Stairway to Kevin

Another beautiful morning in the Blue Mountains. Today would be a day of three halves and a tragedy. The first half found us exploring the Majestic Hydro Pavilion. This was a sprawling complex of tea room, billiards tables, a casino and quaint corridors decorated with an Egyptian theme. What really made it was its unrivalled view of the Megalong Valley below. We were also the youngest people on it. Which is always nice.

We then boarded Excalibur again as we headed down the only road into the Megalong Valley. As we descended we passed through rainforest before the landscape became one of sprawling grassland. Ideal for sheep and vineyards. We were stopped at traffic lights and my natural curiosity was piqued by a small notice on a smooth barked tree at the road’s edge. Despite its proximity Steven, our dependable host and guide could not see what I was talking about. I was even taking a photo to help point him in the right direction just as he declared “you mean the telegraph pole”. In my defence it was made of concrete and not dissimilar to the ubiquitous gum trees. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

A fine lunch was had in the Megalong Tea Rooms by a very helpful German girl who was in Australia working. Our table was directly below a tree of magpie like birds not we were fortunate that luck was not dispensed from above except for one very near miss. This was an idyllic place to stop and soak up the scenery and wonder why there were two alpacas in amongst a nearby flock of sheep. Answers again on a post card folks. While the toilets were functional a great deal of thought had been put into arranging the toilet rolls in a pleasing and colourful way. See the photo. I do these things so you don’t have to. You are welcome.

This was essentially our turn around point and we headed back up to Blackheath but there was one final spot Steven wanted us to experience. We pulled up at a non-descript halt and followed Steven into the bush. We came upon a series of steps hewn into the rock that descended down as far as the eye could see. Mrs Verno is happy to tackle anything but did need a little help as we finally ended in a deep crevasse that had famously been used in Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome. All the kit having been lowered in. Well it took twenty minutes to descend. Mrs Verno was out in less than five now that way was familiar. This was the inspiration for the title of today’s blog. Strangely the name of this deep crevasse was The Mermaid’s Cave Walk. Well we headed through Blackheath to a lookout point called Govett’s Leap. Stunning. See the pictures. My words can’t do it justice. the leap or waterfall was named after Mr Govett but Blackheath famously has a statue of said Mr Govett on a horse appearing to jump into the unknown. Much more exciting.

That was us heading back for the end of the first half. But tragedy was about to befall us. Steven, Excalibur’s custodian and driver had been noting that there were times when the engine did not change gear when it should. Then as we literally turned off the highway the engine lost power and Steven had to pull in without power steering. Was this a one off ? Steven got the engine going and we got closer to home only to have the car shut down outside the drive through bottle shop. We were 400 metres from home and managed to limp to outside home. Something was seriously awry with our trusty carriage. We will have to see what it is. When I know you will know. That took us to our next half which fortunately was local. Susan and Steven live beside a depression called the Gully. This is an Aboriginal site that unfortunately has been sequestered and spoiled by a combination of the local council and a motor racing club that destroyed the local acquifer and established a race track that was only shut down in 2002. Susan took us round the trails that now traverse the area. It was fascinating to see how nature was reclaiming the land and obscuring the track and all the crash barriers.

The third half of our day was to be a meal in Susan and Steven’s house. Steven had barbecued and despite the uncertainty about Excalibur presented us with a great meal of lamb, beef fillet, fantastic vegetables and the biggest mushroom we have all seen. (Suspicions were raised at this but we are still here). A great finish to our last full day in the mountains. Tomorrow would be another moving day and back Sydney. Oh will this suffering ever end. I take this opportunity on behalf of Mrs Verno and myself to thank S&S for their hospitality and great company. Thank you.