Highlight The Lipno Lookout

A phone call from Rabobank at 5am jolted us all awake. It was about a maturing term deposit. This later provided a good excuse for sleeping in. We had thought about taking a cable car up a nearby mountain, Klet, for the views, as the walk was 5 hours and the forecast not great. It mentioned showers and then thunderstorms in the afternoon. Also Katherine did not have good walking shoes with her.  Kamila gave us an alternative of a newer cable car up a ski slope near a dam where there was a tree top walk. This suited us all and was only 35km away so we did not have to rush. The reviews were good, although mention was made of it being relatively expensive. It probably is, but as things in the area are so cheap we were happy to pay the equivalent of $22 each.

The drive was the sort that suits John as it was through the countryside with green rolling hills. We were then onto a road by the lake and into the large free parking space for the Ski area. The lift is used in summer to get people to the walkway although there are options of a bus or walking.

We took the cableway up and all commented on how peaceful the area was. Below we could see the mountain bike route and to one side the route to walk up. The area was also crossed by the ‘freeway’ bike route down, which John was keen to try.

The walkway was a short distance from the top and designed for families. It opened in 2012 and it is the first of its type in the republic. There is a 370 m walkway slowly rising through the trees to get to the short group of steps to the 40m observation area. This has nine sides and reaches its height in about 6 circuits so all the walk is gentle. At various spots on the way there are activities for children including naming animals and adventurous walks on wobbly posts with netting underneath. There even appeared to be a chairlift to get people up the last steps.

We had good views of the surrounding hills and the Lipno Dam. It was already a popular area for families we read, and the walkway is an addition to an already popular sporting area. The altitude at the top is 910m while Mt Klet would have been a bit higher at 1082m. One area suggested we were looking towards the Alps, but some imagination would have been required here.

There was a 52m dry toboggan run from the top down that John was keen to try while Katherine was not bothered and I was a definite no. We looked at the rules and managed to work out the last one meant don’t go on it with a heart condition as there was a very odd diagram. The other rules were more obvious such as you had to be over 6 and no bags could be taken. However, the operator managed to tell us that the ticket machine where you could pay at the spot was broken and a ticket had to be bought in advance at the bottom of the ski lift or the walkway itself. John was not that keen.

We stopped for a beer and wine at the café at the top and then booked a kick bike for John. It was really like a scooter with brakes and big inflatable wheels, and the company was doing a solid trade. We could have saved on his chair lift ticket but it was a minor part of the cost. Katherine and I saw him scooting along as we went down the chairlift so were not surprised to see him at the bottom before us. His route was longer but definitely faster. He had been told he had 45mins but needed less than 15mins. The first part of the track was paved then it headed into the forest in a mountain bike area. He really enjoyed this part of the track.

Lunch was at a hotel with an Italian theme. It was fine until Katherine found a fly in her drink. We hope it had just landed there. She had ordered a 4 topping pizza and that is what she got. A quarter had mushrooms on it, another quarter was salami etc. She just combined the toppings and then packed up the last three pieces for tea.

There was a cache at the top but reception on the phone was poor. I was keen to get a memory one and saw a regular by the dam. We found a park and had a 200m walk to find it. I would have spent longer walking around the dam if we had not had a disrupted night and the forecast had been better.

We also had a nice experience at the local garage. I had bought the Czeck motorway ticket with the credit card and was back in the car when someone came up saying Baum and gesturing. I assumed the card had had an issue and maybe I needed to sign. It proved that I had left a 100 czech note (about $6.50 NZ) on the counter that had dropped out when I got my card out. It tied in with the guides comment about the low level of crime here.

Back at the Airbnb, the forecast bad weather simply did not arrive. I left the others snoozing and went for a walk to a part of the town I had not been to. I started at the synagogue and then found a family park area, before finding myself back in the centre. I took a photo of the stage that is now ready for the festival that starts (sadly) tomorrow and then did a walk along the river following the path we had rafted. I just missed the Co-op which closed at 6pm but the closer local store was still open.