Day 4 – My 1 week Trip to Australia

If you just landed up here somehow, checkout my older posts here:

1. My 7 day Solo Trip to Sydney from Bengaluru! – Part 1
2. My 7 day Solo Trip to Sydney from Bengaluru! – Part 2
   –  Day 0 and 1 – My 1 week trip to Australia
   –  Day 2 – My 1 week trip to Australia
   – Day 3 – My 1 week trip to Australia

This blog is continuation of the above series.

DAY 4:  14th November 2019, Thursday

This day was dedicated to Blue Mountains and Three Sisters. Blue Mountains is a UNESCO world heritage site.

I again had a heavy breakfast at my hostel and left at 8:30 AM.

I suggest you all wear warm clothes and shoes only.
No sandals/slippers please. On the day of travel, check Katoomba’s temperature on Google.

I made a wise(…..ok accidental) decision of wearing a hoodie that day. I caught a train from Sydney Central to Katoomba station.

The Sydney train usually come and leave on time. If you are late, you will miss the train. I was sitting in one of quiet carriages in the train. At this time I also reloaded my OPAL card with 20 AUD.

This was going to be around 2 hour journey. During the journey you can see some really nice views of the town which are located far from Sydney.

I reached Katoomba station at 10:35 AM. The train goes ahead as well but due to some reason the track ahead was closed, so this was the last stop. This was announced in the train.

As soon as you exit the station, there’s a tourism office. Go inside it and people at counter will explain you what are things which are available and depending on at what time you arrive, they can suggest what package you should buy.

In Katoomba, there’s a hop n hop off bus one way for 55 AUD.

Can be purchased from Klook app at lower cost.

There are 21 bus stops which are having attractions on their own. Get this bus pass.

There’s a Scenic World Pass for 44 AUD. This is available midweek excluding school holiday, this pass includes unlimited access to the Skyway, Walkway, Cableway and Railway.
Adult 49.00 AUD/ Child 27.00 AUD/ Family 125.00 AUD

Can be purchased from Klook App at lower cost.

The bus stop for Hop n Hop off bus was at 11:15 AM. I boarded the bus:

 I would suggest, as soon as you board, go to the top of bus and then go to the very front. You will get a view like this:

Listen to the commentary by bus driver. They are awesome and will be helping you throughout the day. The bus is every 30 minutes with last bus at around 5 PM.

Since I had the scenic world pass, I went to Scenic World First. When you purchase Scenic World Pass, they will put a barcode around your hand, which machines will scan to make you enter.

From here you can take Scenic Railway or Cable Walk or Skywalk depending upon where you want to go.
I took Skywalk to reach the other side:

This just lasts for 2 minutes but the views are breathtaking:

The bluish colour you see is due to Eucalyptus tree oil in the air [This is what they told]

From the opposite end, I decided to walk to Echo Point [1.4 km distance, alternatively, you can take the same hop n hop off bus as well to reach here]:

Time was around 12 PM and I reach Echo Point:

You go the end of Echo Point and from here you get a view of Three Sisters:

Another view from Echo Point:

I spent around 30 minutes at Echo Point. There are many trails here which you can take. Since I had to cover rest of Scenic World rides, I decided to go to the bridge between three sisters, here:

It’s a fairly easy trail which will take around 1 hour.

But there are really good locations for some snaps:

Walk down further and you will be able to see the bridge I was talking about earlier:

Real victory was not reaching here….but going back. I reached here at 1:05 PM. The way back up is really steep and you have to be very careful:

Not recommended for anyone who is having issues with leg or not fit.

Treks can be steep. Very steep.

After reaching Echo Point back, time was now 1:32 PM. I walked back to point where Scenic Skyway dropped me off.

Time was now 2 PM and I went back to starting point:

At this point, I still had my peanuts. I was not very hungry, so I decided to take Scenic Railway ride:

To get the best view, you have to get to the front seat. So I waited for the next ride to come.

Tip given by people who work there.

This is also around 1 minute down ride and it’s not a very fast ride. Through glass you can see Three Sisters again. Enjoy the ride. No need to record it.

Time was now 2:30 PM. After going down, you can choose to do multiple walkways, of 10 minutes, 30 minutes and 50 minutes depending upon the time you have. Each of them will lead to Cable Way. This will be informed to you when you come to Scenic World and before they scan your barcode.

Before you take any walk, please fill up your water bottle.

Important!

I took 30 minutes path. Some snaps from my chosen path:

At around 3 PM, I took Scenic Cableway to go back to starting point:

This is again a 2 minute ride and with very beautiful view of Blue Mountains and Three Sisters.

I was now trying to find food only to realize that the food court closed at 3PM. So again I have some peanuts and exited Scenic World at 3:30 PM.

Plan accordingly if you are planning to have lunch at Scenic World.

I got back at Hop n Hop off bus and driver guided me that what all I can do next and when will the last bus be. I was planning to go to Blue Mountains Chocolate shop but he advised me to skip that and head out for Leura Cascades.

Some people simply love their jobs. Snapped by him:

He dropped me at Leura Cascades along with a German couple. Time: 4 PM. He informed me that last bus would be at 5:01 PM from Leura Cascades itself.

This again will take around 45 minutes to complete.

The way down is easy and way back up will take time. This is the place where felt exactly very close to nature.

I completed this activity and starting walking back to bus stop. The same German couple who were with me carried their kid at the back all along and completed this activity. I am advising people to not to engage in trekking if you are with family.

Here, they proved me completely wrong by demonstrating that if you want to travel, you will and everything else can be managed.

Learning for the day.

I reached back at Leura Cascades bus stop at around 4:40. Even I was exhausted:

If you are planning to come to Blue Mountains, start from Sydney at or before 7 AM. Everything opens here at 9:30 AM and closes by 5 PM. You will able to cover more places and spend more time.

Most important tip.

The same bus driver told me to get Josephine’s Chocolate near the Leura station and he dropped me off. Unfortunately, Josephine’s chocolate shop was also closed.

From Leura station, I caught a train at 5:25 PM to reach Sydney Central station at 7:20 PM:

Sydney Central from outside at 7:30 PM:

Since I walked very long distances today, I thought it’s time to treat myself with a very famous Gelato Ice Cream Shop: Cow n Moon. This is in Newtown. You can catch a bus from Central following Google Maps.

When I boarded the bus, there was an old couple sitting right behind me. I started talking to them asking what flavours they recommend and they told me couple of their favourite ones.

Also, they told me there are lot of restaurants in Newtown. I did not see this in any of the blogs/youtube videos about Sydney out there. Newtown is the place where locals like to eat.

They were correct. One must visit here!

Someone overheard our conversation and suggested that since I am a vegetarian I must visit “Lentil as Anything” before heading out to Cow n Moon. Lentils as Anything closes out at 9 PM and Cow n Moon at 10:30 PM.

I must tell you about this place. You can pay whatever you want for the food you order. 15 AUD will cover their costs. If you don’t want to pay, you can become a volunteer and serve at the restaurant itself. I paid 15 AUD.

Time was now 8:50 PM. Just like our theatres, Newtown also has a theatre called as Enmore Theatre where live shows happen: [I did not go inside, it requires you to purchase a ticket]

After having my meal, I headed out to Cow n Moon which is just 550 metres away from Lentil as Anything.

There was a queue inside the store which tells you about their popularity:

Best part: They allow you taste the Gelato if you not sure about the flavours. I was definitely not sure. You can taste upto two flavours.

Try things out!

I got myself a medium cup for 8.50 AUD. In this you can pick up to 3 different flavours. For large cup which was 11 AUD, you can pick up to 4 flavours. You must try Affogato flavour:

This will take you at-least 30 minutes to finish because it’s cold and tasty.

At 9:20 PM I left the place and headed back to my hostel on bus to retire for the day.

Expense sheet for the day: [Assume 1 AUD = 50 INR]

1. Train to Katoomba Station – 4.5 AUD – deducted from OPAL Card.
2. 20 AUD OPAL reload – 1000 INR
3. Scenic World adult pass – 43 AUD – 2150 INR.
4. Hop n Hop off bus – 56 AUD – 2800 INR.
5. Dinner: Lentil As Anything – 15 AUD – 750 INR.
6. Cow n Moon – 8.5 AUD – 425 INR
7. Bus travel from Sydney Central to Newtown and back to Hostel – 4 AUD – deducted from OPAL card

Total cost for the day: Rs 6225.

Day 5 is added….Continue…

Wait is worth it.