Early – Mid June, 2024 – Blue Mountains NP, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

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Katoomba and Blue Mountains National Park

The Blue Mountains showed up on one of my searches of Sydney.  It is roughly 63 miles ENE of Sydney.  Since we are not renting a vehicle this trip, we are using one of Sydney’s trains to transport us there.  We are traveling light, fitting only the necessary items into our backpacks, leaving the heavy stuff behind at our hotel.  We walk three blocks to a subway station that takes us to the central train station.  From there we board a longer distance train, transferring to the train that takes us to the town of Katoomba, our chosen destination to see the Blue Mountains.

Train to Katoomba

It is remarkably easy to use mass transit in Sydney.  We use our debit card to tap-on and tap-off where we enter and exit the station.  Our trip to Katoomba costs us around $6 each, one-way.  With gas costing approximately $7/gallon it’s a bargain.  I am concerned about traveling on a Saturday, expecting crowds.  I am pleasantly surprised, each of the trains is less than half full.  We enjoy a pleasant, relaxing, ride.  First, we observe the Sydney outskirts, then the countryside with small towns.  At the station where we transfer to our final train, we simply exit the train, then wait a few minutes until the next one arrives.  We opt to sit in the upper deck for better views.  We are surprised to see random trees wearing red and yellow fall colors along the way.  We climb into the mountains stopping at Katoomba at 3,330’.  It is sunny with a stiff wind blowing, making the low 50-degree temperatures feel cool.  Katoomba sits on a plateau on the side of a mountain.  Walking through town means we are either going up or down hill, some of them steep.  This is a real tourist town with many coffee/pastry shops, restaurants, bars, and outdoor gear shops crowding the main street.  Our hotel, Palais Royale, is a boutique hotel, starting out as two cottages in 1896, with several additions in subsequent years.  It was lastly restored in 1997.  It has a grand ballroom, sauna, creaky old wood floors, (in a good way) and stained glass.  Our bathroom is small and cozy.

I add a layer of clothing, before we head out.  The wind is brisk, but my extra layer keeps it at bay.  We head off towards the canyon, a mile walk through town.  We pass a small park with families enjoying the day.  We can tell the locals from the visitors; we are wearing multiple layers of clothing; locals are enjoying the day in shirts and pants.  Even the little kids are ‘underdressed’, in our estimation.  The Echo Point Visitor Information Center is packed with visitors.  Volunteers help with hiking trails, providing information on their favorite hikes.  The gift shop has many Blue Mountain souvenirs for us to choose from.

Three Sisters

Outside, the valley opens in front of us.  The Three Sisters formation overlooks the valley.  This is a small portion of the park; we learn that the park is twice the size of the Grand Canyon National Park in the US.  The park is covered in Eucalyptus trees.  Our guide informs us that the blue haze is caused by oil droplets from the Eucalyptus trees combining with water vapor and dust particles, scattering short wavelengths of light which are predominantly blue.  We hike a few of the shorter trails near the visitor center.  Some of them get quite steep and narrow, such that hikers have to stop in the wide section of the trail to allow others to pass.  We enjoy the hikes, getting out into nature again.  After lunch and a few more hikes we head back to town, stopping at a grocery store and take out restaurant for dinner, before heading back to the room, exhausted from the long day.

The next morning, we find the large dining room with a working fireplace.  We fill our plates with food then sit next to the fireplace, for its warmth.  Sun shines through the stained-glass windows providing streaks of color inching across the floor.  Today is a bit warmer, sun without the biting wind of yesterday.  Back uptown we purchase tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus tour.  We follow our plan from Sydney, riding the entire route of 33 stops, deciding which we want to visit.  Katoomba is surrounded on 3-sides by canyons leading to mountains in the distance.  We decide to visit Scenic World, a beautiful, tourist destination perched on a separate portion of the plateau.

Australian fern trees

The Scenic Skyway takes us in a cable car from one side of the plateau across a valley looking down on the Katoomba Falls to the plateau on the opposite side of the valley.  The Scenic Railway, the world’s steepest passenger railway at 52°, takes us down 1,017’ to the verdant valley floor where a series of trails leads us through a lush forest of tall Eucalyptus trees, tree ferns, and many florae unfamiliar to us.  Then, we take the Scenic Cableway back to the top of the plateau.  The shops and restaurants are packed.  We enjoy a hot chocolate, look for souvenirs, and enjoy more views of the Blue Mountains before heading back to the bus.

We mention to our bus driver that we are looking for a place for lunch.  He strongly suggests Café Lurline.  It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the food makes up for it.  We enjoy a delectable lunch of roasted vegetables, upside down steak pie and mushroom paradelle.  We are so glad we stopped.  Hopping on the next bus we ride to the next hiking trail following the Prince Henry Cliff Walk.  Here we see another side of the plateau with another waterfall and endless eucalyptus.  We are also introduced to the Lyre bird, a native Australian bird.  A group of hikers that just witnessed one singing, suggest that we stop for a bit, maybe we will hear the mating song.  Suddenly, we hear spectacular singing erupt from the brush not more than 30’ from us.  We can’t really see it through the brush, but we surely hear a beautiful song, lasting over two minutes.  The Lyer bird competes with the mockingbirds that inhabit our neighborhood in Texas.

Making our way back to the bus for our final ride of the day we see the sun setting over the distant mountains.  We make a final stop at a local pastry shop for a light dinner before retiring for the night.  Tomorrow our final morning in Katoomba before we catch the train back to Sydney.

Waking at 5, we pack, have breakfast then head out for out a bus ride back to the visitor center to find gifts to take home.  Walking to the visitor center we spot a low layer of fog in sections of the valley.  Cameras in hand, we head off to an overlook for our last pictures, and to witness the beauty of the Blue Mountains.  We take a short walk to the hotel to pick up our backpacks then back to the train station for the ride back to Sydney.

The train is as empty today as when we rode to Katoomba.  We have the reverse order of our trip to Katoomba; rolling hills to larger towns, finally into the big city.  Single sets of tracks grow to 2 sets, then 3, then 4, finally 16 as we approach Sydney’s central station.  We enjoy Chinese food for dinner along with a final view of Darling Harbor before turning in for the evening.  We have to pack for tomorrow’s flight to Cairns.

We are off to Cairns in the NE corner of Australia, a jump off point for Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest tours.

At the Sydney airport we do usual wandering around, not certain which line to get in to check in for our flight.  Waiting in line we find out our flight is not even assigned a gate, not a good sign.  The security check is easier than expected – leave shoes on, we are allowed to bring drinking water, in our carry-on bags.  Once through security I breathe a sigh of relief, now to find our gate.

The plane is packed, but the overhead bins are not, a pleasant surprise.  We have learned on US airlines to get on earlier as overhead compartments fill quickly.  If you are at the end of the line, you will have to check your bag.  Carrying camera equipment does not give us the option of checking our bags.

Cairns

Cairns is 80 and sunny, no jacket is needed.  Our hotel room faces west, we have to close the dark shades for the AC to cool the room.  Heading out for lunch, we follow the Esplanade, facing the Coral Sea, here we find a wide array of restaurants and tourist shops.  Tummies full of Italian food, we work down to the next item on our list, laundry.  The hotel will do our laundry but does not have machines for us to use.  We find one a few blocks away.  It is small, smaller than our living room, but it is efficiently packed with 16 machines, 8 washers/8 dryers, and a folding table.  We have to sit outside on the ground, if we want to sit.  Of the 8 washers 6 are in use.  While waiting, we walk the neighborhood a couple times, seeing other shops in the area.  An hour later, laundry is finished for another week.

Back in the room we start gathering our stuff for tomorrow’s snorkeling adventure; – swimsuit, iPhone, iPhone waterproof housing, flip-flops, SPF top, towel, sunglasses and dry clothes, for the ride back.

We wake early, pack our stuff, go for breakfast, then walk the 3 – 4 blocks to the marina for the boat.  It’s 68, sunny and breezy, we bring our jackets, for just in case.

Great Barrier Reef

We are going with Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel.  One of the first criteria I use for our tours is ‘small’.  In this case, not the 100+ passenger boats.  Our boat has a capacity of 80, there are only 48 today, split between snorkelers and divers.  As we board the boat we are given neoprene flotation jackets, masks with snorkels, and flippers.

While on the way we are given a geology lesson of this area over the last 100K years.  An Indigenous guide tells how this relates to their story of creation.

The water in the bay is cloudy from the river, but calm.  Heading farther out into the open water, it clears and swells appear.  As we progress the swells increase in size and frequency causing waves to splash across the deck, chasing passengers to the stern.  Two hours into the trip we arrive at Flynn Reef.  Inside the reef the water is very calm.

The crew secures the boat, then prepares the area for us to snorkel and dive.  They install buoyant ‘islands’ as rest areas for us to hold on to while we catch our breath.  They also lower the platform mounted on the stern for us to step down into the water, our launching off point.  In the meantime, we put on the gear for our adventure.  We signed up for a snorkeling tour with a biologist.  She will explain what we are seeing for the first 30 minutes.  For us this works as an introduction to snorkeling.  Neither one of us has snorkeled in 20+ years.  Three of us signed up for the tour, our tour guide tows the three of us holding on to a life preserver.

Please excuse my attempt at doing videos while snorkeling.  I haven't snorkeled in over 30 years.  You will notice I am a better photographer than a videographer.

Almost immediately I have issues with water getting into my breathing tube, having to frequently blow water out of the tube.  My mustache is also working against me, allowing water to leak into my mask.  I have to apply a good amount of Vaseline to it to keep my mask from leaking water.

Views of reef are spectacular.  The coral colors, fish colors, the direction of the sunlight change the colors of everything.  The fish swimming in and around the coral are not paying any attention to us, they are too busy feeding around the coral.

We find it hard to believe when we are called in – we have been snorkeling for two hours.  We are heading to another reef, enjoying lunch on the way, pastas, salads, prawns, sandwich meats and fruit.

Exiting the reef, the waves return, rocking the boat.  We are heading out further into the reef, closer to the reef edge.  A half hour later we stop in the calm of the Miln Reef.  There is a subtle difference between the two reefs.  The fish seem larger and the water deeper.

We shoot images and videos with reckless abandon.  As we end the day, the batteries in each of our phone die.  Good timing.  Alas, another 2 hours of snorkeling ends too soon.  On the return trip we change into dry clothing, then enjoy the ride back to Cairns.  Our indigenous guide demonstrates how to play the digeridoo, and at the end of the trip he performs a dance for us.

We stop at a marina restaurant for a kangaroo satay appetizer, and a kangaroo steak.  Both were excellent.  We had the kangaroo cooked medium and it indeed it is a bit tougher.  Medium rare seems to be the way to go. 

We walk back to our room, happy, salty, and spent.  Shower time tonight.  Tomorrow the Daintree Rainforest.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark