My alternative to travelling half of the distance to my next destination on Friday night, was to aim to set off at 5am this morning, and do the journey all in one go, with the idea that traffic would not have built up. I also decided to take a risk and actually take a cross-country stretch not on the motorway, rather than go out of my way around Zagreb, repeating the outward journey. This would mean that I would do the border crossing on a lesser road so I figured there would be less queues.
I did apologise in advance to my immediate neighbours about the to be sound of the diesel engine and van maneouverings off the pitch the following morning, and I did make an exit by 5:15 in the dark, fingers crossed that nothing was left behind.
The journey up through Croatia was great, and I was again struck by the significant mountains, hills and uplands. Some glimpses of the coastline looked similar to pictures of fyord coasts, with mountains going down to the sea. There are many beautiful national parks with lakes, and rivers to visit as well as the Istrian coast, Dubrovnik further south, and islands up and down the coast, so a repeat visit is definitely needed.
Plaudits must be given to my companion on this trip – the fabulous catalogue of the one and only Stevie Wonder. He and I belted out all the well-known classics, but what about ones like “I ain’t gonna stand for it baby” and “one more time, one more time – For Your Love”. I know my fellow fans will recall these instantly :).
The risks of ending up going on single-track roads with hairpin bends up mountains given my lack of a detailed map didn’t materialise, as I cut a corner off from near Karlovac in Croatia to Slovenia’s Ljubliana. This route confirmed the many reviews I had read about the landscapes of Slovenia. The sun was shining, but notwithstanding it was really beautiful, and I was so glad that I hadn’t stuck to the motorway.
The roads were great, but it does help when stopping to check two satnavs and the map, to be sure of the road you’re actually on, rather than the one you’d planned and had assumed you were on! I actually took road numbered ‘3’ crossing the border at Vinica rather than the planned ‘6’, which explained my continuing confusion as I failed to understand what was going on. Blame it on tiredness rather than plain inability or ageing. It was only when I arrived that I deduced exactly what had happened; in effect the roads were pretty parallel and similar distances so I don’t think I did unnecessary miles. However, due to the number of times I ended up stopping on the journey for various reasons including these, I didn’t take enough photos of this route.
The plan variation worked thankfully. The long drive was done on pretty empty, stress-free roads, at 58mph for the motorways, and despite knowing that I had just reached the end of my willingness and capability to drive further, my arrival early afternoon nick of time was accompanied by excitement at the new place.