New South Wales, Australia
Recently, I was in Sydney for a few days attending a conference, and I had decided to stay on once the conference was over. Originally, I planned to spend time in Sydney itself but then got an email from the site booking.com offering discounts on tourist activities. One of the discounts was with the Blue Mountaineers explorer bus, further research revealed that Katoomba was only a two hour train trip from Sydney. Therefore a day trip to the Blue Mountains was on the cards, I had never been before so thought I would see as much as possible in a few hours before getting the train back to Sydney.
The train to Katoomba leaves from Central station, the trip up was quite uneventful, not so the trip down as the train had brake problems. Upon leaving the Katoomba station it was easy to locate the office to buy the Explorer bus pass, it's across the road! I opted for the hop on hop off bus as I had limited time so it seemed the most convenient transportation for the time I had. Plus the booking.com discount made it very affordable.
The first stop is opposite the Carrington Hotel, an icon of Katoomba, the hotel was originally opened in 1883 as visitors from Sydney wanted an elegant mountain retreat. It was renamed the Carrington in 1886 after the then Governor of New South Wales, Lord Carrington. In the 20th century it was the honeymoon destination of choice, by the end of that century, it had become rundown and closed. The hotel was sold and then restored, it was reopened in 1998 and has colonial style rooms, as well as contemporary style and suites. I'm already tempted by the colonial style rooms to make a return visit to Katoomba and stay at the Carrington!
The Carrington Hotel
The Hotel Gardens
Once I had my Explorer bus ticket I was able to choose what stops I would get off at. The Three Sisters were at the top of my list, the most popular attraction is Scenic World. But for me that would have to wait for another trip, Scenic World is where you can get a cable car across a ravine, ride a train along a steep hill and walk the boardwalk at the base of the valley. To do Scenic World justice I needed a whole day not just a few hours.
Narrow Neck Lookout, this was a 10 minute photo stop, looking across the Jamison and Megalong valleys.
The Tree Sisters, Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo.
The first stop where I actually left the bus was the Echo Point/Three Sisters stop, it was also the most popular with the only crowds I saw. I just went to the lookout but there are also walking paths that will take you up close to The Three Sisters and The Giant Staircase (800 steps!) that take you down to the valley floor.
The Echo Point lookout
View of the Jamison Valley from Echo Point
Looking out to this part of the Jamison Valley which even today doesn't have vehicular access, brought to life the stories from my primary school days of the difficulty the European explorers had trying to cross these mountains. The blue colour of the mountains comes from the eucalyptus leaf molecules evaporating in the air and light going through them.
Echo Point has a small shopping and cafe area called Echo Point Village, the cafe there was my stop for lunch. There are outdoor tables so quite nice to sit outside and have lunch looking out into the bushland.
My next stop was the Leura Cascades, I wanted to see at least one waterfall so chose this one. It's a nice walk down into a valley, the water 'cascades' rather than falls from a height.
I then raced back up the hill to the bus pickup zone, the buses are 30 minutes apart and I was on a schedule!
Next stop was the Leura village, it was a shorter stop so just had time to walk along the main street and look into the shops.
Quaint shop fronts
Leura has the Leuralla Toy and Railway museum but I love a historic home and garden and so decided to spend my time at Everglades House and Gardens. It's a National Trust property therefore entry is free for members.
Everglades Garden, window to the Blue Mountains
The Everglades Gardens had waratah flowers, they are the state floral emblem for New South Wales. The flowers are quite tall, so a challenge to photograph when you're not tall!
Everglades was my last stop before I went back to Katoomba to catch the train back to Sydney. The train trip back was something of an ordeal as once out of the mountains one of the carriages brakes kept overheating, eventually we were all bundled out at Blacktown and told to catch the next train to Central Station from there.
A Blue Mountains day trip can easily be done from Sydney, I ended up spending around five hours just using the Explorer bus and prioritising what I really wanted to see. This was my reconnaissance trip, I now know that I want to return and actually stay in the mountains to have time to do some of the hikes and experiences on offer.
Recently, I was in Sydney for a few days attending a conference, and I had decided to stay on once the conference was over. Originally, I planned to spend time in Sydney itself but then got an email from the site booking.com offering discounts on tourist activities. One of the discounts was with the Blue Mountaineers explorer bus, further research revealed that Katoomba was only a two hour train trip from Sydney. Therefore a day trip to the Blue Mountains was on the cards, I had never been before so thought I would see as much as possible in a few hours before getting the train back to Sydney.
The train to Katoomba leaves from Central station, the trip up was quite uneventful, not so the trip down as the train had brake problems. Upon leaving the Katoomba station it was easy to locate the office to buy the Explorer bus pass, it's across the road! I opted for the hop on hop off bus as I had limited time so it seemed the most convenient transportation for the time I had. Plus the booking.com discount made it very affordable.
The first stop is opposite the Carrington Hotel, an icon of Katoomba, the hotel was originally opened in 1883 as visitors from Sydney wanted an elegant mountain retreat. It was renamed the Carrington in 1886 after the then Governor of New South Wales, Lord Carrington. In the 20th century it was the honeymoon destination of choice, by the end of that century, it had become rundown and closed. The hotel was sold and then restored, it was reopened in 1998 and has colonial style rooms, as well as contemporary style and suites. I'm already tempted by the colonial style rooms to make a return visit to Katoomba and stay at the Carrington!
Once I had my Explorer bus ticket I was able to choose what stops I would get off at. The Three Sisters were at the top of my list, the most popular attraction is Scenic World. But for me that would have to wait for another trip, Scenic World is where you can get a cable car across a ravine, ride a train along a steep hill and walk the boardwalk at the base of the valley. To do Scenic World justice I needed a whole day not just a few hours.
The first stop where I actually left the bus was the Echo Point/Three Sisters stop, it was also the most popular with the only crowds I saw. I just went to the lookout but there are also walking paths that will take you up close to The Three Sisters and The Giant Staircase (800 steps!) that take you down to the valley floor.
Looking out to this part of the Jamison Valley which even today doesn't have vehicular access, brought to life the stories from my primary school days of the difficulty the European explorers had trying to cross these mountains. The blue colour of the mountains comes from the eucalyptus leaf molecules evaporating in the air and light going through them.
Echo Point has a small shopping and cafe area called Echo Point Village, the cafe there was my stop for lunch. There are outdoor tables so quite nice to sit outside and have lunch looking out into the bushland.
My next stop was the Leura Cascades, I wanted to see at least one waterfall so chose this one. It's a nice walk down into a valley, the water 'cascades' rather than falls from a height.
I then raced back up the hill to the bus pickup zone, the buses are 30 minutes apart and I was on a schedule!
Next stop was the Leura village, it was a shorter stop so just had time to walk along the main street and look into the shops.
Leura has the Leuralla Toy and Railway museum but I love a historic home and garden and so decided to spend my time at Everglades House and Gardens. It's a National Trust property therefore entry is free for members.
The Everglades Gardens had waratah flowers, they are the state floral emblem for New South Wales. The flowers are quite tall, so a challenge to photograph when you're not tall!
Everglades was my last stop before I went back to Katoomba to catch the train back to Sydney. The train trip back was something of an ordeal as once out of the mountains one of the carriages brakes kept overheating, eventually we were all bundled out at Blacktown and told to catch the next train to Central Station from there.
A Blue Mountains day trip can easily be done from Sydney, I ended up spending around five hours just using the Explorer bus and prioritising what I really wanted to see. This was my reconnaissance trip, I now know that I want to return and actually stay in the mountains to have time to do some of the hikes and experiences on offer.
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