Katoomba - Blue Mountains - Part 2

Our second day of Katoomba we started slow. After a few beers at the RSL and a bottle of wine at the hotelroom we were not the earliest guests out of the hotel. We just managed to catch the hotel breakfast in the Grand Dining room before it closed at 10 am. After checking out and the late breakfast we strolled around town for a while. I picked up a climbing guide for the Blue Mountains and then we strolled into a cafe where I had a coffee while Nicole sipped on hot chocolate.

Hike 2: Echo Point - Scenic World

After coffee we headed out for our hike. Like yesterday we started at Echo Point and headed down the giant stair case, past three sisters, all 894 steps to the bottom.

Map

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It was a pretty easy hike which again took us about 3 hours including stops for photos and admiring amazing views, birds and crazy big trees.

 Currawong up in tree

 View about half way.

XXXL tree.

Nicole posing in front of a huge and very old Turpentine Tree

At the end of our hike was Scenic World which is a collection of Cable Cars, Boardwalks, Miners Village and a Scenic Railway. It was pretty touristy with plenty of school kids. So it was a bit crowded but that didn't stop us for really enjoying the views, which were breath taking.
http://www.scenicworld.com.au/

View from Scenic World

Continued view from Scenic World.

Check out those crazy trees.

Nicole pretending to be a 1900 century coal miner.

Apart from plenty of views Scenic World is also a Miners "museum" of sorts with lots of plaques with information and old mining equipment on display.

If you energy to spare after the hike and don't feel like being crowded at Scenic World then you can climb it yourself using the Furber Steps which you can take to the top. But beware that it is 900 vertical meters that you need to climb.

The Cable Car was closed so we took the Scenic Railway, which is the steepest passenger railway in the world, to the top and headed back into town. We were both pretty tired and happy after a wonderful hike. But also starving since we hadn't eaten since breakfast. There are plenty of options to eat in Katoomba which seems great. I can recommend "Common Grounds Cafe" for good pumpkin soup or a delicious veggie burger.

But the best place we found without question was the Unique Patisserie which except for displaying delicious looking pastry and cakes also served Malaysian/Penang food which was well priced and absolutely delicious.
https://www.facebook.com/UniquePatisserie

Tofu with bean sauce from Unique Patisserie. Yummy. Ate half the salad before I took the picture. Sorry. :P

After food and Chocolate Pudding we picked up our bags from The Carrington and headed to the train station. We sleept most of the way home happy with tired legs and full bellies.

I really enjoyed my first visit to the Blue Mountains and Katoomba and can really see us going back there many more times. I would love to visit some of the other towns next time, like Wentworth Falls or Blackheath.

Thank you for reading!