Friday Fun Day - Times Two

We've ended up having two Friday Fun Days this month, which has been nice.

The first one was Friday last week and was rather impromptu.  How it came about was back in mid January, Rachaeldaisy posted how she and Mr Daisy went for a drive and enjoyed scones with jam and cream at the Megalong Tea Rooms.  You can read all about it here.

Well, that got me thinking.  It is years since we have been down to the Megalong Valley, like well over twenty years.  A visit to the Megalong Tea Rooms for some light refreshment sounds rather like a nice way to spend a Friday.  We had thought of going down towards the end of January, but the entrance of Monique had us slightly distracted.

We had nothing on last Friday, and the weather was looking OK, so we took the opportunity to finally go for that drive.  The weather was predicted to possibly be showery down there, but we weren't going to let that stop us.

So, where is the Megalong Valley?  It is at the western side of the Blue Mountains.  

You gain access from Blackheath, driving way down a very windy road through ferny rainforest.

It then opens up into a beautiful valley.

There are huge cliffs to the east and if you look carefully, you can see the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath sitting on the top of the cliffs. The valley runs under Medlow Bath and Katoomba.

We came across an information board, which was really informative.

Meanwhile, this is what we were looking for. We had phoned ahead to make a booking for lunch, only to be advised they don't take bookings, so we hoped there would be a table available.

We needn't have worried, as despite there being a lot of cars parked out the front, there was lots of room for everyone.  We found a table in the dappled shade.  As things turned out, there was no rain.  There was hardly a cloud in the sky and it was a nice warm day, without being too hot.  Actually, it was about the best day we have had, weather wise.

So what to have for lunch.  We decided to have a ploughman's lunch and "corner store milkshake" each.  It was delicious and the milkshake was huge, thick and served in an icy cold tin milkshake cup - just like you used to get in a corner store.  The ploughman's lunch was so big, that we didn't end up having any tea that night.  If we go again, we would just get one to share and then enjoy a serve of their scones with jam and cream between us.

After lunch we kept on our way, exploring further into the valley.

We stopped at "Old Ford Crossing".  There is a picnic and camping ground here.  Last time we visited, we had a picnic lunch beside this creek.

The Megalong Creek is so pretty and the water was so very clear.  A beautiful spot.

Not far past here, we turned around and headed back the way we came.  There is another road that heads off from Blackheath that goes to the west of the valley, with a lookout at the end of the road, but we will save that for another day.

On our way home we had a poke around the shops in Blackheath and were very strong, not buying anything.  As I said earlier, our lunch was huge, so not even any afternoon tea.

Finally, as you drive down Mt Victoria Pass, if you look in the right spot, you can see down into the valley.  As you can see, it is rather large.

It was a lovely day out.  I have a big, long list of potential places to visit for Friday Fun Day and Megalong Valley didn't even rate a mention.  I'm so pleased we were reminded of it.

Now for our second Friday Fun Day.  That was today.

Our plan for today was to drive out around the villages in the Blayney area looking for wild apple trees.  Last year, in March we went for a drive looking at hay bale art and along the way picked some wild apples.  They weren't pretty, but they were really tasty.  We thought we would do the same again this year and use them in some of the preserves we are currently making.

We were really surprised to see that hardly any of the apple trees along the roads had any apples at all.  All we can surmise, is that due to all the wet weather we had during spring, they didn't pollinate.  We finally found a couple of trees with fruit, but they are nowhere near ripe as yet, obviously, also as a result of the cool summer we have been having.  Everything seems to be late this year. So, sadly, no wild apples this year.

Not to worry.  The second part of our planned day was to call in at a nice little cafe in Blayney for an early lunch. We called in just before noon, which was opportune, as they close at noon.  Phew.

No photo of our main lunch, as we were too busy tucking into quiche and a chicken BLAT roll, but isn't the latte art on the coffee beautiful.

We saw these little lemon tarts in the display cabinet and couldn't resist.  So delicate and delicious.  A nice little treat.

From there, it was just back home to spend time in the kitchen.  More on that soon.

I'm off now to prepare some stitching for tomorrow, as Chookyblue is hosting another of our fun zoom stitching days.  I'm looking forward to it.