After a very hard (honest...) four days back in the office, we discovered that I had picked a good week to go back to work - Friday was ANZAC day. This is a public holiday in Australia, and starts off a bit like Remembrance Sunday, with a big parade of war veterans in Sydney and solemn ceremonies held at battlefields in France and Gallipoli. Later, everyone either goes to the pub and plays "2-up" (basically gambling on the toss of a few coins) or takes advantage of the three-day weekend to get out of the cities. We chose the latter option, and after packing up a rucksack and picking up the van, we set off through the western suburbs towards the Blue Mountains.
As the road narrowed we discovered that our idea for the weekend was not exactly original, and the traffic slowed to a crawl. However we didn't have far to go so didn't mind too much, and got lunch of our first pies of the weekend at the village of Wentworth Falls. Unwittingly, pies were to become a common thread of our weekend... they're just so ingrained into Australian culture that they are almost impossible to avoid!
Driving along the main road from Sydney, you don't actually realise you're in the mountains - the road actually runs along a high ridge, so that and the fact you're surrounded by trees means you can't see any mountain tops - everything worth seeing is actually below you, and so it's not until you get to the viewpoints at the edges of the steep cliffs that you actually see anything. So we'd driven through most of the Blue Mountains national park before we got our first real view at Wentworth Falls - but it was pretty incredible. Plus we were just glad the rain that had dogged Sydney all week had stopped, and quickly descended, completely unprepared, along the tracks running under the cliffs. Had we realised they were quite as muddy and slippery as they were, we probably would have chickened out. But strangely, getting dripped on by massive brooding sandstone cliffs, hundreds of feet above a forested valley, was actually quite fun. On the other side of the deep cut valley we could see other people doing a similar walk under the rock face, looking decidedly ant like.
Next stop was Katoomba, the main town of the Blue Mountains, with its spectacular lookout over the Jamison Valley and the famous 'Three Sisters' (actually three big stacks of rock, if you hadn't guessed). Thronged by the tourist hordes, we discovered that pretty much every bed in town was taken, even at the campsite, and so had to drive up the road to Blackheath for a night under the stars in the back of Tara the Tarago. Back in Katoomba for dinner out and a few drinks while attempting to comprehend the "2-up" being played at the pub, we dodged the cold, but it caught up with us again by morning - it's definitely autumn out here now!
Hmmm, perhaps we could just drive back into Sydney tonight, we thought... but first had some walking to do. From Katoomba we descended the knee-jangling 'Giant Staircase' 250m down below the Three Sisters, and trekked along through the peaceful forest below the cliffs. Peaceful that is, until you pass through a gate 2km along welcoming you to 'Scenicworld', and are back surrounded by the tourist throng from above, who have reached the valley via the 'scenic railway' or the cable car - sorry, 'scenicscender'. Actually this was a deliberate move of ours, as we wanted to avoid the near-vertical walk back up the cliff. We took the railway option, a remnant of an old coal mine, and apparently the steepest railway in the world. It was also maniacally fast, and we were back at the top before we could even think about soiling ourselves.
We drove back into Sydney via some more amazing lookouts into a different valley near Blackheath, and the oddly named 'Bells Line of Road' which passes through an apple-growing area called Bilpin. After passing several roadside fruit stalls we spotted one selling fresh baked peach pies and slammed on the brakes. Well, they were all out of peach, but they were just removing some family-sized apple pies from the oven. We grabbed one while we had the chance, and even about two hours later when back at the apartment in Sydney it was still warm. Mmmm, pie for dinner.
Sunday then was devoted to exploring a bit more of the city, and we drove out to the eastern beaches and suburbs. We got a bit lost on the way to Bondi (road signage here is truly appalling) but stopped at some beautiful harbourside spots on the way. Bondi itself was nicer than we had expected, although busy - and this was just the start of a run of fantastic looking beaches and beautiful homes stretching down to Coogee. It really was hard to think that we were in the middle of a big city, and with a temperature of 25 degrees in autumn it wasn't a difficult decision to get into the sea for a dip. In the evening we went to Sydney Aquarium which was amazing, especially if you like big sharks and luminous fish (we did).
Hankering for some quick dinner on the way home, the only place we could find open was called 'pie face'. You can probably guess the rest. Back at the apartment, we finished the apple pie for dessert. Mmmm, pie.
After work on Monday we went to a great pub up the road called the Lord Nelson, which brews its own beers, and unusually for Australia, doesn't have a TAB (i.e. a bookmakers) inside, so lending it some atmosphere. The food looked great too. But oh dear, what do we have here, but a Monday 'Pie Night' special. Pie, mash, mushy peas, and gravy, for $6. We gave in to the pie. It was great.
We will probably try to eat fewer pies this week.
Robin
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