Australia 5: Port Macquarie & Blue Mountains

After our short stay in Byron Bay, we went to our next short stay in Port Macquarie. We only made a stop here because the distance between Byron Bay and the Blue Mountains, which was our actual destination, would have been too far (about 9 hours drive) and because we didn't want to stress ourselves. But Port Macquarie is also worth a visit and we consciously decided to visit because there is a koala hospital here where injured and sick koalas are cared for and nursed back to health. Each koala has a little story and you can also join a guided tour of the hospital in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to see the koalas up close, but it was also very nice and here we saw baby koalas for the first time, which was very cute.

Next Stop: Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains are a rugged region west of Sydney. The impressive landscape includes steep cliffs, eucalyptus forests, waterfalls, and villages with guesthouses, galleries, and gardens. Katoomba, the main town of the region, is located next to the Blue Mountains National Park, which offers numerous hiking trails through the bushland. From Echo Point, the view extends to the legendary sandstone formation of the Three Sisters. We, of course, also visited them and we also went down and up the 900 steps of the Giant Stairway. So hiking to the fullest was the order of the day here again. But our highlight in the Blue Mountains was visiting Hanging Rock. The view from and of this rock formation was truly amazing and out of this world, and there were also not so many tourists here. Nice side effect.

On the way to Sydney, we made another short stop at Wentworth Falls, very beautiful large waterfalls with an impressive valley view.