Yes, TP, when we leave here on SundY we will fly to Sydney and go to the Blue Mts. for a couple nights. I hope their trails are not as rocky. We've hit several hikes that are primarily composed of rock steps or even steps.

Yestravel, the Blue Mountains certainly has its share of rockier trails, as well as several that involve rock and / or metal steps, a couple hundred or more in some sections. If you are looking for something gentler, there are some easy trails near Katoomba around the Three Sisters; from there you could also go to the bottom of the canyon and back on a railway or cable car. From Leura the walk to and around Sublime Point is also easy to do.

Tp- thanks for the info. It will be helpful when we get to the Blue Mts.

Yestravel, you may find this useful

http://www.bluemts.com.au/info/thingstodo/bushwalks/

Bokhara-thanks! Nice website.

Thanks for the write up on the Grampians (and no more chat about bagels, I swear)

One handy thing to know about one of the better known Blue Mountain walks - if you're at the Scenic World cable car and would like to do some walks that go along the rim and then down to the floor (and it is a nice walk.. we saw lyrebirds) - choose your direction depending on how much exercise you want.

If you start at the "other" end of the cable car, nearer the Three Sisters and follow the Round Walk (seeing the falls from above) then down to the walks at the bottom heading back to Scenic Railway, you go DOWN the Furber Steps. Then you can ride the funicular back up if you want. Of course, going the other way, you'll start down and go up. About 860 often steep steps along with a steady incline before and after.

Google some pics of the Furber Steps and you'll see

All the talk of bagels has made me want a good NYC bagel��

CC-thanks for the info. I do ok going up steps, it seems to be the repeated pressure going down steps.

A Week in Paradise--Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast

As we have with so many other places, we reluctantly left the Grampians. It was a Sunday morning and it was an easy 2.5 hour drive to the Melbourne airport. Took an uneventful 2 hour flight on Virgin Air to the Coolangatta airport.

The GC was not on our initial list of potential Aussie destinations. My thinking during the planning stage was to check out the area around the GC for a day or so and likely end up on the Sunshine Coast. However a house exchange opportunity presented itself. This caused me to look more closely at the GC area and we decided that in fact there would be enough to see and do to keep us occupied and happy for a week. So we figured go for it and do our first home exchange.

As we drove up the GC highway, we came to feel that our plane had taken a wrong turn and we were back in the US in Miami Beach. This feeling got stronger as we passed exit signs for Miami and Palm Beach -- what next? Mar-a-Lago?

After driving through a canyon of high rises we arrived at the 35 story apt building that was to be our home for the week. Our 31st floor apt was spacious and very comfortable with views of the ocean and the neighboring waterways. It had 2 vertigo inducing balconies that we were initially reluctant to step out on.

We're no longer beach people, but we knew that nearby were the verdant Hinterlands which stand in stark contrast to all the high rises and stores of the Gold Coast. The Hinterlands encompass several parks and nature reserves including Lamington National Park and the Tambourine Mountain. Both of theses parks are sub tropical rainforests dense with first growth trees. They offer many trails from which to choose. We spent one day each exploring hiking at each of the 2 parks.

Lamington is about 90 minutes from the coast. The drive takes you at first through suburbs then up the scenic rimway to the charming town of Canungra. We had coffee and orange almond cake at the Outpost one of the many cafes in Canungra. A few doors down was the Butchery. We decided to have steak for dinner and were to return on our way home to purchase them. (They were delicious!)

After wandering the small town we proceeded up the steep, narrow, curving, drive to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. The ~36 km took us the better part of an hour to drive. O'Reillys offers a variety of activities. Not to be missed at O'Reilly's is the treetop canopy walk, the Booyong Walk, which is a series of 9 suspension bridges. We started with the idea to take a "Segway Safari" to Morans Falls, but rain cancelled that idea. We had to rely on our own 2 feet to get there. Nonetheless, we had a splendid day.

The next day we took off in the same direction to visit Tambourine Mt. We ended up in N. Tambourine, a small town with lots of restaurants, craft and new age shops. We stopped in one of the many cafes, had coffee and planned our day which included two short hikes, Cedar Creek and Curtis Falls. Once again my knees limited me from us taking more ambitious hikes of which there were many.

We had a very good lunch at Masala Shanti. Note that our sample was small as we only shared an entre course of lamb. We cut our excursion short in order to be back at the GC for a 6:00 Fodors GTG. We took Henry Roberts Dr back to the coast and found that it offers stunning views. In parts you can see all the way to the coast.

That evening we had a good meal at DeVito and fun get together with stormbird and sartoric and her husband. This was our second Aussie Fodors gtg and we looked forward to a 3rd one in Sydney. Aussie Fodorites. Are very welcoming.

The next day we headed to Burleigh Heads to have lunch with some friends. Burleigh Heads is a small surfing town primarily used by locals. Our friend made a crack that tourists don't find their way down here. We were at the beach late afternoon and the water was filled with surfers and the shores were filled with watchers and picnickers. It appeared far more crowded than the beaches near our apt. Our friend recommended a walk around Burleigh Heads.

We were fortunate to enlist the services of the top Gold Coast guide for a day. Sartoric kindly offered to take us around the area and it was as informative as it was fun. We began the drive by driving south to New South Wales and the bustling beach town of Byron Bay. We then went to the Cape Byron Lighthouse with its spectacular views of the rocky coast. This is the easternmost point in mainland Australia. We then proceeded to Lennox Head, a quieter version of Byron Bay. After some scouting for an open kitchen, we had lunch at the pub with accompanying nice views of the beach. Then we headed inland to the picturesque town of Bangalow, where we strolled the shop-lined streets and gaped at the 19th Century storefronts. The ride to Bangalow had been particularly nice, passing through undulating, and strikingly green, hills. By now, the afternoon had begun to slip away, but we had one last stop at the marina at Brunswick Heads. We loved the incongruous mixture of trawlers, yachts and houseboats. After 7 hours we made it home. Gottravel immediately headed for a much deserved nap having been our chauffeur for the day. Thanks again to sartoric for taking the day and showing us around her scenic 'hood.

Based on sartoric's recommendation we went to Peter's Fish Market a mere 5 minutes away. We had delicious fish and chips. We followed one last recommendation from sartoric, Omeros Bros a delightful waterfront seafood restaurant. I wanted to try Moreton Bay bugs, a type of local lobster. While quite good, Maine lobster still has my heart. However e ouster ranked right up with the best I have had. Gottravel's curry prawns and crumbed scallops were both very good. We had an enjoyable last evening. We're now packed up and ready to leave Sunday morning for our flight to Sydney and onward to the Blue Mountains. We're glad we took a chance on the Gold Coast as it's a beautiful area with lots of variety, If we had more time we would have spent it exploring more of the Hinterlands.

Awesome. It sounds like you found enough to do around the Gold Coast without hitting the theme parks. And you had the chance to spend a day with Sartoric; how fun is that!

Great to hear you enjoyed your time in my neck of the woods. Far too often this beautiful region gets short shrift and is labeled as a concrete jungle. Not true, as you have discovered !

Enjoy Sydney, I'm sure you will. There's beauty in many places, as long as you pack the right attitude. You both have that in spades.

I'm glad you enjoyed the Gold Coast. I'm another who thinks it gets a bad rap from people who only look at Surfers Paradise & the theme parks & believe that's all there is to the GC.

As you've discovered, it's a beautiful region with great access and generally good climate.

What a treat to catch up with Stormbird & Sartoric - and to have the day with Guide Sartoric! Nothing like a little local input to take you off the tourist tracks.

The forecast for Leura is fine & sunny today & tomorrow, showed in Tuesday & fine from then on, so hopefully that's how it will play out for you. As you've no doubt seen/heard, it has been " a tad damp" in Sydney this week!

I completely agree re the Gold Coast. I know there are theme parks, but I never saw them. There is a current thread dissing the GC and I responded earlier in the week and will go back and add my thoughts after spending the week here. One nice thing about staying here is that you have the benefits of all the restaurants and places to go in the evening. So many parks don't offer that as they are isolated. As I said in the TR we enjoyed our time here.

Bokhara- thanks for the weather update. We've been watching the Blue Mts trying to decide when to go. Fortunately we won't be in Sydney until Saturday so maybe it will try out by then. I saw there is a food festival there. Know anything about it?

I'd go to the Blue Mountains today or tomorrow, I think.

Not sure about a food festival - did you mean in Sydney or the BM?

Festival aside, places I like in the Blue Mountains include:

The Carrington Cellars & deli ( in the old powerhouse for the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba). Go there early in your visit & stock up on some good Australian & imported wines at great prices. Good advice from the owner & staff. Also pretty good coffee. The hotel itself is worth a look, for its old world charm.

Leura: Josophans chocolates. In the Main Street, a few doors away from Silk, a good restaurant. Also in the good eateries category, Solitary at Leura Falls. Good spot for a scenic lunch. Leura Garage, Leura Gourmet Cafe & Deli. Go through the deli part to the room at the back, which has fabulous views over the valley. Good, casual food - and picnic supplies place.

Have a look at the www.goodfood.com.au website for these & more in the Blue Mountains.

On the other side of my ledger -The Hydro Majestic is an expensive, poorly run, waste of time IMO - except to see the views from their pasta restaurant (? The Boiler room?) . It has an interesting g history and many of us who knew it, had great hopes for a well done restoration & return to at least a whisper of its "glory days". Alas, it was not to be & I think what is there now is just ....sad, really. Well, sad & irritating.

Blackheath is also worth a few hours.

If I recall correctly, you're driving up to the Blue Mountains & if so, I would suggest you go up via the Great Western Highway (M4) & stop off at Wentworth Falls' Conservation Hut ( nice walk from there too) & the other towns along that route.

Watch out for school zones! 8:00 - 9:30 am & 2:30 - 4:00pm ( or as marked).

Come back via Bells Line of Road, Mt Tomah Botanic Garden, Bilpin & the other orchard villages. Or vice versa. Two quite different experiences.

Thanks for all the information, Bokhara. We are staying in Wentowrth Falls for a couple nights. Not sure where we will go from here.

It's the Taste of Sydney to which I referred. It's March 9-12 in Centennial Parklands.

Enjoying reading still- great to hear good things about GC area

Do go at least one way along the Bells Line of Road, absolutely my favourite route over the mountains. Have lunch at the restaurant at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens, good food and great views. Very busy on weekends.

I loved your report of the Gold Coast, I naively thought it was all theme parks and high rise apartments also. I will have to give it a go one day. There are often air fare sales from NZ to the Gold Coast.

nelsonian - and once you are there, you can hop north to Northern Queensland which we just loved, though we had all too short a period of time there.

Yours is a common misconception, Nelsonian. Generally by those who haven't been - or haven't been beyond Cavil Avenue.

It often amazes me how the vehemence of people's criticism is in inverse proportion to their knowledge of & time spent in places.

A recent classic here or in TA about the Gold Coast was from some character who, having had an hour or so's layover at the airport - the airport (!), deemed it a dreadful place, to be avoided. That was his sole experience of the Gold Coast!

Back to the Yes & Go Travels - are you coming back to Sydney from the Blue Mountains or going to Canberra?

Annhig I have booked a trip to Carins, only for a week at the end of July. I will have to go read some trip reports.