We're here! We took two days to drive from Queensland to Tricia's cottage in the Blue Mountains. It was a great trip, we took our time, after Tricia was pulled up by the Highway Patrol at 20ks over the limit, breathalysed, licence and registration checked, then told to slow down and let go. LOL I think we must have reminded the officer of his mum. Anyway, it was kind of him to caution us and let us be on our way. We travelled to Brisbane and bought some old windows at a second hand yard ($30 each, in Sydney they're over $100 each), through the Gold Coast and called in to see Sarndra and Shane, then drove south and turned inland at Alstonville, coming out on the New England Highway at Tenterfield. That is a beautiful town and well worth a visit if you're up that way.
I'd packed sandwiches, date and walnut loaf and tea so we stopped at some really quiet and beautiful places on the side of the road to rest and eat. The wind was getting cooler the further south we went and to sit in some of these places, just the two of us, no sounds except the trees rustling and the birds, well, it was just beautiful and something I'll remember for a long time.
I took these photos to show where we've been. I thought it might be of interest to many readers to see some of the real Australia off the tourist track that you might have already seen.
This little antique shop was outside a country town on the New England Highway.
Above and the following three photos are in Rylestone.
Driving along country roads with the Autumn foliage starting to show their true colouring.
And then we arrived at Tricia's beautiful cottage.
This is the front verandah and on the floor you can see two of the six windows bought in Brisbane.
Some of Tricia's many quilts.
And the kitchen which has now been repainted. The little fabric bird on the door was a housewarming gift to Tricia from Sarndra. The black and white background in the pantry is fabric Tricia put on just after she arrived.
There is still a lot of work to do in this little home but it's easy work and Tricia can take her time with it. When I walked in the door for the first time, I felt like I'd already been here, and with my much loved nephew Danny here last night, it's fast becoming a very favoured place of mine. I feel comfortable here and more importantly, Tricia does too, it really is a wonderful home.
The temperature hasn't dropped too much, it's around four or 5 degrees at night and it rises to about 14 during the day. It's definitely jumper and cardigan weather and although we haven't got the fire or stove going yet, I'm hopeful they're be fixed soon and we can sit cosy and warm in front of the fire, knitting. We have to find a chimney sweep! Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd write. My bed is warm and cosy and we're drinking lots of hot tea. Life is good.
I'll post again soon.
