Aussie Road Trip Day Eighteen Thursday 1st August

The grandeur of the Blue Mountains

We had a lovely evening last night out at dinner in Canberra with our hosts Penelope and Stephen, Ailsa and David and their friend Diana.

Trees without leaves lit up by night

At Diana's suggestion, we went to SuJo Girl, a newish restaurant in the centre of the city. Canberra at night  was lit up (presumably for Christmas in July) with a myriad of fairy lights strung through the branches of the bare wintry trees. It looked quite magical ... but then I'm a sucker for fairy lights.The restaurant was obviously very popular with the locals and was almost packed to capacity. We ordered a variety of choices from the menu which were brought to the table at intervals for us all to share. The food was tasty and presented beautifully, but it did end up being a rather late night considering we all had early starts the next morning. Still it was convivial company and it was good to spend time getting to know our new friends.



Ailsa and David outside the Magpie Cafe

Somehow we all managed to get up at the required time this morning. It was registering 0 degrees on the car thermometer, and John had to clean the windows of ice before we left. There was heavy fog and heavy frosts were evident on the outside landscape almost all the way to our breakfast stop at Berrimer.

Penelope had given us advice about a quaint establishment called the Magpie Cafe in Berrimer, so we had high hopes of a good feed. She was not wrong. It was delightful, and we loved the shabby-chic decor. Thank you Penelope!

We continued on the freeway towards the Blue Mountains, our desdtination for ther day. Oh boy, has that road changed from the winding, scarily narrow track I remember of old with its "falling out side"! It's worth paying the several tolls to cruise up the mountain with ease.

Lunch in Leura and
Barb gets her longed
for sticky date pudding

We stopped at Leura for lunch. This is a small town packed with tourists and had many interesting little shops which we sadly didn't have time to explore. We found the Leura Gourmet Cafe & Deli, another of Penelope's little gems; she rivals David's ability to sniff out good dining venues. The cafe has magnificent views and does a darn decent sticky date pudding!

After lunch we drove along to see the magnificent views at the Three Sisters lookout. Again, this has changed a lot from  what I remember. The view is the same as ever of course, and we had glorious clear skies in which to see it. However the actual viewing area of the lookout has been developed into a huge concourse and information centre/gift shop, along with several tiers of viewing platforms to cope with the vast volume of tourists who go there daily to photograph this famous site.



The Three Sisters in all their glory



Swing right a little and you see this

The Three Sisters and the concourse

Seeking even better photos of the Three Sisters, and a bit of an adrenaline experience, we went down the giant staircase which clings to side of a steep cliff face (John: giant in length and steepness, miniscule in narrowness) and then walked across a small bridge to the first of the Three Sisters. I can't believe I did it! I am terrified of edges, and here I was doing what I feared most. David and Ailsa on the other hand are completely fearless, having in the past hiked the Anapurna Circuit in Nepal and trekked to Machu Pichu in South America. I think they were mystified by my terror over something so tame. John is fully aware of my fears and knew to hold on tight to my hand, and in the car to drive very carefully and sedately through the terrific (and terrifying) scenic mountain drive.



Not Barb, but looking down the staircase to the
bridge over to the Three Sisters

That really is Barb on the other side!

On the way back up.
Woo hoo! She did it!

















The helpful lady in the Three Sisters information kiosk had directed us to some further viewing lookouts. One was a little further up the hill, a place called Evans Lookout and at last we'd found somewhere not overrun by other tourists.

The views looked over the other side of a ridge we'd seen at the Three Sisters to a river in a deep valley and gorge. It was in a way as spectacular as the more popular Three Sisters, and the walk to the lookout through flowering acacia and scribbly gum native forest was sublime. Without a panoramic camera it's impossible to do justice to this beautiful region. You really do just have to come and see it for yourself!

Acacia in bloom

Another bit of  Evans Gap

Tonight we are staying at the historic Carrington Hotel in Katoomba in a heritage room. This magnificently grand old building takes you back to a bygone era of elegant oppulence. OK, so there is no ensuite in the bedroom, and we have to walk a few metres down the hall to the ladies (or gentleman's) communal bathrooms. I think that small inconvenience is far outweighed by this opportunity to stay somewhere so unique. (John: at least it wasn't the bottom deck of the Titanic!).

About to enter The Carrington

John adds:
This evening Barb and I bailed out on a formal dining experience at the Carrington, seeking simpler fare and an early night. After walking up one side of Katoomba Street and back along the other, we settled on a pizzeria which had its pizza oven in the shop window. The chef was heavily tattooed, the waitress had a wooden pin through her vivid red hair and wore woollen stockings - they both had a distinctly alternative air about them. They were great! They were amiable and smiled appropriately at my silly questions AND the pizzas (we, um, had more than one - but they were small) were very, very good.

We had been unable to find the Katoomba Mountain Lodge while walking around. Barb, Pam, their dad and the three children had stayed there years ago and Barb wanted to see it for nostalgia's sake. So we Googled it, found it, and set off to look at it.  Oh no! We turned into the street and were confronted by dark and gloom, and a decidedly uninviting atmosphere. Barb turned back (as did I) - it might have been ok for dad and the kids 20 years ago, but not for Barb and me now! It has to be said that in daylight Katoomba is a pleasant, bustling tourist town.