Australia

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The weather was still poor when we got up but we decided to make our way over to the main attractions in the Blue Mountains anyway. We started off at Echo Point where we had an uninterrupted view of the three sisters; three rocks standing side by side. In the background we could see the distant mountains and they really were tinged with a bluey purple haze. Unfortunately it started to pour down and within minutes the mountains were hidden under a shroud of mist. I was pleased to have my coat as all of the tourists wearing their shorts and t-shirts around us dived for cover.

We had planned on walking down the Giants Staircase, then getting the train or cable car back up, but it was freezing cold and wet so we didn‘t. Instead we drove to look at the Wentworth Falls - some waterfalls we’d seen on a postcard that looked very pretty. Unfortunately when we arrived the viewing areas were closed for development so even though we were only a few feet away we couldn’t see them.

In an attempt to improve the day we drove to a wood fired pizza café that also housed a metal works gallery - I‘d picked up the leaflet for it the day before. The art work was a mixture of clocks, mirrors, sculptures and candlesticks but luckily there was no way for us to carry any of it so it gave us the excuse we needed not to spend our money. The pizza café was run by the wife of the artist, and her two young sons were the waiting staff. The pizzas were cooked in proper pizza over in the corner as we sat enjoying our coffee. The food was delicious but we had to remind ourselves not to speak to anybody for the rest of the day as there were big chunks of garlic in the sauce.

A few minutes drive took us to an open garden. We’d been inspired to go out of our way to visit the place after seeing a photo of the wisteria garden in full bloom on a leaflet. It was run by a man who said he kept up the gardening on the weekends when he found time. We were gob smacked and decided not to complain about doing our garden ever again. It was massive and we even had a map to follow to help us find our way around - imagine having a garden that big! There were orchards, formal gardens, gazebos, tall trees, lots of lawns and plenty of flowers. The wisteria court was beautiful. As soon as you walked in the scent overtook you and there were flowers dripping from every branch. We’d arrived at just the right time of year as a week or two later we’d have missed the blossom.

By the time we left it was getting late. We were planning on making it to the Hunter Valley wine region and had already booked a van space. We didn’t think it looked that far but the lady from the campsite had said on the phone that it would take a good three and a half hours. She was spot on. Matt got angry with the sat nav for taking us what he thought was a longer way (I tried pointing out that the shorter route on the map may have been a slower road but he was having none of it).

As we were nearing the campsite - after lots of arguments about the route - we saw a spectacular sunset. The sky turned bright gold and the clouds in the sky were all tinged with pink tones. We couldn’t actually see the sun or the area where it had disappeared, it just seemed like the whole horizon was on fire. Matt wanted to stop and take photos but we decided to just leave it to our memory to capture the image (I knew all the camera batteries were flat anyway!)

It was dark when we arrived at the campsite. Luckily I’d telephoned before the office closed and had arranged for them to leave a map out for us to collect.

We settled in to read the brochures and make our decisions about what to do tomorrow.

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