6.15am start this morning. Threw our clothes on and got sorted, then straight out to meet up for our tour to the Blue Mountains. We booked with a company called Happy People for $60 (£40) each. The prices ranged from $60 to $150! So we opted for the cheapest, and actually Ben recommended that company too.

Warm this morning as well, even at 7am! So should be in for a nice warm sunny day.

Didn't off to a good start. We got to the meeting point at YHA Central for 7.15am and was supposed to be met at 7.20am. We got a phone call at 7.50am to say they're sorry, they've had a few problems and are on their way. There were quite a few others waiting for the same tour as well. 8.15am by the time we set off!

We first stopped at a place just inside the Blue Mountains National Park called Glenbrook for some breakfast - croissant and a coffee. Fortunately the prices weren't too bad in this little bakery. There were quite a few nice little bakeries and a lot of the tour buses seem to stop off around there.

Our first scenic stop was at Flat Rock. A flat rock at the top of the Blue Mountain range. We had stunning views of all the mountains and the rainforest below. It was a bit dicey on there though, it was a sheer drop at the edge...far, far down!
They're called the Blue Mountains because the eucalyptus trees give off a vapour which creates a blue haze. And it really does look blue across the valley.

We then went onto Scenic World. We had the choice of a cable car down plus a railway ride up, but decided to walk down and take the railway up. We were really glad we did because we got to properly see the waterfalls and had fantastic views of the mountain range and down into the rainforest. It rook us about 45 minutes to get down to the bottom, but that's with a couple of detours to the scenic spots. The famous rock formation here is called the Three Sisters. The aboriginals named it that and there's a bit of a tale about it too (WiKipedia it if you're interested?).

It was a pretty steep walk down there and it's mostly muddy stairs held back by wood - trust me to wear my flip flops. I didn't get very muddy actually. It was a nice walk down anyway. And it's eucalyptus rainforest that we walked through, so it was really nice.

When we got to the bottom, we took the scenic walk. That wasn't fantastic really. There's a walkway right around with stuff to read about the history of this place as it used to be a mine, plus other stuff about the habitat. We had to whizz around though as we didn't have much time to get back. And the queue was massive for the railway!
It's the steepest railway in the world. And it feels like it. You sit upright in the seats facing downwards and the carts take you up at a 52 degree angle! We really felt like we were going to fall forward. If those breaks fail, you shoot right off the end, right down into the valley.

It lasted 2 flipping minutes and cost $11 (£8). But we definitely weren't going to walk back up and it's the steepest in the world so we had to do it!

From there we went on to Echo Point to get a closer look at the Three Sisters. It was absolutely heaving with tourists. We stayed there 5 minutes to get a couple of pictures and get out of there for our lunch. Stunning view from there though.

On the way to Wentworth Waterfalls, our tour leader picked up our lunch (included in the tour!). A big Chicken and Leek pie each we had with a little tub of salad. First time we've had pie in 3 months. It was lovely as well.

After a quick lunch break we started our trek along and down the side of the cliffs. There's some fantastic scenic spots along the way looking really far out across the Jamison Valley. Then we got to the waterfalls which are on lots of levels all the way down. It was another fairly long trek...well, it was about 2 hours but it's quite hard work. We didn't actually go to the bottom either, it was about half way maybe.

We set off back to Sydney at about 4.30pm. Took us an hour and a half to get back. We both slept for an hour of it - knackered! It's been a fantastic trip though and we've seen some amazing sights today.

And then we had to go food shopping. Yep, New Year's Eve tomorrow so got to get sorted. It was manic in Coles and they didn't even have any tea cakes left! So then we went to Woolworths...none. Then to the other Coles...finally, they had some. If it's not a hunt for stuffing, it's for bread.

We got back to our hostel and spent about 3 hours in the kitchen making our tea and tomorrows picnic food! We're so tired after a long day yesterday, then an even longer day today. And we've got another early start tomorrow...

(I've just posted 5 blogs today for the 26th to the 30th December)