27.2. – 2.3.2023
On Monday at noon, we boarded a train from the central station, which took us to the town of Katoomba in a couple of hours. There we stayed in a hostel in a family room. This hostel was conveniently located right next to the biggest attraction in the area, the Blue Mountains Nature Park, and was really well equipped. The hostel was huge and had really good communal facilities (a kitchen, a dining area and a lounge). The staff were very nice, and the people staying there weren’t noisy at all.
On the day of our arrival we didn’t have time to do anything special. We just went shopping in the grocery store next door, as it was the first time during the whole trip that we actually had the opportunity to cook our own food. The kids were interested in the shopping trip to the Woolworths supermarket, because there they were given little building blocks according to the total amount of our purchases. Our purchases weren’t very expensive, but the kids got a massive amount of Lego bags anyway. First a kind older lady gave hers to them, because she clearly had no use for them herself. Next in line, the father of a toddler also handed over their Lego bags to our kids, as his own kiddo would have just eaten them. With a few more bags from our own purchases, the children had 22 small bags of building blocks to take home, and with all 40 different bags, they could build their own little farm.
The next day, we set off on a walk to the Scenic World attraction, located in the Blue Mountains Nature Reserve. There, after purchasing an all-day admission ticket, you can board two different cable cars and one train up a steep slope. There are also a number of walking trails that criss-cross the area, allowing you to explore the local wildlife in more detail. We paid A$155 for a family ticket, which is around 110€.
We started our exploration of the area with a cable car that crosses the valley at a height of a couple of hundred metres. This may not have been the smartest idea, as it was still so foggy at that point that visibility from above was zero. So we went straight back, and decided to descend along the railway to the valley floor. It was quite a steep stretch of railway! Of course we wanted to get to the front, so we could see the slope (which descends at a 52 degree angle) just disappearing somewhere in the depths of the valley in front of us. The train track along the rails was moving at an astonishingly fast pace. Ronja thought that the ride was a bit like being in Linnanmäki amusement park. It was true. The Asian women behind us screamed as if they were on a roller coaster. The same stretch of railway was once used to transport coal from a coal mine down below up the slope. Now it’s there just to entertain visitors. The video clip filmed from inside the carriage is of very poor quality, as instead of glass, there was a dense net at the front to prevent any items from falling out.
After the ride that claims to be the steepest railway in the world, we set off on a walk in the rainforest in the valley below. There were lots of eucalyptus trees growing there, as well as huge tree-rooted ferns. The walking trail ended at another cable car lift that went back up from the valley to where the entrance to Scenic World was located. At this point, the weather had cleared enough for us to see the stunning scenery of the area, not just the fog. As we approached the top platform of the lift, a huge natural park area, said to be more than twice the size of the Grand Canyon, opened up before us. We also saw the “Three Sisters” rock formation, one of the most famous attractions in the area. Risto pointed out, though, that there was a fourth, slightly smaller rock formation next to the Three Sisters, that it should really have been called “Four Sisters”.
As the weather had cleared, we moved on to the cable car again, which we had tried first. Now we could admire the amazing view during the cable car’s 300m route to the other side of the gorge. On the other side of the cable car, we had a view of Katoomba Falls, which we were told had never dried up. On the other side, we saw the Three Sisters and a small slice of the vast Blue Mountains region.
This time we didn’t go straight back, but continued on foot, as there were well-maintained walking trails on the other side of the gorge too. Along the way we also came across some cascades, and of course we had to take a closer look. We kicked off our sandals and waded down to the bottom of the cascades. Risto decided to get a little closer look at the falls, but he slipped on a wet rock on the way back, and wet his pants pretty thoroughly. Apparently he had not heard or understood the advice not to walk back along the wet, slippery rocks. Luckily, this happened towards the end of our walk, so Risto didn’t have to walk around in wet trousers for very long.
When we got back to the hostel it was time to test the functionality of the communal kitchen. We were obviously cooking much earlier than the others, as we got to fiddle around in the huge kitchen all to ourselves. Pasta Bolognese was ready in no time. We were all apparently very hungry, because we ate the whole meal in one go. The children were amazed that for the first time in almost two months we were eating “just like at home”.
While we were doing the dishes, a couple of staff members came to go through the fridges in the communal kitchen. All items/bags stored in the fridge are labelled with a tag with name, room number and check out date. If this information is not found on the items in the fridge, or if the check-out date on the tag is past already, they are thrown in the trash. We asked how much people forget stuff in the fridge. Surprisingly lot, we heard. It’s a real shame, because the fridges also have shelves for items that you can leave for other hostel guests to use. When you leave, it would be a good idea to put the extra milk, yoghurt etc. on those shelves, so there wouldn’t be so much food waste.
After the meal, Jaana went to do the laundry at the self-service laundry next door. This time the kids didn’t have to go with her to do schoolwork, as we had agreed to take the winter break this week. We will be back to school again in New Zealand.
Since we had covered most of Scenic World’s easier walking routes the day before, we looked up what other “child-friendly” walking routes there were. Leura Falls was chosen based on the recommendation of the hostel staff. The starting point of this trail was also very close to the hostel, so we didn’t have to walk along the road very long before we were back in nature.
These footpaths were also very well maintained. Not completely paved, though, so the path was a bit muddy in places, but still quite walkable. The scenery along the trail was stunning, so we took it quite slowly, stopping to take photos every now and then. The route was mostly along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk trail, but every now and then we’d detour off the trail to get to different viewpoints. We stopped at viewpoints called Kiah and Bridal Veil, among others. At one of these viewpoints we met a group who had walked to the bottom of Leura Falls to swim. This got the kids excited. We didn’t have our swimming gear with us, but we still decided to walk down the steep slope into the valley. Fortunately, there were stairs all the way down, otherwise it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to descend down towards the valley.
Fortunately, the bottom of the falls was not at the bottom of the valley, so it was not too hard work to climb down. There weren’t many others at the falls when we got there, so the kids took a dip in the cool water of the falls butt naked. Well, Ronja left her shirt on for photographic purposes. After a quick dip, we had to climb back up the stairs. The kids almost ran all the way in this direction too, but us adults were a bit slower.
We kept walking for a while longer until we reached the picnic area next to the car park. From there we took the footpath back to Katoomba, as we didn’t want to walk the same route back to our starting point. This turned out to be a smart decision, as the walk along the footpath was much shorter and easier. By the time we got back to the hostel, we had been on the road for well over three hours. In terms of mileage, the route may not have been very long, but the elevation differences were really big!
We made dinner again in the hostel kitchen, after which Ronja and Risto wanted to go for a picnic in a playground nearby. Jaana walked the route once with the kids to the park, but after that the kids stayed in the park alone, saying they would return when they’ll run out of snacks. About an hour later, there was a knock on the door.
On Wednesday, we headed back towards Sydney, even though Marko was still missing NZeTA to New Zealand. We all applied online the day before at the same time. The children’s entry permits came through right away, Jaana’s ten minutes later. Marko’s document just kept on pending. So it was beginning to look like Marko would have to stay in Australia to sort it out, and Jaana and the kids would continue on to Christchurch. Fortunately, the matter was cleared up at the airport. We were told that even though Marko’s document status was still “pending”, it didn’t matter and he was handed a boarding pass and the officials wished him a safe journey. For Jaana the biggest relief here was that she didn’t have to go driving the rented campervan on her own in New Zealand on the wrong side of the road. Once we were all happily on the right side of the security check, we decided to go to the airport lounge to celebrate. It was relaxing to sit in a peaceful environment enjoying good food and drinks. The kids were also delighted with the on-site playroom, where they headed immediately after finishing their food and dessert treats.
