The Saint: It really is luck of the draw

This week's horror in the Hunter Valley brought back bitter memories from the early 1960s when a Pioneer tour coach somersaulted down the mountain near Hampton after the Caves Road shoulder collapsed after a week of rain.

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The coach was torn apart in the terrifying plunge of 100 metres or more before a giant tree halted the progress.

There were multiple seriously injured passengers scattered down the foggy mountainside.

But only - and that 'nly' is just for comparison of the end game - four died in that wreck while 10 perished in the rollover in the Hunter Valley despite 60 years of advancement in safety technology.

Old medical staff in Lithgow, Katoomba and Oberon have good reason to remember the past occasion all too well.

MUCH chatter around the place last Saturday when around 9.40 am an explosion and window rattling 'tremor' disturbed the peace over a wide area of Lithgow. No seismic activity was recorded and no other answers forthcoming. All very much a puzzle. Our guess it was someone's early one gun salute for the King's Birthday, the birthday you have when you're not really having a birthday. No?

HEADING up the Mountains for a spot of lunch or people watching from next month you'd better read the signs. Their Council is installing parking meters in popular locations from Blackheath to Glenbrook, which seems to be counter productive for leisurely visits in tourist hot spots. Business owners are understandably not happy. Also contemplated is $20 head tax on overseas visitors but we don't know how that would be managed. Like its Lithgow neighbours the Council argues it needs extra cash to catch up on the damage from natural disasters in recent years.

IN the column last week we referred to the environmental work by the late Harry Bennett and his team along the eastern Main Street rail embankment. Keen eyed observers would know that was supposed to read 'western' Main Street.

NEXT Wednesday marks the Winter Solstice, shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. We're not expecting it to bring any improvement in what has been a particularly bitter Winter.