Feeling surprisingly awake after getting up at 4am to make my flight from Cairns I arrived back in Sydney and decided to head straight off to the Blue Mountains about 2 hours away by train. This is a trip I really wanted to do the whole time I was in Sydney over Christmas but somehow never got around to it...

The train journey was really beautiful, coming up through the mountains and we eventually arrived in Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains area. Although there's not much there beyond cafes and travel shops I managed to find several really nice vintage jewellery shops where I could have happily spent the whole day but had to tear myself away to actually see the sights I'd come for!

About a half hour walk out of the town you come to Echo Point lookout which has amazing views over the valley and Three Sisters rock formation. Unfortunately it's a bit of a circus with an endless stream of coaches and package tour groups pulling in and out but the view is on such a big scale they all get a bit lost. Ideally I would have liked to do some of the walks around the cliff edge but only having a day I was a bit pressed for time to get back and catch the train so only managed a bit of a wander round but still saw some amazing views.

And so now I'm into my final full day in Sydney. Tomorrow is Australia Day which promises to be a pretty big occasion so today will be my chilling out/wandering round/present shopping day. If I can fit anything else in my bag that is...