Picking up the erm ... Ford Futura 4.1

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We caught the airport train out to the car pick up point for a mere fraction of the price it cost to get to the airport ($4.50 as opposed to $15 and only five minutes down the line!). A foreign lady checked the car with us with me playing lawyer and photographing every nook and crannie to absolve us of liability should any arguments occur down the line. After insisting she find it, the lady produced us our promised guide which provided details of all the free camp-sites and rest stops.

We decided to pick up the car 3 days earlier than planned as we managed to see everything we wanted to in Sydney in our very long and productive day. I had spotted a lot of tours going to the Blue Mountains and several people we had stopped and talked to in Alice had recommended it as a beautiful place to visit so we set the Sat Nav and set off along one of what turned out to be many beautiful roads into the mountains.

The Blue Mountains get their name from the gas emitted from the plants that lie in the valley between the ranges. The depths of the valley therefore appear a dark misty blue colour. We drove to the largest town of Katoomba, where we stopped into Coles for our first large food shop where we could get our hands on own brand pasta, cereal and the necessaries for surviving out the back of a car.

Our car is a white Ford Futura which we have rented from the company Travellers Autobarn. The station wagon has back seats that fold down and allow us to stretch out our sleeping bags on top of them. We have been provided with a basic kit including a single gas burner running off butane gas cans, a fold down table, 2 camping chairs, 2 saucepans a frying pan and various cooking utensils and cutlery. The vehicle is an automatic which I have very much enjoyed as it has removed yet another thing for me to worry about when I am driving. More on that later.

We decided to enjoy our lunch of cheese sandwiches and a packet of crisps at Echo Point Lookout, the most popular viewing point of the mountains as it gives you a great view of the Three Sisters – three stacked rock formations erupting from the cliff face. After stopping at Tourist Information for a better map, we headed to our first campsite of the Old Ford Reserve where we parked up our car (albeit on a slight slope which meant that somebody got slightly squashed during the night). We shared the nature reserve with two mad cyclists who took off into the night with poor bike lights and a lot of enthusiasm. They were however really helpful in that when Andrew's lighter failed to light, they gave us their spare when we asked for a light.

After a feast of spaghetti carbonara with bacon and mushrooms I went we watched a couple of House episodes and went to bed.

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