We kept to our intended wake up and leave at 4:30 am schedule but it wasn’t easy! Josh, being the non coffee drinker took the first leg of driving since there wasn’t any coffee to be had at the point! We started our 3 1/2 hour drive down to Plitvice Lakes National park. The “fast” way was a windy, snaky mountain road that I feel added an hour to our drive! Somehow leaving 3 hrs earlier than we had planned gained us absolutely nothing time wise and that was with no wait at the border! We had tickets to enter the park at 11 am and we walked to the gate at exactly 11 am. Of course on the way down, we did stop at 2 gas stations, had to add air to the tires, ate breakfast and had 2nd coffee at another station, so some time was lost. The Plitvice area is astounding! Granted the crowd can be a bit much, similar to the crowds you see at the Grand Canyon, but we were able to get ahead of some tour groups and make decent time. We planned on doing the K trail loop which was the longest but once we reached the trailhead it was closed due to flooding. We decided to take the ferry to the next trailhead and pick up there, but the tour group caught up with us and the ferry dropped us at the other pier. We then decided to take the other ferry across, it is a very short distance, swimmable even, if they would let you! After sitting on the boat waiting for a few mins, we changed the plan and then ran up the hill to the tram station. Well, the tram rolled right past us without stopping so that messed up that plan! Back down the hill to the pier, back on the short ferry boat, and finally back to hiking!

We managed to see every lake and almost completed the chain loops but due to facing another 4 hr drive, we made the smart decision to hike back a shorter route. We again attempted to take the tram and again ran a foul of another tour group. The four of us literally shoved our way onto the tram and braced as the doors closed on us. Also, hats off to the chick who was “hiking” in 3” heels! I have no idea how she didn’t break an ankle, even if she did just hike up to the tram and back!

From Plitvica to Split was a 3 hr drive. At this point in the day I had consumed 3 coffees, one Red Bull, and ended the caffeine train with something called Hell Energy drink in order to drive! Fueled by chemicals and delicious Nutella biscuits, paid to me one per every 25 km, we made our way south. We rolled into RED Adventures and met Dejan, the lovely owner who made the next leg of our trip possible. The next couple of hours were spent fitting kayaks, pfds, packing gear, and then taking a taxi to our hotel. Josh had found a very cool place for us in the Old Town center. Unfortunately, we were so exhausted that we didn’t do much exploring. A quick tour of the food options and we landed at a fairly Americanized place but the pizza looked good and my beef tacos followed by the apple pie dessert tacos were amazing!