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Published: July 13th 2011
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Our short stay in the relatively small country of Slovenia has been a real eye opener. The people we have met have been friendly, the scenery great and it feels very relaxed. We have discovered a country that would be worth a return visit one day, but today we said our sad farewells to our wonderful hosts and headed for Croatia.
To drive on the motorways in Slovenia you need to buy a vignette for either a six month or one year period. As we were only in the country for three days we felt the expense was not worth it so it was the minor roads for us. By taking the minor roads we discovered wonderful scenery, fairytale villages and rural life in Slovenia. Leaving Radovljica the route we took meant negotiating more zig zag roads over mountainous land until we reached rolling countryside near Postojna, an area famous for large cave systems.
The day was warming up and we noticed the car’s outside temperature was reading 37°. It was going to be a hot drive as we headed south. From Postojna to the Slovenian-Croatian border it is a very straight forward drive, with probably the only serious crossing we
have made so far on this trip. First we had to pass the grim-looking Slovenian woman staffing our exit point, where our passports were given a good going over. Next we proceeded to the “All Other Passports” queue at the Croatian border. The friendly border control officer checked our passports, welcomed us, and made a comment about seeing New Zealand on TV. As we drove away we were welcomed again, this time by Croatian tourist representatives giving us a comprehensive information pack about Croatia. Our first impressions of this once war-torn country were most favourable.
Without our GPS and using a Europe Road Atlas with limited information we headed south towards Rijeka and then to the island of Krk, our final destination today. All went well and eventually we joined a motorway just outside the city. It seemed all of Croatia, Slovenia and every other Eastern European country had also joined the motorway. We came to a grinding halt behind thousands of cars all heading in our direction. As we stopped and started our way along the road we noticed the outside temperature soar until it touched 42° for a brief time. The heat was causing carnage along the way
with cars overheating and having to wait for things to cool down. Thankfully we survived. It soon became apparent what the cause of the bottle neck was. The motorway hasn’t yet been finished and everyone was channelled into a single lane exit, added to this the numerous traffic lights that invariably turned red, causing more build up of traffic.
To reach the island of Krk you need to cross a large bridge. Once on the island, one of the larger ones along the coast, the drive is through scrubby country where plant life tries to survive in a dry rocky landscape. On reaching our hotel in the seaside town of Njivice we found the area absolutely packed with holiday makers. The booking sheet said there was free parking available in public places. They should have left out the word “available”. After some time we spotted a very tight parking space near the hotel entrance and squeezed in. At this point we decided we needed to blob for the next two days and the car could just stay there. The sea looked inviting, the temperature was unreal, and on entering the room we found no air conditioning and no bar fridge.
Oh boy, what a delight – and the forecast is predicting high temperatures coming across from North Africa for the next three days.
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