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.

Australia Day 4 & 5 (Mon & Tue 1 & 2 Dec: Coffs Harbour to Gold Coast)

Weather - Sunny & cool! Another great weather!

Hubby went out to buy Subway breakfast at AUD3.95 which included a 6-inch bacon & egg sandwich + coffee (forgot to take picture).

Then we headed to Gold Coast but stopped for a lunch break at a small town called Ballina (break the 4-hr drive journey). This "box" of fried rice cost AUD10.90. Hubby didn't like it cos too bland for his salty taste bud haha!

Our first meal of rice after 3 days in Australia

Accommodation - Meriton Gold Coast AUD99/night through wotif.com. Room #1214 (asked for high floor). Very new fully-contained serviced apartments. Parking at AUD10/night. Apparently, part of the building was still being constructed and hence the "pre-opening" offer. Well, we didn't hear any construction noise at all with the doors shut. It was really value for money! I LOVE every single piece in the apartment! Aiyoh!!! I told my hubby I wanna stay put, and not go back to Singapore. So, friends, please come visit me in Gold Coast hahhaha!! Well, I guess the next best substitute was to make our next house in Singapore similar to Meriton hahaha!! OOnnzz!! Anyway, very highly recommended if you could still get this deal. Within few minutes walk to shopping malls, and behind the building was a police station (safe right? hahah!) Rating: 8.5/10

View from our balcony
Bedroom - very comfy bed!
Living room
Laundrette

Kitchenette
Pool

Gym

We went out to the beach (Broadbeach) which was about 5min walk from the apartment. Then went to the nearby supermarket to get dinner. Since it was an apartment with a full kitchenette, we decided we could do some light cooking. So we bought a can of soup, chicken & bacon carbonara, a whole chicken (medium size) and some cherries. Total cost AUD21.40. Not exactly cheap but good to be "home" for "home-cooked food" hahaha!! After dinner, we let the dishwasher clean up our crockery.. first time using it.. hehe

Dinner was pasta salad, one whole grilled chicken and beef chunky soup

Next day after breakfast at the balcony, we drove to Purlingbrook Falls @ Springbrook. Technically, the drive time was to be about 35min but because we were negotiating mountains (imagine Genting/ Cameron), it took us an hour to reach there haha!! Safety more important mah..hoh.. hehe.. To enjoy the best part of the Falls, there was a 4km circuit route through the mountains. Great experience but tired out by the end of the 1.5hr walk (return) - our first exercise on this trip haha! Within Springbook there was a "Best of all Lookout" (another 0.6km return).

Our breakfast at the balcony
Purlington Falls from front
The Falls from the back - super cooling especially after the exercise ha!

We had wanted to visit Mt Tambourine (think about 30min drive from Springbrook?) as well but didn't have time cos it was way past lunch time when we finished our mountain climbing. So we went to this Fudge Shop nearby the Falls and bought 2 pcs (AUD3.80 each). Wah liao... damn sweet!! It was really really very sweet! Haha!

The Fudge Shop

Went back apartment to have a rest and freshen up before we took the monorail (AUD2/pax/ride) from Oasis Shopping Centre to Conrad Jupiters, a hotel with a casino within. Not that we were going to gamble but just to have a look. We settled for its buffet dinner at AUD39.95/pax. Ate lots of prawns! Overall the food was ok, not that fantastic ;)

Australia Day 3 (Sun 30 Nov: Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour)

Weather - Sunny & cool! Great weather!

Our in-room breakfast. Basic, but good enough to fill our stomachs. 4 slices of bread (with jam & butter), cereal with milk & beverages (the coffee was bad haha!)

After breakfast, we checked out and headed to the Koala Hospital, a sanctuary for injured koalas (free entry). Small little place with a few koalas. Really cute! The volunteer said they don't encourage people to carry koalas as they have really sharp nails. Fact of the day: did you know that koalas have 2 thumbs and 3 fingers on each hand? Hehe..

We left Koala Hospital after 30min and headed to a market bazaar along Hastings River Drive where we hung around for another 30min as well.

Then we drove up to Coffs Harbour (about 2.5hrs). We reached Coffs Harbour at about 1pm, checked in and walked out to the nearby town centre for lunch.

Accommodation - Toreador Motel AUD75/night. Room #3 - Ground floor, undercover parking. Cheap right? So cannot complain loh hahah!! It was supposed to come with free wireless but we couldn't connect to the network successfully for very long. So lousy haha!! Rating: 5/10

External view

Room - this was supposed to be the "refurbished" room. Well, it was clean, just small and old furniture

Our lunch - The Beef Bistro. 9 options of lunches at only AUD9.95 each, ranging from beef to chicken and pasta. Included in the price was a drink each as well, either a beer, wine or soft drink. We ordered a beef and chicken - not too bad lah..

Tex-Mex Grilled Chicken

Rump steak (200g)

Thereafter, we walked around the little town centre.. again, most shops were closed already leh... good life eh? Hehe.. We went to supermarket to get fruits again. Passed by a cheesecake shop and so picked up one as well.

We went back for a short nap before we drove out for dinner @ Hog's Breath. We ordered their specialty prime beef (traditional cut), a beef & potato soup and a drink to share. Bill came to AUD46.40. Supper was cheesecake which wasn't very good leh.. ;(

Forgot to take picture before we split the share ;p
Beef & potato soup - yummy chunky beef