Blue Mountains

Today, Sal, Kevin and I took a train to Katoomba, the gateway to the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains are a magnificent natural creation with endless stretches of sandstone cliffs filled in with a valley of eucalyptus trees. The main attraction at Katoomba is the Three Sisters, a famous rock formation on the edge of the Jamison Valley.

We decided to hike below the Three Sisters through the valley. We were lazy (smart?) and took the 900 Great Steps down, hiked a few hours through the lush trees, listening to lyre birds sing and took the FUNicular back up. Despite my constant whining, the funicular made it all worth it!

In addition to being really fun to say, Katoomba is a cute little mountain town with a small street of shops, cafes and bakeries. We scored here in the food department. The mountains were cool but the food….the food made the trip!

We found a hidden cafe for lunch, bakeries for breaky and snacks and for dinner, we made a trip to Lilianfels, a hotel our “1000 Places to See Before You Die” book said we must see. Lilianfels has a restaurant called Darley’s that is, well, it’s fancy pants. And delicious. We decided it would be a great way to celebrate all of our birthdays. The service was bar none. Dinner, amazing. Dessert, melted in our mouths. We left Darley’s happy and extremely full.

The combination of full bellies and exhaustion from the hike – knocked me out. I was asleep the second I laid on my Kevin pillow.