JOURNAL - DAY 6

DAY 6:

Richard says:

"What a super day! 29 Kilometres from Ceske Vrbne to Novy Dvur, just north of Tyn nad Vltavou. 

The day started at 0530 with one one of the local cockerels sounding a reveille too early. But then early bird catches the worm... At 0800 I met Jana of TNP Laminex which is a Ceske Budejovice based company established in 1992, employing 15 people and manufacturing 65 000 water-sports paddles a year and they are sold worldwide. I even got to meet its owner, Mr. Jaroslav Nemec who has so kindly supported our project (Petra cannot praise her Wolferine paddle enough!). I understand that one of Mr. Nemec's uncles was an RAF pilot during WWII. 

After a quick tour of the workshops I set off at 0900 with Jana and Martin who were going to accompany me from Ceske Vrbne to Purkarec. The weather forecasters were correct and it rained on and off the whole morning but at midday blue skies and sun appeared to the joy of everybody in our small group. 

We met another monster from the deep excavating the Vltava. Interestingly, the vehicle is controlled remotely by an operator on the bank - it makes it a tame beast on an invisible leash, I suppose. This operator very magnanimously ordered his ward not to swallow us alive - i.e. he stopped the machine to allow us to pass. 

When we reached the dam at Hluboka, we encountered more of the same and this time another operator lifted one of the gates and we effortlessly glided underneath. We then moved through some lovely countryside which was part of the old Schwarzenberg estate. Jana and Martin left me at Purkarec having very kindly escorted me out of the Ceske Budejovice area.

The chateau of Hluboka (the current look being modelled on the Windsor Castle) that one sees on the way was originally founded as a guarding castle in the mid 13th century.

Interesting fact: This castle has been used in a scene of Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson's Shanghai Knights.

I then moved north to the dam of Hnevkovice where I met a powerstation master who was very interested in the project. We had a lovely chat - lingua franca in this instance became German and I was trying my darnedest to summon all the bits and pieces of my pidgin' "Deutch". By and large, I think we did rather well and I was leaving with a bagful of information materials about the powerstation.

Then on towards Tyn nad Vltavou. 

Another weir to be circumvented and there it was in front of me - my campsite for the night at Novy Dvur. Getting to it was another adventure though - all of a sudden I found myself being chased by a male swan who was protecting his mate on the nest. In order to escape its flapping wings I was surprised to have found reserves of energy making me storm into the campsite like a rocket!