Road Trip: Blue Mountains
2/01/2014 08:31:00 pmWe were going to go to Oberon for mushroom picking. Only to find out that mushrooms weren't quite in season yet. And TBH... that doesn't interest me so much.
So we did a day trip to the Blue Mountains instead: Katoomba, Leura & Wentworth Falls. It's been 5 years since the last time I'd ventured up the mountains.
First stop, Echo Point.
The skies weren't too blue today and it was a little misty and perhaps the sun was shining a little too brightly but Jamieson Valley is still pretty breathtaking. So is the mountain air. My lungs felt healthier just breathing it in.
We also went down the stairs to the Three Sisters Bridge. I forget how hard bushwalking can be. Uneven steps, steep declines and ascends, climbing over rocks, etc. This was the first of three little walks and we definitely weren't planning on doing the giant stairway (it was closed due to landslides anyway) or the walk in the valley.
Mum and I's selfie in the cave of one of the sisters:
Giant stairway closed due to landslides:
We then went to Sublime Point in Leura and it was definitely more my style. Peaceful, quiet and tourist free. There's not a whole heap there but it's another view of the three sisters and the valley. A very easy walk takes you right to the edge of the cliffs with an uninterrupted view.
My namesake aunty thinks that this rock looks like a crocodile:
Next stop, lunch and Leura mall.
We went to Lily Pad's Cafe which got pretty good ratings. But I don't think that it compares to Sydney's abundant cafes. Mum and I shared an iced coffee and a mushroom & chicken pie with pumpkin seed and roast veggie salad. The pie probably could have done with some more sauce or gravy. The puff pastry could have been thinner and crispier. And the pie could have been hotter. But the iced coffee was pretty good and well worth the $5.50. It had real coffee, tons of cold milk, ice cream and cream. Icy cold and much needed after the morning in the sun.
And to walk off lunch a little, we went for a walk up and down the strip of Leura Mall. A few shops brought back some memories of the weekend away so many years ago. The deli where we bought pate and crispbread and salad for our impromptu picnic in the park. Still with the old-fashioned fly screen door and smell of fresh produce. The little toy shop and stationery tidbits.
But so much has changed. It's so touristy now and some of the cafes seem to have done deals with tour groups to drum up more business. The old school way of life in Leura is slowly disappearing :(
We did however stumble across the Roaring 20s Leura Festival. That was pretty cool!
And last stop, onwards towards Sydney and Wentworth Falls. The falls were beautiful if not a little underwhelming. There wasn't quite enough water and it just wasn't "majestic" enough. Another short little bushwalk takes you down to Princes Rock Lookout. And to be honest, we were pretty tired by the end of this walk!
I think it would be so beautiful and different to take the walk down to Wentworth Falls itself and have a picnic by the water. Kind of a really cool date thing to do.
My mum is so cute!!!
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