\u2026 there\u2019s going to be a lot of water today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plitvice Falls – highly recommended, one of the highlights of the trip<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a reasonably early start this morning as we were cycling the 6km to Plitvice Lakes and had a 10-11 entrance time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lakes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and open at 7, when the crowds are the lightest. But that\u2019s way too early for me to get going these days so went for a later entry, much to Sue\u2019s annoyance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a quick shower and the regulation eggs and ham for me, we set off on our bikes. It\u2019s just the one road from the Bear Campsite to the lakes, but it\u2019s really busy, there\u2019s no cycle lanes and the traffic is fast. So we were in two minds about whether to get the bus, take the bike or even do a quick tear down and do the van. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end we braved the bikes and it was probably the right decision. It was 6km of road but about 350m of climbing to the lakes, which got me very sweaty by the time we got there. We were 30 minutes early, of course, so bought a drink, had a wee and also bought a map, that we probably didn\u2019t need. We entered through the nearest entrance for us, which was entrance 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Plitvice Lakes are a series of 16 named plus some unnamed lakes, connected by waterfalls. The drop between some of the lakes is only a meter or so, but between others the drop can be 10\u2019s of meters. The water is a very strong aqua-marine in all of the lakes and is stunning- something the photos don\u2019t really do justice to (poor photographer, clearly!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lakes are a combination of limestone and carbonite, However, the minerals in the water flowing over the waterfalls have created dams out of deposited tufa or travertine, a bit like stalactites and stalagmites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You get a bit of a sense of the different waterfall drops from this diagram\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Plitvice Lakes height drop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Plitvice Lakes park has a number of suggested \u201chiking\u201d routes round it, ranging from modest 3.5k, up to an all day 18k route. We were a little undecided about what to do but plumped for Tour C in the end\u2026 8k of walking and a boat ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you start the tour you\u2019re greeted by a view of the lowest lakes and the falls into them. Each of the lakes you can see in the pictures are at different heights\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Fist view of Lakes and Waterfalls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For scale, you can see one of the boardwalks half way up the left hand side of the previous image. The people look tiny!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Another angle of the first view<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From there on you wander along rustic, but very sturdy board walks as well as stone and gravel paths. Though it\u2019s the boardwalks that stand out as you walk over the lakes and from one lake to another, above the falls, beneath your feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were expecting to hear a big splash at some point in the day as someone tripped and went in. We thought there\u2019d be a lot more handrails etc if the park was in the UK. We did see one family at the start trying to get 3 or 4 year old back onto the path as he was screaming his head off looking at a 10\u2019s of metre drop with him hanging onto the wrong side of a post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Endless board walks like these<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are some more shots of the lakes and waterfalls\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were lots of, we think, trout in the lakes, some looked to be a foot and a half long (not these ones)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere in the middle of all those pictures we took an electric boat across the biggest lake\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Plitvicke Electric Boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Every boat was full and we had to wait 15 minutes for a ride<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We did take an out of the way, discrete selfie (see below)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Selfie at Pritvicke Lakes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then at the end of our trail there was a loo and refreshment stop (ST3) where we both had a cold drink\u2026 and Sue opened up international relations with a Korean trio (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we headed for the road train that took us most of the way back to our starting point, and chatted to a couple from Sheffield for most of the ride (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spent about 5 hours at the Lakes today. There was plenty of shade on the boardwalks and trails, but we were both pretty done in once we got back to Ollie – I\u2019ve picked up a cold of some sorts that I\u2019ve been nursing for the past couple of days and completely lost my voice talking to the Sheffield couple on the bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we didn\u2019t take one of the really early lake entrance slots\u2026 the crowds were mostly tolerable. If we\u2019d have been on a yomp then they would have driven us mad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entrance fee to the park was pretty steep at \u20ac20 each, but that gave you unlimited run of the park, rides on the boats and the road-train too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really did wind us up though, was the continual stopping for selfies that everyone seemed to be doing. We try to be sensitive to other walkers and to stop at the edge of a path when taking pictures (not just selfies) but there were countless times we were stopped on a boardwalk while some boyfriend\/girlfriend took a pouty picture of their other half, both standing in the middle of the path. We even saw one girl pull a hairbrush out before said picture was taken!. How many bl**dy selfies do people need to take!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3-2-1-pout! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were also jumping over barriers and standing on things they shouldn\u2019t have been to get their once in a lunchtime opportunity to be famous on Instagram! Grrr!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another side note: we\u2019re seeing way more Police on the roads in Slovenia and Croatia than we\u2019ve done in any other countries. There was even a random stop happening on the main road into the lakes today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we got back to the campsite we were talking to the girl on reception (we had to pay for an extra night) she was telling us how they had to put in fences on the routes at the Lakes because people were going where they shouldn\u2019t and were hurting themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We both had a shower in the open air mini-shower block just up from our pitch\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mini shower block. The tanks on top seem to provide some sort of solar hot (warm \/ not-cold) water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re going to miss the plums falling on the awning and sounding like a gun\u2019s gone off\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
We\u2019re in a plum orchard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s Meetings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We had three memorable meetups today\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly we met a Korean couple living in Amsterdam with the guy\u2019s brother visiting them. We talked to them at the end of our outbound walk, at the loos and refreshment area. They were on a few day break to Croatia and had hired a car to get them to the Lakes for two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just after meeting them we stood in a queue for the road train and got talking to an English couple from Sheffield. She is a deputy head of a primary school, years 5 and 6 maths, he works for the Outdoor shop in Haversage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally for today we met another British couple while we were picking up our bikes at the entrance. They were also heading to Dubrovnik, but in a 7m MotorHome and had spent a few nights in Lake Bled Camping while we were in Bled too. He worked for the UN. We were warned that Sue shouldn\u2019t go out walking alone in Brindisi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow we\u2019re off to Trogir, just outside of Split. The campsite we\u2019re aiming for doesn\u2019t take reservations so we\u2019re trying to leave before 9 so we can get there about midday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry\u2019s just about to do the first tri-wizard trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strap yourselves in\u2026 there\u2019s going to be a lot of water today! Plitvice Falls – highly recommended, one of the highlights of the trip We had a reasonably early start this morning as we were cycling the 6km to Plitvice Lakes and had a 10-11 entrance time. The lakes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-summer-holiday-to-greece","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/746a0647-2-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8yl38-2pw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9243,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/27\/day-23-travel-to-plitvice-lakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":9270,"position":0},"title":"Day 23 – Travel to Plitvice Lakes","author":"John Martin","date":"August 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s another travel day. 1460 miles on the odometer before we left. Sue had another run this morning as she realized she could have run the 6k all the way around the lake\u2026 just had to be done. (Apologies before we get into the post\u2026 this is a very boring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6214.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6214.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6214.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6214.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10470,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/10\/09\/day-65-home-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":9270,"position":1},"title":"Day 65 – Home Again","author":"John Martin","date":"October 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"And so our mini adventure ends. There\u2019s not much to say about the day itself and I\u2019ll leave the conclusions to further posts where I hope to pull some more considered thoughts together about the trip. However, for today, we did manage to get off from our one night stop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9266,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/day-24-another-rest-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":9270,"position":2},"title":"Day 24 – Another Rest Day","author":"John Martin","date":"August 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Not much to write about today. We just hung about the campsite, did some washing, sorted out where we\u2019re going on Friday (Trogir) and a quick trip up to the Tommy SuperMarket just up the road (and what seemed to be endless \u20ac1 shops). Ollie sitting under the plum trees\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6231.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_6231.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9569,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/07\/day-34-bari-to-alberobello\/","url_meta":{"origin":9270,"position":3},"title":"Day 34 – Bari to Alberobello","author":"John Martin","date":"September 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Another great day today. A village full of crazy round houses and some retail therapy. The first thing to remark on today though is Sue\u2019s alarm at trying out a bum gun at the B&B last night\u2026 the less said about that the better I think! But back to today\u2026\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_0917.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9381,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/02\/day-29-trogir\/","url_meta":{"origin":9270,"position":4},"title":"Day 29 – Trogir","author":"John Martin","date":"September 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A quiet day again today, though we headed into Trogir on the 8am ferry for an early mooch around and some breakfast. It was a hot night again with temperatures only dipping into the 20\u2019s late in the night. And the idiot behind us decided it would be a good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_6495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_6495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_6495.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_6495.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_6495.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_6495.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9470,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/05\/day-32-dubrovnik-walking-the-walls\/","url_meta":{"origin":9270,"position":5},"title":"Day 32 – Dubrovnik Walking the Walls","author":"John Martin","date":"September 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow! Again! Sue thinks this was the best day of the trip so far, and that was before she got her phone back! It was a reasonably early start again today. We left the campsite just before 8 with no breakfast. 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