Day tripping

A few weekends ago we were feeling in need of a change, and decided to take a day trip up to Mittagong in the southern highlands. Once outside Canberra’s chilly grasp the weather grew warmer, sunnier, and there was the slightest suggestion of holiday in the air.

On the way we stopped at Fitzroy Falls, just outside Moss Vale.

Phil enjoyed being out of Canberra easily as much as I did.

In Mittagong we had lunch at a little cafe and spent several hours wandering around the big antique centre. I came home with a small owl, beautifully made in frosted glass. I find the cantankerous owls appeal to me so much more than the happy ones. Thoughts?

All in all, a grand day out.

Blue Mountains adventures

Please excuse my silence over the last week—with only a three-day working week after our short holiday, it’s been rather busy here. But I’m sure you’re eager to hear how the Blue Mountains were.

We drove up to our cottage in Leura on Friday evening. Tired and disinclined to cook, we ordered Chinese takeaway in nearby Katoomba. It was while we were waiting for our meal that we discovered almost all the poles, signs and trees along the main street had been yarn bombed. A good start to any holiday, I think.

Our cottage turned out to be the loveliest little place, tucked away amongst the trees on the side of a hill, and surrounded by gardens. Inside had a quaint and homey feel, from the retro kitchen fit-out, to the wood-panelled bedroom and the brown tiles in the roomy shower. I was particularly taken with the sweet-smelling jasmine that trailed over the fence.

This is the view from the kitchen window. Lovely.

On Saturday we explored the antique shops in Katoomba, and treated ourselves to dinner at a restaurant right on the edge of the Jamison valley, with the most amazing views.

Sunday brought breakfast in a garden cafe in Leura, and a walk to Wentworth Falls. I like waterfalls—they’re so lovely to look at, to hear, and to swim under. Unfortunately (as it was quite a hot day) these ones weren’t for swimming in.

The falls turned out to be very high with several parts—above is a small fall near the top, just at the point where the track crosses the river. Below is the main part of the falls. We were standing at least 200m above the valley floor.

After climbing many steps back up to the carpark (and during the next few days Phil repeatedly expressed the wish of never seeing stairs again) we cooled off with an ice cream and continued down the highway to Faulconsbridge. Here we visited the Norman Lindsay gallery, a collection of Lindsay’s drawings, etchings, oil paintings, sculpture, watercolours and more that is housed in his former residence. Although I first discovered Lindsay through The Magic Pudding (as did every Australian child since 1918), these days it is his drawings and paintings that speak to me more. He had such a talent for making his subjects (both human and animal) come alive, and was definitely the most prolific artist I’ve ever heard of.

On Monday we visited ‘Scenicworld’—a name that smacks of tourist traps, I know, but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it sounds. After taking a steep, fast trip down the scenic railway to the valley floor,

we spent a lovely hour wandering through the rainforest on raised boardwalks, spotting aged coalmining equipment from the days before this was a national park.

We managed to catch a glimpse of the three sisters through the ferns,

before taking the cable car back up

and hopping on the glass-floored skyway to the other side of the valley.

We managed to squeeze in a bit of scrambling over the Katoomba cascades before the storm broke and we headed back.

Feeling we’d now had enough exercise to last us the week, we slipped back to the cottage for a rest and a quiet evening.

On Tuesday we spent the morning in Leura, and caught the race on the radio as we drove home. All in all, it was a lovely a break—a good mix of exploring and relaxing.