A Single Step

  Having crossed in Sydney basin – in six days spread over several years – from Watsons Bay to Emu Plains, a sparkling early-winter Sunday of the June long weekend seemed like the perfect time to bid farewell to the coastal lowlands and start heading up towards the continental divide. The walk began in the less than idyllic surroundings of Emu Plains station car park – which did at least have the minor honour of being the terminus of my previous westward trek, almost three years ago. The view west from Emu Plains station overpass   Over the tracks to the southern side of the line, and soon onto the Great Western Highway, for a long time the main road to the Blue Mountains and beyond, before construction of the M4 a few kilometres to the south. Those of us who live in coastal Sydney think of Emu Plains as being at the foot of the Blue Mountains, but in fact I had to cover more than 4 kilometres before the route really started to rise. Those early kilometres took in pleasant parks and bo