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Published: January 15th 2007
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It was fun to go on a road trip with Morten and Marianne and we really enjoyed getting to know them over the four days we spent exploring the Blue Mountains together.
The journey up to Katoomba would have been quite scenic but as we have come to expect the cloud and rain obscured the view! We arrived at our base for the next few days, the G’day motel and settled into our family room. After getting the lowdown on good places to eat we headed into town for some much needed food. One diner took our fancy as they were offering Kangeroo steaks on the specials board, Morten and I were up for tasting a bit of the nations wildlife! We were bitterly disappointed to say the least when our waitress told us that they had sold out.......still we enjoyed a great feast of pasta, steaks and nachos all the same.
The next morning the skies had cleared, we popped into the tourist info shop & with Morten navigating we were off exploring. Our first stop took us to Shipley and Hargreaves lookout, which gave us spectacular views of the Megalong and Kanimbla Valleys. It was off the
usual tourist track so we were able to enjoy the tranquility of a cliff top walk to Panorama Point with only bird song and a few passing lizards for company.
Our next port of call was Govetts Leap in Blackheath. A gentle 30 min stroll through the rainforest took us to a great viewing point of Grose Valley & Bridal Veil falls where bush fires had been raging a few months previous. The scorch marks on the landscape were fascinating giving a great blend of colours throughout the valley and a faint smokey smell in the air. The falls were a tiny trickle in the distance after a sever lack of rain fall in the area, although I’m sure they would be spectacular after a good downpour. Next we drove to the opposite side of the valley to Mount York, which was the finishing point of the original road that carved through the Blue Mountains. It was built in 1813 by explorers Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson & William Wentworth. Today the road is no longer used but next to the monument erected in honour of its construction you can get great views of the Kanimbla Valley from the lookout
point and a big rock to perch on for a spot of lunch.
On our way back to Katoomba we did a quick stop off at Wentworth Falls and Echo Point to get the panoramic views of the Jamison Valley and in particular the Three Sisters rock formation and Mt Solitary.
That evening we had a cheese and wine night out on the balcony of the motel and besides consuming the equivalent of a days output from a cheese factory, we finished off close to seven and a half litres of red wine…… all the while playing cards. Even with all that wine consumed it wasn’t until the following evening that I thought it would be a really good idea to shave my head. Thanks for not stopping me!! I think the pictures show that someone should have!!
Anyway, beside a new haircut we spent the day at Scenic World doing the touristy thing. Scenic World is a tourist attraction made up of the Scenic Railway, Scenic Cable car, Scenic walkway and Scenic something or other! It was pretty reasonably priced and it was the easiest way to get to experience transcending from the top to the
bottom of the valley. We used the Scenic Railway to get to the valley floor. It is reportedly the steepest railway in the world….. Once at the bottom we walked across to the Katoomba Falls, which unfortunately were not much of a spectacle due to the recent lack of rainfall. We turned back and spent the next couple of hours walking on the Scenic Walkway, a raised wooden decking which weaved its way through the rainforest. It was a pleasant enough walk and before we left we had a nice picnic lunch next to a little stream and got to see a rare sighting of a liver bird, but as we thought it was a pheasant at the time we didn't bother taking a photo ...doh!! Instead we just walked to the end of the walkway and took the cable car back up the cliff. Once again we were fixated by the enormous landscape that stretched out in front of us.
Our stay in the Blue Mountains was coming to an end and all that was left was for me to come up with the marvelous idea of shaving my own head........ with my beard trimmer!! Not a bad
idea until the battery ran down and I needed to plug it in, only to accidential move the grade setting and upon resuming shaving made a bloody great big bald patch in the side of my head.....Still it was an amusing way to end our stay.
Well not quite! On the way back to Sydney we... I, made a slight detour so that we could pass over Lennox Bridge the oldest bridge on Australia's mainland having been built in 1833 and what a treat that was!! We crossed the far more impressive Anzac bridge a little closer in to Sydney, which went some way to making up for my earlier 'faux pas'.
We arrived at Sydney airport and due to the car needing to be back it left us to say a much too hasty goodbye to Morton and Marianne. We will miss your company and look forward to catching up, may be welcoming you to England or vise versa in the not too distant future.
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Mike & Claire
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How much!!
Blimey hedge, I know we said we like reading your blogs but you cant just go uploading that many blogs in one go without forewarning us, Shameless and Prison break have just started up again!! looks like you guys are having a great time as ever, cant believe how quick its going. Love the new hair do :s probably go down well in camden market! As for the wig shot, we're guessing showadeewadee??