Blue Mountains, New South Wales

My grandparents lived in the Blue Mountains for most of my childhood. As a ten-year-old, the key to keeping myself and my sisters happy on the long drive was breaking the journey up with a good lunch.

Now I have two hungry children of my own, and a grandma who now lives in Bathurst. It’s taken 37 years, but I’ve finally worked out the perfect Blue Mountains pitstop: Black Cockatoo Bakery. It fulfills all the criteria: it’s almost the exact middle point of the drive, its menu is always changing so it’s always exciting for the kids, and the food on offer is always satisfying.

The Blue Mountains are one of the few parts of Sydney that look just as beautiful on a rainy day as a sunny one. Today it’s absolutely a rainy one, so the leafy green trees that line the back streets of Lawson are often paired with an extra bright shade of orange mud beneath our tyres. I usually drive a seven-seater 4WD, but today I’m in a GR Supra. Two seats, two doors and I’m much lower to the ground than I’m used to, which means I’m looking up at the beautiful trees and titular blue mountains in the distance.

“I'm used to having to chug up some of these hills, but the GR Supra climbs them with ease.”

No kids on the trip means I’m keen to take the scenic route to the bakery, then a different way back home. There are official scenic routes in the Blue Mountains, even just sticking to the M4 and driving from Penrith to Lithgow is a beautiful drive. But turning off the main road at any point and twisting through the smaller roads is always rewarding, so I swing past Lawson’s Lookout in Springwood to get a good look at the valley beneath.

“I add an extra hour to the estimated time to our destination: we're taking the scenic route home.”

One of the things I appreciated about the drive through the Blue Mountains as a kid was that, as you passed through each town, a sign told you the town’s name, plus how high above sea level it was, so you could see how much higher you were as you made your way up the mountains. I’m used to having to chug up some of these hills but the GR Supra climbs them with ease, even when we detour down some muddy roads off the main motorway.

When visiting a country bakery the key is to never get there after midday, or they’ll have sold out of all the best stuff. Nabbing that perfect croissant is why you leave home early, and I’ve been burned at Black Cockatoo before, getting there well into the afternoon and finding just a couple of wholemeal loaves on the shelves (which I bought anyway).

It’s nice and early when we hit Black Cockatoo today and I pretty much buy one of everything. A few loaves to take home and freeze and a handful of snacks to eat in the car, wiping my hands on my pants afterwards to ensure that I don’t grease up the nice interior. I love their Cheese and Oomite Scroll and I’d usually have to split one with my family but today it’s all mine. All day I’ve been thinking that the best thing about not having the kids in the car is how peaceful the drive has been. But not having to share my bounty is a very close second.

With a boot full of carbs I drive through my favourite part of the Mountains: the Wentworth Falls to McMahons Point drive through Kings Tableland Road. This unsealed road is recommended for 4WDs but I know the GR Supra can handle it, and although the jet black exterior gets sprayed with bright orange mud, I’m still repping the prettiest car on the road today.

"The Blue Mountains are one of the few parts of Sydney that look just as beautiful on a rainy day as a sunny one."

I’ve enjoyed my quiet, kid-free drive today. Just me, a GR Supra and the open road. Plus Elliott, the photographer, who has been subjected to all the songs I can’t listen to with children in the car for the last two hours. As we drive through the phenomenal Blue Mountains bushland, getting a brief glimpse of Lake Burragorang from the windows, a black cockatoo flies in front of the car. Is this the same black cockatoo they named the bakery after? Will I have to share my scroll with this majestic bird?

I put my foot down on the accelerator and within seconds we’re doing an effortless 80km/hr as the orange roads become black again and the navigation system shows me the way. I add an extra hour to the estimated time to our destination: we’re taking the scenic route home.