Blue Mountains

September 2023
A 9-day adventure by Jacqui Read more
  • 3footprints
  • 1countries
  • 9days
  • 30photos
  • 0videos
  • 297kilometers
  • Day 1–3

    Sydney Marathon

    September 16, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    We arrived at a cute little Airbnb Saturday night after driving from Melbourne in the Tesla. Lots of charging stops along the way, combined with food and toilet breaks as well as driver changes made the frequent breaks tolerable.
    Charging breaks:
    ⚡Euroa township, where we looked through the street market. And decent public toilets. Tesla supercharger.
    ⚡Barnawartha North, BP servo Chargefox snack break and toilet stop.
    ⚡Gundagai. Tesla supercharger at Oliver's food. Okay toilets and decent fast food and food smoothies. (Chargefox also located there)
    ⚡Exeter. Tesla supercharger outside a pie shop. Decent coffee and bakery goods, we didn't have a pie and decent in store toilets.
    🛌 The last stop was our destination, North Curl Curl. The Airbnb was a bungalow bed and bathroom in the backyard or a lovely family. Walking distance to Dee Why beach and shops as well as Curl Curl beach. We unpacked and walked to Dee Why for a lovely Indian dinner. The weather was mild which made eating outside enjoyable. Finally it was time for a well earned sleep. 💤
    🏃‍♀️ we were up very early to cheer Eloise on in the Marathon. Amazingly without any phones we ran into Eloise at the starting line. We then went to see her on the Harbor Bridge but didn't manage this. (I think we left to early). Jamie and I walked and drove around central Sydney to see Eloise at a couple of vantage points. Her marathon tracker wasn't all that helpful but fortunately we saw her twice along the track, around 12km and 35 km marks. We then went to the finish line and cheered her home. An amazing first marathon effort on a hot and hilly run. We sat with Eloise after while she was recovering then took her for some much needed food and dropped her back at a friend's house so she could return to Canberra with them.
    🌊 Jamie and I finished the day with a walk along Curl Curl beach and dinner in Dee Why again.
    🌞Monday was leaving day and another beautiful sunny day. We started the day with a walk along the cliffs from Curl Curl to Dee Why. Jamie unfortunately fell as he was climbing from the beach to the rocks. Then a wave came and soaked him. After a good laugh, I realized he wasn't getting up so I gathered myself and went to help. It turns out he was ok but had many cuts to his feet, where he slipped on the rock. We still managed the beautiful walk and finished with a delicious breakfast.
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  • Day 3–6

    Wentworth Falls

    September 18, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We arrived in the Blue Mountains for lunch on Monday. After lunch and some grocery shopping in the main street of Wentworth Falls we went to check into the airbnb. It was a rustic cottage in a very peaceful setting. We had a quiet afternoon and a short walk to the track to Empress falls before heading back to the cottage for more r & r. Whilst Jamie tackled some work, I made the most of the outdoor bath.

    Tuesday saw us Charge the car in Lawson at an Evie charging station behind the local shops, then off to Katoomba for a visit to scenic World. We rode the various sky rail and cable cars, walked around the rim near the 3 sisters and took a walk at the bottom in a temperate rainforest. It was all stunning. On the way home we stopped in Leura, a very pretty town and then drove to Sublime point lookout to watch the sun set behind the 3 sisters. Photos did not do justice to the beauty of the sunset.

    Wednesday we walked down to Empress falls then ate lunch at the cafe at the top on our return. A very delicious meal. We drove to Blackheart to see The Grand Canyon from another spectacular viewing point. We then decided to look for some glow worms. After some reading we discovered that it's not the peak glow worm season but walked into Cataract falls at dusk and waited until dark. We did see a few glow worms once dark enough then had to walk out in the dark. ( no wrong turns for us).
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  • Day 6–9

    Canberra

    September 21, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Jamie and I drove to Canberra where we stayed in the lovely suburb of Kingston. We met Eloise for lunch at Verity Lane. Eloise went back to ANU for lectures and Jamie and I walked back to find our car. No more than 2 minutes from the food hall we ran into Eloise's friend, Adam. Other than my family, he is probably the only other person in Canberra we would recognize.
    On Friday morning, Jamie and I did some shopping for Eloise's party on Saturday afternoon in the Botanical gardens. I then met Eloise and we walked around Floriade. The flowers were stunning. Friday night we watched the football at the apartment and I drove to the airport to pick up Liv .
    Saturday morning saw preparation for Eloise's party. unfortunately as soon as we left to go to the National Botanical Gardens, I became ill. Jamie had to take me home as the guests were arriving. I spent the afternoon in bed vomiting and it felt like the room was spinning. By the time Jamie and the girls came home I couldn't open my eyes or move my head. I actually spent the night in Canberra hospital trying to get the vertigo under control.
    We left Canberra at around lunch time once I was discharged from hospital. I slept in the back the whole way home whilst Liv and Jamie shared the driving.
    Unfortunately no photos of Ell's party.
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