Monday 23 September

 We wake about 6 when the engine starts up for our departure from Split. It is another clear sunny day. We continue along the Croatian coast with the mainland on the starboard side and islands on the left. Just after breakfast as we are up on deck there are a couple of dolphins swimming off the stern. 

About 10.30 we are told that we will be stopping for a swim. We moor in behind an island where it is very calm. We are about a 100 metres off the shoreline. One of the crew dives in and tows a mooring line to the shore and ties it around a rock. We ask him what the water is like and he says fresh! It is a bit cooler than our last swim but we are in deeper water, the closer to the shore is warmer. The water is clear but visibility is not due to the cloudy bottom and my mask is not clear. I took a lot of photos but was shooting blind. After about 30 mins we head off towards Sibenik. Luckily the photos came out.

The entrance into Sibenik is surprising. It is a narrow entrance but as you progress through  it opens out into a wide expansive harbour with all the houses built along the shoreline. There are boats and yachts everywhere. Our captain skilfully moors between another boat like ours and a small runabout.

After lunch we board a bus for a 20 minute drive to Krka National park where the lakes and waterfalls are. The park covers 109 square kilometres and surrounds the Krka river. We are visiting the Skradanski waterfalls, the most famous, but it is less than 5% of the area. To visit all the main areas along the river would take more than 4 days and would include hiking and camping. 

The drive in is spectacular and our lady driver is great. There a lot of turns and narrow roads. As we enter the park the views get better. The river is quite strong and is broken into many streams as the water works it way down. Waterfalls are everywhere, ranging from small to large and wide. Fish are everywhere in the pools by the side of the streams. It is an easy walk to see the falls but then it gets strenuous the further you go. The girls head back with a few others and we press on. We get to the bottom with more spectacular views and then we have to head up, some 200 steps. We were warned there is a cobblestone road that you can  use instead of the steps but it maybe slippery. I went up the first set of steps but then chose the road which while steep and rough but not slippery.it was quite a workout, but I was pleased with how my knee held up. The temperature was 26 degrees.

For dinner tonight we had a Croatian BBQ! There is a huge bowl with a flat rim. Chicken, burgers, sausages, lamb chops are cooked on the rim, while all the vegetables are cooked in the bowl. It was delicious.  We head off to bed around 10 pm.

Having upload issues, will post photos later.