Day 41 - Beach Resort to Ski Resort

Woke up this morning to Sergei holding video conference calls on the balcony having obviously recovered from the night before.

We packed up our stuff, loaded up the car, said our goodbyes to Ivo & Sergei then headed west on the 118 through Korcula island. Around midday, we arrived at Vela Luka & the port for our 1.45pm ferry to Split (again). We parked our car in the lanes & was informed that the ticket office wouldn’t be open until 1pm.

Instead of getting a drink next to ferry office, we walked about 400 metres around the harbour & found a bar frequented by locals. We bought our 2 cheapest beers of the entire trip, then set about booking some accommodation at our next destination. We bagged an absolute bargain, a triple room down from £135 to £54 for 2 nights. Less that £25 a night when we get our 10% discount.To celebrate we had another beer & treated ourselves to a meat pie from the bakers next door.

Shortly after 1pm, we purchased our ferry ticket & boarded the ferry for our 3 & a half hour crossing to Split. It was absolutely baking hot in the sun & everyone was seeking a shady spot. The beer probably helped, but Jackie managed to get to sleep on a bench with a unique method of keeping cool. The breeze billowed her short skirt up like a balloon, thus airing her nether region. I’m not sure what the other passengers thought. Or me taking a photo of her!

The ferry cruised past the islands of Hvar & Brac & arrived in Split just after 5pm. It was a much more orderly disembarkation from the ferry this time & we were soon on the open road heading north. We followed the toll-free Highway 1 for over 140 miles passing through Sinj, Hrvace, Vrlika, Kijevo, Biskupija, Knin, Gracac & Udbina, before eventually turning off & driving a few more miles to Plitvicka Jezera. Our route had taken us past Perucko Jezero (a large lake) & up into the Croatian Mountains. It was a tough drive as we were continually driving into the dying sun.

Around 8.30pm & in the dark, we arrived at Guest House Slavica, which is probably our poshest room of the trip so far and the cheapest. We dumped our bags & walked 2 minutes up the road to the local pizzeria, called Bistro Vucnica, which is actually in a ski lift station. This was our first actual proof that we were now in a ski resort.

We shared a very nice fancy chilli pizza & a beer. It was again posh and again cheap! We’ll be back.

The night was complete watching the last couple of overs of another remarkable win for England with a white wine nightcap.

Song of the Day : Movin’ On Up by Primal Scream.Read more