Realising that today would be the longest of
the holiday we set the alarm for 05:00hrs, and were on the road, roaring past
Hunter Valley’s famous vineyards, by 06:05hrs. Again, we shied away from the main
highways, electing instead to head south on State Route 69 through Wollemi NP.
At 09:40hrs we arrived at Kentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains NP to make a
traverse of the famous National Pass. This hiking route was literally hacked
into the side of the escarpment overlooking the Blue Mountains by 4 ‘Navvies’,
using pickaxes only, at the start of the last century. The trek is not for the
faint of heart, given the vertiginous drop, and it is also physically demanding
at the end. However, the views are worth every drop of sweat.
On reaching the Conservation Hut at the end
of the traverse we stopped for a well-earned coffee break. With vital organs
suitably rejuvenated we headed back to the car and drove to Katoomba to see The
Three Sisters; three rock pinnacles on a rock buttress further along the
escarpment. From there we then headed over to Evans Lookout in Blackheath for
more stunning views of the Blue Mountains. 
Fully gratified we then embarked on a long
tortuous drive along a narrow windy road to see the famous Jenolan Caves at the
edge of Kanangra-Boyd NP. On route we had a close, and nearly tragic, encounter
with an Echidna! The wee fella was shuffling across the road just beyond the
crest of a steep hill, which meant we did not see him until he was almost under
our tyres! Not being fleet-of-foot he was unable to extricate himself from this
very precarious situation, and were it not for Astrid’s lightening quick
reactions, the outcome would have left us both very devastated. Mercifully, we
were able instead to watch him waddle off into the grass on the far side of the
road, where I followed him in hot pursuit with camera in hand to snatch a few
photos of this very cute critter.
After taking our fill of stalagmites,
stalactites, caverns, etc. at the caves we then continued south towards
Canberra, skirting the edge of Gurnang and Mount Werong State Forests, and then
passing through Taralga and Goulburn. On reaching National Route 23 inside
Australian Capital Territory we suddenly found ourselves confronted by a
massive weather front, with very menacing cloud formations stacked up into the
upper troposphere and sheet lightening dancing across the entire horizon. With
just 28kn to go we were hit with violent gusting winds and a heavy downpour,
slowing our progress to a virtual crawl. Thankfully, we made it to the Mercure
Hotel at the edge of the city across from the War Memorial in one piece by 19:38hrs.
Following quick shower to cleanse smelly bodies we tucked into some pub grub
before finally succumbing to sleep at 21:30hrs.
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