Today Brett and I drove to Mount Victoria where my mother lives.

We first arranged to spend another night at the caravan park at Lithgow. On Saturday night is was below freezing. It was good to have power so we could run the heater.

My Dad and one of my sisters also came up to visit and we all had lunch together at the pub at Mount Victoria. Big pub servings, and in an interesting venue, full of historic memorabilia.

It was good to catch up with my family.

It was very cold at lunch time but warmed up as the day went on. I received a call from Val during lunch explaining that they were still in Glen Davis and would stay there another night.

As usual we enjoyed the spectacular drive up and down the Mountains. We went up Victoria Pass (at 40km/h due to roadworks) and back down Bell's Line of Road. I saw a waratah in bloom as we drove along - the only one I have seen. Mum has waratahs but they are still in bud as it is a bit early in the season at this high altitude.

The speed limit along Bells has been reduced since last time I drove it and this appears to have upset some people. Stickers had been placed over the road signs - from "reducing the road toll" to "collecting the road toll" and "This is a revenue raising road". Hmmm. Brett reckons it would be motorcyclists because Bell's has always been a great motorcycle track being narrow, twisting and mountainous with low traffic volumes.