We’re now in the Blue Mountains in a very nice village called Blackheath, which is approaching 100 k’s from Sydney’s CBD. We left Bathurst yesterday which is just under 100 k’s from Blackheath but in that time we went from relative flat land to the top of the Great Dividing Range. We stopped off in Lithgow for lunch and had a big surprise, it was only 14 degrees at midday. We hadn’t had a daytime temperature like that since we left south west Victoria back in February. Easy to see Lithgow’s mining heritage and also it was the manufacturing site for the Australian Defence Forces weapons, mainly rifles and small arms. In the afternoon we visited Hartley, a small historic village not far from Blackheath. Not quite what we expected as it had only 4 buildings but in its time it was a significant stopping off point in the mid 1800’s for those travelling from Sydney over the range to Bathurst.

Blackheath is very similar to Sassafras/Olinda although the village part is not as large but at 1065 metres above sea level, its about 500 metres higher and I suggest very cold in winter months. It was a significant climb up the ranges from Bathurst but the Cruiser made mincemeat of the climb, it performed great even though it was pulling a combined weight of nearly 7 tonnes. Not that I’d want to do it everyday as the fuel economy was not that good.

As you could expect the Blue Mountains townships have their own Antique stores and even in the short time we’ve been here, Susan has seen most of them. Today we visited a lot of the scenic lookouts in the various towns, unfortunately the Scenic Railway (one of the attractions I was keen to visit) in Katoomba was closed, continuing the theme on this trip where numerous places have been closed because of COVID.

It’s been 37 years since I have been to these places (during my RAAF years in Sydney and Canberra in the early 80’s). I can remember Katoomba, particularly the Paragon which is an historic and famous Cafe/Restaurant in the Main Street but it too was closed but this time for renovations. There are many signs of bushfires that have occurred in recent years here in the Blue Mountains, probably the most alarming was in central Lithgow, you could see the burnt out trees on the hills around the town. It must have been quite scary at the time.

We’re still here in Blackheath for a few more days. We have made the decision not to travel into Sydney, even though there have been no COVID cases in Sydney for 9 days. With a month to go before we are due home, we’ll take a conservative approach and bypass the metropolitan area completely. That way we can reduce the risk, we are seeing many more people wearing masks, mainly older people which I suppose is to be expected. Tomorrow we plan to go for a drive thru Penrith and then up to Richmond and Windsor (my old stomping ground when I was in the RAAF) but there all about 50 k’s from Sydney, so similar in distance re Kallista compared to Melbourne.

This visit so far has reminded me so much of the Dandenongs at home back in Melbourne and how both areas are at risk to bushfires. The Dandenongs are the 4th most fire prone area in the world but I suggest the Blue Mountains aren’t far behind. The way climate change is affecting us, it might be time to look at what we are doing in both these areas, stop new buildings and look at plans to ensure the safety of the current inhabitants, as major fires thru both mountain regions could be horrendous and impossible to stop once under way. We have been very lucky so far and fingers crossed it doesn’t happen but I think we need to plan for such an event.