Red, white and Blue

Our final morning at the eco resort, and we were invited to help feed the emus again. And again, we counted them, each of us arriving at different totals, but Mark was happy that they were all present and correct.

The fox bait had been taken, so out there somewhere, there’s a fox with tummy ache who’ll probably vomit the poisoned liver up, and his mate will eat it. Not very nice, but we don’t want foxes attacking the emus, and of course, they shouldn’t be here in Australia in the first place.

Helen and Brent departed first, having a lunch date back in the Hunter Valley. The rest of us took a little longer eating breakfast, packing, and loading the car. Wendy and Mark came by to say farewell. We look forward to seeing them at this Dark Sky Eco Resort again.

We had deliberated for a long time, and in the end, we decided to give the Blue Mountains another chance. We always pass by a few dead animals on the side of the road, but today, Liesel saw an echidna walk by on the verge.

We stopped in Coolah for a coffee, in a very old fashioned coffee shop, probably not decorated since the 1950s. I walked over to the local library to use their facilities, and it was staffed by a lovely volunteer. I could easily have spent an hour or more browsing the shelves.

Google Maps sometimes likes to take us the non-obvious way, because it thinks we’re saving 6 inches distance or 5 seconds travel time. And today was no exception. We turned off the paved road onto a gravel track. This is exciting enough but when a herd of sheep crossed the road in front of us, we cheered heartily.

Then we turned a corner onto a proper red dirt road, mostly straight, and quite narrow, we’re glad we didn’t encounter any vehicles driving towards us.

When we parked up, we were amazed at how filthy dirty the car was. Oops.

We were here at Hands on the Rock, off Ulan Road near Turill, to see some really old Aboriginal rock paintings. The path started off gently, and, as we made progress, it became steeper and steeper, and eventually, we had to clambour up some rocks and steps. It was a challenge for all of us.

It took a while for any of us to see the hands and the drawings, but once our vision had tuned in properly, we could see dozens of hand prints, some small enough to have been a child’s, plus depictions of animals. I bet when they chewed on their ochre and gum and water to spray over their hands, they never thought people, white people even, would be admiring their art thousamds of years later.

I remember at school using this technique to make handprints, only we just chewed on charcoal and water. Very nice, very tasty.

As well as the old artwork, we enjoyed studying the geology of the place for a while.

Back on the road, we passed lots of cattle and a few more sheep. We saw a 1950s car for sale: $8000. Bargain. As long as it doesn’t fall apart as soon as you look at it.

Mount Piper power station is coal-powered, destined to close in 2040, but the infrastucture in place to move coal from the collieries to the power station is amazing: long conveyor belts all over the countryside.

We stopped for a toilet break and Liesel and I both enjoyed the bird singing inside. Only it wasn’t real. It was a recording of the critically endangered regent honeyeater, of which there are only about 300 in the wild.

We saw some amazing views on the way too: the last time we passed this way, it had been precipitating quite a lot.

On previous visits to Australia, when a vehicle like this has approached us, we’ve waved at the other driver. Not an exuberant shaking of the arm, but a more subtle wave, the Aussie wave. This entails keeping hold of the steering wheel and lifting the index finger of the right hand. And it’s always delightful when the other driver reciprocates with the same gesture. But for some reason, we’ve forgotten to wave this time, and they must think we’re very rude.

Another thing I miss is the corrugated roads that Sarah and I encountered on our first visit in 1986. We were then advised to find the optimum, most comfortable, speed in the campervan, and stick to it. As I remember, our van only took flight once, but nothing was broken on landing. 

After a long drive, we arrived at our home for one night only in Leura. No more dirt tracks for us today. We discussed going through a car wash, but it never happened.

Liesel and Leslie shared room 109 while I styed in room 108. It was nice being in room 108 again. That was my room number in Queen Mary Hall of Residence when I was a student all those years ago. This room 108 was probably tidier and less stinky than the original one, shared with another teenage boy.

We ate at a Thai place in Leura, not being able to remember where we’d eaten the last time we stayed in this small town.

After breakfast and checking out, we headed straight for the Three Sisters. Rain wasn’t forecast at all, but you never know. In passing, we had a chance to see more of Katoomba too, including a visit to a fabulous bakery, recommended by everyone. I apologise to the youg lady serving: I may have stared at her prodigious face piercings and tattoos a little too long. So glad I didn’t have a neodymium magnet in my pocket, she might have come at me face first.

We walked down the path towards the Three Sisters. Which meant we had to walk back up again. Still, it was good too see the rocks in full colour, not through too much cloud like last time.

The kind lady at our new favourite coffee emporium, Roasters with Altitude, seemed pleased to see us on our return visit. And yes, we enjoyed her coffee again. And we chatted with another customer for a while before driving further along the road to Evans Lookout for another short walk. On another occasion, we might have attempted the Grand Canyon Walk, but we really didn’t have enough time (nor oomph) today. But at least two people had just returned, and they were glowing with excitement and with perspiration.

We’ve been to Govett’s Leap before but the lookout seemed a lot more developed than last time. Still a spectacular view, of course.

You were wondering about Autumn colours. Blackheath was looking pretty again.

Navigating through Sydney was hard: long tunnels and of course Google Maps lost its GPS signal, so when we emerged into the real world, we weren’t where Google thought we were. So let’s just say we followed a more touristy route through the city than planned.

On the way back to Helen’s, we stopped off at Manly where I met Bambi with the croissants specially baked for her in Katoomba. Then another slight detour via Brent’s place, where we gave Helen the two loaves of bread specially baked for her in Katoomba. Then another slight detour via the Mall where I picked up my newly repaired shorts and enjoyed walking around Aldi while Liesel did some shopping.

We only had the white hire car for a few more hours, so a day trip north to Palm Beach seemed like a good idea. Well, it was Saturday, during school holidays, and what was a good idea for us was also a good idea for everyone else. Having been on empty roads for so long lately, it was a nasty shock to be driving slowly, in lots of traffic. Such a difference.

After a walk along the beach, we sat down for a rest. Leslie decided to take up pipe smoking.

A jetfoiler is a watercraft equipped with hydrofoils that uses an electric motor or motors for propulsion. We saw a couple in action off Palm Beach. Yes, I’d like to have a go. But what happens when I fall off, and the vessel disappears into the distance?

Some small planes flew over, but this time, we didn’t witness any landing in the water. I’d like to have a go at that too. Well, I say that, but today, we didn’t even have the courage (nor the oomph) to walk up the path to the lighthouse, there were so many other, let’s say younger and fitter, people almost running up that hill.

Liesel and I had walked to Whale Beach before, but this time we drove. And I was surprised to see how steep some of the hills were that we’d previously tramped up. The surf was really up here, so the beach was closed. I think the sign meant, don’t go in the water rather than onto the beach itself. Liesel and I walked along, enjoying the sensation of sand on our feet again and exfoliating my heels.

Sometimes the sea is tempting, but even without the warning signs, not today. And indeed, I think we only saw three people in the water altogether.

In Avalon, we had lunch at a nice, small café before setting off to return our car, hoping the petrol gauge didn’t dip below F for Full.

On the road up to and back from Palm Beach, we’d been entertained by the many hand-made signs passing on greetings to friends and family. ‘Klay and Mady: Happy Wedding Day’, ‘Happy Birthday, Norm’ and many more.

Over the road from the car rental place, is Stony Range Regional Botanic Gardens. We’d been before with Pauline and Andew, and today we returned with Leslie. It was quieter today, being Saturday, no construction work next door. On the other hand, the birds were much quieter too, and the dominant sound was that of the traffic on the main road. Still, it was nice and cool in here, under the canopy.

And, in really exciting news, we saw a couple of koalas out in the wild. As you can imagine, Leslie in particular was delighted.