So what does one do after spending a nice week warming up on the Gold Coast in Queensland ? You head straight up to the Blue Mountains to do a two day walk in the freezing depth of winter of course !
Met a group of friends up at Wentworth falls where we embarked on the Grand Clifftop Walk. This walk takes you from Wentworth Falls to Scenic World just near Leura. Looking at the GPS maps I’ve included, it starts from the right on the second picture (day 1) then continuing to the left (day 2). It’s a beautiful walk, however we encountered a few sections that were closed and had to detour / back track around those sections, partly heading down into the Jamison valley. This made the walk much harder than the “Grade 3” its classified as.
On the second day, we had to descend into the valley and walk up the Giant Stairway that’s right near the Three Sisters. This is classified as “Grade 4” and is basically 1,000 steps straight up the cliff face. I’m reasonably fit for my age (53) and I found it punishingly hard.
Lunch on the Friday was at the Leura Gourmet Cafe and Deli. This place is super popular and we had to wait approximately 30 minutes for a table. Its worth the wait though as the food is great and has some great views from the dining room over the valley.
We stayed at the Leura Garden Resort on the Friday night, It was great value for $170, included breakfast, the rooms were quite large and had been recently renovated. Would stay there again on a future trip.
Dinner was at The Old City Bank Bar and Brasserie and then after dinner drinks by the fire in the lounge room of the Carrington Hotel. This has the qunitessential large comfortable leather lounges by the fireplace and is an excellent way to relax after a hard days walk.
Before driving home on Saturday afternoon, we were looking for somewhere to have lunch, and if it was busy on Friday, it’s insane up here on a weekend. The traffic and parking is the worst part of a weekend in the mountains. If you can, go up mid week.
One little gem that’s not all that well known is the teapot museum (Bygone Beautys) . A lot of people will bypass it, however it has a great little restaurant/cafe attached and we managed to get a table for 8 people as a walk in.
It's all about the coffee 