Springwood is a Sydney suburb located on the foothills of the Blue Mountains- 73Km West of the Sydney CBD. You can get to Springwood by train via the Blue Mountains line (1hr 18 mins), $10-$15 using your Opal card, or you can get there by car (57 mins according to Google maps) but it definitely feels longer and ends up being longer (it actually took 1hr 10 mins).
On this glorious autumn’s day, we headed West to a friend’s home located in Springwood for a gathering over lunch. Since having the car modified, I’ve been looking forward to any opportunity to take it out for a bit of a drive, and this was going to be its longest trip to stretch its legs! I think if you’re not used to doing long car commutes, getting to Springwood may feel like a trek, and although traffic wasn’t bad and the M4 has become a much better run as part of Westconnex works, it still felt like a long car trip to get there. But boy! The car drives so much better after the ECU flash!
And when we arrived in Springwood and got out of the car for the first time – “Ah! Breathe in that fresh air!” It’s definitely nice to get out of Sydney, the climate is cooler and the air is definitely crisper up there (Springwood being located 371m above sea level).
At our friend’s home we had a real nice lunch spread, each person/family bringing a dish each, and I think this is a sign of the changing times- 3-4 years ago when we last organised a similar catch-up most of us brought meat which could be cooked on the BBQ, but with the universal shift in people’s dietary habits, today we had a selection of 4-5 different salads and roast veggies, and everyone was happier and healthier because of it!
After lunch we ventured down to the Foundation Day celebrations – an annual street market which shuts down the main commercial strip in Springwood (Macquarie Road) to motorised traffic, turning the town centre into a festive atmosphere! For a good 20 min stroll in either direction, you’d find yourself in the midst of the markets- lining both sides of Macquarie Road were stalls selling trinkets; stalls promoting local interest groups; stalls cooking up fragrant food to feed the masses; and 3 stages were set up for live music acts to entertain the crowds (each stage set up far enough apart to be out-of-ear-shot of each other.
And after soaking up enough rays and atmosphere, we headed back to our friend’s home for dessert and coffees, before we eventually had to head back down the mountain, back to life, back to reality in the big-smoke.
If you would like to check out Springwood and Foundation Day for next year, do it now! Grab your phone and schedule in a reminder into your Google calendar for early March- to alert your future self to look-up the date of the 2020 Springwood Foundation Day celebrations. Foundation Day is usually held between early March and late April- methinks the variation of dates is dependent on where Easter lands each year. I highly recommend Springwood, it’s definitely worth your while to head part-way up the mountain to experience another part of Sydney! And time your visit to coincide with the Foundation Day celebrations- it was all very festive and full of community atmosphere!
Four Senses: Touch Smell Taste Sound
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