BLUE MOUNTAINS TOUR
I knew I wanted to go to the Blue Mountains one of the days that I was in Sydney. You can go by yourself or there are several tours to choose from online. I decided to go with the tour. 1) It’s 2 hours one way from Sydney to Katoomba. That’s already 4 hours of the day. 2) I wasn’t sure how transportation worked once you got there. It looked like there was a bus, but it didn’t look like it ran often.
The tour company picked me up kind of early at 7:50 am. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a small van with only 9 other people on the tour with me. I like small group tours and the tour guide was very nice. My breakfast consisted of a cinnamon apple muffin from the hostel “breakfast shop.”
FEATHERDALE WILDLIFE PARK
I read online that if you’re going to other zoos in the city, then you can skip this one. I’m super glad I didn’t skip it. The admission price is not too expensive and you can get a photo with a koala bear for no extra charge. They’ll take your photo for you with their camera, but they’ll also take it for you on your own camera so you don’t need to buy it. Note: I touched the butt of a koala bear in the picture.
The Wildlife Park truly has a lot of Australian animals. You can also get really close to some of them. The animal that was mostly in cages were the birds. They had so many species of birds and plenty of koalas.
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KINGS TABLE ABORIGINAL PLACE
This was a very short walk, but it had incredible views of Jamison Valley. This place is of special significance to Aboriginal culture and is where the ancient art of tool making took place.
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LINCOLN’S ROCK
This is another scenic spot. It used to be called Honeymoon Rock so there are a lot of names carved all over the rock. The tour guide told us that if we sat on the edge of the rock, it would make for a great photo. Indeed it did!
WENTWORTH FALLS (from Princes Rock Lookout)
There’s actually a trail to Wentworth Falls. You can see it at the top or you can hike to the bottom. We didn’t have time for the trail, so we only saw it from a lookout point. From the lookout, you get panoramic views and you can see the trail. The trail is almost built on the side of the rock.
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LEURA (for lunch)
The tour guide then dropped us off at the town of Leura. This is a great place to get food. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants and there’s also a grocery store. We only had 45 min for lunch so I quickly found a cafe and ordered a chicken pesto sandwich. It was delish. I also liked that it came with a side salad and not a side of fries.
ECHO POINT
This is probably the most well known spot in the Blue Mountains. Echo Point is where you can see the Three Sisters. There’s a story behind the Three Sisters and why it’s called the Three Sisters, but I don’t remember if the tour guide told it or not. If so, I don’t recall. Either way, you get to see beautiful scenery.
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SCENIC WORLD
Scenic World is super close to Echo Point. You can even hike the trail, but because of time, I didn’t. Scenic World is a tourist attraction that lets you see the surrounding nature in a unique way. They have the Skyway, Railway, Walkway, and Cableway. You can probably figure what each of these are. I went on each of these except for the Skyway I think. I started at the top and took the Skyway down and then walked 15 min on the walkway to the Railway. Then I took the Railway up. I highly recommend the railway. It’s the steepest railway in the world at 52 degrees. It felt like you were going to fall forward, so I had to put my feet on the seat in front of me to keep from falling forward. It’s a cool experience. If you’re on a budget, I wouldn’t say this is a must-see. Some fun facts about Scenic World:
- 2.4 kms The scenic walkway is the longest boardwalk in the southern hemisphere
- 270 metres The scenic skyway is the highest cable car in Australia
- 84 people The scenic cableway is the biggest cable car in Australia
- 52 degrees The scenic railway is the steepest in the world
I didn’t actually research these “facts” thoroughly, so it may very well be a tourist trap. The only thing maybe worth doing on this list is the railway. A family of four that was on the tour with me, rode the railway up and down three times!
KATOOMBA FALLS
While at Scenic World, there’s a trail that connects from the railway to Katoomba Falls. It’s about a 20 minute walk from the Railway to the bottom of Katoomba Falls. Luckily, there were two people there who were really trying to get the right picture and were happy to take a picture for me. The three of us were the only people around. I was lucky that they were there.
BOAR’S HEAD
After Scenic World, there was one more stop at a scenic spot of a rock that resembled a boar’s head. The tour guide says that’s it’s actually really common for rocks to be in the shape of a boar’s head or the three sisters, but for some reason those stood out in particular.
FERRY ON THE PARRAMATTA RIVER
Instead of driving all the way back, the tour guide dropped us off at a Ferry stop near the Olympic Park. I then got to ride the ferry down the Parramatta River. This was a great ferry ride. I got to see so much. The views were amazing! I saw a small rainbow, the city-scape, darling harbour, the harbour bridge, and the Opera House from the ferry. It provides a different perspective of these famous attractions.
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FISH AND CHIPS
For dinner, I didn’t want to walk far, so I just grabbed fish and chips at a stand near Circular Key, It was actually really good. I was surprised at how much I like it.
GLENMORE
As you read, you’ll realize that I was at the Glenmore probably every night. It’s a bar and restaurant that had roof top views of the Opera House. It’s really nice, but expect to pay more than usual for drinks. I went to the Glenmore with one of my roommates, Sophy. She is probably the person I hung out with the most.
THE ARGYLE
After a couple drinks, we went to check out the ARGYLE. It’s kind of a club, but it’s not like the clubs that I’ve been too. It was pretty slow for a Sunday night. There weren’t many people. But it turned into an eventful night. Sophy made friends with some guys. Turns out, these guys were professional Rugby players who played for Japan and were in Sydney for a Tournament. We stayed at the Argyle until they closed at around midnight or 1? It was pretty early. So we went in search of another place. We ended up passing by this bar that had some noise coming from it and figured we would check it out. Turns out we weren’t allowed in because there was a private party. Well, after talking to the bouncer, we learned that it was a party for the Sydney Sevens, Sydney’s professional Rugby team. You could only get in if you knew someone. Turns out someone inside knew the guys we were with and we all got in.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!
That was my reaction. How did I end up at a professional rugby party? I don’t know anything about the game and I definitely don’t know anything about the players. If I had any doubts that I had actually walked into a rugby party, they were quickly squashed by one look at the men in the room. I mean, THEY. WERE. FIT. I’m talking muscles everywhere. This is the moment I wished I’d put a little more effort into my look. I guess the lesson is always look your best, because you never know who you’ll meet. I wished this story ended with me meeting a cute rugby player, but it doesn’t. After staying at the party for a few hours, the people I was with decided to leave and go to the casino. I was up for that until they started acting like a*******. We were a party of 5 and none of the taxis would squeeze 5 people in their car. In Sydney, it’s a serious offence that could result in the taxi driver getting his license taken away. But these guys thought they were God’s gift and trying to convince the driver that it’s okay and that no one would notice. The poor guy. Then one of the guys called the driver a pussy and that’s when it just went all down hill. I really thought the driver was going to hit the guy. At this point, I’m out and ready to go back and get some sleep. Knowing I would not be able to wake up at 7am tomorrow, I already had to forgo the next morning’s itinerary.
Life is exciting that way in that you never know where it will take you. I might not have gotten to go to all the places I wanted to the next day, but it was hell of a night and now I have a story to share with all you. Live in the moment.
Much love, Tina. x.
