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One last trip to the the Blue Mountains and try to squeeze it all in: the traditional (very early) Easter Bunny trip (thank you for organising Mat), breaking the 6foot track speed record from both directions (thank you Will), breaking the Dam Cliff High Jump record for the kids/adults with a bit of Climbing thrown in for good measure. There was even time for a special Bryan Skinny Dip event at the Cox river - giving the river name a whole new level of significance - while the sky was a perfect blue and the sun was teasing us with some lovely late summer rays.

The weekend of choice was Friday 26 to Sunday 28th of February and our thanks go to Oliver, Bryan and Nola who ventured out of their comfort zone to join us for their first family trip to the Blue Mountains. Oliver was celebrating his fourth month and is set to follow proudly in his father's footsteps. He also registered the biggest burp ever recorded after a feed on Roman's belly. The usual regulars included Will and Liam, Gabriel, Rafaela, Larisa and Mat, Roman junior, Chris, Louise and Roman. With a special guest appearance of Mazo and Francesco for a Dam Cliff special adventure. As usual Day one was spent with everybody arriving and a special Beef Burgundy lovingly prepared by Louise. For those who find the approach too long there are now three confirmed skateboard parks on the way:

1.) Glenbrook - large scale park with easy obstacles great for young and old. Includes kids playground for none skaters. Great rest stop.

2) Lawson - Hardcore obstacles, big drops but great for kids to play at without skateboards.

3) The usual small park in Blackheath.

Needless to say that we visited all three on the way up and threw in a visit to the Katoomba Aquatic Center and Kids Kingdom in the afternoon. Nola, Bryan and Oli arrived in the early afternoon and by 5PM the house at the Blackheath golf course was lively and full. Once the beers started popping it was time to discuss the traditional early morning 6foot track ride.

Since we had also booked the afternoon for the Dam Cliffs we needed a quick turn-around time so that Francesco and his son Mazo could meet us back at the house in Blackheath. The only way to get back in time was if we could somehow avoid the car-shuffle after the ride to retrieve Will's brand-spanking new people mover. Luckily Louise "volunteered" to drop us off at 5:00AM in the morning.

Friday night finished all too quickly with Beef Burgundy, tacos for the kids, red wine, beers and chocolate ice-cream for everyone. Will did a fabulous job with fitting all four bikes to his also brand-new rear-end bike rack with a tiny but fatal flaw!

Morning broke early with a wake-up call of 4:45AM to race the rising sun. A bit of muesli, eggs and toast and we were on our way with Louise bravely listening to four boys talking rubbish. Several kangaroos and wombats later, we arrived at the drop-off point before Jenolan Caves when Will released we were one wheel short of a bike. He had been too buys organising everybody else’s equipment! Racing the car back to the house to pick up his wheel, Will was going to meet us half-way on the 6foot track coming from Blackheath. So Bryan, Mat and Roman hit the trail just after first light on Saturday morning. The going was fast and after nearly taking a wrong turn we arrived at the Cox river campground which was unusually empty for a change. Pushing past the river we went as far as the suspension bridge until Bryan realised how inviting the water looked. The clothes came off in no time and a bit of skinny-dipping eased the muscles. Before long a resounding ‘Perverts’ signalled the arrival of Will, who had managed to meet us at the half-way mark in record time.

After a soothing bath it was time to tackle the single track which was beginning to heat up in the rising sun. Passing the usual four gates we hit bitumen and cruised the 6 kilometres of asphalt to the tea rooms. There it was time to check in Bryan for his scones and tea while the rest of us got ready for the grand finale: 6 km of uphill battle to Blackheath. Will took the lead and was last seen having a shower back at the house. But this was only the beginning....

Meanwhile Francesco and Mazo had arrived and were eagerly waiting for us to finish our showers so that we could head of for the Dam Cliffs. Located about 30 minutes drive from Blackheath past Mount Victoria on the Bells line of Road towards Lithgow this hidden climbing and swimming era sports one of the only opportunities to boulder over fresh water in the Blue Mountains. Plus there are a number of high-jumps culminating in the mother-of-all jumps from the top of the cliff. Needless to say that the boys: Liam, Roman and Chris hit the water hard, up to a height of about 8 meters just before the very top. Will took Francesco and Mazo for a climb and Roman got a chance to check out his new shoes. Before long it was time to hit the water again and Liam almost managed to climb to the top of the cliff. Everybody jumped as high as they dared and left a little bit of the scary stuff for our next trip. Finally just after 16:00 it was time to head back again, farewell Francesco and Mazo and get Bryan motivated for cooking his Chicken thighs. The night finished with a scrumptious barbecue prepared by Bryan and a lot of red and white wine.

Sunday, our final day came all too quickly and after cleaning the house there was time for a horse ride for the kids in the Megalong Valley at Werriberri Trail Rides. This was followed with traditional scones and tea at the tearooms just across the road and then we were on our way home again. Some of us will have to wait for a whole year to come back to this magical place so always remember:

At our back we always hear, times winged chariots, hurrying near,

and yonder all before us lie, vast deserts of eternity......

See you soon

Roman 3 March 2010