The Waiting Man

Another cold, wet day & tonight, we've gone back to the future - an extra blanket on the bed &, much to Bella's relief, the heater has come back out of the cupboard into the loungeroom

At least I didn't get as wet today at work as I did yesterday... I pretty much squelched in through the door last night!! And even though it was a Monday morning, the traffic was pretty light on the way to work, which was a good thing, given I left about 15 minutes late... So all in all, not much to complain about today. I suppose that makes it a good one...

Taken almost 2 years ago, from the front balcony... & much more exciting to look at than the clouds we're currently under

Back from another mini-roadtrip over the weekend... This time we headed up into the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, as we knew there was an antarctic cold front due to sweep through that promised to bring significant snow to the mountains & surrounding areas - something that doesn't happen too often. Snow falls up there maybe once or twice a year, but 'significant' snow sounded too good to resist

Off up the Bells Line of Road - the northern 'back' way to & over the Mountains, as opposed to the Great Western Highway, which is the 'front' way & follows the surveyed route "discovered' by Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth in the early 19th Century. Hailed as heroes for opening the way to the open plains & viable farmland beyond the Great Dividing Range, it took another 150 years or so for someone to check with the local aboriginal tribes, who said they'd been crossing the Mountains that way for hundreds, if not thousands of years. But I digress...

Arriving in Katoomba, excited by news stories of snowfalls & friends Instagram photos of snowy streets, we were disappointed to find that most of it had melted away, with only a little left on the side of the roads, or on top of the occasional car, along with a few sidewalk snowmen just hanging in there. Having had visions of the 3 Sisters' with snowy bonnets & Mt Solitary looking both lonely & cold, to see them looking 'normal' was another disappointment. We'd seen snow-dusted & covered mountains in the distance during the drive up, so where were they?!

Near Oberon, of course... the coldest place in the universe even when it's not snowing, though it's usually the first place to get falls when they do happen. The first time I took L-SP there, I told her about the cold & she was sceptical - it was April & we were on our way back from a country drive where it was t-shirt weather. As we got closer, the temperature dropped to single figures, then at 2 degrees, the snow started... By the time we hit town, it was a winter wonderland, in early Autumn. And so it proved again this time. About 5 kilometres along the Oberon Road, once again, the temperature dropped & the surrounding countryside started getting whiter & whiter...





Just what we'd been looking for. So had quite a few other people - there were cars stopped at many spots along the road, some safer than others, but they were a pretty good indicator of something worth seeing, so we couldn't complain - it took a lot of guesswork out of the drive. By the time we reached Oberon, the temperature was zero, the snow was falling, the wind was gusting & various exposed body parts were numb & had that feeling where you're not sure if they're scalding or freezing. Definitely the latter... so whose great idea was it to head down to Oberon Dam, where the wind was even stronger? I'm not saying...



The snowmen near Oberon were in much better shape & had been assembled with greater care... & carrots!



As the light faded, it was time to head to Blackheath, or 'LackHeat' as the locals call it... where we were staying overnight & find somewhere - anywhere!!! that served a nice hot meal & restorative liquors. Turned out the Savoy Café back in Katoomba fitted the bill. With feeling restored to fingers, noses & the internal heating topped up, we headed back to our Motel for an early night, as sunrise shots were planned...



Govett's Leap is a viewpoint just outside Blackheath, named after some unfortunate with a deathwish & imperfect balance, but is one of the recommended locations for sunrise photos. We arrived at 6.30am to find the lookout already hosting about a dozen photographers, but staked a place & set up tripods with already numbing fingers - the wind was up & the temperature was down to zero. Again!. Fortunately for our extremities, the sunrise was quite fast & within 20 minutes, we were packed up & driving away with OBluV8's heaters on full blast

Breakfast back at Katoomba's Savoy Café, though we arrived about an hour before opening, so were milling around the main street when it started snowing quite heavily. A few phone shots for Instagram &, mercifully, the Savoy opened its doors - it was still only 0-1 degree outside

Homeward bound, we thought we'd check out the other recommended sunrise spot - Sublime Point, as neither of us had been there before. It's in the next town 'down' the mountains from Katoomba, a picturesque little village called Leura - home to the Heritage-listed Everglades House, which we have seen before. Sublime Point offered an interesting view of the back side of the 3 Sisters & longer views down the Jamison & Kedumba Valleys & we would have stayed & enjoyed the views a lot longer... if it wasn't for the, by now literally, howling winds on the Point. I think a sunrise in Summer sounds nice...

It's currently 13 degrees here in Sydney... positively balmy!!!