Blue Mountains
WHO
Our family of four traveled to the Blue Mountains on the first day of our two week road trip in Australia. Averhy was 15 and Eden was 12 when we took this trip.
WHAT
Here is our packing list for our entire 12-day trip to Australia. The clothing items are all per person. Our trip included both summer and fall temperatures, and we decided to bring our own snorkels for the Great Barrier Reef. I used the Ziploc bag method to pack for this trip, as well as the clothing folder. We used one carry-on suitcase and four backpacks (Sky’s magic backpack, the Helena Camelbak, my camera backpack, and Eden’s UnderArmour school backpack.) If we did this entire trip again, I would not bring the snorkels, and would have packed half the number of tshirts because we were able to do laundry twice during the 12 days. Because we were only in the Blue mountains for a day and a half, one Ziploc bag contained all of our shirts/socks/undies for that day and our jeans/sweatshirts were in the clothing folder.
passport
camera/lens/cards
chargers (phone, car, camera)
SJCam/memory cards
power adapter
headphones
Trtl pillows
2 shorts
8 tshirts
1 hiking pants
2 tshirts for hiking
3 jeans
snorkel
sunglasses
basic toiletries
2 long sleeve shirts
2 nicer shirts
1 dress
10 underwear
3 bras
10 socks
1 swimsuit
Kindle
1 puffy coat
2 sweatshirts
1 tennis shoes
1 flip flops
1 nicer shoes
1 water shoes
1 baseball cap
WHEN
We were in Australia the first two weeks of August 2019. We decided to go at that time because it worked well with our summer vacation schedule. August is technically winter in Australia, and the temperatures in the Blue Mountains felt like fall in Illinois (about 60*F) and we were comfortable in jeans and sweatshirts or puffy coats. August was a great time to visit Australia because it was not the busy tourist season. In the Blue Mountains, we were able to hike the trails we wanted without any crowds.
WHERE
We stayed at the Echo Point Discovery Motel, which was conveniently located directly across from the Three Sisters lookout in Katoomba, New South Wales.
The motel was not fancy by any means, but it was clean, inexpensive, and the check-in process was easy and friendly.
During our time in the Blue Mountains, we hiked the trails marked by yellow stars on the map.
WHY
We initially decided to go to Australia because NextVacay.com alerted us to a cheap round-trip flight to Sydney. After booking the initial flights, I explored different hiking areas that were within driving distance of Sydney, and the Blue Mountains kept coming up! Although we only explored one very small area of this large mountain range, we appreciated the beauty of the landscape and thought it was a great way to start our time in Australia.
HOW
After we arrived in Sydney, we drove directly out of the city 2 hours into the Blue Mountains area. It was different driving on the left side of the road, but Sky quickly got used to it.
Our first stop was for lunch in Wentworth and then we went to Wentworth Falls and canyon. This was an easy first hike, which we appreciated because we were all tired from our long 17 hour flight.
Our next stop was in the neighboring town of Leura. The girls had fun climbing on the Upper Falls at the Leura Cascades, and then we all hiked down to the Lower Falls area (about 1 hour round trip).
Next we drove to Katoomba, the next little town, to catch sunset at Echo Point with a view of the Three Sisters. We were getting pretty tired at this point, so we didn’t hike the longer trails.
In the evening, we had dinner at a fun and funky restaurant called Avalon. We would recommend it, both for the food and the decor!
The next morning, we woke up early thanks to the difference in time zones, so we were able to enjoy a view of the Three Sisters at sunrise before driving back into Sydney.
Final Tips
Driving on the left side of the road takes a little bit of getting used to… we liked to say “sliiiide to the left” anytime we were starting to feel nervous about the traffic on the right side of the car!
If you’re traveling from the USA to Australia, be prepared for a LONG flight… but depending on when you leave, you might be traveling in darkness the entire flight, so it’s easier to sleep. We used Trtl travel pillows, and they were okay. Not quite as comfortable as the ads make them look, but they did the job. Do you have a travel pillow you love? Let me know in the comments below!
