OUR NEXT FEW DAYS WITH DEE AND JIM
Off we went back on the road with Jim and Dee heading towards Starigrad. We planned a midway stop at a little harbour called Jablanac, such a quaint place. We parked our vans a little out of the centre, unpacked our pre-prepared lunches, took our table and chairs down to the coastline to enjoy the beautiful view looking back towards the small harbour. Relaxing in the sun we enjoyed a lovely lunch together.
In Starigrad we found a very small, quiet campsite right on the coastline. This is the best spot yet as it had a wall, we could put our table and chairs on, with the sea lapping right below us. The dogs were able to play in the sea while we enjoyed a wine or two, listening to the sea and looking at the view graced by some beautiful sunsets. The campsite was within a small harbour area offering some lovely bars and restaurants, overall, a wonderful spot to say for a few nights.
The Paklencia National Park was just up the road. We spent a lovely 4 days in this area walking the dogs, riding our mountain bikes, and hiking around the National Park. What we also experienced was an introduction to rock climbing, under the expert tuition of Jim and Dee. Jim was a PT in the Navy for marines and now teaches rock climbing, privately and for the DofE, along with a variety of other activities such as sailing and skiing, along with Dee who took a career change to train and assist him. Many an interesting story and adventure they shared with us.
Rock climbing was so much fun, a little competitive between Graham and myself, what he can do I can do and visa-versa! We had a great day climbing with them and accomplished 3 routes in total. My saying was “have you got me”, I am (or is that was) scared of highs so every time I did something a little daring, I use to shout this down to Jim and Dee. We enjoyed it so much we have booked a two-day course with Jim and Dee in Dorset for when we get back. We would like to add rock climbing to the list of activities we can do while traveling.
The Paklencia National park is renowned for its rock climbing and was evident by the number of climbers at the park. The terrain is dramatic with stunning views with deep gorges in amongst the pine forest. Home to two canyons the rock formations are stunning. There are several challenging hiking trails throughout the park, again well marked out. Definitely worth a visit.
Travel adventures 