The Blue Mountains Holiday with Kurt Nov 2012

Sat 24 November 2012

The 3.30 am alarm awoke me from a very deep sleep and after that it was all go to get ready for the cab I had ordered to take me to the airport.  The check-in process went very smoothly, and then at the security check point a young over zealous security bloke gave me the full attention. He called his supervisor and the next thing I knew the 3 of us were going into the ‘private’ examination room. Anyway all went well and the supervisor thanked me for my co operation, but I do think young ‘junior’ was very disappointed for not making a big drug bust of the year.

The 2 hour flight to Brisbane was uneventful.

 Kurt was waiting for me at the arrival gate with a sign when I got off the plane. We then went to the departure lounge for our flight to Sydney. (Note there is no mention of the Qantas club anymore as I don’t fly that much any more so I have let my membership lapse.)

On arrival in Sydney we picked up our brand new Ford Falcon hire car and set of for the 100Km trip west to the Blue Mountains.

We arrived at the small town of Springwood just after 2 pm and we visited my cousin Alan and his wife Jenny who run a coffee shop.

 I hadn't seen Alan for about 12 years or met his wife before so it was a good catch-up on what we have both been up to. Jenny served us up Coffee and a great BLT sandwich. After a couple enjoyable hours Kurt and I left to continue our trip to Katoomba.

Wow, the place was packed out and we could only get into a  1 Star overpriced dump of a motel for the night as it was take it or leave it. Fortunately we were able to book into a much better and cheaper Motel for the next 2 nights.

We spent the remainder the day having a look at the ‘3 Sisters’ and taking in the Mountain views. 
We went to the RSL club for dinner and had an all you could eat Chinese yummy meal. We both had small wins at the pokies after the meal.

Sunday 25 Nov 2012.

After a good night’s sleep we headed off to find some brekkie. We found a great art Deco Greek café and enjoyed a full brekkie of bacon and eggs and coffee. 

Back at the motel we packed up and then set off to visit Scenic World to take in some of the high lights of this beautiful area.

 We did the cable car across the gorge and the train down to the bottom of the gorge. The forests, the views and the waterfalls were specular.

After a 4 hour visit we went for a drive to explore the area and take in more of the views.

We went for a walk around the town in the evening and then got some pizzas to take back to our new motel. 

We enjoyed the pizzas with a bottle of red wine out on our balcony. We had a bit of a late evening.

Monday 26 November 2012

The full Brekkie at the motel was great and filled us up for the day for our trip to the Jenolan Caves about 75 km from Katoomba on very winding mountainous roads.

We choose the Orient Cave to visit on the 3 hour guided tour.

On the return trip we called in to the historic town of Hartley and just had a drive around as the rain had started.

We went back to take some more photos of the 3 sisters on our return to Katoomba.

 We had fish 7 chips back in the motel for dinner and had an early night after a long day.

Tuesday 27 November 2012.

We had another big brekkie at the motel then packed and headed off to drive back to Sydney.

 On the way we called into the little town of Blaxland to have a look at the historic bridge built for the Cobb & Co stage coaches 130 years ago.

After returning the hire car at the airport we then took a cab to our nearby motel. We freshened up and then walked to the nearby train station of Wooli Creek to go into the city. What a bargain I got a $2.50 pass for the day which included ferries and buses.

On arrival at Circular Quay we took the ferry to Manly which is an excellent way of doing a harbour cruise. It was a pity the day was overcast, however it was not raining. The city skyline, the Opera House and the Bridge always look spectacular.

We had a great lunch at a pub overlooking the beach and the surf and the sun broke through the clouds. After lunch we wandered around then caught the ferry and the train back to the motel.

The Rowing Club about 200 mtrs away from the motel provided us with an excellent venue for dinner. We sat out on a deck overlooking the lake and also could see the aircraft landing at the airport. A big storm blew up just about the time we wanted to leave so the kind man on the front desk lent us an umbrella for the dash back to the motel.

As Kurt had a shuttle transfer booked for the airport 4.55 am we had an early night. My shuttle is booked for 8.55 am to take me to the Sydney International Airport.

The last 4 days have been great and with Kurt’s excellent company the time went far too quickly. It was Kurt’s first visit to the Blue Mtns and it had been over 40 years since my last visit.  Also it was beaut to catch up with my cousin Alan after many years.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

After the sad goodbye to Kurt I started to get myself organised to go to the airport to meet up with Wayne for the flight to Santiago.