Gaspar and Peti broke records, and rowed 87 kilometres on Saturday. Then we spent the night in the Fruska Gora national park.
The rowers started to arrive by the time we got out of the tent on the courtyard of the Vukovar Rowing Club. Young girls and boys were carrying the rowing-boats out of the boat house, launched them and rowed. We packed up too, had our breakfast, took the kayak to the pier and the boys made their way again. First they had to complete the 3-4 kilometres journey they have already done on Friday, and then a further 76 kilometres to Novi Sad, the target for today.
Indulás Vukovárból
Their first stop was by Sarengrad, where I was waiting by a shady park. The section after Vukovar is very interesting. The road lays high above the Danube and a few towns built around the streams set between the loess hills here and there. The serpentine road to the Danube level is through the loess walls, and straight after it leads to the top from the valley.
Next time we met was by Celarevo. I had to go back to Serbia, and chose to go through the Palanka Bridge. To step out of Croatia didn`t take much time, however on the Serbian side a queue formed, therefore it took me about three quarters of an hour to make it into the country. I found an exit to the Danube by Celarevo. A nice pub was nearby too and the gravel beach, where a few people were sunbathing and swimming. Our radio got filled with water – we assume a problem with the IP8 protection - , so Gaspar and Peti spotted the car a little late. They paddled close to the other side of the river, turned the kayak to face me and crossed in front of a barge. After all they had to row against the current to be able to stop in front of the camera.
Although the sky darkened and we heard a few thunders, it was still warm, so the boys decided to swim in the Danube. In the same time an old man came to us as he read the sign on the car and started to chat in Hungarian. He was a local man and he told us a little bit about the old times, when they could still drink from the Danube, and there were plenty of jobs nearby too. His accent faded with time, but the most interesting thing was when we told him we are from Transylvania, he asked us where that was.
After the swim, the rain that just arrived when the boys left cooled them down too. Lucky we only just got a tiny shower which passed by quickly and it was sunny again. I went to Novi Sad to shop and to search for a camping. The first part was easy; however I had a few issues with the camping hunt. The closest place was next to Karlovic (Karloca), in the Fruska Gora national park. The boys arrived to Novi Sad too. They passed the city beach, where the populace was sunbathing and swimming, rowed under the bombed bridge, and the rest of the bridges, and tied the boat by Petrovaradin (Petervarad). Here, I advised them of the camping situation, allowing them to decide what they thought the best option would be: leaving the boat here or adding an extra 11 kilometres to the Saturday rowing target. They chose the latter.
Mi is rajta vagyunk a képen 4.
To get to Karlovic by the Danube, you have to go through moorland. I didn`t try to approach, I went straight towards the daily target. A hotel and motorboat piers were by the shore, this was the reference I gave to the crew, and I went to the camping, four kilometres away. It is advertised as an ecological camping, can be found on the national park, a precinct. By the reception building, a paper placed on the window invites the travellers in to call the operator on the number given. I avoided this; I figured the place was operating well so I went back to the beach where Gaspar and Peti soon arrived. They were tired, but happy to be over this stage, as at least they have covered the extra kilometres, which meant less work for Sunday. The Sunday stage would have been the same: Novi Sad – Belgrade.
Budapest óta nem láttunk ekkora személyhajót
We placed the kayak on top of the car, the boys changed into dry clothes and we went back to the camping. Karlovic seemed to be very lively; we learned from the old man from Dunabecs that today was a bank holiday. On the forum of the town and on the streets were plenty of people. Interesting place with its tiny, little roads, however there are lot of charming houses, a very idyllic, cosy place.
This was the first time since we left Budapest that we used the Bake`n`Roll baking set. Although we didn`t make chimney cakes, but the local speciality, the csevap. We ate comfortably on a bench under the pine trees. We expected the night to be a bit chillier due to the nature of the location. Our calculations were right, but we were not cold, only we needed to make a little more effort in the morning to leave the tent. The sun started to warm up the valley and everything around, drying our tent too. We had our breakfast, and although we did not camp next to the river, fifteen to ten and we were in the kayak already.
Lots of islands and backwaters made the landscape more colourful today, and at last the Tisza arrived too by Zalankamen. First, just about three kilometres above the sea-reach, stopped Gaspar and Peti. They had to come around a small island, to make it easier for me to come by with the car. It was a place dotted with trees and a good few fishing boats were rocking by the shore. Little further, by the edge of the island, a few swans swam nicely, giving a lovely atmosphere and luckily some shade.
Unfortunately, we couldn`t spend much time here, Belgrade was still far away. Not as far as we thought in the morning, as we found out the camping was just before Belgrade, in Semlin (Zimony). This meant that on Sunday instead of 75 kilometres, the distance was only 65 after all. This news made the boys` day, so they decided to row the last 38 kilometres without a stop, to arrive at the borrowing-pit next to the camping around half past five, and give the kayak some rest.
This was Peti`s last day, from tomorrow it is my turn in the boat again. He seemed pleased about the last three days. Seemed a little tired, and told us, that like many others, he thought it would be much easier to paddle down the Danube, than how it really is. Tunde arrived from Budapest in the evening; she will be our guide in the next few days. And Peti will go back to Budapest tonight, with the Mini, displaying the Kurtoskalacs Fesztival (Chimney Cake Festival) sticker.
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