Australia Day 6 & 7 (Wed & Thu 3 & 4 Dec: Gold Coast to Blue Mountains)

Weather at Gold Coast was another great sunny day. Weather at BM was sunny yet chilly when we arrived about 6pm (about 20-22 degree celcius).

After we checked out of Meriton, we drove to Gold Coast Airport or Coolangatta Airport to return the car as well as take a domestic flight back to Sydney. Virgin Blue cost AUD59/pax. Realised that the domestic flights in Australia were not on time one... Our flight was supposed to depart 1205pm but it was already 12.25pm when I typed this sentence. Sianzzzz! We got worried for another of our domestic flight from Melbourne back to Sydney two weeks later.. cos we were scheduled to connect to international flight back to Singapore. Jia lart man!! Finally, the flight departed at 1.40pm, and we reached Sydney at 2.40pm (think they flew faster hehe).

Self check-in & print boarding pass

I didn't know the domestic flight has inflight entertainment too but of course gotta pay lah haha!!

Reached Sydney. Bought the CityRail train ticket from Domestic Airport to Katoomba (where Blue Mountains were). Cost AUD25/pax/way (gotta change train/platform at Sydney Central Station). 2-hour ride but enjoyed the mountain views. After driving for 6 days, I could rest! Heheh!!

Sydney Central Train platform

Inside the train cabin. Not new but we were surprised that the seats could be pulled over to change the direction.

Accommodation - Kurrara Historical Guest House AUD80/night for the Bluebell Ensuite Room we booked. Very small room, little room to walk but alright for sleep lah.. Free wireless, free coffee/ tea anytime from its dining area. Oh, TV not included in this room but we can go to its main TV lounge. Good for the price we paid. Quite an enchanted classic house - literally 'historical' haha (>100YO)!

My only gripe was the distance from the Katoomba Train Station. Well, technically, it wasn't that far, say about 15-20min walk but with a 7kg backpack on each of us, plus the route was up and down slope, it definitely "looked" further than it was as indicated on the map!

Main entrance

Common area
TV room
Dining room
Bluebell room
Bluebell room toilet

Our "in-room" dinner. Too small and no table space for proper dining lah.. so sit on the floor loh.. hehe

Day 7 - Thu 4 Dec: The weather in the early morning was cloudy and it drizzled so it was darn COLD!! 11 degrees celcius! Frankly we didn't expect this weather. The owner of the Guest House said it snowed about 1 week ago!

Anyway, we headed out early to do the Hop-on-Hop-Off Trolley Tour Bus that brought us around 29 attractions in Katoomba and nearby town called Leura. The all day bus cost AUD20/day/pax, with commentary from the driver (pretty soft actually and we couldn't catch everything cos of accent as well ;p). We topped up AUD18/pax that included 2 rides in Scenic World - Railway and Cableway. We also did bush walks which burnt some fats off me so I could eat more hahaha!

Our subway breakfast (1ft AUD6ish + AUD3 for coffee which yucks ;p)

Trolley bus
Leura Falls.
Toilet within the park, for caveman hhaha! Kidding!
The famous 3 sisters. Know the legend? Read below..

Errr.. can read if you click it?? Haha!

Giant steps. Aiyoh so steep!! Can you see me hanging onto my dear life on the railings hahah!

Scenic World with 3 naked sisters & dad hahah!

Scenic cableway

Scenic railway - steepest incline 52 degree

By noon, the sun came out and the temperature was 18 degree celcius. Soooo much better! We took the bus to the neighbourhood town called Leura, a quaint charming town for a bite - beef chunky pie, coffee and shortbread.. hehe..

Leura town

Then we went back to the Guest House for a rest before dinner in town. I was so reluctant to go out cos the sun went hiding again! We settled for something quick - hamburgers & fried prawns haha! AUD20.40 for the meal.

Fish & chips dinner

We went back to the Guest House for a cup of coffee and met the owner as well as a Canadian couple in their 60s. The Canadian couple was very funny actually haha! The husband used to be a Geography teacher in Ontario but has since retired 7 years ago. We had a good time exchanging each other's culture (Singapore-Canada-Australia). Had a great chat for almost 2hrs before we all went back to our rooms.