We have just had a glorious, unforgettable weekend in Katoomba, the heart of the Blue Mountains. After a bit of a chilly start (who knew it would be cooler up in the mountains!) and a brisk walk we arrived at Lillianfels, our fancy hotel (owned by the Orient Express company) for the next 2 nights. Our room was magnificent – certainly a far cry from the comparatively squalid flat we have been calling home recently and probably bigger too!
Saturday began with a very scrumptious 5 star breakfast after which we set off to see for ourselves if the famous mountains really are blue. It is certainly an impressive sight, comparable to the Grand Canyon, except more undulating. As for the blue, well the trees are green, and the rocks are red, but to be fair there is a blueish haze above the distant hills (due to the eucalyptus oil evaporating from the trees). Our hotel was right on the doorstep of the 3 sisters – an impressive bit of rock erosion that has resulted in 3 sticky up bits of rock close together. There is an interesting aboriginal dreamtime story to explain, something to do with caterpillars, witch doctors and 3 sisters (surprisingly enough!)
From there we walked along the cliff path to the Katoomba cascades, and down a lot of steps to the Katoomba falls. We then carried on descending further down into the valley until we got to the bottom of the ‘world’s steepest scenic railway’. Boy was it steep (45 degrees), with no safety belts either so you literally have to hold yourself from falling down the carriage! After a cliff top lunch we caught the skyway (cable car with glass bottom) across the valley back to where we started. Back at the hotel, we managed a quick swim in the hotel’s heated outdoor pool before catching the sunset.
In the evening we got dressed up and strolled (pretty quickly as it was freezing!) across to the hotel’s very fancy ‘Darleys’ restaurant. The food was amazing (I had oysters, snapper and chaflotis!) I could get used to this lifestyle!
On Sunday we were certainly feeling the effects of our wining and dining as well as all of the previous day’s walking (achy calf muscles!) so we had a more relaxed day. Beginning with a swim, sauna and steam, followed by another glorious breakfast (eggs Benedictine was delicious). Retracing our steps back across the valley to catch the scenic railway down (the rollercoaster effect makes going down more fun) we had a mini bushwalk, and wandered around the rainforest boardwalk for a bit before getting a different cable car back up (somebody somewhere is making a lot of money from all these different forms of transport!)
All in all it was an amazing weekend and an amazing way to celebrate turning 30. I didn’t want it to end and now I’ve got the Sunday night blues (which admittedly, I have not had for quite a while) at the thought of going back to our flat and getting up for work tomorrow (I’ve got a shift in the toddler room of a day care centre! Wish me luck!)