Blue Mountains Part 1

Well we made it out of the big schmoke and into the mountains hurrah! What the last entry didn't mention was the fact that Pricilla's air con needed longer to fix than first thought so upon being advised by the garage it would take another day and with all our worldly belongings in the van, we headed into the nearest backpackers hostel armed with toothbrushes, toothpaste and a towel (that was made of cheap Taiwanese tissue paper or certainly as useful as) all from the dollar shop in china town, so you can imagine the quality and off we went. If only they had sold pants for a dollar too, never mind it's not the "travelling experience" if you haven't had to wear your pants inside out at least once surely...

1 BM

So we drove into the mountains passing through the tourist honey pot of Katoomba and onto Blackheath a very small town that had little more than a café, a campsite and a pub full of rednecks who were delightfully polite. As we walked in to the pub the balls stopped rolling on the poole table and the darts stopped flying mid air and chap in a stetson and long straggly hair said "scho then folkshs, been in town lawng?". Now how the deuce did he know we weren't locals?

2BM

We pitched up at our campsite and settled in for the night having negotiated our curtain hanging abilities and tiny bed making skills whilst sat on said tiny bed area. Its all good though as once the drivers seat is pushed right forwards Chris Long Legs can sleep quite comfortably (so he tells me).

The next day was spent scrambling over rocks, leaping over streams and marching up and down lots and lots of very steep steps on a walk they called the grand canyon. As a 'seasoned walker' I made sure we were fully equipped with sun cream,waterproofs,pen knife (thanks Bev),cereal bar,maps and anything else left in my rucksack. This included a military issue glow stick left over from mardis gras, a hair brush, some duct tape and a ball of string that chris had bought for no other reason than 'it might be useful' and a map of the shopping district of hong kong written in 3 different languages. I did have a complete heart stopping moment as chris balanced himself on the edge of the cliff for a photo and and almighty crashing noise rumbled towards us. I seriously thought our time was up and we would make our way to the pearly gates via a national park landslide. However chris informed me it was just a tree falling down,hmm how calming. Either way we didn't die and continued our 5 mile jaunt through the forest.there had been huge bush fires which meant most of the valley was closed.evidence of the fires could be seen on some of the trees that appeared to have lush black velvet bark.apparently this was some kind of magic bark that burnt but kept the tree alive as a protective means of survival. Ah yes magic trees the things Enid Blyton books are made of.the views from the top of the ridges were stunning and we would see way into the distance, rolling mountains carpeted with eucalypi forests. The blue haze of the koala drugging plant rising and occasionally there was a strong scent wafting in the air. How delightful. Unless of course it was a forest warden hiding in the bushes squirting olas oil as unsuspecting walkers tramped by.cynical? Me?

3BM

After a lovely day we thought better of drinking in the red neck pub and went to the first hotel to open in the blue mntns.we ate pies big enough to swim in,hurrah, and obeying the drink drive laws I decided I would get us home as it wasn't far,what was the worst that could happen?....well to start with chris slurring his way into the passenger seat proved less than helpful at navigating and so I missed the junction.it was dark and I was unable to find the full beam and as the rain started I had to find another switch in a car I had never driven. So as we headed into nowhere city on the oblivion highway priscilla had all lights going,wind screen wipers wiping,radio channels blaring,sun roofs opening and closing,electric windows going up and down all in second gear at about 90 kph...god I have turned into my mother. Eventually after a 20k detour I braved a "U ey" followed by a 7 Point turn home and headed home for a nervous breakdown. NOW can you all see why Chris will drive for the rest of the trip....jeepers.

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