After my trip to Melbourne I flew back to Sydney for the final two weeks of my Australia adventure! I had a couple of things on my 'to do list' before I flew home to Scotland, and one of them was to visit the spectacular Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains is just a two hour train journey North of Sydney, and if you have the chance to visit them you must!! Emily and I set off at 9am on the Monday morning and arrived at Katoomba train station at 11, ready for a day of walking (note: take appropriate footwear for hiking in the mountains... we did not and boy did our calf muscles pay for it the following day!!).
You could spend days exploring this amazing place, but we decided to do the day trip on the Hop On/Hop Off Blue Mountains Explorer bus, which you can do for $49. That includes your train ticket from the city to Katoomba and your bus ticket for the day. There are 29 stops on the bus route, and it is entirely up to you which stops you choose to get off at! We pretty much followed one of the walk suggestions in our guide book which took us down the Furber Stairs (an hour long walk almost entirely downhill, with some amazing views!), Queen Victoria Look-Out, Echo Point and the Three Sisters (a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains), the Leura Cascades, Bridal Veil View and Gordon Falls Lookout.
Amazing profile of a face in the rocks, known as Witches Leap!
The Katoomba Falls
Katoomba Falls and the Scenic Railway
After our initial hour long walk, we found that we had reached a point where either we had to walk all the way back the way we had just come, or take the Scenic Railway up to the bus stop. It cost $14 for a two minute journey, but since we had a lot more walking to do, and a limited amount of time to do it, we relented and took the railway through the cliffside and got back on the bus. We hopped off at Stop 14, Echo Point, which has an incredible lookout point and views of the Three Sisters, and a really nice cafe where we got ourselves some lunch!
The Three Sisters
Posing with the Three Sisters!
Beautiful View from Echo Point
Our next walk took us from Stop 17, the Leura Cascades, to Gordon Falls Lookout, with the breathtaking Bridal Veil View on the way. This was a long, but beautiful walk, which took us around an hour. Due to one part of the walk being closed off, we were told to look out for a slight detour, which would take us back up onto the main road, and then back onto the cliffside path, just before we reached Gordon Falls. This resulted in me having a minor panic attack at one stage, convinced that we had missed the detour - poor Emily had to put up with five minutes of a ludicrously stressed out companion. There something so incredible about being out there, in what seems like the middle of nowhere. It's so rugged and untouched, and such a massive difference from the busy city - just like the rainforest in Port Douglas!
The Leura Cascades
Amazing scenery - high up at Bridal Veil View!
Emily and me at Gordon Falls Lookout Point :)
After my brief nervous breakdown - brought on by the fact we hadn't seen another human for around half an hour! - we were back on the main road and managed to reach Gordon Falls before it was time for us to get the last Hop On/Hop Off bus of the day to the train station in Leura, and catch our train back to the city. Not before we hit Woolworths for necessary supplies though...
Obligatory cookies for the train journey home!
I arrived back at my aunt and uncle's house at 8oclock that night, absolutely exhausted, but having had such an amazing day - you can see how beautiful it was from the photos. If you don't have time to make a weekend of it (there are lots of hotels, hostels and B&Bs at the Blue Mountains, making it easy to spend a few days there!), I'd definitely recommend going for the day! You might not have time to see absolutely everything, but you can go on a couple of amazing walks and see some stunning views you'll never forget!
Thanks for reading - watch out for my next post which may well be my final Australia post!! And be sure to check out my final Australia vlog which includes our day at the Blue Mountains :) Thanks for reading guys!!
The Blue Mountains is just a two hour train journey North of Sydney, and if you have the chance to visit them you must!! Emily and I set off at 9am on the Monday morning and arrived at Katoomba train station at 11, ready for a day of walking (note: take appropriate footwear for hiking in the mountains... we did not and boy did our calf muscles pay for it the following day!!).
You could spend days exploring this amazing place, but we decided to do the day trip on the Hop On/Hop Off Blue Mountains Explorer bus, which you can do for $49. That includes your train ticket from the city to Katoomba and your bus ticket for the day. There are 29 stops on the bus route, and it is entirely up to you which stops you choose to get off at! We pretty much followed one of the walk suggestions in our guide book which took us down the Furber Stairs (an hour long walk almost entirely downhill, with some amazing views!), Queen Victoria Look-Out, Echo Point and the Three Sisters (a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains), the Leura Cascades, Bridal Veil View and Gordon Falls Lookout.
Amazing profile of a face in the rocks, known as Witches Leap!
The Katoomba Falls
Katoomba Falls and the Scenic Railway
After our initial hour long walk, we found that we had reached a point where either we had to walk all the way back the way we had just come, or take the Scenic Railway up to the bus stop. It cost $14 for a two minute journey, but since we had a lot more walking to do, and a limited amount of time to do it, we relented and took the railway through the cliffside and got back on the bus. We hopped off at Stop 14, Echo Point, which has an incredible lookout point and views of the Three Sisters, and a really nice cafe where we got ourselves some lunch!
The Three Sisters
Posing with the Three Sisters!
Beautiful View from Echo Point
Our next walk took us from Stop 17, the Leura Cascades, to Gordon Falls Lookout, with the breathtaking Bridal Veil View on the way. This was a long, but beautiful walk, which took us around an hour. Due to one part of the walk being closed off, we were told to look out for a slight detour, which would take us back up onto the main road, and then back onto the cliffside path, just before we reached Gordon Falls. This resulted in me having a minor panic attack at one stage, convinced that we had missed the detour - poor Emily had to put up with five minutes of a ludicrously stressed out companion. There something so incredible about being out there, in what seems like the middle of nowhere. It's so rugged and untouched, and such a massive difference from the busy city - just like the rainforest in Port Douglas!
The Leura Cascades
Amazing scenery - high up at Bridal Veil View!
Emily and me at Gordon Falls Lookout Point :)
After my brief nervous breakdown - brought on by the fact we hadn't seen another human for around half an hour! - we were back on the main road and managed to reach Gordon Falls before it was time for us to get the last Hop On/Hop Off bus of the day to the train station in Leura, and catch our train back to the city. Not before we hit Woolworths for necessary supplies though...
Obligatory cookies for the train journey home!
I arrived back at my aunt and uncle's house at 8oclock that night, absolutely exhausted, but having had such an amazing day - you can see how beautiful it was from the photos. If you don't have time to make a weekend of it (there are lots of hotels, hostels and B&Bs at the Blue Mountains, making it easy to spend a few days there!), I'd definitely recommend going for the day! You might not have time to see absolutely everything, but you can go on a couple of amazing walks and see some stunning views you'll never forget!
Thanks for reading - watch out for my next post which may well be my final Australia post!! And be sure to check out my final Australia vlog which includes our day at the Blue Mountains :) Thanks for reading guys!!
aww what a great places i just want to visit sidney such a beautiful city
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely recommend going if you ever get the chance, it's amazing!! :) x
DeleteWow, this looks like a really amazing trip! :) gorgeous! x
ReplyDeleteThank you! It really was amazing :) x
DeleteI remember when I took the family to Sydney last summer they had a blast! We went on some blue mountain tours which gave us a chance to become more in tune with Australia's natural elements. We got up close to the Koala bears and kangaroos which the children really loved! The blues mountains are definitely a majestic sight to see! We hope to visit again this summer!
ReplyDelete