Too bad that in the end none of you could make it to Croatia for Easter! We joined our club in Paklenica for 4 wonderful days. There was only one problem: it was too short! Pete is right: work sucks!!! :angry:
The weather was really kind to us with lots of sunshine and temperatures around 25-27C during the day. We even had a swim in the sea! It almost felt like a summer holiday, only the water was still rather cold. :freeze: But sunbathing afterwards helped to regain normal body temperature (and beautiful red skin) fairly quickly.
Of course we did some climbing on real rock too, that was our main activity during our stay. On the day of our arrival we only had time for a few single pitch sport routes.
But the next two days we went for the multi pitch routes: there are loads of them in many different sectors, ranging from 2 pitches to over 20. I had the first (and second) trad multi pitch climb of my life! The first was Oliver Dragojevic from which there is a wonderful view to the sea and Starigrad Paklenica. Did you know that the movie Winnetou was shot here?
The next day we climbed Bijela rampa (white slope) which is a wonderful slab climb in the easy grade. Unfortunately it has an awkward approach on steep scree and an even more awkward descent starting with a – sometimes quite exposed – scramble along the ridge, continuing with a via ferrata downwards and ending with the same steep scree of the approach. But it was certainly worth it as the climb was pure joy and we could have a great view to the sea and the surrounding huge vertical limestone walls like Anica Kuk, the most popular sector as the longest routes can be found here (up to 350 metres)
Fortunately we were the first to get into the route but soon we were followed (and overtaken) by some other parties. There was certainly room for all of us!
It’s only natural that in the end we rewarded ourselves with some sweets (crepes this time) and coffee.
Cats must be extremely intelligent in this country as we saw none around this restaurant. They must be able to read the signs …
So once again, sorry but no cat shots for Terry.
Hey Dalma, sorry we didn’t make it to Crotia to meet up with you – it looks like you had a wonderful time! Way better than the rain in Spain, but maybe about the same as the Lakes, albeit without the seaside swimming. 😀 I’m sure there will be more opportunities to meet though. 😉 Perhaps later this year when you visit the UK…
Yeah, some of us ended up in Orpierre, France. John H sends his best regards 😆 Good climbing here though, plus we’ve met just about the whole world in people we know :star:
Looks like a great place! Except for the cat-free restaurant of course.