The oh, so blue mountains!

Driving from Bilpin on mist free days we discovered all the beauty of The Blue Mountains. The mountain views - oh, so blue - majestic cliffs and waterfalls, the mountain flowers and the endless expanse of the bush. We could only stand and gasp in awe.

We took a trip on the Zig-Zag railway into the Lithgow valley on a train pulled by an old, restored steam engine. Chris had a ball having all his unanswered questions about steam engines answered.

I discovered a most amazing gallery with the most stunning garden I have ever walked through, and of course, the most gorgeous art-works. (With steam engines and a gallery we were both in our element!)

All the villages nestled in and around the mountains are absolutely beautiful - especially at this time of the year where every flower, tree and shrub is in flower. During the hotter months the bush often burns. While we were in Bilpin the bush around Katoomba was set alight which luckily didn't spread because the rain was still around.

The villages we visited were Mt Victoria, Clarence, Leura, Blackheath, Katoomba and Wentworth Falls.

The lizard was lying sunning itself in the garden. I would do that too!

"Our home" in Bilpin

I can't resist putting in this photo of a sunset I saw one Friday evening. I took it from the top of the driveway of "our home"!

A wagtail that arrived on our doorstep. I held him in my hand, he sat on Chris's shoulder then happily flew off.

Down the road.

We absolutely loved "living" in Bilpin - known as The Home of the Mountain Apple. We enjoyed the house and the place so much that very often we would spend all day at home without going anywhere. We were surrounded by huge gum trees, rolling lawns, acres of freshly mowed properties, myriads of birds and bird song, majestic views of the mountains and the best part of all was when the mist rolled in over the mountains up to our front deck. All over the area were magnificent flowering rhododendrons and warratahs (the floral emblem of NSW) and acres of apple orchards. We loved the 2 beautiful horses who lived across the road from us. Whenever we went for a walk we would call them for a chat and they would willingly come. We grew especially fond of our little charge - Mack. (Mack gave us a hard time when we first arrived as he was very angry with his owner, Kate, for leaving him. After a few days he decided that he had no option and decided to be friends with us...so into our bed each morning he leapt!)

The biggest drama we had was getting our caravan stuck at the bottom of the hill against a fence on the property as Chris needed to turn it around. Oh dear...after unloading the whole van at the bottom of the hill to make it a bit lighter (which nearly worked but ended up in the hedge!), we had to call in a tow truck. As the tow truck driver said, "it normally costs $350, but if we pay him cash it will be $250"!!!! At least the van was recovered with a lesson or 2 learnt- caravans can be too heavy....some green hills may be much boggier and more steep than meets the eye!!!

We recovered from our mishap quickly enough as the place was so beautiful we didn't want to waste a moment. Chris was so relieved when the indented tyre tracks from the attempted rescue had finally disappeared from the beautiful manicured grass.

We felt very sad leaving Bilpin after our short stay in the mountains. Hopefully we will get to visit again.

Weekend in Sydney

The only time we can visit Sydney is on weekends as we are committed to looking after the little dog at our house sit during the week.

Bilpin is about 2 hours out of Sydney and the drive manageable out of peak traffic hours. It takes a while getting used to Sydney traffic, the motorways and toll roads!!

We made our way straight to Lilyfield -an inner city suburb- where our friends, Felicity and Brian, now live. As Brian said, they have gone from the sublime (acres and acres of land in Bellingen) to the ridiculous (a tiny block of land with on street parking in Sydney) . We loved both - the sublime and the ridiculous!

Felicity and I walked all over the place spotting the cutest homes, gardens - and the viaduct - while Brian and Chris spent time around the dining room table chatting about music and very fast, exotic cars!!! Felicity, unknowingly, bought Brian a CD which contained the engine sounds of these cars....and now I will have to negotiate the Nullabor with the engine roars of Bugatis, Ferraris and the like!!! Oh Felicity, what have you done??

We went walking along the edge of one of the bays near their home, drove over the Harbour Bridge and marvelled at Anzac Bridge. In the evening, the night of my birthday, Felicity found a most interesting Malaysian/Indian restaurant in King St where we had a great meal served by the nicest people. On Sunday morning we met Ian, Felicity and Brian's son, and 2 of his 3 little boys. Ian and Natalie had played together about 36 years ago!

It was a wonderful weekend and we are looking forward to being able to spoil Felicity and Brian when they make a trip to the west next year.

We will have to make some more time to explore Sydney. I don't think negotiating the caravan through the city would be a good idea. It would take courage. It's a BUSY, BUSY city. There can be much gnashing of teeth and swearing at Mrs Navlady. Luckily she has VERY big shoulders and a VERY thick skin...in fact, I am sure she is stone deaf!! (We tried to get to the Opera House but never managed. We ended up in the Lane Cove tunnel!)

Mt Wilson

Mt Wilson is a most interesting village high up in the mountains. It is known as the Heritage Garden Town. In the late 1800's wealthy Sydney-siders escaped the heat of the city and drove up into the cool of the mountains (once the road through the mountain had been constructed). They developed large pieces of property that happened to have the most fertile, volcanic soil. The evidence of this is seen all over the place - the trees, the plants, the old houses with their expansive, perfectly manicured gardens. Most of the properties are probably only used for holidays as the current population is only 218. They must have to be extremely self sufficient as there isn't one single shop. There is only one, rather expensive cafe - Chimney Cottage- but........ Australia Post is here!!

We spent a while driving and walking - very slowly so I didn't miss a single photo opportunity. I must say Chris was very patient with my happy, clicking finger!!. The place is renowned as a special place for photographers. I understand why as many of the photos I took were nowhere near as good as what I had actually seen. There is so much shade and light to take into account.

As we drove through the mountains on our way home,I said to Chris that Mt Wilson is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in - another one!! I even spotted the little white cottage I will be buying if it ever comes on the market!!