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Trip
Leaders :
Darryl
&
Sandra
Landrover Defender
Convoy
Col & Stella
Baby Troupe
Gary & Jennifer (+ Vanessa
& Alyssa)
Prado
Gary and Wendy
Prado
Darren & Kim
Hilux
Ulrich & Sheree (+Belinda &Jessica)
100 Series
John and Helen
Prado
After
a week of torrential rain (I measured a foot of rain, 305mm, at Ourimbah), a crew
of seven optimistic carloads met near the Hawkesbury River bridge at 6.30 a.m.
on the Saturday morning, with light rain still about. Col had an early-morning
hiccup, when he discovered that his water bottle was empty, so he headed off to
a service station to fill up.
We
were soon on our way, first stop "brekkie at Macca's", at Richmond, at
8 a.m., after which Darryl allocated the important jobs for the week-end (We
drew the 'R', which he decided would have to be for the written report, as he
couldn't find a 'W'). The rain eased off, and we enjoyed the drive, commenting
on the colourful autumn leaves of the Blue Mountains, while wondering about the
fate of the lady gathering 'mushrooms' beside the road [they were bright orange
and yellow!] We turned off Bells Line of Road at the Zig-Zag railway siding, and
made our morning tea stop at the Lost City, which we enjoyed exploring.
(Appropriately, this was where Darren lost his car
keys,
but fortunately, Helen found them on her way back, even before Darren realised
they were lost!)
We
drove on to 'Sunnyside' lookout, for a great view over the Newnes valley, before
winding our way down to face our first big challenge, 'the steps'. After making
way for members of the 'Sydney All Wheel Club', who were attempting to drive up
the steps, (they were on their 'driver training' day --liked ours better), we
took the plunge, and all managed to reach the bottom unscathed, thanks to the
rock placers and radio guides.
[Question:
How do the tough guys come down the steps? Ask Gary Wood, who came down bobbing
in time with 'Bananas in Pyjamas'].
Just
when we thought the worst was over, we encountered a huge log in the middle of a
creek, which required a little more road-building, and John upset the leader, by
bending a side step on his Prado. [Col tried gallantly to take the blame, as he
was the road builder]
On
to our camp site at Newnes by 4.30 p.m., beside the Wolgan river. A few spots of rain
threatened to spoil our fun, but they soon cleared up, and the stars came
out, followed by a full moon. Yarns, jokes and party games filled in the evening
around the big camp fire. [Helen won the lateral-thinking prize for pretending
to not catch on]
Trip
leader Darryl was most impressed when everyone was ready to leave before the
deadline he set for next morning, 9 a.m.
So
we had time for a quick drive around some of the reminders of the boom times for
Newnes, the 1940's, when shale oil was produced here.
We
headed back towards Capertee, before turning off near the local coal mine. After
giving way to a fully loaded coal truck, we took the track to the Garden of
Stone, where we climbed up to view a magnif1cent rock formation, before
the obligatory morning tea. The morning was overcast and cold (8 degrees at
11.30 a.m. ), but the sun broke through, and we enjoyed a pleasant Sunday
morning drive in open forest, and on to the carpark near the Glow-worm Tunnel.
A
2 km stroll took us into the tunnel, where we were treated to the spectacle of a
thousand glowing 'stars', in a pitch- black former railway tunnel. [Even little
Vanessa and Alyssa made the trek, with 3 year old Vanessa walking 90% of the
way--- a bush-walker in the making]
A
late lunch by the road in a sunny spot out of the wind, then back to the
black-top by 3 p.m., followed by our last official duty, a stop at Bilpin, for a
paddle-pop.
Thanks to Darryl and Sandra for a
great weekend.