This past weekend was the first time that the Thoe family left the immediate Sydney vicinity. A trip to the Blue Mountains can be done in a day from Sydney, but we decided to pack a bag and see where we ended up. The weather had a nice autumn chill to it and there were blue skies overhead. Everyone was excited for the getaway.
It took about an hour and half to get to one of the main tourist areas of the Blue Mountains, a village called Katoomba. This has a cute downtown area and is home of Echo Point, which overlooks the Three Sisters. This is basically an unusual rock formation with 3 stones standing over 900 meters tall each. There is an Aboriginal legend about three sisters being turned into stone by a witch doctor. It was a very beautiful outlook. But, as warned by others, it was a very touristy area. We were going to have to get a little further out leave the traffic and overall "busyness" of the city.
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| Purple pin is Mosman (where we live). Red pin is Katoomba. |
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| Aubrey and Carter posing at the Echo Point sign |
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| This is the overlook at Echo Point. They are called the Blue Mountains because of the blue haze created by the vapors of the eucalypus trees. |
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| Overlook including the Three Sisters |
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| Closeup of the Three Sisters |
We didn't give up on our quest to "get away from it all." So, we went ahead and tried to book a hotel room. Unfortunately for us, there was an ultra marathon going on in the Blue Mountains this weekend. (A 100 km race through the mountains.) So, there were slim pickings left for hotel rooms by Saturday afternoon. We ended up booking a cottage in Mount Victoria. We drove around the Katoomba/Leura area some more, and then headed up to Mount Victoria.
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| Purple pin is Mosman. Red pin is Mount Victoria. |
We checked into Cedar Lodge Cabins later in the afternoon. It was pretty pricey considering what we got in return. But, beggars cannot be choosers. It was actually fine and was a very warm, cozy cabin on a frosty night in the mountains. It just freaked us out a little when we got there and the owner said they had kept the door open during the day to keep it cool. So, when we pulled the car up to a cabin (that had not been redecorated since the 1980's) sitting in the middle of the bush with a wide open door. Our imaginations went wild thinking of all the creepy crawlies that had made their way in to prey on us in our sleep. We have not forgotten all the stories we have heard of Australia's NUMEROUS poisonous creatures. Luckily, I can happily report, we survived the night with no creepy crawly sightings. And, we got to watch some Telefunken TV.
Sunday, we awoke to a chilly morning by Australian standards (around 3 degrees Celsius or 37 degrees Fahrenheit). But, it was still pretty cozy in our cabin. Well, as long as you didn't have to go into the bathroom, which was freezing, but I won't go into that. Since the kids had us awake by 6:30, and no one really wanted to take a shower there, we got a pretty early start. We grabbed a coffee and headed towards Sydney on a more northern route through the mountains along Hwy 40 (refer to previous map). This route was less busy and provided some fantastic views of the mountains.
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| We had to pull over to the side of the road to take a picture of this cliff catching the few rays of sunlight cutting through the morning clouds. It was stunning in person. |
We happened upon the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden on Mount Tomah. We debated turning in, but thank goodness we did. It was the highlight of our weekend. We walked around for a couple of hours and tried to absorb all the beauty. I love Botanic Gardens and I love the view from mountain tops. Combine the two, and it really is like a piece of heaven here on Earth. We all walked around with big smiles on our faces the entire time.
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| Views from Mount Tomah |
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| Sean and the kids posing in the rainforest section of the gardens. |
We ate a picnic lunch and then hit the road again. Driving through the countryside here is a little different than in the Midwest. We saw a few cows, but we mainly saw horses, sheep, and goats. We then decided to go a little more off the beaten path and check out our first Aussie winery. We went to Tizzana Winery in Ebenezer on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. It was a delightful little family winery. The owner of the winery then recommended we go just 4 km down the road and see the oldest standing church in Australia. It was a very lovely, peaceful place. After finally having a chance to enjoy some quiet time outside of the city, the weekend was ending, and it was time to make our final descent back down to Sydney.
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| Purple pin is Mosman. Red pin is Tizzana winery. |
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| This is kind of hard to read, but it states the winery was established in 1887. |
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| Inside the Ebenezer Uniting Church |
As we were driving through the outskirts of Sydney, we were discussing dinner options. Honestly, we have not had much luck in Australian restaurants. I love the Asian food here, but I am not so enamored with the other restaurants. Pizza is hit or miss. Really good service is hard to come by since tipping is not the norm in Australia. Most restaurants don't have many options, are rather pricey, and then the portions are not very big. Since they are expensive, Sean and I often try to get meals to share with the kids. What usually happens when we go to a restaurant is that we leave spending a lot of money, and Sean and I are still hungry.
On this particular evening, we were discussing how we were tired and hungry and just wanted a good meal. Unfortunately, we did not think the chances were high to find that filling, heartwarming meal. This is when we saw a sign along the side of the road and the promise land beckoned us. It was almost too good to be true.
Yes, we ate at Outback Steakhouse here in Australia. We didn't even know the restaurant chain was actually in Australia (it is based out of Tampa, Florida). It tasted soooo good. And the service was even American-like. We were so giddy with excitement that the hostess and waitress probably thought we were mentally off-balance. But, sometimes when you are not in your home country, there are little things you miss. Even though they are little things, they keep adding up over a period of time. On Sunday night, The Outback filled some of that void. We left with full tummies and a warm glow. Then, we drove back to the city and returned to our home away from home.
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