Blue Power

I clocked up the 300 kilometres to Sydney on Friday night, managing to lose my way just the twice…ending up at one point near the end of one of the runways at Sydney Airport! But it was safe and sound that I arrived at Caroline’s to celebrate her 21st (?) birthday with her and another friend, Jill, in the Blue Mountains.

We headed up on a beautifully clear Saturday morning, fighting our way through the traffic destined for some winter kilt wearing shenanigans in Katoomba, arriving at Govetts Leap near the town of Blackheath. It was great to get out of the car and take in the expanse of the Gross Valley below…

After some fine lunch at Blackheath we headed back on ourselves through the town of Wentworth Falls to some more lookouts, with the inevitable steps there and back. It’s quite disconcerting watching old Indian ladies and 3 year olds climbing the steps whilst you have to stop to take in the view (and some breath!)

Of course, it goes without saying food played a major part in the weekend and we had coffee and chocolate cake in Leura before racing off to miss the sunset at Sublime Point. It was still rather beautiful though, accompanied by that peace and stillness you get just after the sun goes down.

After a quick rest in our hotel in Leura we took Megalong Street, which wasn’t the longest street I’ve seen, towards Katoomba. This place was still suffering the after effects of too many young people and hippies gathering in one place, but we managed to escape the cold in a wonderful Greek restaurant, warmed up more in the car home and baked overnight like a turkey over Christmas Eve!

Sunday presented contrasting weather but the food continued with buffet breakfast at the hotel, before a walk beside the laughing Kookaburras to more steps and increasingly misty wilderness. We stopped briefly at Leura Cascades, home of some pretty falls and Flintstone style toilets carved out of the sandstone.

At Echo Point in Katoomba, tourists who had come from all over were taking pictures of mist but the famous Three Sisters cleared a little at one point.

Perhaps more impressive were The Three Pommies proudly wearing their anoraks, despite advice from back home that surely you would never need such a thing down under!

The weather was not getting any better so we said farewell to the Mountains and headed back through the brighter Western suburbs of Sydney, stopping for a bite to eat at Italialand, otherwise known as the suburb of Leichardt.

To finish the mini holiday off we took advantage of having a car to cruise the Eastern suburbs listening to MC Hammer, stopping at the beautiful Shark Bay in Vaucluse.

Just around the corner from the beach were the harbour views and the reason why Vaucluse is one of the more prestigious neighbourhoods.

Sadly, time was running out and I could not get a seaplane home but drove through patches of rain out of the sprawling suburbs of Sydney and through the darkness back to Canberra…the Nation’s Capital, the Heart of the Nation. Feel the Power as the licence plates say!!