Up, up and away on the mountains.
Are the Blue Mountains really blue? Um yeah. What other colours would mountains be? If you're planning a trip to Sydney, it seems like a journey up these rugged mountains would be one of the recommended trails to do if you want to get close to nature. If you remember from my previous Sydney updates, our affinity with rain is really strong on this holiday, and it was especially difficult to predict the weather.
Getting to Blue Mountains by public transportation
The most straightforward way is to drive, but if you are not familiar with Australian roads, it is recommended in forums not to do so because the roads are quite tricky in this region. We took the train from Sydney Central to Katoomba station. It is recommended for you to check the train timings a day earlier so you don't miss it, because these trains don't run that often. From Katoomba station, alight and switch to a local bus that will drop you off at Blue Mountains scenic area. The whole journey from Sydney Central to Blue Mountains itself will take around two hours, not including waiting time.
The first gaze upon the mountain range took my breath away - it is such a gorgeous, wide expanse of rocky terrain... it is during these rare times that I feel Mother Nature is really amazing. The main lookout points at Blue Mountains were pretty much overrun with tourists snapping pictures, and so we decided to begin the trail to throw ourselves into the embrace of nature. There were a few trails to do, the shortest was to be conducted in 45 minutes, the longest was to be finished in 3 hours. Some people go to Blue Mountains to do the Scenic World, which was quite expensive - AUD35 for adults and AUD18 for children for access to the railway, skyway, cableway and walkway. We continued walking the trail which was actually not very family-friendly at all, considering how the steps were quite steep and challenging. I cannot imagine how strollers would manage in this situation, and I guess most people come to Blue Mountains just to take photos at the main area. The Three Sisters were closed for maintenance during that time, so there were even lesser attractions to visit.
Unfortunately, the sky was beginning to look very threatening and pelt raindrops at us, and the ground was all mushy and slippery.. It feels like a very dangerous situation because the forest was beginning to feel very deserted. We quickly exited the Blue Mountains from a trail and went back to Katoomba Station. While the mountains were majestic, I find that for holidays that are tight on time, it would not be worth it to spend two hours trying to get there (and another two back).
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