Published: May 6, 2022
The autumn is now on and those gorgeous colors – orange, yellow, and red – are now at its peak. Over the past few weeks, the leaves started falling from the trees making the streets messy and very, very colorful. It was a wonderful day (May 02, 2022) here in Sydney. Although I have been counting my days to hit the road, there were rains over the past few days and that was causing delays to my gratification. The spell of rain is now over – at least, for next few days – and as such I couldn’t find anything better than to jump onto my car, fasten the seal belts, start the engine, and accelerate. And needless to say, what a gratifying experience it was seeing those colors up close, for as long as I wanted!
There are some really nice places near the region of Blue Mountains. And this time I set my destination to Blackheath – some 120 kilometers away from where I live. Waking up early in the morning I had to cook a breakfast; nothing fancy – just some chickpeas along with some boiled eggs. I just wanted to reach my destination as fast as I could before it gets busy. But since I am going to such a special place, I must take some special clothing so I would look good in the photos, right? And guess what happened! That choosing caused some last-minute delay.
By the time I was able to set off, the clock was ticking close to 7am. It was a Monday morning; the usual rush was there – the hustle and bustle, the yelling, the honking of the horns, the grinding of the engine – and of course, the traffic jam – long queue on the signals.
With all these dramas, after taking many twists and turns – going offtrack onto a bypass to avoid the traffic and then coming back on track – I am now finally onto the freeway. In the last several years since I haven’t been anywhere, I didn’t drive much faster – with a few exceptions. The regular speed is 60km per hour or less and that’s the fastest I drove but now in the freeway the speed limit is showing one hundred and ten (110) – some letters in white with a red circle around, on top of a black square.
It’s fun to drive in such speed. The lanes are wider and there is no traffic jam. Nowadays, the music in the vehicle would keep you entertained but I always felt like traffic signals are the worst possible waste of time – sitting onto a vehicle when it doesn’t move. Well, that might be the case mostly within the city however, now on the freeway you just keep going; even if you drive faster than the speed limit, still, no biggie! It’s the city area where all the dramas take place but in freeways you create it – well, if you’re unlucky of course. If the car breaks down on a freeway it’s a bit of a mess, I guess, although it never happened to me so far partly because I didn’t use them much.
After driving like this for two hours, I was about to enter the region of Blackheath. I could see those colors through the windshield of my car. And to capture those gorgeous colors, I was already set; I put my GoPro attached to the windshield. However, while I was driving keeping it on the recording mode, the battery ran out very quickly.
I had a few spares, and I could have changed the battery but didn’t bother to stop my car – I kept going. I wanted to get there before everyone else so I could take some clean shots!
I drove for just over two hours and at around 10 am I reached my destination. By the time I went there, I saw the tourist bus also coming along dropping off quite a few international travelers. To make things worse, I also spotted quite a few cars parked by the side of road on Wentworth St – the street that is messy and colorful with those fallen leaves. Moreover, in some parts the leaves are still blooming – haven’t reached its peak yet. At the rear end however, the colors are more vibrant with fewer people but in the school end the traffic is much heavier with less colorful streets as well as trees and hence I decided to stick around that rear end. And in the bright sunshine those colors popped against the blue sky and the grayish path.
Now that I have parked my car it’s time to take some photos. I tried this and that but couldn’t really get what I was looking for – too many people, too many cars, too harsh light. Well, now I have to move on.
I started exploring the nearby streets. Lots of colorful trees are there. Some leaves are fresh some are aging, and some has fallen. I had to do lots of squatting to get some of those photos. Consequently, the next day I had a lot of muscle pain probably because of those squats.
As the day went on however, I felt hungry, and I needed some sugar for quick energy. The solution was simple – some chocolates I put inside my bag. I took the subtle dark one from Lindt partly because it was a bit less sugary, and I believe, it goes a bit easy on the milk solids as well. Lots of sugar and lots of milk kills the flavor of the chocolate for me although with some guilt I must admit I love the caramel flavor too.
Four squares (i.e., two bars) were the most I could consume and after that I was charged up again. Since morning I have only been taking photos of those gorgeous colors but now its late afternoon and I have a long way to go back home. So, before I would leave, I wanted to do some fun. Photography without fun is boring. And in a special place boring is not want you want – you want excitement, you want some raw sensations, something that will stimulate you later – days, months, and even after years gone by.
And here I am, causing drama in the middle of the street with many onlookers. I didn’t mind though, doing it all my myself while others were slyly smiling at me. “Look at that weirdo over there!” – perhaps they muttered each other. But that didn’t give me the slightest bit of embarrassment. When it comes to having some fun, I am ready with my one leg up – always!
