Blipmeet!

The joy of blip is meeting blippers and today Walking Wombat and I had our own mini blipmeet and what a day it's been.

Last weekend's deluge in NSW extinguished the bushfires but also caused fooding, damage and a landslip at Leura affecting the Blue Mountains railway. So it was a replacement bus service for the last third of the journey. Walking Wombat had kindly suggested staying the night at Wombat Hollow to avoid the return on the same day and I was happy to accept.

And what a day it's been. Weatherwise we've had rain, low cloud and mist and then sun with a few blue skies and not a breath of wind. The Bridal Falls looked ethereal as they moved in and out of the mist, like a scene from 'Brigadoon'. The Megalong Valley, which a few weeks ago was under threat from the fires and desert brown, is now a lush emerald green with the new growth that has sprung up in the last fortnight. And looking south across the top of the valley from Hargreaves Lookout the mountains were blue.

I've met wonderful local blippers, eaten a cream tea at an historic tea room and drunk local Dryridge Riesling as we sat outside and watched the wallaby eat sweet potato and the gang gangs, rosellas and black cockatoos swoop in and out of the gums and even come down to drink.

And Walking Wombat and I have shared what blip means to us and how special it is, in the good times and the challenging times. She has a plan to have a mega blipmeet somewhere in England, possibly next year. Fingers crossed it happens.

I've had a really special day and the warmth of the friendship of a wombat and the peace of Wombat Hollow will be one of the special memories of this Australian trip.

Coincidentally Blipcentral's Twitter feed today was encouraging blipmeets. I'm right there with that. Meeting blippers face to face, whether it's ones who live a few streets away, or blip your local church with the red door or who live halfway across the world, is the best!