Don and I both had a day off last Friday. We’d originally intended a bit of a local bike ride in the morning and lunching somewhere nice that was outside the usual local haunts and pottering about a bit. Instead we spontaneously decided to drive to the Blue Mountains**, take in some scenery and grab lunch up there. It was the first time I’ve left Sydney at all in 15 months.

The drive up was fast and painless. Normally the winding roads are packed with tourist buses but now of course there are none. Likewise the villages – pre-covid, you’d never be able to get a parking spot and the footpaths and scenic spots would be teeming with tourists. Dishy(Ex)Boss lives in one of the most picturesque mountain villages and was telling me pre-Xmas that everywhere was jam-packed with people holidaying from Sydney, so perhaps we got lucky with timing.

When we arrived we headed to a local park, found a track and followed it, hoping for a glimpse of something scenic and came upon a lookout which we had pretty much all to ourselves. It was immense and quiet and utterly breathtaking. I could have stayed there for hours just breathing it all in.

There are really no photos that can do it justice, but here are a couple anyway.

squishy panorama

I’ve been totally kidding myself thinking a daily stroll around the local cricket oval is “getting out in nature”. There are residential areas just across the road (and down a track) from those views – I can’t even imagine those spectacular morning walks!

After a bit, we took ourselves out for a stroll around the local shops, found our intended lunch destination had moved villages and went on a quest to find it. They fit us in without a booking, gave us a table on the terrace – where we were forced to take in this view.

Really, really gorgeous day out, but sent me into a bit of a mental spin. I thought I was really very satisfied with where I’m at generally, and to a large degree I am, but there are definitely things that need addressing.

I returned home with a sizeable chunk of me wanting to pack in the city life and escape to an off-grid hut in the bush!

xxx

** not really that mountainous, more like tallish hills