thewills'wanderings

After a hectic few days in Sydney we headed for the hills and stayed put there for 5 days. After sleeping in only sheets for the past 6 weeks we were shocked to find that we were cold at night. So we stopped at Blaxland, a little town in the Blue Mountains and bought sleeping bags in the local op shop.

We set up camp in the caravan park in Katoomba, where Tim spent hours with his nose in the Blue Mountain rock-climbing guide planning our adventures. He investigated all the possibilities, including him finding a climbing partner and going off for the day, which would have been great. He inquired at one of the climbing shops about finding someone to climb a 7 pitch classic climb with in the area. It was very amusing when he was given “Nadia’s” phone number. He joked about how he was going off to climb with this exotic European climbing chick. He phoned her and she was just a regular old Aussie Sheila who couldn’t fit in a climb while we were there. Never mind, as it worked out he took Michaella on a big climb and she was fantastic. It’s so nice to have these adventurous girls up for anything. Already they are far more gutsy than I ever was!We spent a couple of days all together at Mt York, a popular climbing crag. The girls loved climbing on real rock and did so well. Charlotte fossicked around the bottom and did her own little climbing of the little boulders around the place. It was awesome to be at the stage where we can all go out on a day’s adventure. Even though I’ve never been a serious rock-climber I did attempt to crawl up a climb(well half of it anyway) but I’m loving seeing the girl’s develop their skills. There’s nothing like reliving your youth through your children!

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Well not exactly. We felt like we were in the outback but we were only about 300 kms inland. It put it in perspective when we met a couple travelling who said they didn’t live far from here, just 500 miles inland from where we were! Australians really do seem to have a different perspective on distance. It has made us see how tiny our little island is.

I must admit I felt a bit nervous leaving the coast. I love the beach and it’s hard to leave warm water and white sandy beaches and head for colder weather, more bugs and flies and other unknowns. But, Im so glad we did. From the Blue Mountains we took the inland road as we headed back towards Brisbane. We stayed at one caravan park but for 3 nights we stayed at free camping spots and they were awesome. We passed through lots of little derelict towns as well as ones with innumerable beautiful old churches. We spent a morning at a Pioneer Museum in Gulgong and all learnt heaps about the early settlement of inland Australia. I really have learnt so much about Australian history and as part of the girl’s schoolwork they’re being forced to as well! It’s not so hard teaching the girl’s stuff when you’re learning it with them!The last week in the caravan has been awesome. The highlights have been meeting people on the road and camping near them and learning more about Australia through chatting to them . We met a couple who moved here from NZ in the 1970’s with their children. Now, in their late sixties, they’re travelling around in their little combi van. We met them at a lookout and ended up camping at the same spot that night. They came over for a drink and we got to know them a bit. It’s nice getting these little snapshots of people’s lives.

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We loved this place. I don't know how many times Tim said he would love ... [Continue reading this entry]

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