destination – Blue Mountains

BLUE MOUNTAINS
High on fresh air in the Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains’ misty mornings, shimmering blue days, romantic sunsets and fresh mountain air offer a welcome respite from the heat of the coast during the spring and summer. The special brand of hospitality on offer also means you can relax and concentrate on taking time out together.

The combination of awesome natural attractions, fabulous places to stay, quality dining and shopping is irresistible and the towns and villages each have their own character which makes them fun to explore.

>> Destination Blue Mountains, Weekends For Two

Shopping in the mountains is fun and eclectic as you might expect with gifts, arts and crafts, antiques and specialty shops selling a very wide range of merchandise. The Australian Alpaca Centre retail shop in Leura, for example, sells throws, rugs and garments made from silky soft Alpaca fibre and, if you have Scottish or Irish heritage, drop into Monarch of the Glen at Springwood to check out your tartan and pick up pewter jewellery. Other places to check out jewellery include Jewel Blue Mountains Gallery at Blackheath and Cicada Symphony at Wentworth Falls.

Into collectibles? You’ll find many stores selling antiques and bric-a-brac. Check out the teapots at Bygone Beautys, Leura – and, if your friends and family have lost their sense of humour recently in the world recession, Weirder The Better in Katoomba could be the place to find a gift for them from juggling gear to magic tricks!

The Blue Mountains is a favourite location for artists with many galleries including The Norman Lindsay Gallery & Museum Shop at Faulconbridge, The Falls Gallery at Wentworth Falls and Katoomba Fine Art & The Gallery Restaurant where you’ll find landscape paintings, glassware, sculptures and crafts from a range of contemporary artists.

The area is just made for activities so consider mountain bike riding, bush-walking trails, horse riding or more extreme experiences such as rock climbing, canyoning and abseiling.

Touring to discover the region is easy following the award-winning Greater Blue Mountains Drive with 18 Discovery Trails around this World Heritage listed natural paradise. The drives are a way to make sure you discover the very best of the mountains and all its secrets and vary in length so you can go as you please. Follow the 36 kilometre(one way) cliff-hugging ‘edge-of-the-world’ Blue Mountains Drive to discover lookouts such as the Three Sisters, picnic areas, walking tracks, galleries and cafes or the 92 kilometre(one way) Blackheath and Megalong Drive through plateau and valley environments with lookouts, picnic sites and walks including Govetts Leap, the NPWS Heritage Centre, Pulpit Rock, Evans Lookout, Hargraves Lookout, Blackheath Glen and the lovely Megalong Valley.

Out and about you’ll find tempting cafes, food stores and restaurants to suit every taste and pocket, many offering fine regional produce. The Mountains has quite a thing about chocolate – check out the Paragon Café at Katoomba, Blue Mountains Chocolate at Katoomba or Café Josophan’s in Leura whose chocolatiere, Jodie Van Der Velden, recently won the Australian 2009 Callebaut Chocolate Dessert Competition.

Alison Plummer