I love to get out and away from the city, it’s a time for me to clear my head and breath in the fresh country air. Before the sentence has even been uttered, while it’s still a thought, an idea, I’ve cleared my diary of any city bound ‘stuff’ and written… I’m not too fussy, I’ll take anything, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Shoalhaven, the ‘Mother land’. I just enjoy getting away from the busyness of the city, the lists of things I need to do and the expectations that I place on myself. When I escape, even just for an afternoon, I can leave all of that behind, recharge and tackle it when I return. The other aspect of ‘getting away’ is that it is most enjoyed when shared with a friend. Below are some pictures I took while bush walking near Fitzroy Falls in the Southern Highlands. In the lead up to our planned escape it had been raining in Sydney, most days were overcast and it was soggy under foot. The Southern Highlands, as the name suggests is at a higher elevation and can be bitterly cold on a supposed hot summers day in Sydney. We decided to forge ahead with our escape and with a 30% chance of rain it was looking pretty good. We drove through a rain patch that we thought was the 30% but there was still more to come once we arrived at Fitzroy Falls. But, it didn’t matter, we wrapped ourselves in Gortex, grabbed our packs and headed into the mist. It was beautiful, it looked like we were on the edge of the world, we could only see a few meters in front of us. But the further the walk the more the sky cleared until finally we got a perfect view of Fitzroy Falls. So, grab a friend, pack some snacks and possibly your raincoat and escape for a head clearing bush walk. You might surprise yourself, the problem you were thinking about over and over again may just sort itself out while you’re away. Until next time Carmel