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Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj and driving the road from Kranjska Gora downinto the Soca valley, through the Julian Alps

From camping Radovljica we planned to drive on to Bled, and then decide where to from there. Bled was only 20 minutes away, and though we hadn't done anything much we decided it was one of those days where we just needed an unscheduled break. We pulled into Camping Bled, sat around and made use of the wifi and Skype, and then walked down to the small lakeside beach. The camping mats and plastic lilo we had brought for the ferry have come in useful for a few beach stops, so, looking slightly less stylish than other beach dwellers with fancy rugs and giant towels, we made ourselves comfy and enjoyed 3 swims and an afternoon of napping and reading in a very classically picturesque lakeside spot. The day was hot - around 29, the water crystal clear and deliciously cool.

An Englishman man from last nights camp recommended going to lake Bohinjsko near bled. It was just a 30 minute drive away, and possibly more beautiful than the renown lake Bled. The giant mountains were looming right on the lakes edge, the town much less imposing, and the scenery devine. When I walked down to the water to check if it was a swimmable temperature, I was amazed to see multitudes of small trout swimming within a foot of the shore. When we did go in for a swim, the fish would swim right around you when you stood still. The water was cool, and if you dared out past the first clear blue 10 metres it dropped off to a deep green blackness, that was so cold you had to try and keep in the undisturbed top few inches. It was the kind of water that I'm sure great taniwha lurked, and the water so deep and dark you would never see them coming. 

 We had wondered about camping here, and I did wish we had pushed on to here instead of Bled, but we hadn't known what was just down the road. 

It was still relatively early in the day, so the next itinerary item was a drive on the road from Kranjska Gora down into the Soca valley, through the Julian alps. It had been described in numerous posts as hair raising, but very scenic. I wasn't deterred, feeling confident that I'd driven the beast on some interesting tracks and was up for it as long as the road had a centreline. 

In the end, there was no center line, but the road was wide enough for me, and there were plenty of pull offs. The incline was steep, with switchback after switchback, lots of motorbikes were enjoying the ride, and I encountered no buses ( always my biggest concern). I followed a cyclist up, passing him on a brief straight, he was phenomenal, just powering up where I would struggle to walk. 

When we reached halfway, we stopped for the view, decided we had done enough to get the feel and sights, and as I would have had to return on the same road, decided to head back down the mountain, and drive on to Austria for the night. The views of the alps were stunning, including the sharp jagged peaks of mountains that were up to 2864 meters high. 

These lakes were lovely, and great for swimming, though we much preferred Lake Bohinisko

this guy was amazing powering up this massive mountainside

one of many many s bends

A great day relaxing and swimming at Lake Bled

Last big family gathering for me for awhile

Was great to join the family gathering at the beach house this weekend, even if it was just a brief stay. Lovely to have so many together, and this was baby Lotties first chance to hangout with some of her North Island cousins.
Charlie was chuffed to get to come along as well, but it was hard to drive away without him - sorry mate ... be nice to Henry, don't chase Alice's chooks and I will see you in 8 months.

Hmm - jet lag?

It's 4 in the morning for my third day in a row and I am awake. The Kuala Lumpur stop over was meant to be a nice respite from the long haul flight, but still recovering from a sick night on our last night in Portugal, we haven't managed to get out and do much.

On day 3 we got desperate and took the bus tour around the city just so we could get out, then had a better afternoon swimming and relaxing by the pool. Took ourselves out to Chinatown for the evening, and this may have been Heathers undoing as she became horribly sick a couple of hours into the next flight - KL to Melbourne, and was still chucking as we gathered our bags once on the ground. It was a grim arrival as we departed the plane with me grabbing spare vomit bags to get Heather safely through the immigration and luggage process. 

Somebody went out in the mid day sun without a hat.

Last day in Europe

Heather hadn't realised that Thursday was our last day, and as we had slowed the pace to that of an ageing tourtise, we suddenly had so many things to do and see before we left. It didn't help that we had already had a late and lazy start, although the serious job of repacking for the flight was done. So we headed off to the puppet museum. 

Wandered around a bit, then I started to feel unwell so headed back to Graca, where I spent the night projectile vomiting. Both a bit worried we would get on the plane the following day 

Sintra - Portugal

Had a lovely day trip out of Lisbon to Sintra, just 40 minutes away. We were tempted to take the day as a tour, and avoid yet again all the checking, planning, timetables and decisions on what to do and see. But it all turned out to be very easy and cheap to get around. The transport agency had a number of tourist bus loops you could select and pay for and we took the local train. The bus was only €5 each for a one way loop, getting on and off at the stops along the way, and the day seemed to flow well as they were reasonably frequent (about every 20 mins), so we never waited long. Three sights was enough for us to explore - the Sinta National Palace, the Moors Castle, and the Pena National Palace. Then with the last of the days energy we took another bus out to Cabo Da Roca- the most western point in Europe. One of us napped on the way out, despite it being windy and bumpy, and then a quick recky of the point and back for the next bus to return to Sintra station. 

It was well worth taking the day, as the area was quite different to what we had seen in Lisbon. 

I had done some big walking days earlier in the trip, but I think this must have been my best effort for 62 flights of stairs climbed. 

Many rooms were themed by hand painted wooden ceilings, this was the swan room. 

More Lisbon

Love the street are around the city

We liked this upstairs dining room with gorgeous painted ceilings and a entire table for the coffee service.

A single berth carriage - nice ride if you can get it

Enjoying a tasty shot of cherry wine in a chocolate cup