Lithgow August 2020

With the car packed to the rafters, we were off on our adventure to escape Sydney and the Coronavirus.  Curtailing our road trip to within the boundaries of NSW, we were looking forward to discovering our own backyard.

Natural disasters seem to be Australia's middle name, 2020 has seen floods, fire and now a pandemic.

Our first stop was Lithgow, normally only seen as a blur through the windows as we speed through whilst heading somewhere else.

Travelling along the Bells Line of Road you could see the devastation from the bushfires earlier this year.  Burnt trees tickling the gutters of homes that luckily were saved from the damaging flames, a credit to our volunteers. 

Hassan's Wall Lookout was the first destination entered into our GPS, driving time 1 hour and 38 minutes. It is a steep descent as you drive down into the township of Lithgow, but just before you hit the city centre you make a left to head back up the next mountain which takes you this breathtaking lookout. Apparently the highest scenic lookout in the greater Blue Mountains area..  Ribbons of colour decorate the impressive rock formations framing the beautiful valleys below.  The only thing that broke the serenity was the sound of Garry's drone buzzing around capturing some amazing footage for his videos. 

Lithgow is the centre of a coal-mining district.  It was home to the first Australian (viable) steel mill, which is now just a skeleton of its former self

Lithgow's Blast Furnace park is where you will find the remains of the steel mill and the adjoining Lake Pillan Wetlands provided the water to help cool down the furnace.  This is now a great recreation area and we did enjoy our morning tea at one of its picnic tables.

It is also home to a first for us..... a fully automated talking toilet!