Well, we’ve had a busy week and Clive’s still trying to catch up, so the blog-writing’s down to me again!
It was our 20th wedding anniversary on June 18th and to celebrate, Clive and I had decided to spend a night in the Blue Mountains. We thought the girls needed some time apart from us and decided one night would be enough. As luck would have it though, Clive was at a conference a few months ago and won first prize in a raffle which just happened to be...two nights in a 5 star Blue Mountains hotel! So everyone was happy!
Our prize could be taken any time, so we arranged to go for the weekend following our anniversary. The two youngest girls had been farmed out and Laura knew her life would have been made miserable should anything untoward happen to the house in our absence, so we were reasonably relaxed as we set off on the two hour drive west on Friday.
We reached Wentworth Falls at lunchtime, so had a quick picnic in the car (it was chilly and damp outside!) before setting off for our first bush walk of the weekend. Despite the cool temperatures we got warm and were soon walking with jumpers and coats around our waists. It was quite muddy underfoot, so we were glad we’d worn our walking boots and Clive’s got his first ‘outing’ since leaving Crowborough 21 months ago – luckily, they didn’t let him down! We only met one or two other walkers during the two hours and the thought of one of us breaking a leg on the uneven ground, with no phone signal and just a plaster in our backpack didn’t appeal too much! Thank goodness it didn’t happen!
We got back to the car around 4pm and changed our shoes before heading for the hotel about 2 kms further up the road, hoping they wouldn’t frown too much at our mud-splattered trousers. We needn’t have worried as they didn’t bat an eyelid! I expect they’re used to walkers and after all, one person’s money is as good as the next’s, however muddy they are!
We stayed at the Orient Express hotel, Lilianfels, which is set just behind the famous Three Sisters rock formation. The building which houses Darley's, the hotel’s ‘1 chef’s hat’ restaurant, was originally a family home, and the main hotel was built in the grounds later on. The hotel looks clean and modern from the outside, but has old-fashioned comfort inside, with wall-to-wall carpet, open fires, squashy sofas and chintzy wallpaper.
Our room couldn’t have been more comfortable, with beautiful crisp, white sheets on the bed and luxurious throws. The bathroom had marbled walls and lots of extra welcome touches like heated towel rails, a magnifying mirror (bit too magnifying for comfort!), top-quality bath salts, shampoos etc and fluffy bath robes and slippers. According to Patrick who showed us to our room, guests are so relaxed at Lilianfels that it’s not uncommon for them to wander around in these robes and even fall asleep in the lounge! We decided we’d try not to spoil the comfort of the other guests by doing that!
The weekend was really relaxing – we ate in a lovely local Swiss restaurant that night (cheese fondue and chocolate puds – yummy!) and in the hotel’s expensive restaurant the second night, where the food was included in our prize but not the wine. We ordered the cheapest bottle on the wine list, but it was still five times as much as we’d normally spend! Our meal was delicious – we both had fish dishes, complete with added extras we’d never tasted before, such as shredded cuttlefish (Clive) and edible flowers (me).
To keep the weight under control, we spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday walking and were as lucky as we could have been with the weather. Although it was cool (around 10 c), the skies were a cloudless blue and the sun shone, so the scenery was fantastic! We explored paths around Govett’s Leap and Evan’s Lookout on the Saturday and on the Sunday walked the long way around the Three Sisters, which involved climbing down 900 steep steps to a path about half-way down into the valley, walking along this for an hour and a half and then climbing up again next to Katoomba Falls.
Our legs didn’t know what had hit them, but we didn’t feel too unfit and it meant we could eat and drink what we liked without feeling guilty! Lunch breaks weren’t a problem as we didn’t need them – after the wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we only needed water until dinner and didn’t even have to contemplate stealing breakfast rolls!
It was a shame to leave the mountains on Sunday afternoon. We’d had a wonderful few days there, enjoying feeling a million miles away from Sydney and routine. The air was fresh and clear and the tourist numbers were as low as they ever get. Bush walking in the summer probably involves a battle to keep cool and hydrated and avoid the crowds – something we didn’t have any problem with!
So it was back to Allambie for us. Unfortunately, the return journey took an hour longer than it should have done (due to excess traffic – the celebration of the winter solstice had brought lots of pagans to Katoomba, but luckily they weren’t staying in our hotel!), but we got home safely at around 5pm. It was lovely to see the girls again although we hadn’t missed them and they had missed us even less!
There are some
photos from the weekend here.