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Ok we are off today on a trip. A trip to the most beautiful awesome place I have seen. A trip where water is involved . Lots of it. So if you hate getting wet, if you hate frogs, if you hate fish then stop now and dont continue reading . We are off to the Krka National park. A treasure if ever there is one.
The park is named after the river Krka that it encloses. It is located along the middle-lower course of the river just a few kilometres from Sibernik. It was formed to protect the Krka River and is intended primarily for scientific, cultural, educational, recreational, and tourism activities. It is the seventh national park in Croatia and was proclaimed a national park in 1985. The first thing that will surprise you is that it is huge. It has massive car parks and is not free to enter. Think what it would be like to fence in the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District, the Peak District or Snowdonia and charge entry. There would be outrage at home but here it is perfectly normal. We are going to park Suzy up. There is plenty of room and
it is early. 9am the park opened an hour ago. Off we walk to the ticket office. Lets part with our dosh and go in.
We are directed to a path which leads downhill to to the gorge below us. It is a stoney path with trees to either side. Smell the freshness of the air. The rain has cleared the dust and it smiles of pine. Flowers are all alongside the path. White Bladder Campion, clover. Listen can you hear the sound of the bees. We are the only people walking that path . Down it goes twisting from side to side as we gradually descend. When we get to the bottom we have a choice. You can continue walking with us or you can catch a boat . I will tell you all about the boat trips when we arrive at the bottom. Its a long way to go yet. Round the next corner we go and we catch a glimpse of the lakes . They are set in an area of 109 square kilometres. That's a lot of park. The park is mainly travertine. That's limestone scenery to you and me. It is this limestone that
makes the water do what the water does. OK so you know the geography now. Let's get walking and see what we can do next.
We have reached the bottom of the path. If you want you go 400 metres and catch the boat to Visovak. Visovak Island has a monastery on it and it houses a collection of historical church linens, dishes and manuscripts. If you go on the boat you get a 30 minute tour of the island. It takes 2 hours . If you fancy another trip you can do the 3 and half hour trip up river to the Roski slap waterfall and then there is the third trip to the Krka monastery. We are lazy bones. We like boats but hate being on them for hours so this is not for us. You can go if you want and tell us all about it when you get back. We are heading for a coffee.
Are you coming? We have chosen to walk the educational trail. Makes us sound like school kids doesn't it? The Skradinski buk trail is 1900 metres long and takes us about an hour walking at a leisurely pace. Coffee
fails. The cafe is firmly shut as are the other shops. Let's stop off at the Krka Hydropower plant. There is a display of hydroelectricity inside and machinery used in the past. We go into the working watermill which seems to be grinding corn. Would you believe that the hydroelectric plant here began operations in 1895. My gran was three years old !!!! Apparently it produced electricity two days after Tesler produced it at Niagara. Sibernik apparently had electricity before many European cities.
Next stop the wonderful waterfalls along the way. You can get lost with us as we go down dead ends but each one leads us to a viewpoint. Just stand here with us and listen to the roar of the water as it plunges down from the rocks above. There is water everywhere. Little waterfalls, bigger ones, huge ones creating a mist with a hallow of colour. The noise is phenomenal. It drowns the sound of everything., It does not matter where you stand all you can hear is the water rushing down.
Come on time to move and get that coffee.
Coffee drunk and we are off on the boardwalks. They go up
through the woodland, then come down again to water level. The water is rushing under your feet. There are fishes in the still pools. Frogs, ducks, birds and blue dragonflies. Each corner brings a new delight. And you don't get your feet wet .
Superlatives dont describe the feeling of walking in this watery paradise. Did you enjoy it? We did. What a fantastic place. There is nothing like it back home. Its size and scale is enormous. Nature raw but beautiful. The force of it all stunning .
Rabindranath Tagore a philosopher said that at first we isolate beauty from all that is around it, we detach it from the rest but in the end we understand its harmony with the whole. I think Krka made me understand that . You cannot isolate this wonder from its landscape. It is part of it and sits in harmony with it. It was another wow wow wow . If you do ever come this way make this a priority place to visit and if you never come hopefully you will have a taste of it from doing the walk of the blog with me.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
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