Often we tend to miss exploring the suburbs while visiting a big city. I mean usually travellers like us are always short on time. And famous cities like Sydney can suck up many days. However we decided not to devote our entire three days of NSW to Sydney. After exploring a ton of options, we decided to spend one day in the Blue Mountains, the nearest hill station to the vibrant Sydney.
For Indians like us who are used to the mighty Himalayas, a hill station with not so high mountains wouldn't impress much. Believe me we Delhiites pay a visit to the gigantic Himalayas every now and then. But the Blue Mountains looked really special and we were really glad that we went there!
The name is not a misnomer. The moment we landed in Katoomba railway station, we could see the mountains at a distance and they were blue! After freshening up at our gorgeous B n B, we set for the first stop: Katoomba Falls. The nearer we went to the hills, they appeared more blue. The reason is that the eucalyptus emits oils and resins and these react with the water droplets to impart this distinct blue colour! It was surreal!
The hike to the falls was not gruelling. I mean the stairs were really in a good condition and that too with rails! We are used to a lot worse than this. After climbing all the way down to the base of the falls, we wanted to explore the national park. But the way was under maintenance and we had chuck that idea. Moreover it was getting dark and we wanted to visit the Three sisters.
The hike from the falls to the Echo point was quite a walk. There is a Scenic Ropeway too. It takes you above the mountains in a ropeway cabin and you catch a bird's eye view of the entire area. It was under maintenance during that time. Also we didn't have any intentions of getting onto it. It was pretty expensive and we always prefer to walk!
First we reached the Echo Point. That place offered almost a 270° view of the mountains as well as the iconic Three Sisters. On our way to the second view point, we met an elderly lady who smiled back at us when my husband gave her a smile and just like that a conversation started. We learnt that she was a Fourth generation Fijian settled in Australia who was originally Indian! Whoa! She was Nisha, a chef/ teacher and within no time she invited us over for dinner. We would have been alarmed otherwise but somehow she seemed so genuine that we planned to meet at 9 pm. She promised to pick us up from our B n B.
During our hike, I picked up a bunch of flowers for her. It was pitch dark when we walked through the unknown streets of Katoomba to our B n B. Had it been Italy, we would have been scared to death! Not a single soul...only the cacophony of the crickets was our company.
We freshened up and I made a quick hostess gift basket from all the Indian snacks we had been lugging. We waited for her quite some time. When it was 9 30, we decided to walk to the main bus stop and called her from there. She came there at around 10 and said that she had been unable to locate us through GPS. Anyways we got into her car and reached her abode which was quite big as per Delhi standards!
She was an excellent cook and even a more dedicated hostess! She cooked a thorough vegetarian fare for my husband and chicken and prawns for me. Not only that, she even packed us two lunches for Sydney! How amazing! For dessert we had the world's most delicious blueberry mousse. She had married a British and her son is in the Australian Navy. Sadly her husband expired even before her son was born! She keeps cooking and feeding unknown passerbyes to get blessings and good wishes! It was such a lovely night we had!
By the time she dropped us off, it was 1 30. We had an early train to Sydney next day and just dropped off to sleep!
Dress: Fashionmia.com
Backpack: Zaful.com
Shoes: Zaful.com
