Blue Mountains

For the Queen's birthday public holiday this year we have opted for a mini break to the Blue Mountains.  These are a beautiful national park 1hr 30minutes or so drive from Sydney, to the west. They are called blue because the eucalypti forest secrets oils that in the heat evaporate and this mist reflected in the sunlight appears blue.

It is a great place for trekking or just relaxing, and being so close to the city it is a good option for getting away from it all without having to stress too much about it. There is also some sort of Old England charms to the towns in this area, which have got some great tea rooms and cafes that offer great scones and food.

A key destination in this area is the town of Katoomba, which can also be reached easily by train. Katoomba is famous because of the Three Sisters, a 900 meters or so beautiful rock formation towering over the Jamison valley. The Aboriginal story tells of three sisters that were turned into these rocks by their witch doctor father in the attempt to protect them from an evil attacker. Then the father lost the 'magic bone' that he used to cast the spell and so the poor little girls are still waiting to be turned back into humans. Quite a few holes in this story, if you ask me, but nonetheless it adds charm to the local folklore.

We took the 900 steps down to the valley (known as the Giant Steps) and then indulged in an easy stroll to the scenic railway - the steepest funicular in the world, which we took to go back up again.  That was enough nature for one day, so we had a delicious boozy meal in a lovely restaurant (Echos) with breathtaking views of the valley.

I love that fact that Sydney has got so many weekend destinations around it - which is special because Australia is so vast that many places are so far from each other so depending on where you live you might have to drive many hours to reach something cool nearby. Sydney's proximity to the Blue Mountains, as well as the wine region of the Hunter, or the rolling hills of Kangaroo valley, make this city somewhat more special.