A Weekend in Sydney

Hi friends!

So this weekend I decided to stay in Sydney to save money for my upcoming trip to Fiji (blog posts will follow)! Since my friend and I knew we wanted to do something different & fun for the weekend, we headed to the SGA travel office on the UNSW campus to help us out. They recommended heading to the Blue Mountains and they actually knew a tour group that we could join for the day!

Originally we had planned on staying a night at a hostel in the blue mountains but once we talked to the tour guide he recommended doing everything in one day. On the first day (Saturday), we woke up pretty early (for us at least) and met our tour guide and bus at the YHA central right in Sydney. It was super easy to get there (we took the local bus) and extremely convenient. Once we got on, it was only about a two-hour drive to the first look out site. We were able to drive onto a dirt road which took us to a short path where there was an unbelievable view (as you can see in my pictures). Luckily Our tour guide had a passion for photography and has taken a few photography classes in the past so he knew all of the good places to get pictures!

After that, we got back on the bus and drove about 20 minutes to another site where we could take a short hike down to a waterfall. Once we got there, our tour guide pointed out these birds that are known to be extremely vicious. Our guide explained that if you train the baby birds to be friendly with humans, they will teach their babies the same. In order to do this, he crumbled up a cracker and slowly led the bird towards us. Once it got close enough, he was able to train the bird to eat out of his hands! After that short entertainment show, we walked down a short path to a beautiful look out view and waterfall. There were people swimming in the waterfall but because we went in the dead of winter I wouldn't recommend swimming because the water is freezing cold (at least during this time of year).

Proceeding these two beautiful look out spots, we were able to get a quick lunch in town! The town is very small but extremely quaint and cute. My friend and I made our way to a small cafe called ‘Zest’ which was delicious. After lunch we all hopped back on the bus and traveled to my favorite part of the day. Here, we took a cable car across the valley and saw the famous 3 sisters. Once we got to the other side of the valley, we took the worlds steepest railway down to a small path where you visit old coal mining sights. Since we wanted to fit it all in, we quickly walked through the coal mines and then took a short hike to a small waterfall. We only walked for about an hour before my friend slipped on a rock and sprained her ankle. Since she was in a little pain we decided to head back. (Just an FYI, this hike is extremely easy and not dangerous at all-- My friend was on her phone and wasn't paying attention so that's why she fell!) Other then that small injury it was definitely a very fun and adventurous day. On our bus ride back to Sydney we drove through the Olympic stadium. Our tour guide was amazing and knew a lot of fun facts about the stadium so it was extremely interesting and entertaining.

All in all, it was definitely a successful weekend. If you ever have a spare day in Sydney, I would definitely recommend visiting the blue mountains and taking a ride on the steepest railway! As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me!