Friday
We had planned to visit Lightning Ridge in north western NSW this year as participants in a tag-a-long organised by the ACC Sydney City Slickers. Unfortunately due to a family event that occurred earlier this year, we were unable to attend.
Nevertheless, the ACC (Australian Caravan Club) Sydney City Slickers are very flexible with their events and we were able to join the last couple of days of the tag-a-long at the final destination of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney.
We had asked friends, who are also ACC members, if they would like to join us and make the trip into a long weekend.
In reasonable weather, we left our home early on Friday morning for the two hour trip to Blackheath. The trip was uneventful with the Great Western Highway over the mountains now not far from being completed. The road widening project over the mountains is one of the longest running road projects in NSW but the end is now well in sight.
The mountains were damp but the forecast of showers over the weekend were not of any concern.
It was overcast with light drizzle when we arrived at Blackheath and it did not take long for us to check-in and then be directed to our campsite for the next three nights.
Blackheath Glen Tourist Park is a council owned caravan park. There are only two caravan parks located in the Blue Mountains, the other one is at Katoomba. There is another small caravan park located near Hartley (after you descend Victoria Pass) and another at Lithgow. To the east, the closest caravan park to the mountains is at Emu Plains.
Since our last visit to Blackheath, major work has been undertaken in the park with the construction of an excellent camp kitchen, improvements to the caravan camp sites plus construction of more cabins. This is now a very well appointed caravan park.
We setup in light rain and had lunch before our friends arrived. Unfortunately we had average television reception and anticipating good reception, we had left the satellite dish at home.
Not long after the arrival of our friends, the remaining participants in the tag-a-long started to arrive.
We spent the reminder of the afternoon renewing acquaintances before meeting in the camp kitchen for happy hour and our evening meal.
Saturday
We had a slow start to the day only venturing outside of the caravan to farewell one of the couples who had been on the tag-a-long. Later in the morning we decided to head into the Megalong Valley with three other couples where we intended to enjoy morning teas at the famous Tea Rooms. The weather was overcast and threatening to rain.
Whilst a little expensive, morning tea (coffee, scones jam and cream) was very enjoyable. After leaving the tea rooms, we drove further into the valley to the point where the road fords the Megalong Creek. There is a camp site here (Old Ford Reserve) with drop toilets and space for many rigs.
We left the Megalong Valley and then headed to Hargraves Lookout. From this lookout you can see in the distance the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath and you are also afforded views down the Megalong Valley and beyond. Our visit here was interrupted by rain which prompted us to return to our vehicles and head to our next stop, Mt Blackheath Lookout.
From the Mt Blackheath lookout you are afforded expansive views over the Kanimbla Valley looking towards Little Hartley and Hartley in the North North West to Hampton and Lowther (on the road to Jenolan Caves) to the west.
Before returning to the caravan park we paid a quick visit to Govetts Leap Lookout. Today the mountains were covered in a blue haze and provided us with good conditions for photography.
Several members of our group were interested in our quad copter. Whilst the weather was not ideal (black clouds and passing showers), “He” decided to fly anyway. So with our friends gathered around, the quads camera was started followed by the engines. The flight lasted the best part of 30 seconds before “mother nature” decided to intervene with a rain shower. The flight was terminated and the quad packed away. There will be another time to show our friends but probably not until we see them again in November at the next branch outing.
After the aborted quad flight, it was a “no brainer” to head to the camp kitchen for happy hour followed by our evening meal.
Sunday
With the exception of one couple, the remaining tag-a-long attendees departed for their respective homes during the morning.
We decided to visit more lookouts and with our friends, headed towards Katoomba and the Narrow Neck Plateau. This is one area we have intended to visit for many years but we were not game enough to go there without the benefits of a 4WD.
The road onto the plateau is a narrow dirt road. Whilst the road is not very steep, you still have to exercise care on several of the blind corners. Today we experienced dry potholes, more potholes filled with water, corrugations and depressions filled with water. Needless to say, the Navara had no problem in negotiating the road however, we did manage to bottom out the tow hitch several times.
We stopped about 150m before the end of a road when “He” decided that further water over the remainder of the road was not worth the risk. We did manage to take some photographs before dark clouds forced us back into the car.
Next stop was at Scenic World where we intended to park and then “look”. There was no parking available in their car park and it actually took us about 20 minutes to get clear of the car park. We did stop near Katoomba Falls but once again, rain forced us back into the car. We decided to head back to Blackheath for a late lunch but we stopped at Evans Lookout before returning for lunch. Whilst we were at Evans Lookout, “She” noticed a black smudge at the base of the most recent taken photographs. What actually happened we will never know as we decided to replace the camera rather than going to the expense of a repair for an unknown problem.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the camp kitchen before sharing happy hour with the remaining couples before we all headed to the Blackheath Hotel for our evening meal.
We finished the day by returning (in fog) back to Katoomba where we took photographs (no fog) of the Three Sisters. It was cold!
Monday
We departed Blackheath just after 9:00am for an uneventful trip home.