When the urge to slow down takes over, to reconnect with my family and nature, to feed my soul, the Blue Mountains call.

In less than a two hour drive from Sydney you are completely transported to another place and experience.

Here’s a list of the satisfying things we got up to on our recent family short break.

Accomodation

On previous visits we’ve have stayed in all sorts of places from Parklands, to Fairmont Resort, to quaint little cottages. This visit we stayed in a gorgeous 1920’s cottage, Evelyn Cottage, perfectly located in a quiet street near the heart  Katoomba and we absolutely loved it! Update: Evelyn Cottage no longer seems to be available.

The house was characterful and tastefully furnished throughout. From the artwork, to the beautiful plants, to the luxurious bath, lovey linen and electric blankets …. No detail was spared! We really appreciated our little breakfast package and cheese and fruit platter. The coffee machine got a workout too!

Isn’t it gorgeous!

Activities

Given I can’t get enough of the crisp, fresh air and mesmerising, serene scenery, our activities always centre around bush walks, preferably featuring waterfalls along the way. I can highly recommend these two breathtaking walks.

Wentworth Falls Undercliff-Overcliff Track

Three Sisters walk to Leura Cascades

On a tip from a friend, we paid a visit to the Logan Brae Orchards, in search of their renowned home-made apple pies, and where we also picked up a box of the most deliciously sweet and crispy apples. Tip: They only open weekends and get in early so you don’t miss out on their apple pies!

Next visit to the Blue Mountains I think I’ll grab a Scenic World’s Unlimited Discovery Pass and check out The Scenic Skyway for the dizzying views, The Scenic Railway, The Scenic Cableway or take a wander along the The Scenic Walkway at the valley floor.

We might also revisit the amazing Jenolan Caves too or maybe a spot of abseiling!

Eateries

You really are spoilt for choice for fab eateries in the Blue Mountains.

Before heading off for our big hike of the day, we enjoyed a satisfying and tasty breakfast at the cute Pomegranate Cafe in Katoomba.

For lunch, you could find us at one of two incredible bakeries –  Hominy in Katoomba (highly recommend the lentil and vegetable pie, custard tart, choc-hazelnut cake- everything really!)  and Bakehouse on Wentworth in Blackheath (just discovered this place, we all had the Tender Beef and Gravy pie and can’t wait to come back to taste more of their tempting offerings).

Then there was that irresistible Devonshire tea at The Carrington Hotel in Katoomba. What a pleasure and relief to come in from the cold and feast on these delicious scones surrounded by old-world charm in front of their fire.

For dinner on the first night we visited Leura Garage with our standout meals being the pizza, paella plus desserts (yep, that’s a Macadamia and Sticky Date Pudding I’m about to dip into!).

The second night we went for Modern Asian with a very relaxed vibe at Basil Nut Cafe and Restaurant where the food was sensational! I would highly recommend the Duck and Eggplant Curry pictured below!

Have you visited the Blue Mountains? What are your favourite things to do?

For other local Sydney short break ideas check out my review on the beautiful Hunter Valley here.

Bren x

With Sydney’s winter dragging on and feeling desperate for some sun, we went to Port Douglas and fell in love!

Our self contained two storey villa Paradise Links was clean and comfy and in a great spot next to the pool.

Luckily for my golf-obsessed husband and son, our accommodation was a stone’s throw away from the one of the best golf courses in the region – The Palmer Sea Reef course, formerly known as the Sea Temple course.

Our first adventure was to the Daintree Forest, the oldest intact lowland tropical rainforest in the world (thought to be 110-200 million years old!) I cannot begin to describe the beauty of this place. The complexity of this tropical rainforest system is mind blowing. I particularly loved the ‘bush tucker trail’, and learning about the traditional indigenous sources of food and how nutritious and tasty things like insects actually are! Wicthetty Grub anyone?!

After taking ourselves on a tour of the forest at the visitors centre we were ready to find a safe swimming hole for a refreshing dip. A short drive away is where we found Mason’s swimming hole, where it’s quite safe to swim despite there being crocodiles 400m downstream. Nevertheless, we did a quick recon mission for crocodiles and satisfied ourselves that there were still people coming and going before diving into this lovely waterhole.

Feeling refreshed we continued on our journey to Cape Tribulation, an incredible spot where we looked out over the ocean in one direction, and back at the beach with its striking rainforest backdrop in another. Truly amazing!

Heading back to Port Douglas we stopped into the Daintree Ice-cream Company to end a perfect day with a perfectly delicious combination of banana, mango, black sepote (yum!) and wattleseed (double yum!) ice-cream,  made from fruits grown right there on their orchard.

The kids were beyond excited for our second excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. There are many options for getting to the outer reef, and we chose to go with a more boutique cruise for a personal touch, and we weren’t disappointed.  Wavelength Reef Tours took us to 3 outer reef sites selected especially for snorkelers, with marine biologists giving guided tours and reef talks. This was the highlight of our Port Douglas holiday for the kids, an experience they will remember forever and haven’t stopped talking about since.

Apart from the amazing coral reef, varied and amazing sea life, a green turtle and beautiful clear waters, boating our way back to the marina we had some unexpected visitors just 20 meters away from our boat – a breaching baby whale and her mama. As far as the kids were concerned, this experience sure made up for the lack of reef sharks they had been so desperate to see.

Scoping the local markets is always a highlight whilst on holiday. We opted for the smaller Mossman Markets (Saturdays 9am-12pm) over the much bigger Port Douglas markets (Sundays 7am -2pm), though I’m sure they were great too. It was great fun having lengthy chats with the stall holders. I met Jules from Julatten who grows delicious spray-free tropical fruits like pomelo, rollinia, sapodilla, yellow sepote …

and it’s where I finally got my first taste of the DIVINE Black Sepote fruit. Native to Eastern Mexico and Central America and abundant in FNQ, it’s a powerhouse of nutrients including Vitamin C, calcium and fibre. Back  in Sydney I find myself pining after the rich, creamy, decadent taste.

Vanilla Australia who gave me an intense and passionate lesson about the realities around Vanilla production. He was proud to let me know how his is one of the only vanilla companies in the world that extracts naturally with alcohol, most other companies use Depol T40 which is a petrochemical and highly carcinogenic. Needless to say, I happily stocked up with his beautiful product and my kids bought his homemade icecream which they rate in their top 2 ice creams ever. It was delish!

We also met the Kefir Queen where the kids bought a chilled bottle of ginger, turmeric and lemon water kefir. Wish I could have stocked up on all her gorgeous ferments!

Mossman Gorge next stop! Part of the traditional homeland of the indigenous Eastern Kuku Yulanji tribe, it’s a truly magical place with the crystal-clear water of the Mossman River cascading over granite boulders which forms watering holes surrounded by lush green rainforest. These sheltered retreats offer the perfect location for refreshing relief from the heat.

I was so thrilled to meet so many of my own ‘tribe’ in Port Douglas, others who, like me, detest the cold, and moved there so as to never feel it again! The warm tropical weather of Far North Queensland suit me to a ‘T’, as does the endless blue skies, refreshing swim holes and sheer raw beauty of the place. I reckon September was the perfect time of year to escape cold Sydney to sunny Port Douglas, which was showing off with highs of 28 degrees and still free of the summertime ‘stingers’.

Have you visited FNQ? Are you are lover of Port Douglas too?

Bren x