Friday 9am - James had the day off work. All week Ted had asked me where the frog was from the pool was and was finally thrilled to hear it was Friday and the frog would appear today, yay! Harriet was excited about learning backstroke on her final day in swimming lessons. I was going along for the ride and looking forward to a day of shared parenting.

So come Saturday morning I wasn't expecting much from our family as a whole. However I woke up with an odd feeling - I think I felt refreshed! I had only ventured out of bed once (to go in to Ted) and then only fed him the once (I think) that night. Miracle! And then here I was rubbing my eyes at 9am! Woot!
And surprisingly, James was already up and at them and telling me that if we still wanted to go to the ZigZag Railway then he was up for the drive. Woot! So in the space of one hour we were all showered, dressed, packed with food, car entertainment, eaten breakfast and on our way! Now as anyone with child/ren can attest, such a feat is almost unheard of, so I state it here with much pride. We left Sydney, me in my jeans and Birkenstocks, Harriet in some jeans and a t-shirt (made by Grandpa no less) and off we drove.
We hit some heavy traffic midway up the mountain (with Ted constantly asking "I want to be in the Blue Mountains" - I think he was expecting an Emerald City type colour transformation) and decided that we'd miss the 1pm train and instead go past the railway on to Lithgow, have lunch and then head back for the 3pm departure (the last one for the day). We drove down to a cafe and drove past a little town hall that had an electronic temperature reading displayed. I don't know if I really wanted to know it was only 8 degrees, but hey, I could run around a little to warm up.
When we emerged from the cafe, sated and warmed, I was hit by the freezing ice winds of Lithgow with full force. There was thick rain lashing the deserted main street and, all in all, it didn't look like the afternoon was going to pan out that well for the train ride. Oh and did I mention I was FREEZING?! I don't have a great tolerance for cold at the best of times, but this was a little beyond the pale. When James starts pulling at his hoodie and talking about the cold wind well you can bet your boots I'm huddled behind using him as a windbreak and turning blue. And I had my toes exposed!! So I made a dash to the local Go-Lo because everything else was shut (long weekend commerce is obviously not an appeal for Lithgow tradespeople) and grabbed three pairs of socks. They were thin and horrid and I had to use them doubled up but it did make for a lingering illusion of warmth.
As we drove out of Lithgow we passed the temperature again. *ahem* It was now THREE DEGREES. Oh yes. 3. Single digits. Low single digits. I tried not to think about it.
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the tickets were way cool - thick cardboard and the genuine article |
Now if I had known that the train was going to cost nearly $80 for all of us I may very well have never suggested it in the first place; I just didn't know how interested Harriet was going to be in some old train ride.
wow






There were carriages that were just like the ones we had been on in the first train, but with more plush seats. But as they pulled past we decided instead to head inside the empty white carriage in the middle of the train. Hooley Dooley! These were old style compartment carriages, just like the ones seen/written about in Harry Potter. Honestly, they were magnificent. Loads of snug little dark wood compartments for all of your luggage, a pull down sink, pull out table, bed above and pull out bed from the seat. Totally amazing. Ted and Harriet went into overdrive with excitement (as did James and I - seriously, this thing was amazing).


But all good things must come to an end and so it was that the cold had rendered me incapable of moving. In fact the mere touch of my clothes against my skin was sending shockwaves of cold through my body. And when Ted wanted to start a running game in the opposite direction to the car I just couldn't entertain it, no matter how excited I was to see him happy. I had to get warm.
And so we drove to Katoomba, had dinner, bundled everyone into pyjamas and into the car and back home. And so endeth the day of much fun. I have a feeling I know what Harriet will be talking about on her News day back at school. (In fact she wrote it out in her project book today, she couldn't wait.)
3 comments:
yay, you pulled off your Zig Zag railway adventure! Could have done without the freezing temperatres I'm sure but hey! That's Lithgow for you. I've seen it snow there in December, truly I have.
(My folks have had their fire going all week in an attempt to warm up their house to a temperature I can handle when we visit next week)!
it was such a treat to see the pics, after talking to harry the other day. i loved the amount of detail she gave to each ticket, i loved hearing her find and read out each one, including the individual numbers etc. poe was delighted and can't wait til he gets to go on the zig zag railway as well.
personally the post left me cold, friggin freezing in fact, i don't know how you managed.
Oh dear, yes you were left with a rather overdetailed description! :)
I almost forgot to post the ticket photo. I posted the entry and then remembered - I can't let Jay down! Must post ticket photos! So came back to put them in. ;)
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