Blue Mountains - New South Wales
We passed through the airport, collected our bags and hire car and in almost record time we were heading west to the Blue Mountains, passing local names such as Penrith and nearly taking the slip road home to Newcastle. We stayed just outside Leura and made our base at the Fairmont Resort Hotel. As it was just outside the centre, we were thankful for the car. We had an idea of what we’d like to do, some hiking and get out and about in the impressive countryside. One thing we did notice about the area, was that during the day it was very busy with visiting tourists, then at night, deserted. In fact, one restaurant where we tried to get dinner, told us it closed at 7pm, so eating out was quite a challenge.
The concierge at the hotel was most helpful, supplying us with walking maps, and the following morning we set off with backpack, snacks and water to walk the Grand Canyon. The walk was spectacular and would take almost four hours, and indicative of the area, the first km or so was straight down, as opposed to the final 700 metres, which was an almost vertical climb, not what you want after a three-hour hike.
We had been given the name of a good place to try for lunch, so we set off down the valley. The vista could change almost by the minute, exploring the roads and in an hour or so we found ourselves on the valley floor, and finding a packed café, miles from anywhere. We stopped for a tasty lunch which was just what we needed after our hike.
That evening we again looked for somewhere to eat and found a local pub It l looked nothing from the outside, but inside housed a restaurant, bar and sports bar under the same roof, only in Oz. Again, the food was very good quality. We were so pleased to be doing so much walking as keeping fit was also helping the waistline.
Our final day in the mountains, we decided to visit the Three Sisters and Scenic World at Katoomba. We set off early as we knew it would take tour buses from Sydney two hours to reach the centre. Good plan - we managed to get there while it was still quiet and queues non-existent.
The entry to the National Park is free, you pay for the rides on the railway, skyway and cableway, which I was so pleased we did. After taking around an hour to make our way down to the 3 Sisters, we found the pathway leading to the Giant Stairway, 1000 steps to the valley floor, we didn’t count them, taking the literature at its word.
It was hard work going down, so we were surprised to have people pass us walking up the stairs. Madness! Better them than me. The whole thing only took a couple of hours, and thankfully we had purchased railway tickets, we were able to cheat and catch the train almost vertically back to the base station, coffee and lunch.
The hikes together totalled over 21km’s for the two days. Our legs certainly felt it from all the climbs and descents, and it felt so good being out in the country in all the fresh air. The following day was an early start for our visit to Sydney and New Year’s Eve.