So much for a sunny September it's been blowing gales and intermittent rain just to let us know that Autumn isn't all mists and mellow fruitfulness. The Scyamore trees are already turning red and the firethorn berries have coloured up to their yellows and reds. Just the time to tell you about a winter weekend in the blue mountains. this is especially for Louise's Mum.

Winter Weekend in the Blue Mountains.

In 2005 I took another holiday in Australia, taking with me my eldest grandson Matthew. We stayed with my eldest daughter and her family, who lived in West Pymble just outside Sydney.

We had been advised to bring some warm clothes as it is winter in August.

Winter in Australia occurs between July and September, with daytime temperatures rising to lower twenties mid day. Quite like an average English summer before global warming. However if you live in the Blue Mountains, winter can mean snow and ice. This beautiful region of mountainous country is part of the Great Dividing Range that runs down the entire eastern side of Australia finishing west of Melbourne in the south.

My daughter’s house did not have central heating, but did have a huge fire place in which each evening a beautiful log fire would be lit that soon had us cosy watching T.V.

Anne announced a few days after our arrival that Roger had arranged for us to go to the Blue Mountain region for a weekend of sight seeing and to visit the Jenolan Caves near Lithgow. We were to stay overnight in a log cabin in a place called Taranna.

“You will need your warmest clothes and no sandals it will be cold, there’s been snow.” She said.

Saturday morning we were up early to get a good start and I was surprised to see that it was a slightly frosty.

After a hearty breakfast, we all piled into the car and set off to join the Great Western Highway which would take us to Leura in the heart of the Blue Mountain region. It was a gorgeous morning with the sun shining and any frost soon gone. A lot of the land in this area has been cleared for agriculture, but overriding this the bush as the densely wooded countryside is called goes on for miles and miles. The terrain is mountainous and the forest rises in ranks covering the contours of the land.

At last we reached Leura and we parked without much difficulty. I don’t think there were any parking meters but I may be wrong. Leura is quaint and established having the look of a settled community. Full of individual shops no high street names and plenty of variety.

Our first concern was the fact the Susannah had left behind her coat, so we hunted the tiny shops for one selling children’s clothes. No luck, Anne didn’t want to pay the earth for designer gear when a perfectly good coat was lying at home on the chair. Roger said he would take the kids for a walk while we carried on looking, only to turn up again in less than thirtyy minutes with Susannah wearing a coat only slightly too big. Roger had spotted a sign saying “Garage Sale” and had gone to see what he could find. Apparently a lot of children’s clothes were for sale. And he came away with the coat and a set of fire irons too. Cost about five pounds

We had a good laugh but Susannah was quite happy with the purchase.

Lunched at a little café and then we walked to the Toy and Railway museum.

We passed bungalows with names like Ben Nevis, Llandudno, and Pwhelli. Lanberis so we assumed that a lot of Welsh and Scottish people had settled there. The houses looked old with tin roofs and quaint wrought iron verandahs and mature gardens with large trees. There were even some daffodils in the front gardens.

The museum was in a large Edwardian detached three-storied house set in extensive gardens. Inside was homage to child hood, the rooms filled with every kind of toy you could imagine. And even though no child now lives there the collection is being kept up to date with all the latest craze and toy. From the earliest days when a family lived there with all the toys from 1900’s through the twenties and thirties, it seemed as if nothing had ever been thrown away. The bedrooms and nursery rooms are laid out, as it would have been. The collection is right up todate with Barbie Dolls to Harry Potter games and books.

Outside is a replica of The Matterhorn with a superb model railway all built to scale. Whilst on the opposite side of road was a small amphitheatre built into the hillside from which we saw our first view of the Blue Mountains. Matthew who had never seen it before announced that he thought it was “cool”.

A Brisk walk and down numerous steps brought us out on to a viewing platform high above the valley bottom. The vista stretched out before us in the afternoon sun and the famous haze that gives the Blue Mountains their name hung in the air for miles. The rocks looked golden and the trees a dark uniform green, not like conifer, more rounded shapes densely packed together. A couple of miles away we could see the famous Three Sisters rocks situated in Katoomba, so we went back to the car and drove the short distance to see them more closely.

Katoomba is bustling with many coaches bringing in tourists to see the sights. Spotlessly clean as all Australian places seem to be, it thronged with people trying to take photos from the best viewing platforms. We went for a walk along the cliff paths and looked down into the seemingly bottomless valley below. One of the attractions is a ride on the scenic railway that has the world’s steepest incline, descending four hundred and fifteen metres down at a maximum gradient of 52 degrees or 1.28:1.00. Another attraction is the Sceniscender cable car that descends 545metres to the valley floor of the World Heritage glades of Rain forest. Neither of these appealed to me so I forgo the chance to try them out. But they were considered “Cool” by the youngest.

All too soon the afternoon sun began to set, by five it would be dark and we had to travel to a place called Taranna about an hour and half away.

Leaving Katoomba we passed through some industrial parts and then the scenery opened up as we descended into a broad valley that was grazed by dark cattle. The heavily wooded hills seemed far away as we wound through the countryside. Looking out for signs to keep us on track, the one and a half hours had turned into two before we saw the tiny sign post pointing us down a road so narrow that Roger prayed that no one would come in the opposite direction. Not a light to be seen and the night pitch black. Suddenly a splash of light showed ahead and into Taranna we drove before the door was closed and the light died. The door opened again and we realised that we had fortuitously stopped outside the place Anne had booked for our overnight stay. The pub was noisy and warm. The people inside seemed friendly enough but were more interested in drinking than finding out who we were. A chatty little woman gave us our keys and showed us to the log cabins that were in the field next to the pub. She said she would reserve a table for us in the restaurant and we could come over as soon as we were ready.

So our first day was nearly over and the next day would find us travelling on to Oberon and the Jenolan Caves.

Hope you all enjoy this and I'll post the rest next time.