Escape to the Blue Mountains

We spent a long time trying to pick the best way to see the blue mountains and waiting for guaranteed good weather (Sydney can be extremely temperamental!) 

We debated doing an organised tour but were concerned they weren’t tailored enough to our tastes and we wouldn’t get enough time at the places we really wanted to see. After a LOT of research we decided the $90 each for a tour was better spent on a hotel so we could really get out the city for a little break. We also agreed that we would never guarantee weather and with our time in Sydney slowly running out, we decided to book and enjoy it come rain or shine.
One Friday we headed off on the two hour train straight from work and arrived at the town of Katoomba, covered in a thick layer of mist. Despite it being a Friday evening -apart from the lively station bar – it was a very sleepy town with a handful of diner style restaurants serving food. It was perfect and everything I’d hoped to find this far out of the city, like true countryside Australia. After a dodgy lasagne in a cute restaurant with live music we settled in for an early night at the quaint B&B we’d booked. Highly enjoying having a comfy double bed and duvet compared to the dodgy things that just about pass for beds in our Bondi flat. It wasn’t long into Pretty Woman that we drifted off and were woken at 7 by our alarms, ready to start the busy day we had ahead. 
First stop, just a short walk for the hotel was the lookout point for the Three Sisters. Straight away we were blown away with the immense vastness of the mountains, simply stunning as the most started to lift into a gorgeous sunny day. From there we took the path well trodden round the cliff edge of the mountains, ending roughly two hours later at Scenic World. 

   
 Scenic world is a bit of a funny one, like the Disney-fied version of the mountains and the easiest way to see them for those less able to walk. The big kids inside had an absolute blast too riding the world steepest passenger train and exploring the rainforest via the boardwalk. I think it was $30 for a ticket which includes unlimited rides on the skyway, cableway and railway. I mean they weren’t groundbreaking for viewing the scenery as they were a little fast, ride is definitely the best term for it.

   
    
    
    
 By this point our tummy’s were getting a little rumbley so we got a bus to an adorable little town called Leura for a little wonder round the cute boutiques and a spot of lunch, where we had the best Gnocchi ever! 

   
 After lunch are plans were a little more vague and Steph suggested we got the train to the next town over called Wentworth where apparently there was a short walk to an amazingly beautiful waterfall. Turns out it was a short walk to the start of a very long walk to said waterfall! Despite slightly aching legs and very full bellies we started through a slightly over grown, run down park, past sewage pipes and graffiti before the path got more picturesque and we finally reached a waterfall. After a couple photos I was ready to head back before Steph laughed at me for thinking this tiny water stream was our destination. Only a bit further along and we reached an incredibly beautiful look out over the blue mountains atop the famous Wentworth falls. While enjoying a peaceful moment in all that beauty as the sun started to set, three very sweaty faces crossed our path and told us we must make the climb to the bottom. “Hard work but totally worth it” they exclaimed! Well after that we didn’t have much choice so we headed down several flights of the steep stone steps to the bottom of the incredibly beautiful falls. We could have stayed there for hours or continued the walk through the forest, but alas the sun was getting very low in the sky and we still had a two hour journey back, which we didn’t fancy doing in the dark. 
With some pretty quick walking, we made it back to the town just before it got too dark and headed back on the train to Sydney, exhausted and tired but with the best photos and memories of a lovely time in the Blue mountains. I just wished we had more time to explore.