Our Little Jaunt

A Weekend in Leura in the Blue Mountains, NSW

This ANZAC bank holiday weekend, we were invited by some friends to head back up to the Blue Mountains to Leura to a cottage, and to explore the towns and villages that were so interrupted by the bad weather when we visited before.

ANZAC day is the Australian equivalent of Remembrance Day in the UK – a day of celebration, remembrance and mourning for the fallen troops and servicemen of military conflicts and actions. Less we never forget.

We were initially invited to head up to a cottage in the Leura about six weeks ago, and after our mixed time up there the first time; (Read about it here: Our first time in the Blue Mountains)

The plan was to leave Sydney on Friday night and to drive up in two cars (for the six of us) and get an early night before having a good walk about on Saturday (as the weather was better than Sunday) and then to head to the Caves at Jenola on Sunday. Monday we left free as the weather is quite changable up there and we had to check out at about 11.30 anyway.

Driving to Blue Mountains from Sydney

Last time we headed up to Katoomba, we hired a car from Bayswater Car rentals (it cost about $35/day inc Sat Nav & Full Insurance) and we headed up early on the Saturday morning so basically missed all of the traffic. Friday night leaving Sydney is a bit different; we ended up sitting in a taxi for about 45 minutes going from our studio in Darlinghurst to Kirribilli where our friends live. On arrival it seemed evident that everyone had had a shite Friday and this was compounded by me leaving my phone in the taxi and losing the plot before we left! Not a great start to the Bank Holiday weekend.

Anyway – as I said the traffic is awful – here for live Sydney traffic reports.

When it is quiet, apparently the best way to get up there is the route that we went (and there are no road tolls) – the first time; Straight up the M4: Sydney To Leura (Blue mountains)

If you are travelling at peak time or during weekends when people are heading out of the city or if you are leaving from North Sydney, (the way we went this time) then take this route: Sydney to Leura via M7 There are a few tolls roads so it can rack up if you don’t watch out.

It has taken us about 2 hours to get to Katoomba & Leura everytime we have gone to and from Sydney – so expect it to take that long (traffic permitting)

WATCH OUT FOR THE NSW POLICE – They are bloody everywhere!

The coppers over here are buggers – every single time we have gone anywhere – they are either pulling someone or lying in wait. You basically can’t speed in NSW – stick to the limit and don’t drink and drive.

The main encouragement is as follows: Double Points Apply on Bank Holidays, Christmas, and almost every major event that is held – you speed – you will lose your licence.

from the NSW RTA website: On declared public holiday long weekend periods in NSW the demerit points for all speeding, seat belt, child restraint and helmet offences are doubled.

The Rented Cottage In Leura

The cottage that our friend had rented was a beautiful wooden cottage called Harmony Cottage about 5 minutes walk from the centre of Leura and 10 minutes drive from Katoomba.

We had a great first night, sat up drinking wine, chatting until the really late hours of Saturday morning, and generally wound down after what had been a pretty rough week for everyone.

So anyway, you can read about the day we spent in Katoomba at Scenic World and Echo Point here

Much Love,

Himself!

	On declared public holiday long weekend periods in NSW the demerit points for all speeding, seat belt, child restraint and helmet offences are doubled.

Tags: ANZAC, Blue Mountains, Katoomba, Leura, NSW, Sydney

Australian spiders we have gazed at in abject horror

Now don’t get me wrong. We want visitors. We really do. Which is why, if you think that this post may put you off Australia for life, you should never have clicked on it in the first place.

When I look back at one of our first ever blog posts, I laugh in the face of the broom-wielding antics which took place in order to dispose of an arachnid the size of your finger nail. We should have nurtured that little fella, kept it as a pet, perhaps. The rehabilitation it would have offered us may have at least in part prepared us for the RHINOS of spiders that we have since encountered.

It’s always a good one, never fails. You can be skipping along happily in the sunshine, chatting away, throw a casual glance to your left and be confronted with Aragog’s meaner, older brother. It’s like a car crash. You just can’t tear your eyes away. It takes about three minutes for your brain to even compute that something that large can just be hanging there, on a tiny thread without breaking it. Ready to scare the living shit out of you.

Equally, they’re pretty fascinating. Providing of course that there is at least 3 metres , an ouzi or a pane of glass between you and them.

We have been very fortunate I think to not have had one in the flat yet – the closest we’ve come to this is the little guy I snapped sheltering from the rain on the outside of our back door when I was off work sick. It was a Hunstman which are the good spiders. Yeah. Define ‘good’…..

We’ve been lucky thus far as we have not come across this fella – the Sydney Funnel Web. Only the males are able to do any damage but they are extremely poisonous spiders. Here is how to treat a Funnel Web Spider’s Bite.

Bear one thing in mind. These spiders’ webs are like the Forth Bridge. I believe that, given a favourable breeze, they could actually span entire villages. So when you are strolling merrily along a quiet, tree-lined Sydney street, take a glance upwards.

I can guarantee you’ll be walking in the middle of the road once you do. Enjoy the gallery………….

[View with PicLens]

Tags: Australia, Australian nature, dangerous animals, Sydney, Wildlife

Weekend in the Australian Blue Mountains

Our weekend in Katoomba, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia started with a conversation in the car along the lines of this;

Himself: My sister says there are lots of koala farms round here.

Herself: really? Wow, cool. Like, in the trees and just free to move about and stuff?

Himself: Yes, they farm them for their skins I believe.

………………………………………………………………………

Half an hour later, on arrival at the hotel.

Herself (to girl behind the reception desk): Could you tell us where the nearest koala farm is, please?

Receptionist: Ko…….koala…..farm?

Herself: Yes, there are a few round here apparently. My sister in law has visited them.

Receptionist: I….um. There is a nice wildlife park about 20 minutes away. They probably have koalas.

Herself: No, I don’t think it’s that, apparently it’s an actual farm where…….(looks to the left)

Himself: (doubled over laughing).

Herself: You lied. (To receptionist) He lied. Forget it.

I sometimes allow Himself to have these tiny victories as I know they make him feel good about himself.

Anyway, back to the point. Accommodation was a rather quirky place known as Hotel Blue. We got a booking from lastminute.com.au but they currently have a special offer on their website which looks like good value for money. Their (very good) website suggests that the hotel is more modern than it really is, in reality it was a little worn but to the owners’ credit, they are revamping and decorating the entire place. The owners are a family who have over 20 years experience in the business and you really get the impression that the place is in good hands. Nothing was too much trouble for them and we had a couple of really nice chats.

The lounge had a roaring fire (the whole place smelt pleasantly of woodsmoke), a pool table and several chess boards, as well as some coffee table books about the area.  We had a relaxing drink before we headed out for some food.

Can’t say there’s a mind-blowing choice of eateries in Katoomba, in fact we ended up having something like burger and chips in the oddest place.  Katoomba generally seems very ‘art deco’ and the cafe we ate in was no exception. ‘Cafe Zuppa wasn’t terrible but we’ve certainly had better food. It made me laugh to read one of the reviews on the site I just linked to (Trip Adviser) which mentions how the waitress literally threw the plate down  – the same happened to me but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed she’d slipped! Clearly not!

The dessert I was furnished with was the simply gargantuan. I couldn’t have eaten it had I been starving. When I mentioned this to the waitress she said it was because it hadn’t risen properly in the cooking so what it lacked in height, they made up for in width. I can’t even recall what it was so it obviously wasn’t that memorable. The only thing I really remember was that it was the size of a house brick.

Anyway, I don’t wish to waste any more of your (or my time) on the unremarkable Cafe Zuppa.

On the afternoon we arrived, we went to the Jenolan Caves! They were fabulous, very exciting and the tour we did around the River Cave was really well done. We are returning this weekend with some friends and we have a half price entry voucher to go again. I would quite like to see the Orient Cave if possible.

I was quite chuffed with myself as I faced my fear of heights by climbing down a very tall ladder which had a very sheer drop below. It was probably safe  but it didn’t feel like it at the time! That got the adrenaline pumping!

The photos below will surely say more than I ever could.

[View with PicLens]

We then left to go on a bit of a drive and saw a bit of wildlife – including our first kangaroo! Well okay.  It was probably a wallaby. I don’t know. I didn’t ask it.

The following day we went to see the Three Sisters. This is a famous rock formation which apparently looks like this. However, our photo of the stunning scenery lacked a little of the gravitas of the one above.

[View with PicLens]

In the end, I DID find my koala (more fool you, Andrew!) and despite getting rather wet and bedraggled and not managing to see the very view we came for, we had a good break. It’s a pleasant enough place, really quiet nightlife wise but don’t expect to be the only visitors, bus loads of hat-wearing Koreans abound. At one point I thought it might be the law that when in Katoomba, a hat was to be worn.

[View with PicLens]

Like I say, we’re returning this coming weekend to a nearby village called Leura which we drove through when we were up there and which we thought was prettier than Katoomba. Who knows, we may even get a photo of those elusive rocks………

Tags: Australia, Blue Mountains, Katoomba, NSW, Sydney, Three Sisters