Along the Away

When we woke up on the last day of our Blue Mountains getaway we heard the patter of raindrops on the roof and saw a misty nothing out the windows. We were planning on driving to nearby Katoomba, to visit the part of the Blue Mountains National Park where Scenic World is located. It’s a commercially operated tourist park featuring a scenic railway, cableway, skyway and skywalk – four unique opportunities to see the national park in a different way from hiking it. But – in the rain and fog, was there much point?

We figured it would eventually clear so off we drove through the mist, the trees appearing one at a time a few metres ahead.

We got there early to qualify for the earlybird rate you get if you arrive before 9am, plus the added bonus of not having long queues for the attractions.

We hopped straight onto the Skyway which gave us really awesome views of… mist.

Ha! It looks a bit like a giant let down, but actually it was really beautiful. The mist wasn’t a constant sheet of nothing, it swirled upwards and around us, showing us sneak peeks of the mountains before shrouding us again. Having spent two gorgeous sunny days bushwalking it was really lovely to experience the mountains in their ethereal glory.

Our friendly Skyway guide pointed out to the left to let us know where the three sisters were situated… supposedly! He promised we’d see them… and after a few minutes as the Skyway car traveled across and up we saw them peeking out.

I have fond memories of visiting the Three Sisters as a kid when we had family visiting us from England, my maternal grandparents and my uncle; so being here with my sis had a cozy nostalgic feel.

After we got off the Skyway car we followed the path through the mist to find the Katoomba Cascades.

We could have walked back and caught the Skyway back to the Top Station but the track allowed us to walk there by foot so we carried on and stopped along the way to poke around and explore.

The next attraction was a ride on the Scenic Railway – the steepest passenger railway in the world I’ll have you know, it travels at 52 degrees! The railway has recently been upgraded and now offers a fully enclosed car with incline controls – you can tilt your car back 10 degrees to ride at 42 or tilt it forward 10 degrees to ride at 62. You can guess which one we did after a quick conference with the two guys we were sharing our car with (crank it forward baby!)

My sis and I were a little nostalgic for the older style cable car. After a quick call to my mum, I can confirm I was 3 years old the first time I rode it and 5 years old the other time. Back then it actually did feel quite risky traveling on it; you had to hold on for dear life because there was no cover – you did kinda feel like you could topple out. I asked Mum if she had any photos of us two little twinnies riding on it and she said “uh, no! I was holding on to my babies for dear life so they wouldn’t topple out“. Ha, thanks mum!

My uncle was not so lucky, he dropped his camera and it slid down on the floor of the train past everyone’s feet to the front – oops!

Anyway, while waiting in line we commiserated about everything being over-safety-proofed everything these days, ruining perfectly good risky fun. Then the train pulled up and on we got and up we looked. Oh good, not too safe then!

After we got off we watched the train head back up the 52 degrees to get the next lot of passengers. Then we saw a memorial to the last railway cars – see what I mean??

The version before that was even less comfortable – but that’s OK, the only passenger was coal from the coal mine.

Next up was the Scenic Walkway, a 2.4km elevated walkway through the rainforest – so beautiful!

We were given a sneak peak at Orphan Rock as the mist lifted:

I do appreciate how the walkways were built around the trees :-)

A Miners Cottage still stands here, offering a peek into the life of miners who lived and worked in the Katoomba Coal Mine during 1879-1945.

One final attraction remained, which luckily is located at the end of the walkway to take us out of here! We caught the Cableway back up to the top into the mist.

And that concludes the Blue Mountains Getaway – a wonderful four days in such a beautiful part of the world. I’m lucky to live close enough to make it a day trip which I vow to do as we drove back to the big smoke.

 

Following the beautiful walk we did yesterday, we were up even earlier on the second of our three day visit to the Blue Mountains to explore some more of the Valley of the Waters area.

We started again from the Conservation Hut and walked the Nature Track. The signs and online resources estimated the walk would take 1 3/4 hours to 2 hours; in reality it only took us 1 1/4 hours and that was with lots of stops along the way to appreciate the view, take photos and take the time to sit in the presence of beauty (of course!).

The track was really easy to follow and well maintained, steep in places (particularly the walk back out) but again there were staircases and step supports to make it easier.

There is so much to stop and marvel at, always with the stunning hazy blue mountains in the background.

This rocky outcrop was a treat, it is called Edinburgh Castle Rock but the swirly rock patterns on the rocks made me think of the ocean.

When you’re walking down in the valley your eyes gravitate up to the mountains. It’s cool to look down when you’re at the top and see the tree canopy below is just as beautiful a sight, just look at the mottled mix of greens, oranges and browns.

Around every corner is a surprise, this platform offered an opportunity to step out and feel the wide open space.

And be all “I love you nature! Let me hug you!”

Following the track down quite a way we reached the bottom, a beautiful mossy little gully call Lillian’s Glen.

And what’s that hidden between the trees? Hello little waterfall!

Which turned out not to be so little – what a magical find! We sat here for awhile in the cool misty air, the energy of the water surrounding us, it felt mystical.

My sister turned into a little tree monkey for a second :-)

Then the climb back out began – phew! It’s hard work. The talking soon stopped between us, the deep breathing began, the increasingly frequent stops ‘just to take a look’ (yeah right!)

But every climb has it’s view (that’s the point right?)

And this one was Queen Victoria Lookout – breathtaking!

All good mountains have ice cream at the top of them too…. Our well deserved treat at the Conservation Hut was some delicious Serendipity Ice Cream. In honour of our surroundings I chose two Aussie bush flavours – Macadamia and Quandong (wild peach). Delicious!

The very first day of the year and we left the cottage at the very respectable hour of 9am (New Year’s Day, c’mon that’s pretty good!)

The location of our accommodation, Apple Blossom Cottage, was just perfect for day walks around the Wentworth Falls area. At the end of the same street is the Conservation Hut, a cafe/info centre located at the gateway of Valley of the Falls in the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park, where many circuit walks start and finish. I did a bit of Googling beforehand and found the National Parks website, Wild Walks website and Wentworth Falls website helpful, though I admit the options for the area are a bit overwhelming. Some of the various named walks mix and match parts of the same tracks in order to offer something for everyone, taking into account distance, grade, incline, estimated time, heights etc. In reality the track choices are simpler than they appear.

Here’s a map of the tracks in the area, from the National Pass website:

Although we initially made the decision to do the National Pass walk, and I downloaded it on the Wild Walks iPhone app, once we started walking from the Conservation Hut we ended up going with the flow and making detours to lookouts and changing tracks a number of times based on the excellent signposting along the way (including estimated time info).

I’m glad I downloaded the app as I’m sure it will be helpful in future if I visit areas that aren’t as established as they are here. However if you’re keen to go walking in the area but not sure about navigating yourself, then turning up at the Hut and taking it as you go is perfectly doable. Just remember the obvious bush walking basics though and of course carry plenty of water, sunscreen and I suggest some snacks as well (there are so many beautiful places to sit for awhile and some of the tracks are hella steep – replenishment is appreciated!)

On the first day of 2014 we walked for three and a half hours on parts of the Valley of the Waters Track, the Short Cut Track and National Pass, starting and ending at the Conservation Hut. It was a wonderful walk, with so much to stop and look at, the time flew by.

In case you are wondering, the Blue Mountains are named for that blue dreamy haze that surrounds the area. The haze is believed to be the result of a byproduct of the mountains’ abundant eucalyptus trees affecting the scattering of light… something like that anyway.

It was not an easy walk, you do need a decent level of fitness or otherwise take it slower with more breaks. It is quite steep at times, though the well maintained metal stair frames and wooden steps make the task feel safe and sturdy (though you’ll feel the burn, phew!)

The main attraction is of course the falls – of which there are many! Valley of the Falls is certainly an apt name, they are pretty spectacular:

This beautiful photo doesn’t even do the actual sight justice. Sunlight streaming down the falls, bouncing rainbows off the water mist… so ethereal and breathtaking.

The further you walk, the more waterfalls you find. As well as people enjoying them, like this canyoner – it looked like so much fun!

We stopped for lots of little rests and to soak up the serenity of the area; it was the perfect start to the year.

My sister and I made an impromptu, last minute decision to get out of the city for New Years and instead retreat to the beautiful Blue Mountains for a few days.

Don’t get me wrong, Sydney is one of the best places on earth to celebrate the New Year arrival – our harbour fireworks are crazy beautiful. But as I live here I guess I feel I can miss one here and there :-)

Last year a group of friends and I camped out all day at Blues Point so we could watch the fireworks from one of the best views along the harbour. To get anywhere along the water you have to claim your spot early morning on New Year’s Eve and then hope you have good weather all day!

We had this gorgeous view (while sweltering in 40+ degree heat):

But those 8 minute fireworks sure are worth it (for the 6.8 million dollar price tag, yo).

It’s a hardcore effort though, not something you want to do every year. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 2 million people watched the fireworks from along the harbour foreshore this year. Now, given the harbour’s extensive coastline this includes a lot of vantage points in all directions, but far out – that is a lot of people and goes to show why a Sydney Harbour NYE requires an all day stake-out.

This year, both my sis and I were craving something more low key and reflective. A getaway to the mountains was perfect and although last minute, the universe smiled upon us, we found perfect, affordable accommodation with only a few days notice.

And such a sweet place – a cozy rental called Apple Blossom Cottage.

It was homey, clean and well stocked, a little lived-in with borderline grandparent holiday house decor, but we were having a bit of a nana new years anyway, so whatevs, it worked.

After checking out our humble abode we drove to Leura, a charming little village with painted street murals, boutique stores and cozy cafes.

I just adored how the real trees standing next to the wall created a 3D effect in front of the mural, and their shadows spilled down over the painting and across the footpath… just beautiful.

We ate lunch at Wayzgoose Cafe and it was yummy and relaxing. We discovered a delicious Ice Tea called Stolen Recipe, both of us tried the Lemon Lime Peppermint – yum! In Woolworths later we discovered they sold litre bottles of it, I have never seen it in Sydney before. A quick google tells me it is stocked at Thomas Dux at Crows Nest, awesome!

We did that sort of anti-social sister thing where we both sat at the table sorting photos on our phones and didn’t talk to each other. I listened to the entertaining waitress exasperatedly banging around and exclaiming in the kitchen and at the counter. The male waiter kept catching my eye with a smile every time she was particularly dramatic – I don’t blame her, it was 3pm on New Year’s Eve.

So we settled in and then headed back to our cottage for a relaxing New Year’s eve night in. We listened to music and drank Moet. We watched some BBC Pride & Prejudice – nana New Year’s OK?

We did light sparklers and toasted midnight with champagne, and talked about all our goals and hopes for 2014. We were excited to get up early on the first day of 2014 to get out into the mountains. It was that kind of New Year’s and I loved it.

The best part of the cottage is that it is in Fletcher St in Wentworth Falls – literally a few minutes walk to the Conservation Hut where so many of the waterfall walks start and finish. We did heaps of bushwalking whilst away, I will share some tales and photos soon!

I love a weekend getaway to Melbourne and it usually works out I manage to go once a year, usually courtesy of some too-good-to-pass-up airfare sale. For this trip my sis and I scored $39 flights so we booked months ahead for some random distant weekend which eventually snuck up on us – yay!

We decided to do something a bit different than the usual city break and hired a car from Avalon airport to spend a day driving the Great Ocean Road. I’ve traveled it once before with my dear friend, Sverige from Sweden, but my sis hadn’t.

First stop of course, breakfast in Geelong (Melbourne weekend-aways are generally a string of cafe visits for me, everything else tends to happen in-between as a filler while I wait for my appetite to ebb and flow).

My darling  sister is patient with me as I make her pose for arty photos of the reflection in her sunglasses… which didn’t work out…

We wandered down to the waterfront to check out the view and lots of unique sculptures around the foreshore. I also found myself a boyfriend (we are already at the co-ordinating outfits stage).

The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s treasures – nearly 250km of coastal hugging road to cruise along, twisting and turning along breathtaking views. The driver must make the sacrifice to keep their eyes on the road while the passengers hang out the window inhaling every stunning vista. Or if the driver does not feel like making such self sacrifices, frequent stops are taken every few hundred metres (which we did as I was the driver). For this reason alone it is best to do the trip over a few days or even a week, and in addition the cozy B&B’s, cafes, beaches and detours also make it worth a leisurely ride. But we only had a day so it was an efficient, but still lovely, road trip.

It’s fun to stop along the way. Those who grew up in Australia will recognise this lighthouse from ‘Round the Twist’ a daggy eighties kid’s after-school TV show. There’s a really sweet little cafe here where we stopped for tea and scones.

Another pretty view, time to stop the car for an instagram moment.

Refreshments are in order. Frequently.

Sister posing in the crazy wind :-)

An accidental photo taken of our legs when I dropped my camera –  I kinda like it!

Exhausted after an epic crawl effort to get up on the ledge. I’m not gifted in these things…

Just so so beautiful.

As we only had the one day for our Great Ocean Road adventure, our main mission was to head as far as the famous ‘Twelve Apostles’. These are huge limestone structures that jut out from the sea as high as 45 metres, carved into pretty sculptures by the powerful sea. There were originally twelve, but only eight remain visible now.

Giant sister heads trying to share photo space with eight remaining apostles.

We watched the sunset at the Apostles and then drove back to Melbourne in the dark. The next morning our first item on the agenda was breakfast. We found a lovely cafe (not difficult in Melbourne) called Argos Loves Company where I again imposed on my sister’s breakfast.

I try not to take too many photos of my food, but this was so yummy. Simple but delicious!

Co-incidentally my housemate was also in Melbourne for the weekend, to watch her friend who was performing in the Melbourne Comedy Festival, so we went along on Saturday night to check her set out as well. That night I also caught up with my former Indian housemate Alicia. By Indian I mean the Australian girl from Melbourne that did an internship in Bangalore the same time I did, who I lived with and shared many an Indian and Sri Lankan travel experience with. We had dinner out at St Kilda where we reminisced about our incredible India days. We tried to visit the St Kilda fairy penguins though unfortunately the area was barricaded off, so we watched the sunset from her secret St Kilda vantage point (sorry, it is top secret).

Another coincidence – I saw on Facebook when I was in Melbourne that my friend who lives on the mid-north coast in Port Macquarie was on her way to the airport to go to Melbourne for the weekend! We quickly arranged a rendezvous for lunch on Sunday, at a groovy place called Vegie Bar. Oh yummo! Highly recommended for flavour, ambiance and location (smack on Brunswick street, a perfect mid-shopping interruption). The coincidences keep on coming – we were all staying at the same hotel! What are the chances? I mean please. It would have been pretty weird if we had bumped into each other there without expecting the other to be in Melbourne.

On the last day we made one last breakfast mission, this time to a moody warehouse converted cafe called The Auction Rooms. It was recommended to us and it was well worth the tram trip to North Melbourne. I left my sister to enjoy her breakfast in peace this time and managed to refrain from taking photos of my food.. But I snapped this interesting skyscape at the tram stop nearby:

Last thing on the camera were sister photos as we waited for the tram to go to the Chapel Street Precinct for some shopping :-)

I’m afraid there is nothing else to see from then on, just a whole lot of shopping bags and spending money. Don’t need no photographic evidence of that, noooo way!

Such a nice weekend break away!

So, I have been to Byron Bay once before, in late 2007 I had a week semester break during the intense year I worked full time while studying part time at Shillington Design College. I packed up my Barina with all my course work, my beach gear and drove 9 hours up the coast for a week’s R&R beach study. Oh how I like to joke about that week of constant, horizontally-driven rain, deserted streets and general lack of beachy R&R. That and how during a day spa pamper afternoon I fainted after sitting in a too hot bath while scolding myself for fussing and-for-crying-out-loud-can’t-you-just-sit-down-and-relax.

So this past weekend I tried again. I went back to Byron with my sis and friend for the three day Australia Day long weekend… which turned into five days counting the two extra ones we stayed after the flash thunderstorms and flooding closed the airport and shut the town power down. Is it me? Am I a rain charm for Byron Bay?

Anyhoo, it was not so bad – we actually had a lot of fun!

Faced with one rainy day after another we searched Byron for the best indoor options and had quite a lovely, relaxing time away.

For one, I discovered my inner artiste! I’m creative but not in an artistic way. I can’t draw to save my life… Or can I? We went along to an afternoon class at Byron Bay Art Studio, which promised I would “become an artist in 3 hours – it’s fun, it’s easy, you can do it. From no art ability you complete a masterpiece rolled up for easy transport – guaranteed!”

Sounded like a challenge! We arrived soggy and wind beaten greeted by our cheery teacher Irena and a nice warm studio with easels set up ready to go. We put on our aprons and listened, watched, copied and attempted creative license as Irena walked us step by step through the creation of our very own chalk person. I am personally so impressed with what we all produced – I had serious doubts I could create anything remotely in proportion of a normal (non-disfigured) human being – but look at this will you:

Wowsers! We finished the class by getting our artwork sealed and rolled up to take home. I’m so chuffed with the end results and highly recommend the class to anyone visiting Byron (even if its sunny!!)

Other rainy weather fun we had included:

• Visiting the Byron Bay Holistic Massage Centre and indulging in a little pampering. I had a massage which was amazing (no fainting this time, brilliant) and my sis had an auro-soma colour reading.
• Going to the movies to see The Silver Linings Playbook – such a great movie!
• Going for drinks and dinner at the The Brewery and Buddha Bar at the Arts Factory.
• Hanging out in every cafe in town… Twice. Ok Why Not, we visited you a few times (oh how I dream of your haloumi burgers). It was cosy, and really food and coffee and food and coffee – you know this is my thing.
• We wrestled the crazy wind and I almost died laughing at my companions trying to put their plastic ponchos on. It was funny coz really, there was no way those things were going to do a thing.

A beautiful aspect of the wet weekend was absorbing the therapeutic sound of the rain bucketing down constantly for 48 hours – I’ve never experienced anything like that before. In bed at night the downpour was torrential, the wind howled and the windows shook. The lightening flashed through the windows and the cracks of thunder that followed… oh my heart! I was so warm and cosy in my bed, I stayed awake most of the night listening and feeling… connected. The sound of nature is so soothing to me, even the drama, even when it reminds me how much bigger than us it is, how vulnerable we are to its might. It doesn’t distance me, it makes me feel more ingrained somehow.

Though we did experience the power getting cut intermittently and for at least 12 hours at one point. We went to Woolies and saw all the locals piling up their carts in anticipation of apocalyptic town shut down. We felt a bit homeless, but we bought some chocolate to get us through. After the airport had closed and we realised we weren’t going to make our flight for a couple of days we moved from the backpacker hostel to a holiday unit where the manager gave us a great pity rate. I don’t mind backpacker hostels when the weather is so good you’re barely at them – but when the weather drives everyone indoors I appreciate somewhere a bit more comfy. Where we can read our books by candlelight and eat apocalyptic chocolate.

The day after our we were supposed to go home, we woke up and this happened…

Oh happy happy sunshine, where have you been? Well now we have to wait two days to get on a flight home, so let us bask in your glory and finally see the beach…

We wandered around and made up for lost time. Admired some pretty pavement art.

And went to visit the famous Byron Bay Lighthouse (it is famous if you live in Sydney and see the CityRail promotional poster on every train with a picture of the Byron Bay Lighthouse on it).

We enjoyed a lazy coffee at the Lighthouse Cafe, where we sat next to a couple of local women having a good chat about the tourists that arrive from the Gold Coast and wreak urban, drunken havoc on their hippy town. They had a few things to say about Sydney tourists as well, but we aren’t as bad as the Gold Coasters thankfully.

Uh oh, the clouds are returning.

But they didn’t get in the way of a walk to the most easterly point of Australia – yep here it is:

And that was all. Back home to Sydney two days late, but relaxed and happy!

 

Although I’ve only been back home from India for four months, I did really, really deserve a holiday. A proper one, where you take a suitcase, with wheels, coz it ain’t ever going to be hefted up on your back – no way!

Rest and relaxation all the way!

India is: travel, a girls week in the Whitsundays is: holiday. So off I went to Airlie Beach with my sister and a good friend from my uni days. We stayed at Pentacles in a penthouse apartment, complete with jacuzzi on the water view balcony, an infinity pool and a day spa a couple of doors down.

Our apartment was lovely – particularly the balcony. We had some friendly visitors each morning and afternoon. It started with one…

And then some friends came along…

So we swam, we jacuzzi-ed, we lounged and talked and read on the balcony. We had a spa day with the works, wandered around the main street, and ate ice-cream every day (sometimes twice a day).

We got dressed up and out for dinner every night, cocktails mandatory!

We wandered around town, swam in the lagoon and walked along the beach.

This was all very good and well, but the highlight was definitely the day trip we took out to the FantaSea pontoon. First we rode out by boat to the pontoon where there is a glass viewing room underneath.

The best bit was when we went on a helicopter ride over the reef!

Such an amazing experience – in particular seeing beautiful Heart Reef:

We also snorkeled a part of the Great Barrier Reef. We had to put on these ridiculous brightly coloured body suit things, but it was worth it to get in the water, I love snorkeling! Not that it was the greatest snorkeling I’ve done, I’m guessing the volume of people that visit this area has something to do with the scarcity of underwater life and the average state of the reef which is sad. I would love to visit the Great Barrier Reef again one day and see the wide variety of its beauty by traveling to some of the islands.

It was a wonderful week away :-)