I did just over 2400 km on my trip to Penrith and the Blue Mountains. The car ran well apart from the cold mornings upsetting the fuel relay and there also seems to be a smell of diff oil which I will have to get checked out. The diff looks a bit wet but I haven’t crawled underneath to physically check it out. There does seem another noise somewhere but I’ll have to get the mechanics to check that out.

I was pleasantly surprised with the fuel consumption while on gas, it was returning over 8 km to the litre which was not bad for the olde Ford. With fuel prices only on the way up it was very satisfying.

I broke the journey in two by stopping at Tuncurry to see Val, she seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders which isn’t good, and I just hope that when she sells the business that she takes time out for herself. We haven’t seen each other for about 8 years but we just picked up where we left off. This was the case with Jenny and Brett and Graham and Sandra, we just feel so comfortable with each other and the time from our last meeting seems to vanish in an instant. I hope it won’t be as long till we catch up again.

The coast road was a good choice, it’s boring but at least the road surface is less demanding on the car and me for that matter. On the inland and rural roads you are concentrating so hard on avoiding the pot holes which are sometimes hidden by shadows, the poor car took a battering but came through it relatively unscathed…….I think……..

The Pacific Highway is more or less complete from north Sydney all the way to Brisbane apart from Coffs Harbour and I can’t remember the other section, but it was only short. The road surface is mostly concrete which is a bit noisy but it also has the machining grooves which almost feel as if you are stuck in train tracks. From time to time it felt as if the car was on auto as it was getting directed by this texture. Speed cameras and police were everywhere and you really had to be vigilant, it’s easy to let your speed run away from time to time.

The highway made the 1000 km journey way easier than the inland road, having the cruise set to just under a 100 kph was comfortable for the car and myself. One thing I did notice though was before my next trip I’ll have to update the Tom Tom as it wanted to take me on a mystery tour sometimes and I’ll also need to check out LPG availability, the only place I found LPG was at Coffs which would have been an issue If the olde Ford was not duel fuel.

Staying in the Blue Mountains was a great choice, in fact if I had the money I would consider moving there instead of Rockhampton. The atmosphere of the mountains was magic and I could easily spend my days exploring the mountains and visiting cafes. The only problem of course is the amount of folk that visit here. I know it was school holidays but the main highway was at a standstill several times which would piss me right off if I had to deal with it on a daily basis. This is the biggest problem of living in a popular tourist area. I don’t feel Rockhampton is this way as it seems to be more of a transit town where you go west to the Outback or of course north or south.

I got back on Tuesday around tea time. Wednesday I stayed home all day and sat on the couch, I was knackered and my legs felt a wee bit like jelly from all the walking I did. This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, I’m still a bit weary but I’m sure after today I will be ready for life as we know it. Today will be another day on the couch, I did go shopping this morning and that’s it until around 5pm when I have someone coming to look at the house which is fandabbydozy……………

After lunch I headed here to have a wander, it’s free to enter and is well worth the effort. It’s on the Bells Line road about 30 km west of Mount Victoria.

I had a late start today, the body was very stiff and tired from yesterday. I headed to Mount Piddington at Mount Victoria, a short walk to the summit along very muddy trails. It was quite lethal underfoot. When I reached the top I was very surprised to see many cars in the big car park. I stayed for only a few minutes and decided to follow the loop back to the car, too many people.

A short walk but just enough for the legs after my big day yesterday.

I wanted to walk via the bush trails to get to Katoomba and so this morning I picked up the trail behind the house. I followed it passed Edinburgh Rock and down towards Lillian Glen and then onto the Fairmont resort, however the path I needed to get to was under repair after the recent rains and so I had to go via Empress Falls.

When I reached the falls that path was blocked also and so I had to return to the surface to get to Katoomba. A bit disappointed but I guess I will have to come back another day.

The path I took was up the main road, turning off at the Leura exit. It’s uphill all the way at around 100m more in elevation. My calf muscles were beginning to scream at me as I turned on to the Katoomba high street. I headed to the cafe that was offering Nasi Leemak Rendang. I enjoyed it, however I just wish it had been a bit more spicy. It was obviously made for the Australian Market.

I headed for the bus, but sadly it was going to be another hour and a half before it arrived and so I decided to walk. Of course I had to wait until the huge storm moved on and on the way home I came across several areas that had deposits of hail.

I didn’t know I had a garden here and so I thought it was only right that I went and had a look. It was still a bit damp but it was very pleasant.

I went for a walk this morning at the Grand Canyon which is one of the prettiest walks here. You will need to travel to Blackheath and then access it from there.

The rain had been on all night and by this morning it was drizzle with plenty of mist. I was dressed for the rain but it would have been better if it had been dry.

It’s a very pretty walk and you quickly descend to the floor passing through the dripping rain forest down a track that is well maintained, mind you it is still slippy underfoot.

When you reach the bottom you cross the river and head along the other side crossing it a few times more in a zig zag fashion until you once again head for the surface. A really enjoyable walk even though I was soaked through. When I got back to the car I changed my shirt for a nice dry one and put on a dry coat but me feet were still soggy.

I headed to Blackheath centre and parked up and went on the hunt for food. I found it in the form of an all day breakfast which I washed down with two lovely cups of coffee.

From Armidale to Bateau Bay the road was quiet but very rough. When I went to leave Armidale the car would not start. I tried to switch the car back onto gas from petrol but it just turned over and wouldn’t fire. I kept pushing the switch and then I heard the solenoid clicking, I don’t think it liked the cold weather. I fired the car up on petrol and headed off.

I got to Uralla to fill up the gas and there was none and so I kept it on petrol until I got to Bateau Bay.

Graham and Sandra were good enough to put me up for the night and then next morn I headed to Penrith. I had to use the main Pacific Highway until I could turn off for Berowra Waters. Haven’t been here in years. I used to own a boat and I kept it here but it seems a lot busier since the last time I was here.

Coffee in the restaurant was tremendous, best coffee I have bought in a long time.

The boat on the distance is being fuelled, it holds 5000 litres but today he only put in 700 litres which cost $1680…. Not sure how far you can go on that.

I had lunch at Windsor, had Thai food and then picked up dark chocolate Caramel Wafers. 😍 at the big sweet shop.

The closer you get to Penrith the busier it gets, so glad I don’t live here anymore, but it’s worth the effort to catch up with Jenny and Brett. And they gave me the master bedroom because they can no longer climb the stairs 🤔

Further to the work I got done to the car last week, well this weekend I replaced the coolant bottle and flushed the system in the old Ford. A relatively straight forward job but getting some of the radiator hoses off was a bit fiddly.

I put the car up on the ramps to make it easier and I was quite glad that I bought them. The old coolant bottle was perished and it was the original factory fitted unit,so it’s been on the car for over twenty years.

I took the car for a test drive and discovered that there was a small leak from the thermostat housing, I got a new gasket for it and replaced that today. I haven’t done a test drive yet but hopefully the new gasket has fixed the leak. I also replaced the wipers as they had seen better days too.

All that’s left now is to get on the road on Saturday to Sydney for my road trip.

Here’s another good book

This week I got work done to the car in preparation for my wee trip south in a couple of weeks. Front brakes serviced, including a disc skim and brake fluid flush. I also replaced the rear springs and shockies. It’s a notable difference when driving. I’ve got one more thing to do and that’s a coolant flush and I’ll also replace the thermostat.

I’m hoping to do a few walks in the Blue Mountains when I get there and so today I tried a walk that I’ve never done before. I went to Flinders Peak which is around 30 km west. According to AllTrails the trail is deemed hard and should take around three and a half hours to complete.

To get there you need to travel on a dirt road for about five K’s or so and then you come to a small rest area. The path is easily accessible and is very gradual in incline. The peak is 649 meters and the climb is just under 600 meters. However it’s not long before the path begins to become rougher and steeper. As it zig zags up the mountain the trail becomes more intense. The rain began making it slippy underfoot just to add to the fun.

We leave the trail through the Bush and climb over a spine of large sandstone rocks which are difficult to traverse. The higher you go the rocks are covered with lichen making it even worse. There is a respite from them as a new path opens up through the black boy trees.

All of a sudden as the mist descends you come across a large vertical rock face which is very challenging indeed. I climbed up the first face and did not feel at all comfortable. Its raining and as I look up at the razor back of stone blocks I made the decision to turn around, a thing I would not normally do.

As I descended I couldn’t find the way I came and found myself in a very precarious place, my shoes just could not find any grip.

After a few heart stopping moments I climbed back up and found a safer path down. It took just about an hour to get back to the car and I was very happy about that. I got within 50m of the summit and will give it another go when it’s dry. I just did not expect it to be so wet or difficult for that matter.