Build up to first World Cup Tacen Ljubljana

Mike and I arrived in the lovely city of Ljubljana last Monday for the build up to the first Slalom World Cup at Tacen about 10 minutes out of town. We found our hostel booked over the internet to be excellent value for money with all the mod cons and plenty of space, about 10 minutes from town and the slalom course. We went straight into a solid training program to lead up to the competition starting Friday. Managed to fit in some R and R between the training. Also did a bit more flat water kayaking myself in Mikes creek boat on the river above the course staying well clear of the deady drop. The boat obviously was not used to going so slow.

As in prior years checked out again the tried and true Mexican Restaurant as well as the Kaval next to the course and the world famous Slovenian restuarant, the Azur next to our accom. Otherwise it was the supermarket and breakfast lunch and dinner prepared back at the hostel.

Training for Mike was intense but we still took time out to explore this beautiful city and get in a hike up the Smarna Gori hill and do some fishing.

The World Cup 1 was extremely good for Mke with a credible first heat run putting him in second spot and the semis followed with an excellent semis run and through to his first ever slalom World Cup Finals. Overall he finished in 10th position.
Tomorrow we leave for Bratislava Slovakia about 4 hours drive away. We will be there for one week before heading to Leipzig in Germany for the third World Cup.


Vavra at the parallel slalom racing on the Ljubljana River in the middle of Ljubljana City raced under floodlights. Mike is on the green boat as the unofficial photographer.


The parallel slalom sudden depth. Each paddler has two runs, one on each side of the course and the paddler with the best time wins and goes through to the next run.

Breakfast time in our mint accomodation the Hostel Azur.

The upmarket subdivision just down the road from the Tacen Slalom Course. The houses are all equal to or larger than the average NZ house.

The conquest of the Smarna Gori Hill near the slalom site. A climb of 669 metres in 20-40 minutes for a much needed beer. Mike and Shaun Travers admiring the view.

Glenys Travers at the bottom of the slalom course. The hill in the background is Smarna Gori we climbed the previous day. The house on the other side of the river was where we had a BBQ the previous night and I spent an hour fishing with no success although a few fish were jumping.

Mike, Shaun and Glenys at the world famous Azur Restuarant next to our accommodation. The pizzas were just delicious.

Mike trying to grate and extract the parmesan cheese from the old wooden container and grater at the Azur.

Mike in the confines of our hostel room. I had 10% of the space and Mike the rest. Roll on Bratislava when the situation will change. We also had a full kitchen and bathroom that we shared with one other apartment. With free internet, breakfast and parking it was great value for money.

The paddlers in the slalom K1 finals as they exit the river after the race. Mike is the paddler half way up the stairs .