Off to the Blue Mountains

I don't know if you knew already: the Blue Mountains are not actually blue! From a distance, it just looks like there's a blue haze over them because eucalyptus trees release their oil into the air in the heat, creating the blue mist.

Today, Tony gave us a whole day and took us to the so-called Blue Mountains, which are not actually blue. It takes about 2 hours to get to Leura (and before that, not quickly stopping by Wentworth Falls to take a look, circling for ages looking for a parking spot, frantically parking incorrectly, and hoping not to get a ticket (it worked: no one noticed) then it's an extra 25 minutes).

Leura is a delightful little town where you can stroll around (and stock up on all sorts of candies and gummy snakes in the candy store). In that very town, we had an early lunch (super delicious antipasti and freshly squeezed juices) at Leura Gourmet at 12:00. Tony really knows the best places!

We then headed to Katoomba to Scenic World, a former coal mine turned nature park with gondolas and a super steep railway (52 degrees!!!). We walked along wooden boardwalks and saw ferns, eucalyptus trees, vines, Australian ivy, and who knows what else. Close your eyes when paying the entrance fee ($39 per person) and just enjoy!

We took a detour to the Lookout to see the Three Sisters (not the Forest sisters - it's a rock formation, and the story goes that these were 3 sisters who were turned into rocks by wizards to protect them from the advances of three men, unfortunately the wizards died before they could undo the spell... tough luck 😉). We made a quick stop for coffee (both of Tony's favorite places were closed, so we ended up at a cafe with mediocre service - out of the order of 4 drinks and 1 muffin, only the drinks arrived... keeping an eye on 4 tables is really too much...) and then started the journey back.

After half a bottle of champagne on the terrace for the three of us, Matthes and I are now heading out for the nightlife of Surry Hills, and Ursula is writing postcards (the rest of the bottle is still in the fridge...).