Blue Mountains

We hired a car in Sydney and drove out west to the Blue Mountains. We stopped in the biggest town in the region, Katoomba, and stayed for three nights. We had trouble finding accommodation on the Saturday that we arrived as it's a popular weekend destination for Sydney residents, especially in the winter (apparently they like the whole mountains & log fires thing, and even have some bizarre Christmas type celebration in August!?). We had to spend the night in a nasty place called Katoomba Mountain Lodge, which was like stepping back into the early seventies. After that we spent two nights in Hostel No 14, a really homely, cosy place. The Blue Mountains are quite impressive, and there are lots of great bush walks around the area, some of which required really long, hard climbs up steep staircases (but were definitely worth it). We also went on the worlds steepest railway, which really did border on vertical at times. We met a Canadian guy called Sam (a resident in Oz for 9 years) and his Aussie friend visiting from the Gold Coast in one of the local pubs on Sunday afternoon. We ended up having quite a lot to drink and heading back to Sam's for a barbecue. They were great guys and extraordinarily generous to us, treating us to steaks, expensive wine and not letting us pay for a thing. I hope we get the opportunity to return the favour some day.

Back in Sydney today. Tomorrow morning we fly to Darwin for 9 days in the Northern Territory. Not really sure what to expect. It's going to be nice and warm (30-32) and is apparently one of the best times of year to visit. Might hire a camper for a week (or a car and camping equipment) and head out to Kakadu National Park and Katherine Gorge. Alternatively, we'll do day trips from Darwin.