Sydney & the Blue Mountains

Sydney is the first place I landed in Australia so it feels right to be the place I’m leaving after the first part of my Australian journey.

Being back in Sydney felt like a return to normal life. I saw a musical at the theatre, went out for brunch, ordered Uber eats and ate with a friend on the couch while catching up. Pretty different than my backpacker daily life.

Seeing Julia and Emmy again came at the perfect time. Julia had one last weekend in Sydney before her flight back to the States at the end of her visa and I’m so glad we were able to connect again. Emmy has been such a rock on my journey - having come to Australia 2 years ago and being sponsored through work to stay, she sent in-depth emails with advice and randomly sends a check-in text. Having friends in the same time zone and on the same side of the world as you turns out to be pretty critical.

Of course, I teased myself with just a weekend in the city and then spent a week back in the mountains! The Blue Mountains have been top of my Australia list and they did not disappoint. I stayed with a mother/daughter in Hazelbrook as a Workaway and helped with light housekeeping and played with the dog...pretty much the best deal for a free place to stay and meals! I explored four of the mountain towns - Glenbrook, Wentworth Falls, Leura, and Katoomba. Due to the winter weather (getting down to freezing at night), I made my way up the mountain as the weather got warmer throughout the week.

My favorite hikes were the Darwin Walk back from Wentworth Falls and the beginning of the Katoomba Three Sisters hike. I specify only the beginning because it ended with 900 steps up and my legs were shaking by the end! The train runs between all the towns which made getting around extremely easy. I had a lot of time to myself and spent it getting caught up on this blog, writing in my journal, and thinking about plans for the future. It was the perfect place to refresh and reset to get ready for the next phase of travels!