Day 47 - Road trip to The Blue Mountains

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Today is an early start. We are expecting decent weather, so we hav earmarked today, based on the weather forecast, to go to The Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains is a rugged region west of Sydney. It is known for dramatic scenery, and my any waterfalls and beautiful view points.

I got up at 6:30, to my alarm, it wasn’t very easy, but I did it! I think Bernard went for 6am! We were showered changed, and ready to go by 7am. Perfectly to the plan! We checked our bags for brollies, snacks, water, phone wires, and phones.

Gavin, who apartment shares with Bernard, has really kindly let us use his car, which makes a huge difference for us today.

We headed down base level 2, to collect Gavin’s car, we set off, ready for the day ahead. We have a two hour drive to do, then a lot of walking in front of us today.

Getting out of Sydney is the hard part, it all looks so confusing. I definitely would struggle driving here. It’s not too long before we are passing Paramatta, and leaving Sydney behind. That will be due to the early start.

We are planning a coffee stop at the first Servo that we come across. We are both ready for a shot of caffeine! That will give us a boost for the drive.

We are travelling west, on the Great Western Highway. We pass Blaxland at roughly 65km out of Sydney, the halfway point. I was shocked, that hour passed quickly.

We passed the sign for Faulconbridge. It is a village located in the Blue Mountains 77 km west of the Sydney. My ears are popping like crazy, so I know I’m going uphill! When I had a look, we are around 450m above sea level. It’s ok for them to pop, that happens to most people, but the problem with mine is that they don’t pop back, at that point I loose my hearing, more than usual! This must be a clear sign that we are getting nearer.

We drove past Woodford, and have raised another 159m above sea level to 609. we are raising up, slowly, but surely! We hit Lawson, very soon after, at 732m above sea level. A few minutes later, we are passing Wentworth Falls. The scenery is changing. There are many more tree tops to be seen, rather than the tree trunks when I look over the side of the highway. We are now looking down over the tree tops views. We are currently at around 873m above sea level

We arrived at Leura, 985m. My right ear is not feeling great, hopefully it will settle down when we stop climbing. We parked up at the next town, Katoomba 1017m, which borders Blue Mountains National Park. We want to find a map of the area, and stop for breakfast! We didn’t manage a coffee stop area, so we ate both ready for one now!

We walked up the main street, and I don’t say, ‘up’ lightly! It was really uphill, my calves were screaming. We managed to get a map from the tourist bus company. Then we walked back onto the main street to go for breakfast. We stopped at The Pomegranate Cafe. We were lucky, as it is really busy. It seems that it is difficult to get a table, not including to get a table in the sun. There is a constant stream of people waiting for tables here.

After breakfast, we drove out to three separate areas to allow us to access the main viewing points that we wanted to see today. The first one was Echo Point. This view point affords views of the Three Sisters. There are 3 huge sandstone rock formations which stand in a line with each other. They play an important part in Aboriginal history and, according to legend, were once three beautiful sisters called Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo. We went on the walking trail which allowed different views, from alternative perspectives.

We drove to the next car park to view The Katoombe Cascades. They are along the Kedumba River. The small waterfall cascades down a natural amphitheatre, surrounded by rainforest. The water that falls from the cascade, falls further down stream to Katoomba Falls. We took another short walk to view the much bigger Katoombe Falls. It is a segmented waterfall that is located further down stream on the Kedumba River, then as it falls, it descends into the Jamison Valley.

It’s all so beautiful in its own right. The walks are easy enough to access. There are no major steep highs, or lows. Seeing everything from different vantage points, improves the viewing.

After a bit of walking, and viewing, we decided to do a bit of retail therapy in Leura. It’s a really quaint, little town. Bernard bought some nice smelly stuff for the apartment. I Didn’t really see anything that grabbed my attention. We did come across an old fashioned sweet shop called The Candy Store. It was crammed full of lots of sweets that you recognise from childhood. We both got a couple of choices each! We simply couldn’t resist! Bernard got strawberry Bon bons and aniseed twists. I got regular toffee bon bons and peanut brittle, then as a treat, I got Gavin some peanut brittle, and a pack of love hearts as a little treat! Going around that shop was like walking through the ‘sweet’ memories from my past!

From the sweet shop, we went to a very unusual tea shop! We went to Bygone Beautys Treasured Teapot Museum, and Tearooms. Inside, you will find the world's largest private collection of tea wares. There are more than 5,500 teapots in the collection, spanning five centuries and including teapots from all over the world. We had what is considered to be the regular order of cream scones, with jam, but we ignored the tea, and opted for coffee! How bad! Ha ha

After being fed, and watered, we thought we could for a couple more viewings in, before we leave. The first one being Lyrebird Dell, sadly it was closed off due to the recent heavy rainfall sand flooding, and also danger of landslides. We have seen this a few times in the Blue Mountains area today. You must heed the warnings, it’s too dangerous not to!

We continued on to our final viewing point, Gordon Falls. There were a few small stairs, then some steep stairs, then the look out point was in sight. It was probably about a ten minute walk. We got the reward of seeing another waterfall, but what was more stunning, was the blue hue that lays over the eucalyptus trees in the distance. Hence they are called the Blue Mountains. We could see it slightly earlier in the day, but it’s now 4pm, the sun has gone down, the blue colour is a lot more intense.

We returned to the car for the long drive back to Sydney. The traffic was good all the way. It was a good drive home, chomping on bon bons and peanut brittle, most of the way.

As we got nearer to the apartment, we found the nearest petrol station, as we need to fill up the car, ready to return it to Gavin. It’s been a God send today. It made a lot of difference being in our own transport, rather than being on public transport, or looking at the cost of a hire car! It made the day a lot more pleasant, just jumping in, and out, as we needed to along the many treks, and view points today.

Bernard and I walked round to the bottle shop to get a pack of what Gavin drinks as a thank you for today. Just as we got back to the apartment, Gavin was just about to leave… to go to the bottle shop… perfect timing. He was happy with his thank you gift…. And it saved him from having to walk round to the shop! When we got inside the apartment, I gave him the sweets that I had bought. He was happy with the Lovehearts, but we swapped his peanut brittle for my bon bons. I was happy with that!!

I jumped in the shower, whilst Chez Bernard set to work on tonight’s dinner. We are having zucchini, carrot and cheddar fritters with roast vegetable salad and babaganoush. He is so much better than me in the kitchen. I couldn’t even think of the mimesis that he had cooked, let alone make them. He has more herbs and spices in his cupboard, than I have total food in mine. I have been spoilt rotten. I don’t know who is going to feed me when I get home!!!!

I put the kettle on tonight, and made my own cup of tea. I’m not saying Bernard was shocked, but he actually took a photo of me…. Probably to remember the occasion… ha ha

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Comments

[Angela]

I enjoyed that....
Well Lesley you are having a fabulous trip....I am loving it and I'm on the sofa...it is wonderful! 😊