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How long have you got?
How far are you prepared to walk? The further you walk from the main tourist points the better the experience.
Katoomba is the place where all the tourist trips go. The train from Sydney takes 2hrs and costs about $20. There are dozens of tourist bus trip options from Sydney or else hire a car. It is about 100km / 2hrs +- from Sydney by any option.
This gives a flavour of what's there
https://www.explorerbus.com.au/places/171/bushwalk-giant-stairway-federal-pass.html it will be very busy with hundreds of tourists, especially on the 998 steps down to the valley.
I much prefer Wentworth Falls for a short visit. The walks start about 1 1/2 miles from the station with an occasional bus service. https://www.bestsydneywalks.com/wentworth-falls/ or via Charles Darwin track https://www.bestsydneywalks.com/charles-darwin-walk/
With a car the more remote areas are accessible. The Grosse Valley north of Blackheath or Mount Victoria is remote and stunning. Walks into the valley are 300 metres down and 300 metres up, best done with someone having bushwalking and first aid skill.
In July (mid-winter) we spent a night at the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath. An expensive hotel with an expensive restaurant but worth it for the sunset and sunrise views over the valley from our bedroom.
My all time favourite bit of the mountains is Newnes campsite in the Wollemi National Park (not the council campsite). It is 3 1/2 hours drive from Sydney. We stayed in December 2016 with no other people but lots of kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, goannas, lyre birds and noisy friar birds. The walk from the road to the Glow Worm Tunnel and back (4-5 hrs) was amazing. https://blog.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-the-glow-worm-tunnels-at-wollemi-national-park/ -
The weather looks better on Sunday http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/katoomba.shtml Jet lag will get you up early in the morning, get the 4.24 train to the mountains and walk before the tourists arrive. Wentworth Falls to Leura, or Katoomba to Leura. Have a good lunch then home. The Undercliff route at Wentworth Falls is good, the through routes lower down are temporarily closed.
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You'd not recommend something like this?
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Spending 10-11 hours on a bus with 60 other tourists, being led round a cramped zoo, a cheap cafe lunch, rushed through the scenic highlights and on a boat with overpriced cafe/bar is not my favourite form of tourism.
On Sundays you can travel anywhere on Sydney's public transport card for $2.70 That's your train fare to and from the mountains, bus to Echo Point and Scenic World and river Ferry from Parramatta.
Plus a day pass on Scenic Railway & Cable Car etc for $39
https://scenicworldtickets.com.au/Total $41.70 leaving you $130 better off to have a good lunch at one of the Hipster Cafes in Leura. It gives you time to explore the valley floor and/or walk the cliff top from the cable car to Echo Point.
.. some more ideas in the other thread ..
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Reading the tripadvisor comments on the blue mountains reminds me about how unreliable the Aussie version is. Most of the posts are phoney recommendations or trash comments from the opposition business. It's entertaining but not much help when you are trying to find a good feed in a country town.
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It's absolutely shocking over here. But as usual it's driver attitude and lack of education that seems to be the main issue.
The local governments are trying. There's several new dedicated bike paths and lanes now and they connect to main destinations. I can ride from my home to work (24 km) on almost all bike path, quite good ones at that. Riding at speed is fine. Although my office has no fucking showers....
But back to drivers, the entitled deadshits have zero respect for anything 2 wheeled. It does limit how much you can enjoy riding down under.
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they are absolute fuckwits about it too.
i had an excellent argument with my uncle about it, who was going mental abbout the lycra cunts holding him up on his way to the beach (they were bloody riding four abreast, talking to each other!- this ain't the bloody tour de france!). I called bullshit when he said it was for 15 mins and he went into a rage. this is a normally placid surfer dude in his 60s.
anyway, about two days late, i got a message from my aunt, who'd decided to time it one morning (once he had gone into another rage).
The message: "1 min 34 seconds..."
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Overall the Adelaide drivers are pretty okay. I feel the 1m passing law has made a difference, but infrastructure wise the place is miles behind. Think a 1 metre wide strip painted bike lane with a sign that says it's a bike lane 7.30am to 9am only.
That said, there are nicely marked back roads with chevrons etc all over the place and you can take a much less hectic route most of the time.But right now it's TDU cycling carnival here and the world is a very strange place. People from all over the world plus a whole bunch of fair weather riders all group riding the roads that I normally frequent by myself at 6am on a cold morning in July.
Did a beach ride with a smaller group and I think I saw a larger one opposite side that must've been critical mass size.
I gotta say, some people I'd rather not be associated with.
My coach's an ex pro and I first hand witnessed her getting an explanation of the correct rolling turn techniques from some old fat bloke on a dentist chair.
Dammit
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Why Are Aussies So Hated?
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