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I only have 12 hours to see how much of the Blue Mountains I can cover on a day trip from Sydney. The last time I came, the weather was pretty bad, so I really wanted to come back on a sunny day and see what I missed. Today I'm heading out on a hiking trail I've never hiked before to see some of the most spectacular views and hopefully find time for other adventures along the way. But considering 4 hours driving, how much can I realistically accomplish in one day? Good morning everyone. I got up at dawn, because the road to the Blue Mountains from Freshwater, where we are currently staying, takes almost 2 hours I just realized that I'm going to be caught in the middle of rush hour if I don't leave as early as possible
. I am really looking forward to today. I've wanted to do this for a long time. It's a bit of a shame that I'm going alone. I would love to do this with someone or a group of friends, but as I said in previous videos, it doesn't always work out And if you really want to do what you set out to do, sometimes that means going it alone, and that's definitely better than not going at all. I mean, the sunniest day this week is Thursday. So what did I expect? The only friend of mine who was free today because she is on maternity leave is Diana, who is due to give birth in a week. And we both agreed that, you know what Maybe it's a little risky-taking you on a hike in the Blue Mountains. What happens
if your water breaks while we 're on the trail? In short, this will not happen. Would you believe I haven't had my morning coffee yet? So I made a little hook. I'm in Goumbush, strange as it may be. It's pretty good here. I also took a sausage in dough because I was a little hungry and I had n't had breakfast yet. I arrived at the Blue Mountains National Park. It took me about two hours driving, and it's cold here. I mean, it's a beautiful blue sky, a sunny day, but I got out of the car and thought, "Wow, it's freezing in here." I'll show you, I'm in shorts. Uh, it's 11 degrees out there, I checked the weather app, but I'm hoping it'll get a little warmer once I start walking. I will start my day with a hike. It
seems like the best time to go for a walk. Last time I was in Blue Mountains National Park, I hiked the Grand Canyon, which was just incredible, and it's one of the most iconic trails in the park. But today I wanted to try something different, not too far off the main trails, because, after all, I only have today So I decided to first come to an area called Wentworth Falls and hike the Overcliff-Undercliff Trail. This is a circular route 4.5 km long with an elevation gain of 158 meters. Actually, it's not that much. I expect it will take me no more than an hour and a half. I love loop trails, and I like the idea that you can see the views from above, as well as
descend to the waterfalls below. I also downloaded the map from AllTrails, simply because I don't think the Blue Mountains National Park has good connectivity. I have 4G now, but I feel like it will disappear very soon. Wow, look at this. What a great day for this. This week is so joyful because, as I said, the last time I was in the Blue Mountains, it was raining and the views were almost impossible to see. The view occasionally broke through the clouds, so the fact that today is such a clear day and I can see everything for miles around makes me so happy.
I was really tempted to go to National Pass, but I saw on AllTrails that part of the trail was closed. Maybe if.I mean, I don't want to get lost, but if there are no signs that anything is closed, maybe I'll go for the National Pass after all. We'll see. Let's see where this hike takes us. What goes down must come back up So, my heart rate is going to jump quite a bit now as I transition from the Undercliff Trail I was just on to the Overcliff Trail. Hence the name. Do you see this? The wind is about to blow my hat off. I was actually planning to go there for brunch afterwards, so I won't go in now because I still have about a kilometer to walk to my car So I'll do that and then I'll come here by
car. So we returned to the parking lot where we started-the Wentworth Falls picnic area. Fantastic, no comments. Everything went exactly as expected. Overcliff Trail, Undercliff, done, done. I managed in an hour and ten minutes. Um, it was only 4.5 km, as we suspected. So the National Pass route that I potentially wanted to take was supposed to be turned off pretty close to the start of the hike, which I didn't realize and, of course, didn't do. I think that would have about doubled my hike. But I am very satisfied with the trip I took. It just means I'll have to come back another time and get the National Pass. I never feel bad about missing an event or class at a certain
location, because it always gives me a reason to come back, which, in my opinion, is always a good thing. Oh, how exciting. Will you just look at this? I ordered scones. I asked her if they would be hot, and she said " yes." Definitely cream first, then jam. And if you say otherwise, to be honest, I'm not sure we would be friends. Oh my god, forty. I cover my food. This is a wonderful place. The scenery is simply incredible. Have you seen the movie "Apex"? Did you know it was filmed in the Blue Mountains? I've wanted to come back here since the moment I saw this movie. Not because I wanted a killer hunting me in the woods. I just thought they made the Blue Mountains look so beautiful in this movie, and it
really made me want to go back. And actually, while I was on that hike, this song was playing in my head. It seems to have made me go a little faster. To go down to the picturesque alley, you can use the cable car or passenger railway. The employee at the entrance advised me to take the railway down, and I was delighted, because to this day it is the steepest passenger railway in the world. It has a 52 percent slope, it's just crazy. This train was built for coal mining back in the 1880s. Oh, it opens like a spaceship.
She just said: anything that can fall, will fall. We ended up in "Jurassic Park Oh my God. I didn't expect this at all. He was driving very fast. And it was so cool that you almost fell out of your chair. I do n't know why I assumed our seats would be tilted so that we wouldn't fall forward, because we weren't buckled in at all It was very funny. I liked it. So, I'm now at the valley floor, about to explore a scenic trail, which is essentially an elevated boardwalk through the forest. This is a much more accessible way to explore and see the beauty of the Blue Mountains from the valley floor without having to overcome a difficult hiking route. Because while the morning hike was incredible, I understand that not everyone is
capable of such a walk. There are a lot of steps there. If you feel unsteady on your feet or lack strength, it is not always possible to do something like this. Therefore, visiting Scenic World makes the Blue Mountains much more accessible to a much larger number of people. Now I've truly entered the land of dinosaurs, like flying velociraptors. What I like most is looking up. It's truly hypnotizing. This is probably one of the top five boardwalks in the world. It's incredible how much distance you can cover by walking through the forest.
Now I'm going to go back up the cable car. From the loudspeakers in the cable car, I could clearly hear them saying that the Three Sisters were formed millions of years ago. Unfortunately, there is still the Scenic Skyway, but it is not operating today because it is undergoing maintenance. I had a small gift certificate that I could spend at a restaurant or a store, so I went to the store. So let me tell you what I bought. You may have seen my recent video where I showed what's inside my scooter, and I have some space in the glove compartment.
It's quite small and I'm not sure what I'd put in there, but I saw these little cosmetic bags designed by indigenous artists and thought they would fit perfectly in the glove compartment. Maybe I'll sew a piece of Velcro to the back of each one to secure them, and I just thought they were really, really pretty. They're made of a lovely velvet material and I'll be able to put a few trinkets in there. And I also bought some chili honey. I just love honey with chili. I like to eat cheese on toast drizzled with chili honey, and I'm out of spicy honey. That's why I saw this one. This is 100% Australian honey, and I thought: yes. And I had $10 left, so I took.what's that even
called? Honey spoon? Honey collector? I don't have one, but it's handmade from Australian wood, and I thought, "Mmm, yeah, very authentic." Because the Scenic Skyway was closed, I spent less time at Scenic World than I expected. Plus, my morning hike took less time than I planned. So, I've kind of finished everything I had planned for today, but I'm not ready to go back to Sydney just yet. There was one more thing on my previous itinerary that I wanted to visit if I had time. I actually didn't think I would have time, but now it seems like I have enough time. I'm going to go to the Blue Mountains sauna. I brought swimming shorts just in case. And this is here in Katoomba. It's a 5-10 minute drive from where I am now
. I lied. It's actually in Lurra, not Katoomba, but very close by. I'm not sure how much I can shoot inside. By the way, I didn't reserve a seat. Hopefully I'll be able to just walk in without a reservation. We'll see. Fortunately , I was allowed in without a reservation. It cost $45 for a 2-hour session, which I think is a great deal. There were nice big changing rooms and lockers. The Blue Mountain sauna is inspired by traditional European culture, so there was one large electric sauna as well as a wood-fired smoke sauna. Would you believe that this is the first such sauna in the Southern Hemisphere? And they also had two ice baths.
It's like a lounge. There is water here. They seem to have tea bags. You can drink tea. One of the girls said there would be an infusion at 2:30, where they would do a special ritual in the sauna, and I wanted to get to that, so I rested for 10 minutes before it started. Guys, that was truly impressive. It far exceeded my expectations and was worth it. So, I paid $45. I managed to film a little inside, but of course I didn't want to film others, so there's not much content But I managed to try the "Aufguss"-an experience I had read about in reviews but actually knew nothing about. This happened directly in the sauna.
They held it every hour, so I managed to get in twice. Everyone came to the same sauna, and there was a sauna attendant who seemed to be in charge of everything, and he had a towel and essential oils. It always seemed like some kind of ceremony He would throw ice onto hot stones, releasing the scents of essential oils, and then use a towel, waving it around in a very hypnotic and elegant way. He was pushing air at us, which of course made it even hotter and more humid. And he brought a large column into the sauna.
It was truly wonderful atmospheric music And then at some point he handed us all an ice cube so we could cool down. What surprised me was that I looked around and many people just started eating these balls. They probably know what they're doing, but I decided: I won't eat ice today. I just rubbed it all over my body and face to cool down, and it felt so nice. I really liked it. I've never felt anything like this before. And the fact that I managed to visit there twice. And it was quite friendly there.
People socialized in saunas. Most people, if not all, came there alone. They didn't come with friends, but still, they all just talked to each other. And it was very nice. I thought, "Oh, I feel like I fit in here as a solo traveler, you know?" So yeah, a great way to end your time in the Blue Mountains. I am very satisfied. I had a fantastic hike. I visited Scenic World and a sauna in the Blue Mountains. What a day! And now the thing I'm least looking forward to is the journey back. The navigator shows 2 hours and 5 minutes, which, you know, could have been worse. I leave the Blue Mountains at 4pm, so I hope to be back in Freshwater, Sydney, no
later than 6:30pm. I originally wanted to spend a few days in the Blue Mountains because it was supposed to be a break from house maintenance for us. Then I could spend a few days here, maybe do a couple more hikes and explore the town a little better. But it so happened that the people whose house we were supposed to be looking after this weekend asked us to arrive a week early. And we had this 4-day break, so of course we agreed because it completely closed our free window. But that just meant that this Blue Mountains adventure turned into a day trip, which is why Ben didn't join me, because while the dogs we're currently looking after can be left alone, and they're very docile, I wouldn't want to leave them for 12 hours.
Well, let's say four to six hours-that's fine, but 12 hours would be too much, so I went alone. But I would say it was a great success.
