Blue Mountains

Noel and I finally had a day off in Australia! For our first day of vacation in Australia, we decided to visit the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. The Blue Mountains are about two hours west of Sydney by Train and are home to one of the most dramatic landscapes in Australia.

Before heading to the Blue Mountains, Noel and I met up in Sydney for a night in the big city. Noel had been working in Sydney that week which made travel just a bit easier.

To make things interesting, we decided to stay in one of the oldest hotels in the Rocks district – the Lord Nelson Hotel AND Brewery! Yes, not only was this a hotel centrally located, it had the added benefit of being a brewery – a tasty one at that.

After some fine micro brews and a good night’s sleep we headed out for a side trip to Watsons Bay. Out day tripper tickets included all day transport, including the two hour ride to the Blue Mountains for just $15.00. Cheap but nice rides all around.

Watsons Bay backs up to the entrance of Sydney Harbour. Even though the weather was dreary, The cliffs and Ocean were still quite stunning.

Overlooking Watsons Bay and in the distance Sydney CBD.

We arrived in the Blue Mountains, unfortunately, the weather was no better than Sydney – wet and grey. The hotel was fantastic. It was built in the 1880’s as a Mountain resort.

The next morning we took a 3K hike to the three sisters range (pictured below). Since the weather was cold we decided to explore the valley floor .5K below.

The only way down was a massive set of stairs that hugged the cliffs. Though most of the route had handrails - some did not. It's times like this you realise the difference between Australia and the states - think legal action.

We reached the bottom and decided to take a long valley hike. Noel though it might be more fun doing cart wheels the way down. After hiking some 1 ½ hours we came across this sign, apparently designed to “prevent foreign tourists from getting lost”

A little bit on we came across this area called Laura Forest which felt kind of strange. Apparently the place used to be a picnic spot. Huge rock formations and large clearings made it look a little mystical.

After a few hours of hiking we made our way back up the Mountain. By this time our legs were really feeling it.

Some 1000 steps later we made it back. Our 16-18K hike felt good but really tiring…the views and the experience well worth the effort.

On Sunday we headed back for the cliff walk trail. The skies cleared (somewhat) for our final day in the Mountains.