On Friday we had a quick trip to Sydney to collect a little trailer that Mick had bought to tow behind “Rosie”, his Suzuki Sierra. The idea is that he can take his kayak out to the local dam to go fishing.
We left just after six in the morning and enjoyed the early morning light.
It was such a gorgeous day for a drive, with the wispy mist in the hollows.
As we neared Lithgow there were pockets of sparkly frost. We were pleased to be nice and snug in the car and not camping on Mt Panorama for the car races.
I love this photo. It was worth the drive just for the scenery, despite it being areas very familiar to us.
The day was the Friday before the Bathurst 1000 Race and we were expecting lots of traffic, especially through Lithgow. You see, Mt Victoria Pass on the Great Western Highway has been closed since March, as the 1832 convict built causeway is falling down. Funnily enough, it wasn’t designed to carry thousands of cars and large semi trailers each day. Anyway, all the traffic that would normally drive around the outskirts of Lithgow has to drive through their town centre, with tight corners and then climb “Scenic Hill”, which is very steep and windy. B Doubles cannot drive up there and they have two heavy duty tow truck stationed at the base of the hill to save trucks that get stuck.
All the traffic has to go on the one road to Bell, where it divides to either take a smaller road back to the Highway, or the Bells Line of Road, which is narrower and doesn’t go through as many towns. The speed limit has been reduced significantly. Most of the traffic goes to the highway and there are frequent accidents as drivers get impatient.
This red car was being impatient and you can see why there are accidents. As you can see, the shoulders are very narrow, so the trucks don’t have a lot of room.
Anyway, after Bell, we took the Bells Line of Road and saw next to no traffic, which was somewhat surprising.
As it was such a gorgeous day, we stopped at the Kurrajong Heights Lookout to see the view to the east. You can just see the Sydney city centre in the distance between the trees.
We made our way to the place to pick up the trailer and were back on the road heading home by 10.30am. We expected to see a lot more traffic heading to the races on our return.
Lunch was had at a little cafe near Bilpin and then we continued back towards home. Once again, there was next to no traffic. We couldn’t believe it.
You can still see evidence of the terrible bush fires of late 2019, although the bush regenerates remarkably well.
The road was busy from Bell to Lithgow, but after that it continued to be a very quiet drive, quite the opposite of what we had expected. This is looking down to Lithgow from the top of Scenic Hill.
We were back home by 3pm. Not a bad effort.
So, here is the little trailer behind my car. As you can see, it is tiny. Although I have always had a towbar, this is the first time that anything has been towed.
And, behind Rosie the Suzuki Sierra.
As we all know, Mick likes nothing better than to tinker and have a project. The trailer needs a tidy up and then to be set up to carry his kayak. This is what it looks like now. Yep, he’s pulled it completely apart to clean and repaint. He will have a lovely time in his shed getting it ready to use.
