Weekend Getaway to the Blue Mountains

For my final #painthetownford challenge, I decided to go on a much needed weekend getaway (computer in tow as working was still required). In the typical fashion of the Murphy's and their silly laws, the day before we were due to depart for a little weekend away to the Blue Mountains, newsreaders across Sydney declared it would be best to stay indoors as "Rainmageddon" was upon us. I don't know about you, but a little apocalyptic rainfall was not going to get in the way of my break. If there's anything that makes the mountains more romantic, it's rain and mist.

I've always wanted to stay at The Carrington Hotel, it carries a decidedly "The Shining" vibe about it, and there's something about the slightly off-kilter grande old dame atmosphere that draws me in. Unfortunately it was fully booked out, so we opted for something on the opposite end of the spectrum, an eco resort called "Old Leura Dairy". There are various styles and sizes of accommodation to choose from at the dairy, we decided on the Milking Shed, which had a lovely fireplace and loft bedroom. The interior is a mish-mash of recycled building materials and found objects which gives it a lovely eclectic homey feeling. I especially loved the entryway, a couple of huge old barn doors that swung open to reveal our cosy cave for the weekend.

As we drove into the mountains from Sydney, I watched the temperature indicator on the car drop, approximately 1ºC for each town we passed through. By the time we arrived in Leura, it was a chilly 7º. Thankfully the Ford Kuga Titanium has built in seat-warmers, so we were none the wiser in our toasty cocoon-on-wheels. Despite the rain, we cobbled together another short film of our trip - I'm thinking of making this a more regular thing! It's such a fun way to preserve your memories.

Kitty & Buck | Mountain Escape from Kitty & Buck on Vimeo

Since we were unable to have a sleepover in The Carrington, we opted for a quick pre-dinner drink instead. It's the perfect way to soak up the ambience if you're just in Katoomba for a day trip, or prefer a different type of accommodation. The ascent to the front door is accompanied by the most delightful wafts from the flower garden. The only way to make the ground more appealing, would be to install a hedge maze, taking it one step closer to Stanley Kubrick's vision. The barmen were extremely obliging with my unusual request for tea instead of a gin and tonic, and my questions about the VIP room (a very appealing balcony that was built for the Duke and Duchess of York's visit in 1927 - it was never used by them and is now relegated to a structurally unsound temptation, rather than a functional sitting area).

The following day, as tempting as it was to play scrabble in our 'shed', we decided to indulge in one of the best activities to do on the mountains, rain or not: Antique hunting. Oh, and book hunting. Our first stop (always) is Mr Pickwick's on Katoomba Street, home of antiquities, a wide range of amazing vintage clothing, and around 60,000 books. We were lucky enough to find Mr Pickwick himself behind the counter, who kindly obliged our request for a photo (complete with mischievous glint in his eye). I scored a first edition of Alp by William Hjortsberg. If you love kid's books, there is an absolute goldmine of vintage children's literature in the basement book cave.

The lovely township of Leura called us back from lunch, where we shoehorned ourselves into the extremely popular Red Door Cafe. Bellies full, we trundled around the main street of Leura, taking in the sights. We discovered a Japanese Ceramic store which was disappointingly closed. It's bookmarked in my brain for a future investigation.

Since it was early afternoon and the mist was showing no signs of clearing, we decided to brave a wander down to Sublime Point. It's a little more secluded than the big Three Sisters lookout, and we hoped, less exposed to the elements. It was raining, cold and windy, but quite spectacular to see the vague shapes of the mountains in the white void. We didn't linger as the wind was doing it's best to whip our umbrellas into the great beyond and we didn't fancy following them.

Our final stop on the way back to Sydney is the best bookstore I've found in Australia and only second to the incredible backyard shed/shop full of first editions we stumbled across in Woodstock, VT. If you're in the Blue Mountains area, be sure to check in at Lamdha Books. It's a small shop, but packed full of gems. I managed to score a Flann O'Brien book that I haven't seen anywhere else and C grabbed a copy of Fantomas. We had a lovely conversation about jazz with Michael, the friendly owner and prolonged our return home as long as we could. Eventually we couldn't postpone the inevitable and we had the Kuga carry us home one final time before I was relegated back to my vintage Mazda. Thanks for the good times Kidspot and Ford, we had a blast!

Kitty
xo

I'm participating in the #paintthetownford challenge as part of the Kidspot Voices 2014 competition. Ford has provided me with a Ford Kuga Titanium for six weeks as part of this challenge. This is the final post of three in my series, you can read the previous posts here:

Post 1: Market Dreams

Post 2: Rural Escape

All opinions expressed in this post are my own. You can follow along with the other bloggers participating by searching the hashtag #paintthetownford and #voicesof2014.