After 5 nights in Sydney, we headed to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains for 3 nights. On arriving off the train, we were shocked at how cold it was compared to Sydney, just 2 hours journey away. We were staying about 1000m above sea level though. The difference was highlighted even more by the hail and snow that woke us up early on the next morning!

In the Blue Mountains we had a great time. It was nice to be out of a city for the first time in ages, and we went on a few cliff top walks with spectacular views over the valley and temperate rainforest below the plateau level we were on as well as the "3 sisters" rock formation. We took a bus tour as well, and got to see lots of waterfalls and cascades. We also went to "Scenic World" where we took the worlds steepest train (pictured) at an angle of 52 degrees into the jungle to the Indiana Jones theme, before walking around and taking a cable car up, as well as having taken a horizontal cable car with a glass floor over a 300m drop!

Other Highlights from Katoomba included a chocolate factory, a tea shop and a sweet shop, as well as a 6 storey cinema screen showing a short documentary about conservation in the area. The only lowlight was a giant spider on the shower curtain on the penultimate day, resulting in nervous bathroom trips after that!

All in all the blue mountains were amazing, if a little chillier than we were prepared for!