one fine Thursday morning, 14th of April 2016, Pixie and I decided spontaneously to go somewhere we haven’t been before.
“Pixie, do you want to go on another adventure with me today?”, gleefully I asked while still cuddling in bed.
“We’re going on an adventure??! Yey!”, Pixie half awake but wearing a big grin on her face as she replied.
So, off we quickly got ourselves ready. I toasted some bread, cooked mushroom garlic stir fry which smelled sooo good together with the scrambled eggs that filled our stomachs happily.
“Now, race you to the bathroom, Pixie!”
“Alright…ready…set…me first me first! I win.. I win!”
“Oh, yes, you sure won again!”
Right after bathtime, we brushed our teeth and dressed up without much thoughts so we can catch the earliest train we can hopped into. We put on our helmets and biked on the way to the train station…
“Pixie, what do you see?”, as I pedalled along the neighborhood.
“Mama, I see lovely trees …and the sky…and the purple flowers…”
A game we love to play as she shares to me what she sees around her.
We arrived at Parramatta train station and parked the bike nearby. I wished I could bring the bike but I wasn’t too sure yet how convenient it would be to our destination at Blackheath station, not knowing if they have an accessible area for bikes. Later, we found out we already missed the 845am ride so we patiently just waited for the next one. The whole 1hr and 47mins ride wasn’t so bad after all. Pixie enjoyed cheering herself and the other passengers in the train.
Poor old shoes, starting to get too tight and outgrowing her feet. 😛
We arrived at Blackheath station around 1130am and saw our first sighting of autumn foliage just right outside. My heart! … oh my heart was racing and eyes feasting…
What should we do first???? But of course, just bask in all the autumn glory!
Not in the photo but another local saw us and joined in the fun throwing the leaves to Pixie 🙂
I didn’t had the time to search what other things to expect in Blackheath actually except hoping to find autumn trees. How happy I was to discover such quaint shops right next to the station so we crossed the street to get ourselves a quick lunch.
I asked the lovely waitress in the cafe about a photo I was carrying asking where I could possibly find that specific street blanketed with many autumn trees. She wasn’t too sure but she gave some directions where we could expect to find them. So Pixie and I just walked around at the back of the main streets.
And then there they were…streets bursting with the autumn colors of love where indeed every leaf is a flower…sparkling in different shades of bright red, amber, green, orange and gold. It was all cloudy at first but later, everything glittered in sunshine. How lucky the locals who live here, huh? My heart exploded..and truly I wished we lived here! I really do! I’m loving this little magical town already! How can they take this beauty all in the moment they wake up? But they must all be used to the feeling now and probably take them for granted sometimes. One thing for sure they feel incredibly blessed to be right next to them while I get to remind myself,too, how lucky I am to be here and feel truly alive.
Well, I’ll be honest that this didn’t beat our autumn experience in Kyoto back in 2013 and 2014 but still, I get swept off my feet with all the madness of how autumn makes me feel.
It drizzled a little bit so we took shelter on a lovely quaint cafe, BakeHouse just on the same street where we indulged on a flourless chocolate cake. Well, Pixie obviously savoured all of it!
When the clouds cleared up, we continued on our walk and walked…and walked….perused almost the entire streets in this little blissful neighborhood…with not many people around surprisingly coz maybe it’s a normal work weekday, luckily for us it felt like we owned the streets!
“Look Mama, it’s a yellow autumn leaf!”
I will grow older soon I know but I’ll never get enough of how autumn captivates me…I’m so glad I get to share this fascinating experience with Pixie and soaked in all the wonder.
The locals said that the trees are still about to peak in a week or 2 maybe or sooner than we think. As they spoke, I already have plans in mind set to come back here sooner, hopefully with Papa Brian with us to complete the experience together as a family!
Someday, I want to live in a cottage house in the woods and wake up to see this every waking moment left in my lifetime!!!!
A few more walks and we found a lovely park with a big playground where Pixie met new friends to play with. I’m so proud how it’s never hard for her to socialize and make friends with anybody.
“Sometimes you just need to let go, relax, take a deep breath and love what is, right now.”
All that playing and chasing her around, we succumbed to the roadside and squat down to rest. 🙂
And stared long engulfed with these magic….
Prior to discovering Blackheath, I’ve browsed Instagram feeds and hashtags that lead me to to this…and thankful for @brianbornstein for sharing the exact street name Clanwilliam Street in Blackheath to get to this spot…it would sure have turned out better if this was taken at an early morning light, without any car/s park around and in a wide angle but I only carried a 50mm. Oh well, but not complaining, not complaining at all. 🙂
Snacking banana by the side of the road roofed under this…why not?
And though breathless after all the walking, I couldn’t bare not having a photo with Pixie together on this adventure. So I managed to put down my camera without a tripod, on top of my bag, which was already on the ground and took a few shots. Nevermind how messy I looked, I didn’t have time to think of that anymore. Haha.
Can you tell Pixie is already badly needing her nap? 😛
This…this! Makes all the adventure all worth it!
Amazing how Pixie survived all the long hours of our rambling walks …at some moments she did tell me , she’s already tired..but with her weight now, I’d die carrying an almost 16kg toddler for long so we took quick rests in between and walked again when she’s ready. We just got in time to hop on the 4:05pm train ride back to Parramatta with our hearts filled with all the delightful discoveries we did.
Obviously knocked out. It’s been nothing short of a wonderful nature trip. Someday, I’ll gather up these photos and bind them like a book for Pixie to read and relive the whole adventure anytime she wants. 🙂
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