Sweet Wayfaring

Bulrushes in Blue Hills Wetland Sorry I can't stop myself, I prefer nature shots.

Blue Hills Wetland Never fear, the unnatural McMansions have been given a lovely simulated natural setting.

McMansions

Remnant Bushland I've failed my suburban assignment already.  My eyes kept straying from the garden topiary to the  remnant bushland over the road. The sign said "Penrith City Council is actively working to restore and extend areas of natural bushland, particularly endangered vegetation communities.  At this reserve the delicate ecosystem is being cared for and helped to regenerate. A program involving weed removal and planting 1000's of trees and shrubs is being undertaken." I can almost hear the she-oaks sighing for their lost world.

Glenmore Park home We were down at Penrith shopping so I took a look at the map to see which road beckoned. I chose Blue Hills Drive because it reminded me of Blue Hills the ABC Radio Serial whose   signature tune  transported us each lunch time to the Australian country town of Tanimbla. I found a place light years apart from Tanimbla and the people who listened to its stories. Glenmore Park is one of Penrith's newer housing developments, being about 25 years old and now home to around 20,000 people. I dislike suburbia so this assignment is going to challenge me.  Let's see what we find.

The road rejoins the highway Here we are back at the highway and the end of this road. I found the following on the Roads and Maritime website RMS IS PROPOSING TO CONSTRUCT A THREE LANE UPGRADE AT FORTY BENDS Realigning the highway at Forty Bends would improve safety and reliability of travel and reduce the likelihood of crashes and potential road closures in winter months due to the formation of black ice. Other safety benefits would include reduced grades and smoother curves. It seems a few more of the old bends are going to disappear. 

View from the road Not a bad view to overlook.

Small land holding Most of the houses are neither old or posh. This one is pretty typical of farm houses of the mid 1900s.

Hassans Walls On the other side of the road is the high escarpment of the mountains.

Rural property with tennis court Small rural land holdings flank the road, this looks like one of the older ones. I think there was a time around the turn of the last century when just about every rural properly of any presence had a tennis court.  The courts today are often just a weed infested patch of dirt with a tall tangled rusting wire fence.  This one has had a modern face lift.

A bend in the road Surprise surprise, we found bends!  I didn't count them but there were fewer than 40, I'd say about 20.

Forty Bends Road, where it departs the Great Western Highway This is the sign post that germinated the idea of  Roads that Beckon. Beth commented on my annual plan plan that it is Forty Bends Road not Forty Five Bends Road ... and she was right.   She also explained that Forty Bends Road road was once the main highway between the mountains and Lithgow, wriggling its way around the foot of the western side of the mountains.  The Great Western Highway replaced it but some of the old road remains, running beside the highway, departing at this sign post and rejoining a few kilometres down the track. According to the wikipedea story on the Great Western Highway "In 1958 the 'Forty Bends’, where the Highway runs along the foot of Hassans Walls approaching Lithgow, were eased. The fact that this section of the Highway is on the southern side of a very high escarpment poses severe ice problems during winter, due to the lack of sunlight." It was a warm summer day. ...

We have the New Year off to a good start with three new contributions to the Royal collection. I have also started a new road Bee Farm Road over at Blue Mountains Journal so you can go visit there or come back next week when I will start a new road here at Sweet Wayfaring. Royal Club Hotel-Motel, Inverell contributed by Mark from Clarence Valley Today This one has to be up with the Royal Hotel in Casino for general ugliness of architecture. Former Royal Hotel, Glen Innes Contributed by Mark from Clarence Valley Today It's a Fergie. Royal Hotel Sutherland Contributed by Julie from Sydney Eye To my eye the city versions just don't have the same style as those in the country.

Fresh Fish That's it for this road.

Prayer time

Waiting for the hole to blow (it didn't)

Pilots Cottage Museum

Kiama Lighthouse

Gulls on roof

View from Blowhole Point Road, Kiama The road that beckoned in Kiama was the one promising a view of a blowhole. It as more touristy than I expect most of the roads to be but truly it was the road with the most interesting name in Kiama.

That's it for beach shots this time round.  I was not overly inspired because I was recovering from my eye op (which also took 2 days out of our week at the beach) so had to wear dark glasses and was not feeling 100% a lot of the time. However before we left I examined the map to see which road in Kiama beckoned and will start that tomorrow.  My plan is to select up to seven photos from each road and post one each day.

I will show you one shot from the beach tomorrow.

Easts Beach, Kiama.

Eucalyptus flower with a peek of the beach in the background.

Happy New Year! We've been to the beach so I am going to show you four shots, each with a touch of red, while I get my act together on my new project Roads that Beckon .   Read more about it and my 2013 blog plan here .