The next morning was a very misty one.
I was up before everyone else – I couldn’t miss this photographic opportunity.
The mist hung around for half of the morning, until the sun struck the hills.
It was however long enough for me to photograph the river, which we’ll visit next.
Being on the edge of the Blue Mountains, we thought that we would be in a good place to see some wildlife. Well, perhaps it was too hot for most animals. There were plenty of bird sounds in the morning, but not many that appeared in the open. No mammals to speak of, but we did have this lace monitor climb the tree right next to our camp site.
It wasn’t the only one either – we saw three or four lace monitors wander around during our stay. They all looked pretty healthy, meaning there was plenty of food around for them at least.
It’s been two years since our last camping adventure, and when we booked our camp site at the end of January, we thought that we would get a good few days of camping.
We wanted a place that was within a 4 hour drive (including stops), had a place to swim (my request), was dog friendly (so we could bring our beagle), had a toilet, and (at Hubby’s request) had a shower of some sort. Yes, he’s a fussy one. Upper Colo Reserve fitted the bill, having all of those things.
Our last few tries have all been marred by rain, and the last by a little heat, but January seemed mild enough, so perhaps the end of February would be mild too. Little did we know that we’d be camping through the hottest period of this summer…
First afternoon was pretty warm, around 33C or so. Because we came mid-week, we had much of the campsite to ourselves. Upper Colo Reserve is at the edge of Wollemi National Park, on the Colo River. Though it’s just under 100km from Sydney CBD, it felt like a whole lot further away.
Note the jerry cans and water bottles full of water. It would prove to be very important the following 36 hours…
It’s autumn and the fruit is ripe for the picking. Time to head out to Bilpin to check out the orchards.
To start off, a pit stop under the oak tree.
And some refreshments.
Then, the main event.
Hubby’s height was put to great use as he picked 3 types of apples, 3 types of pears and some plums – 18kg in all – hauled it back to the car! What did I do? I took care of Bridie Beagle, who enjoyed her walk around the orchard.
We are heading out west on this short trip. That of course means going over the mountains. We took a short break at Echo Point in Katoomba. Even though it was raining that morning in Sydney there were still plenty of visitors at the lookout.
The Three Sisters were shrouded in fog at first, but after a little patience we all got lucky.
Up the road from Broke in Milbrodale, we visited Baiame Cave. The cave is a rock overhang at the end of the valley, on a private farm.
Baiame is the creator in these parts.
Befitting a creator, his painting was a good four metres wide.
It was only the second time I’ve seen rock art in the Blue Mountains area. I remember seeing some hand stencils on the other side of the mountains near Newnes, but this was much grander.
I hadn’t spent much time exploring Leura before, and so was surprised to discover Sublime Point when we were visiting friends nearby. It has a better view in my opinion than Wenty Falls or even Echo Point, since you can see both valleys.
View to Katoomba.
View to the Kings Tableland.
And because access is via some very quiet suburban streets, there are no walks from it, and parking is limited, it seems to be one of the more secluded lookouts in the Mountains. Bonus!
The Blue Mountains has a wide range of accomodation to choose from, especially in the village of Leura. We stayed at The Greens B&B. It was set in one of the old houses just off the Mall, and each room was named after a classic author or poet. I chose Jane Austen, of course.
The rooms were luxurious, and so were the breakfasts. There was even muffins for afternoon tea.
I liked the little touches, like a set of Jane Austen novels in the room. It made for a very homely stay.
Now that I’ve finished posting about our travels abroad, I can concentrate on catching up on our activities here in the last 6 months. Last August we spent a weekend in the Blue Mountains to celebrate our wedding anniversary. One thing we did was take a walk along the Charles Darwin Walk.
It had been some years since I walked this track, and I was glad to see the pre-spring wildflowers out.
It was always a treat to see the waterfalls.
And of course, the grand view from Wentworth Falls at the end.
I was glad to see an old Art Deco theatre across from the park. It’s good to see these important pieces of regional history preserved, and still in use. Wish more of Sydney’s historical sites are preserved.
Static and Silence 