Earth Love

Upon returning to the Blue Mountains, it having been ten years since my last visit, I had a flood of memories from my family vacation in December of 2000. Steve, Gail, and Elena warmly welcomed me back to their lovely home on Blackbutt Circle (teehee :-D) and, as I walked through the house, I instantly remembered Christmas morning with the kids bounding down the stairs to see what Santa had brought while the moms and dads groggily rubbed sleep out of their eyes. Things looked slightly different without the Christmas decor, but it was a comfort to be back in a familiar place visiting close family friends.

The sky gods just happened to choose the first few days of my visit to give the flora a proper soak, so I took advantage of the cozy couches indoors to make a rather large dent in my Scottish novel. Also, Elena opened up a whole new world for me with my first exposure to the musical wonders of SingStar! As the rain pitter-pattered outside, we belted out duets to a variety of tunes by Disney, ABBA, the songs of the 80s, and best of the 90s. I was in vocal heaven :-)

It would be a crime to visit the Blue Mountains and not stop to explore the village of Katoomba. Thus, as I am rather opposed to committing wrongs against the law, I took the train one morning up to this cute little town and met up with John, a friend and workmate of mine from the Milford Sound. We lucked out with picture perfect weather all day long. The two of us walked to Echo Point where we were rewarded with an absolutely sensational lookout. The cloud speckled sky cast puffy splotches of gently drifting shadow over the green expanse of the Jamison Valley. Outlining the greenery, like a child's poor attempt at coloring within the lines, were sheer, vertical cliffs of fiery orange that looked as though they could burst into flame at any moment. The famous “Three Sisters” rock formations stood out in the foreground with impressive superiority, gazing peacefully over their beloved earth.

John and I made our way down the Giant Stairway to a place where we could actually stand directly beneath the first of the Three Sisters and touch the weathered sandstone of these massive structures. Stepping carefully down the remainder of the slippery stairway brought us to a trail that wove through the Jamison Valley all the way to a lookup of the Katoomba Cascades and the touristic remnants of an old coal mine. At the end of the hike, we gratefully bypassed a sweaty looking climb out of the valley in favor of an supersized gondola which carried us quickly and effortlessly back up to where we began.

That weekend, I left the cool mountain air for the salty waves of Bondi Beach. This hip surfer town is where the Sydneyites find relief during those fry-an-egg-on-the-asphalt summer days. Unfortunately, summer was slowly easing into autumn which meant cool temps and spatters of rain throughout the weekend. But, the weather didn't stop us from having a proper Friday night out in Bondi, complete with a box of Goon and some rockin' Karaoke tunes. The following evening, on our way back from dinner, my friend Ruth and I discovered a group of Earth Hour enthusiasts lighting paper lanterns in honor of the annual event where the world shouts, “lights out!” We were invited to join in on their small celebration and did our best in an attempt to light a lantern of our own. But, with a steadily blowing wind, only a few lucky lanterns set sail, drifting up, up, and away - a simple flicker of a flame illuminated against the starless night sky.