Blogs from Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 9

Today it's goodbye Sydney and off to check out the Blue Mountains. After one last look at QVB (didnt buy anything but had to go and check it out) we picked up our hire car. Its a nice surprise to find out we got upgraded to a Ford Territory. Gotta love that. So easy to find the Highway and just drive straight on for 1h 1/2. It will be lovely to get some fresh air. We drop off our bags at the motel and head to Scenic World since it is a clear beautiful day and we might as well make the most of it. Here is a blurb of what we did: "Ride the steepest incline Railway in the world down to a lush and hidden valley. Stroll along the Walkway through towering Jurassic ... read more

url='/Videos/3196.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3196.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Feed it! Kiama is just like neighbours, the houses, the street, the lack of pubs! Its just brilliant a little sleepy seaside town whose main attraction is its natural blowhole (a hole that spurts out sea water). The reason for this destination is to visit my relatives Keith and Margaret. Immediately we were embraced, sorry accepted into their home as if we had known each other for years! We had rooms to ourselves, our own shower and nice homemade meals everyday, I met my other cousins Doug and Naomi, who were also very nice, taking us to see the local wildlife as well as showing us the wild nightlife in the closest city willigong. While quietly sitting down eating tea discussing visiting the wildlife park, Doug came out with a seemingly innocent question. ... read more

So... today we went to the Blue Mountains - to check out the Three Sisters and hike through the rain forest... What we did is saw 'one sister' and hiked through - appropriately - rainy rainforest! Totally soaked within minutes we walked for kilometers through the mud and rain, under the waterfalls and up the cliffs... it was definitevely an extraordinary experience. What it wasn't - is 'breathtaking' from the panorama point of view! The thick fog never lifted and we didnt' get to see more than few meters ahead of us... that is - until we boarded the train to go back to Sydney!!! After hours and hours of hiking - the fog suddenly lifted - when we left!!! One thing is sure - we can't wait for the Outback's HEAT! Tomorrow! Let's go to ... read more

The train ride up to the Blue Mountains was really nice and there were some great views over valleys and the like. We're staying in a town called Katoomba which is one of the major tourist towns here and is very hilly. Our hostel is called Number 14 and is really nice. Everything is very clean and its much quieter and smaller than the one in Sydney. After researching a bit we decided to take a walk along the top of the nearby cliffs. The town map deceived us a bit my making everything seem close and flat - in reality the cliffs were a half-hour walk away and the road went up and down far too many times! When we finally got there the views were really spectacular, we decided that we loved the ... read more

We were up at a very early hour of the morning after a late night in Kings Cross. First thought on our mind was a coffee and a bacon butty which we tracked down. We were collected shortly after by our bus for the day. The Blue Mountains are about 100 kilometres west of Sydney. As the name suggest the Blue Mountains are actually blue. Its got something to do with the bluish tinge the range takes on when viewed at a distance, caused by the release of volatile oils from eucalyptus forests (Thank you Wikipedia once again). The plan was to drive up to the mountains and then do a 2 to 3 hour trek through one of the national parks. The journey from Sydney was nice as the scenery changed from built up areas ... read more