It Just Isn't Done That Way - Sydney and the Blue Mountains - TR Complete #284.

[shushh]

PIO, your shots of inside the caves are great! My low light photography is rather poor so I'm in awe! I too last went to Jenolan Caves about 20 years ago but Ii remember the Mountain lodge and caves house!

I'm sorry to hear about DS. So glad that you had a tour guide who was understanding and it sounded like the whole situation was handled well. Good on the other adventurers as well for being supportive. I can imagine how hard it would have been for DS.

Thanks for edumacating me on all things cave...I had no recollection of helictites.

And glad to see that breakfasts at hotels are consistently expensive and of average quality...

 

[PrincessInOz]

PIO, your shots of inside the caves are great! My low light photography is rather poor so I'm in awe! I too last went to Jenolan Caves about 20 years ago but Ii remember the Mountain lodge and caves house!

I'm sorry to hear about DS. So glad that you had a tour guide who was understanding and it sounded like the whole situation was handled well. Good on the other adventurers as well for being supportive. I can imagine how hard it would have been for DS.

Thanks for edumacating me on all things cave...I had no recollection of helictites.

And glad to see that breakfasts at hotels are consistently expensive and of average quality...

Thanks Shushh.

I think visitors to the caves experience claustrophobia more often than not. Someone on the second tour we did had the same issue and needed to leave the tour. At least in the daytime, the guide could radio out for someone to come. Support came within 10 minutes.

Wait till you see the hotel breakfast in Sydney!!!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Stunning pictures This area does seem larger than the first caves ( I didn't have to scroll through quite as fast ) I really hope for your DS' claustrophobia it is something he either grows out of or learns to cope with. Any phobia can be so limiting and frustrating.

Like Fran I completely failed with an MRI. I prayed, I tried to do Lamaze breathing ( something you never forget once learned ) nothing worked. I hit that panic button within 8 minutes if I recall.

On the other hand, I can do space mountain ( just don't like it ), can't do Star Tours, love RockNrollercoaster & TOT Go figure Mission Space either side have never tried the thought terrifies me I wonder if I am odd with my unpredictable bouts of claustrophobia or if other people are the same way with this hit or miss type of thing ? I also wonder where the heck this phobia came from, strange and annoying to me.

As usual I learned something new again in your reports:

If you're an Aussie, our room was the corner room on the 1st floor with the windows just under the roof. If you're from North America, our room was on the 2nd floor/level. Either way, our room was in the middle level of the building, closest towards us in this picture.

Interesting

 

[PrincessInOz]

Stunning pictures This area does seem larger than the first caves ( I didn't have to scroll through quite as fast ) I really hope for your DS' claustrophobia it is something he either grows out of or learns to cope with. Any phobia can be so limiting and frustrating.

Like Fran I completely failed with an MRI. I prayed, I tried to do Lamaze breathing ( something you never forget once learned ) nothing worked. I hit that panic button within 8 minutes if I recall.

On the other hand, I can do space mountain ( just don't like it ), can't do Star Tours, love RockNrollercoaster & TOT Go figure Mission Space either side have never tried the thought terrifies me I wonder if I am odd with my unpredictable bouts of claustrophobia or if other people are the same way with this hit or miss type of thing ? I also wonder where the heck this phobia came from, strange and annoying to me.

As usual I learned something new again in your reports:

If you're an Aussie, our room was the corner room on the 1st floor with the windows just under the roof. If you're from North America, our room was on the 2nd floor/level. Either way, our room was in the middle level of the building, closest towards us in this picture.

Interesting

Thanks Ruthie.

This is the first time we've seen any claustrophobia from DS. He didn't have any issues with Antelope Canyon last year or heading into any of the rides.


Yes....that universal translator thing never ceases to amaze me. We all speak English; but the nuances and local venacular can be so different.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Katoomba Accommodation



We had decided to get out of Jenolan Caves before the 11.45 am curfew. At this time, the road is changed to one-way traffic in the downward direction only to allow for the tour buses to make their way down. The tour buses head out of either Sydney or Katoomba. Our alternative was to stay to 1 pm and head-out then. DH and I figured with 2 caves already completed, we were probably better off seeking different scenery.


In case anyone is interested, I believe that you can pick up a tour bus either from Sydney to Jenolan or one from Katoomba to Jenolan. I don't know the price of the tours and you might want to check it out should you wish to include the Caves into your travel plans.

Jenolan to Katoomba is about 75 km. It took us about 90 minutes to make the trip.

We did briefly stop in Blackheath in search of lunch but there was nothing there that caught our eye. The closest was the Victory Theatre, which has been converted to an antique store plus café in the front. They didn't serve anything there that my boys wanted to eat so we pushed on. I did break one of my cardinal rules here....I should have grabbed some pictures whilst I was there but I didn't.


NOTE. There is a very popular lookout - Govett's Leap - just out of Blackheath. DH and I did consider heading there at this time of day but figured we would come back later. Afterall, we wanted a late afternoon or sunset view of this lookout point. As is the case, 'later' never happened on this trip. I'd recommend you put this on your views to visit if you're in the area. The view from this lookout is pretty decent!



So we pressed on to Katoomba.


Katoomba is the main town in the Blue Mountains. With a population of about 10,000 people, it's one of those small towns that completely appeals to DH and myself whenever we travel. The name is a derivation of the Aboriginal term "kedumba", which means shiny falling water. This place has been the centre of tourism in the Blue Mountains since forever. You'll find two grand dame hotels in here....the Carrington, which we avoided (not that there's anything wrong with it. it's right in the heart of Katoomba and can be a bit busy; we were seeking a different sort of experience) and the Hydro Majestic, which we saw from the Great Western Highway. The Hydro Majestic is undergoing a major renovation right now and I suspect when completed, will be the place to stay at....assuming the price is right. It looked amazing from the freeway and is right along the escarpment. The views will be spectacular from there. Location, location, location is everything!


Anyway, back to Katoomba. DH was a little thrown when I told him I had no idea where we were supposed to eat. So, we ended up doing a little aimless walking up and down the main street of Katoomba, checking out menus for at least half a dozen eating establishments. Shall we say that even DS was less than enamoured with the process? He was used to having an uber-planner in the family leading us straight to a restaurant and was a little frustrated with the tone of this holiday so far.


We eventually ended up in a café called the Savoy in Katoomba. I did check-up the reviews on Trip Advisor when we sat down. It was mid-field in ranking and wouldn't have figured at all in any list I would have compiled, if I had been compiling a list.



But given what we ate, the food was adequate enough.

























There was more than sufficient oil and carbs in this meal to fill us up.

I know...it's just not done that way, right? I'm supposed to have researched the heck of everything and planned things down to the second.....and picked a better ranked place to eat! The Savoy was not bad; but it was not good either. We won't be back.



By the time we'd finished lunch, it was time for us to check in to our accommodation. One of the things about little scenic towns is that you can always count on finding accommodation other than hotel/motels to stay in.


My pick for the two-nights we were to spend here was the Echo Point Holiday Accommodation. It does have a 2-night minimum and we ended up renting one of the villa units for about $395 for the 2 nights; including linen and towels. There are 5 villas and 4 cottages in this property. Our villa is the one in the front. There was another villa in the back half of this building.







The living room.







Not large; but comfortable enough for the 3 of us.







Down that passageway and to the left is the main bedroom. The beds were comfortable and very clean.







To the right in that passageway was the bathroom. I didn't seem to come back with any pictures of the bathroom! It was stunningly clean, lots of hot water and had everything you would need; except for a bath.



The kitchen was located at the end of the passage.







Again, not large but it did have everything we would need. One of those cupboards at the end there held a washing machine and dryer.








The second bedroom was at the left of the kitchen.








DS was very happy with his digs.







The heating in this place was cheerfully warm. There was ducted heating throughout and the beds came with electric blankets on them. We were to be glad to have both heating options before too long!






(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Bringing Melbourne Weather to the Three Sisters



I picked this place because of its location. Whilst there were plenty of hotels, motels, backpackers and holiday houses closer towards the various villages around the Blue Mountains, this place was the closest accommodation to be found in Katoomba to the main lookout.


It was directly across the road from this. The World Heritage Centre aka the Waradah Aboriginal Centre is a tourist trap; and there is a constant stream of people in and out of this area. I had worried about it being noisy in the villa; but those worries turned out to be unfounded. I barely heard any of the tourist noise from inside the villa.






The Waradah Aboriginal Centre was convenient in that it did include a café on the upper level and an ice cream shop. The café did offer breakfast in the morning and I had considered that it might be the place for us to head to for breakfast if we felt like it. In the end, we never ate here at all. But we did check out the centre and if you're after Aboriginal souvenirs, there's enough there to keep you in clover. It also does include a stage show showcasing aboriginal culture with an interactive story. Like I said, it is a bit of a tourist trap.


But if you cross the road to that side and walk 10 meters down the road from the Centre, this is what you'll see.







It's the Echo Point lookout and where you'll get the view of the Three Sisters. I rushed the boys out to this lookout.







Do you see what I see?







That pesky Melbourne weather....and the pelting rain....was nipping at our heels here.






We barely had 2 minutes to check out the view when the stinging cold rain fell. We made it back to the Information Centre at Echo Point without getting too drenched but we were cold. There was a break in the weather about 20 minutes later and we were all ready to head back to the Villa by this stage. Turning up the ducted heating and a hot water shower for all of us was exactly what we needed!



I kept an eye out on the weather for the rest of the afternoon.







The rain didn't let up for the next couple of hours but there was a brief period of clear skies close to sunset. Naturally I ran down the road.






I think you can see why they call this the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in colour.







With the moisture in the air, it was perfect for visually representing the blueness of this area.







I might have hoped for the sun to light up the Three Sisters more, but I really can't complain about the sunset colours on this day.







But it was cold. My fingers were so cold they could barely manage the camera buttons. Daytime temperatures barely made it into double digits (mid 40’s Farenheit) and night time temperatures were close to 2 C (mid 30’s F). And it was incredibly windy. I understand they had wind gusts up to 100 kmh during this day and the next. The coldness and wind was to be a feature of our time here. Seems like I brought the Melbourne weather with me to the Blue Mountains. Thank goodness I had packed Melbourne winter layers for this trip!





(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm Blacklisted in a Restaurant in the Blue Mountains; but it's not at Pins Lurline




I may not have done significant amounts of research into the Blue Mountains but I figured that as we were going to be there on a Saturday night and the first weekend of school holidays in Australia, that I needed to book in somewhere for dinner.


About a week out from this holiday, I did the quick look around Trip Advisor and checked out a few options and their menu offerings. I even got as far as picking one of the better restaurants to eat and ringing them for a booking. I know I did because DH remembers me telling him so.


The problem was that I hadn't written down where that place was anywhere.


I know....it's just not done that way, right?


I normally create one-page summaries for each day that we are away, keep an electronic copy on hand and also print them out. They look something like this.







Yup. I didn't have anything written down for this trip and this particular "ADR". Nada. Zilch!



All this Old Fogie remembered was that the booking was for a table for 3 at around 7 pm at night. And there's no point asking my DH....his memory is even worse than mine!



I did try. I pulled up Trip Advisor on my smart phone and went down the top 10 list. I called 5 of them; but they all said that they didn't have any bookings for the night in my name.
I gave up at this point. The way I figure it, my name will be on the blacklist for one of the better restaurants at the Blue Mountains because of the no-show on this night.



In the end, I called one of the restaurants back and they could fit a table for 3 in for an early dinner. All the top 5 were fully booked for the 7 - 7.30 pm timeslot so wherever I booked, it could have been under a completely different name (or date).


The restaurant we're eating at is Pins on Lurline. At time of writing, it’s #2 on the Trip Advisor list for Katoomba. We really could have walked to this restaurant from our villa but with the cold and rain, we drove. I pinched this one from DH’s collection.





DS went with the Parmesan cheese. It did come with a decent serve of Spaghetti Bolognaise and it was very tasty.






DH went with the Fried Vegetarian Udon with mushrooms and vegetables. One of the owners of this establishment is Japanese and the Udon noodles are homemade here.






They were the freshest and best Udon noodles I've ever had.







One of the Specials of the Day was the slow roasted Pork Belly, served with rice and bok choy.






The pork belly was soft and unctuous and delicious. I needed a spoon at the end to slurp up all of that sweet soy sauce.







We did indulge in dessert. This is the warm sticky date pudding, butterscotch sauce with vanilla ice cream.








It was significantly better than the Bread and Butter pudding. Just a bit too stodgy for my liking.







DS also indulged some more.







His hot chocolate was pretty good.








DH and I finished with a Japanese green tea.







Dinner was mostly great here! I don't know where I originally booked for but I doubt it would have served food that was significantly better than here. As long as I'm not on the black-list at Pins, I'm happy with how the night unfolded.





(Continued in Next Post)

 

 

[PrincessInOz]

One Cold Snap only and one Brain Freeze

Irrespective of what other differences we may have, the one thing that DH and I have in common is the occasional brain freeze into insanity. It's even worse when our respective brain freezes coincide!


It was a dark and stormy night when we got back to the villa. But it wasn't quite raining. So, DH and I looked at each other, grabbed our gear and ran down to Echo Point. We'd found out when we were caught at the Information Centre earlier that the Three Sisters were lit at night.



One Cold Snap. That's all we got in for this brief insanity. I just had enough time to set up the tripods, click one test shot, make an adjustment to the settings and click again before the pelting rain started.






And it was cold. Between the atmospheric temperature, the Antarctic wind and the rain, it must have been close to freezing. Brain Freeze in every respect! This was not one of our better ideas this trip. It had been insanity to head out in the cold and extremely windy night.



Hot shower, electric blanket and bed. That's what we ended up the night with.

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm cold just reading about your trip

Great location there though, so close to the 3 Sisters. And lucky you had all those nice cozy features!

I'm sure you've noticed, the Dandenongs also have that blue look. One sign in Ferntree Gully even refers to the as the 'Blue Dandenongs'.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Another beautiful set of photos. It's wonderful that you were able to get pics of the 3 Sisters at so many different times of the day.

We have 3 Sisters here in NZ as well. They also happen to be 3 rocks that really look nothing at all like women unless you use your imagination and make your vision kind of blurry.

 

[tiggrbaby]

What beautiful shots! It was so kind of you to brave the elements so we could see them!

 

[losfp]

Fantastic!! You are doing a more thorough job of being a tourist in my backyard that I do - because we live so close, we only do day trips, and fast ones usually The only place we stay is Jenolan because it's just that little bit further.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

It's so odd that it's your winter and it's cold! Lovely photo's of the caves and sorry about DS. That can be very horrid to come on suddenly. I never want to hear Elvis again that they played me in MRI machine...

I love those headset tours shame it wasn't open. The food prices and offerings for breakfast sound like England lol. Love the Orient caves tour.

Katoomba looks nice but cold! Oh my re brain freeze! I can imagine those caves are cold. We have lots here. Folks go cave diving.

 

[jedijill]

Brrr! Sounds like cold and miserable weather (remind me not to visit in July!) but the scenery looks awesome. Thanks for the explanation on why they are called the Blue Mountains!

Too funny about forgetting where your reservation was! I've done that too...glad you were able to get in someplace that turned out great. That pork belly looks super yummy!

Jill in CO

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm cold just reading about your trip

Great location there though, so close to the 3 Sisters. And lucky you had all those nice cozy features!

I'm sure you've noticed, the Dandenongs also have that blue look. One sign in Ferntree Gully even refers to the as the 'Blue Dandenongs'.

Yes. I even have a picture somewhere of a sign with "Blue Dandenongs" somewhere. I need to come up and take some more pictures of the eucalyptus walks up there. One of these days.

That villa was perfect for us.

Another beautiful set of photos. It's wonderful that you were able to get pics of the 3 Sisters at so many different times of the day.

We have 3 Sisters here in NZ as well. They also happen to be 3 rocks that really look nothing at all like women unless you use your imagination and make your vision kind of blurry.

Thank you.

I didn't know there was a Three Sisters in NZ. Where is it located?

What beautiful shots! It was so kind of you to brave the elements so we could see them!

Kind. Yes....I guess you could say that.

Glad to be of Dis-service.

Fantastic!! You are doing a more thorough job of being a tourist in my backyard that I do - because we live so close, we only do day trips, and fast ones usually The only place we stay is Jenolan because it's just that little bit further.

Thanks.

My PTR from the September trip was more of a blog than anything else. It is filled with things that I did over the year in Melbourne. I figured it was time to balance out the Aussie showcase with NSW tourism. I must get round to pulling it all together on a thread in the Aussie section.

It's so odd that it's your winter and it's cold! Lovely photo's of the caves and sorry about DS. That can be very horrid to come on suddenly. I never want to hear Elvis again that they played me in MRI machine...

I love those headset tours shame it wasn't open. The food prices and offerings for breakfast sound like England lol. Love the Orient caves tour.

Katoomba looks nice but cold! Oh my re brain freeze! I can imagine those caves are cold. We have lots here. Folks go cave diving.

Paula - the caves were warmer. The caves are a constant 15 or 16 C all the time. We were pulling off layers in the cave and leaving them on the coat hooks that the park had installed for each cave experience. Even the night tour.....we were peeling the extra layers off in the caves.

Brrr! Sounds like cold and miserable weather (remind me not to visit in July!) but the scenery looks awesome. Thanks for the explanation on why they are called the Blue Mountains!

Too funny about forgetting where your reservation was! I've done that too...glad you were able to get in someplace that turned out great. That pork belly looks super yummy!

Jill in CO

Jill.....when were you planning on heading down under? July isn't too bad for the northern states. It's just colder down the southern parts and unlike CO, you're unlikely to strike snow.

The substitute restaurant was really good. I can't remember why I didn't pick it in the first instance.

 

[jedijill]

Jill.....when were you planning on heading down under? July isn't too bad for the northern states. It's just colder down the southern parts and unlike CO, you're unlikely to strike snow.

The substitute restaurant was really good. I can't remember why I didn't pick it in the first instance.

I am thinking Sept/Oct of next year...I tend to travel in off season.

Jill in CO

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I didn't know there was a Three Sisters in NZ. Where is it located?

They're located on the Taranaki Coastline and are kind of like a small version of the 12 Apostles.

Even though the area is lovely, they aren't that well known. The route is not one frequented by tourists, they are in the middle of nowhere, you can't see them from the road, and you have to be lucky enough to be passing the area at low tide to walk out and see them.

 

[shushh]

Princess your dedication to your photography is admirable! And this shows in the photos that you take. Just beautiful.

Its a shame that you didn't find anything in Blackheath that appeals. I believe the eateries there are supposed to be more "foodie" and less "touristy'? But who am I to talk?!?! We drove straight past on our way home from Dubbo...

I'm guilty of taking the Blue Mountains for granted because it is so close to home. However, everytime we go, we do enjoy our walks and the feel of the place. I can understand why people love living in the area.

 

[ACDSNY]

Beautiful pics of the Three Sisters and now I've been educated as to why they are called the Blue Mountains.

I'm still cracking up over the old fogie memory on your dinner reservation.

 

[franandaj]

The second set of caves was even more exciting than the first!

The weather sounds like we want to travel before June or July. I admire your dedication to photography for going out in such weather to get those shots. I would have stayed in the warm villa, cooked dinner and gone to sleep early.