Well, we're home now! Safe and sound and relaxing into our ordinary, everyday world again. We travelled quite a way - about 7000 kilometres - on our journey down South, and I must say that I enjoyed almost every part of it! I say almost because after 6 weeks of being on the road I was really very glad to get home. :)
So our final destination on our road trip was the Blue Mountains. Situated about 100 clicks west of Sydney the Blue Mountains are certainly one of Australia's most iconic regions. We had never been there before and though we weren't overly excited about visiting the place, we thought that since we had time we'd go and see what all the hoopla was about. Well, I'm certainly glad we made the effort because it really is such a spectacular place. Standing at the main tourist site in Katoomba, looking out at the Three Sisters and the great cavernous valley between the mountains, I said to Ben that it reminded me very much of the Grand Canyon! It may seem quite a strange thing to say, but it's true. Instead of dusty reds and oranges the Blue Mountains are filled with slightly faded blues and greens, lavender and indigo hues. The scenery is all rather painterly and it's not such a leap to imagine why this place has long been the muse of artists, writers and other creatives.
So our final destination on our road trip was the Blue Mountains. Situated about 100 clicks west of Sydney the Blue Mountains are certainly one of Australia's most iconic regions. We had never been there before and though we weren't overly excited about visiting the place, we thought that since we had time we'd go and see what all the hoopla was about. Well, I'm certainly glad we made the effort because it really is such a spectacular place. Standing at the main tourist site in Katoomba, looking out at the Three Sisters and the great cavernous valley between the mountains, I said to Ben that it reminded me very much of the Grand Canyon! It may seem quite a strange thing to say, but it's true. Instead of dusty reds and oranges the Blue Mountains are filled with slightly faded blues and greens, lavender and indigo hues. The scenery is all rather painterly and it's not such a leap to imagine why this place has long been the muse of artists, writers and other creatives.
We stayed in Leura, a small village in the Blue Mountains, at a delightful little studio apartment near the Everglade Gardens. The Everglades are magnificent. Once a private garden it is now open to the public to explore freely. We spent quite a few hours there taking in the beautiful surrounds. It was all rather romantic, wandering through rambling forest and over mossy stones....
The house on the property is a magnificent example of modernist architecture and I greatly enjoyed being able to mosey about inside. Large glass windows had been built to frame the scenery - it was all really rather clever. And outside in the 'everglade' part of the garden the deciduous trees were heralding in autumn, their leaves taking on yellow and orangey tones.
We then spent much of the afternoon wandering through local antique stores searching for a bargain to bring home as a souvenir of our stay. Alas, we didn't find anything that spoke to us with any sense of conviction so we turned back to nature instead, soaked up a bit more of the Blue Mountain majesty and resolved to come back again one day for a longer stay. A day really wasn't anywhere near long enough!
The next day we jumped in our red beast and drove for 13 and a half hours straight all the way back to Queensland. It was an epic journey (If we were on a plane we could have arrived in LA!).
And so ends our Southern road trip and our first adventure for 2013.
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