After a lot of advice gathering, and a few unavoidable postponements, my darling wife and I finally had a week off to start bushwalking.
We had a fantastic five days, and all the homicidal feelings that work generates have faded away.
Day 1was a trip to Jenolan caves via lunch and a tour at Norman Lindsay gallery - well worth doing. The caves area hasn't changed in over 40 years since I last visited, and the caves are still as spectacular as ever.
Day 2 we did another cave and then traveled to our B&B in Blackheath. Not sure of what the advertising rules are here, but I would be happy to recommend where we stayed via PM.
Day 3 - finally some bushwalking. How good was the weather? We decided to start our "career" on some of the better known tourist trails, getting to know our gear. So from Govett's Leap we walked along the Cliff Top track to Evans lookout and then on to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and return. Some beautiful native flowers and we had a ball watching a female lyrebird scratching around totally oblivious to us. The views are amazing, and the atmosphere in the GC was so different to the rest of the walk. Only negative was a sighting of a large black feral cat, who was walking across a bridge as bold as brass. It slinked off into the bush at the end of the bridge. I carried my Canon DSLR and took plenty of photos, but was a little sore at the end of the day from the strap. A lesson learned was to have a spare shirt in the car to change into. As a special treat we saw a male Lyrebird on the way out of the carpark.
Day 4 - Govetts to Pulpit Rock and return. Brilliant weather again. Discovered that the camera lens (kit 55-250) fitted quite nicely lens down in the mesh pocket on front of my pack, no rubbing on my neck! This walk was rated med, and we loved it. Yet more amazing views, flowers and birdlife. On our return we stopped to let an elderly couple pass us, the lady looked like she was struggling, and they still had 25 minutes to the rock, and then the return journey. The last bit up to Govetts is quite steep, and I suggested (a little tongue in cheek) that they could hitch a lift back from Pulpit. We weren't really surprised (and quite pleased) to see them dropped off at the heritage centre on our return. In the afternoon a cool breeze had sprung up and was quite cold on my back (very wet from sweat). How do you snow campers deal with that! The spare shirt in the car was welcome
Today - A weather trifecta - 20 degrees in the mountains in May. We did the National Pass circuit. This one was a little more testing, but still totally enjoyable. Although as I sit here, our calf muscles are suggesting that it was a workout! After much advice here, I had put together a first aid kit, and got to use it when a young German lady twisted her ankle. She was walking very gingerly with 2 sticks for support and still 30 minutes - and the Grand Stairway away from their transport. So a compression bandage and a couple of paracetamol later, we left her and her boyfriend to complete their slow and painful journey. The return journey along the Undercliff Track and Shortcut track back to Conservation hut was fun and uneventful - and the coffees welcome and tasty.
Here are a couple of pics.
I know that most of you will have seen the vista shots from these walks before, so I won't bore you with them.