So we decided to visit Planina polje, the fascinating karst field southwest from Ljubljana to catch the Autumn colours that grace its edges, but we completely disregarded the Autumn rains that fell a couple of days before.
The paths crisscrossing the Planina polje are off limits to cars (park at the edge and protect the fragile ecosystem), but now the path we wanted to use was off limits to pedestrians too – as we didn’t want to get our feet (and kites) wet.
It was a strange day in a well-known place. We fly here – not just on the Planina polje, but on this exact spot – rather regularly. We’ve met Autumn floods, Summer heat, Spring lushness … and it’s really amazing how this unique landscape manages to look so different every time.
It was a sunny day, but so many puffy clouds were racing across the sky the light on the meadows was uneven. And at least some of the clouds were looking as if they would gladly expand into a cumulonimbus, so we felt a bit uneasy holding 200 m lighting rods …
And the wind that was pushing the clouds was strong. As soon as the rokkaku caught the river of air some 50 m above, the kite aerial photography session turned into a serious fight. Even the usually timid Cindy delta got feisty!
There were some trees nearby, so we decided to tie the kites to one of them, toso we could free our hands for a cold one – but, meticulous and always prepared as we are, we had only one strap on us.
Coud one strap take two kites? Wouldn’t they tangle and crash?
Turns out it can be done: the delta and the rokkaku have such different flight profiles there was no chance of an aerial disaster.
Not only did Cindy delta fly at a much higher angle than The Original Blue rok – they were some 40 degrees apart horizontally too!
Strange … but anyway, the views of the semi-flooded Planina polje were magnificent. The swollen river Unica was very curious and went exploring the land beyond her course.
The almost-regular rhythm of rising and receding waters has been shaping this exceptional ecosystem since at least the middle Miocene.
For some 12 million years…
We are but a speck in time, like the kites are but specks in the sky.
Taking snapshots of a process unstoppable yet imperceptible – and of the sheer beauty it creates every passing moment.
Kite aerial photos shot with Instas carried aloft by The Original Blue rokkaku and Cindy delta, both made by Janez of dr.Agon kites.
