Initially (in my plans last May) I planned to disembark at Circular Quay, but while on the train earlier between Leura and Penrith with time to myself to think things over with Google Maps for where to have a cheap meal, I decided to go to Barangaroo for one specific food stall I bookmarked – Harry’s Café de Wheels at Darling Quarter. I decided that would be my last meal for the day. And as it was nearing nighttime, I briskly walked towards where it was.
Soon I got there, and I ordered one thing off the menu – their set meal for the signature pie, Tiger Pie with chips and Pepsi Max. As their curry beef was already out of stock, I chose the beef mince just as a “second chance” try.
The pie was decent – pie crust was sturdy but not rock-hard and the filling is well-seasoned – and the mushy peas and the standard gravy was just helping its case of being decent. Fried were good enough. And as I am a mustard man, I was delighted they have dispensers for both ketchup and yellow mustard, and I got lots of mustard and ketchup for the fries. Mind you, the set was a gutbuster. Better be hungry when you get this set meal.
After that, I went to a building nearby for a gelato at Gelatissimo. Different stomach for dessert! I got the large portion – three scoops of the ones I liked – of boysenberry, double chocolate brownie and rum raisin. Thankfully the tabled area in front of it was somewhat warm (maybe they have warm lamps or warm air blowing somewhere?) and I could enjoy the cold dessert.
After that, I whipped out my phone to look at Google Maps as to which bus/train can take me back to my hotel. I chose the nearest one with some walking (partially to shave some calories off the sweet gelato), the nearest bus stop at Harris Street was a straightforward one, just 4 stops and a bit of walking. I dropped by the nearby EzyMart to buy some quick (and cheap) breakfast food, a Gatorade bottle and a bottle of orange juice for more Vitamin C. The food was a big fat brownie and a big slice of banana bread.
Soon I was back in 28 Hotel. I grabbed two empty paper cups and some chamomile tea bags in the lobby snack bar, and made my way back to my room, turned on the warm air again, and switched on the TV back to Netflix while I went to the bathroom to have a (slightly) warm shower to help with the snots and the coughing (which was still there). I also downed half the orange juice as well to help. I also washed the lighter of the two face masks I brought with me that day – I only had three packed, and I was leery of only having one for a day. I hung it in the room hoping it would dry out quick. It was close to 8pm after all that.
After that, I prepped the kettle for the water I need for my tea. I also resumed watching what I had last night – “The Apothecary Diaries”, which was a nice find. It was sublimely comforting when I finally plopped myself to the fluffy bed, like the burdens of the day just melted away on that small instant. Day ended at 10pm. Usually I slept much later than that in weekdays, but I was still sick and I needed all the sleep I can get. Fevers and lack of sleep make for a bad mix. And the next day (my birthday) was planned for just a chill day out in Sydney, just a few itineraries with little to no need for an early morning rushjob.
Not that I had any difficulty sleeping that night. I just shut the TV off and the lights out, and I was sound asleep in no time at all. That’s what the chamomile tea was partly for. With a slightly elevated pillow setup, as I was careful not to let the possibility of a clogged nose ruin my sleep.
In looking back, I think I made an unwise gamble. Sure it paid off as I was able to visit the places I really wanted and still cross off a lot on the checklist I pegged for that day, but man there were a lot of things that went my way for those to happen. I do acknowledge that and maybe next time I really should temper my “fuck it” risky dice-rolling on some things.
First, the weather. While the Australia early winter temperatures definitely came as a surprise to my tropical-raised body and got me a fever, it also helped to keeping it at bay. And maybe the constant walking activity helped stabilize my body temp, as the day went on (starting from Echo Point) I noted the fever went down significantly, and the ferry ride with the inactivity flared it back up a bit.
Also, some prepping helped. I had two face masks, two handkerchiefs, a water bottle, a bottle of Gatorade, three packets of lozenges and a box of paracetamol. I mitigated the worst of what the fever brought – snots, itchy throat and coughs.
Thankful as well that I did this tour solo. If I did this with a group, I would’ve begged off due to shame and concern of passing the coughs to a group of people in close and frequent proximity. I also note that I made great pains to distance myself from the other tourists as much as I could. In Echo Point, as it was open-air I acted the same way as I did in the pandemic – some distancing and careful consideration of when to loosen the mask and breathe the nice cool air. In Scenic World, I chose the back areas and kept an eye on which groups are congregating too much and avoided those. Back areas – in the railway, I chose the back seats. In the cable cars I chose the one at the rear ends avoiding much of the tourist groups. In the ferry, I deliberately stayed outside as I saw inside the boat cabin were full of elderly folks that likely had compromised immune systems and I didn’t want them to catch anything bad from me. Same with the bus back to the hotel, I just stood up near the door as the back area was almost full and the standing area was free.
So, post-tour, I have some tips and observations:
- Doing a solo tour is OK, but pros and cons matter. For first-timers to doing long-ass out-of-city activities and they want to go to the Blue Mountains? I heartily recommend doing the paid tours. Sure it’s expensive and rushed but might be well worth the experience. But for me who have experience? Solo touring can be exciting too. I got to briefly see some places as well as freestyling some plans, things that would be almost impossible on paid tours.
- Don’t come too early to Katoomba if you’d be doing the tour via the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus, as their office beside the train station opens after 8am or so. I suggest to target the 8.30am-9am sweet spot to arrive to Katoomba. But if you skipped breakfast time and want some pies and coffee before the bus comes, well, come early then.
- Winter time is extra chilly up there in Katoomba (especially early morning) but you’d get used to the temp after a few hours.
- In my opinion, you should designate Leura Village as the “if you have an hour to spare” place to visit. From what I’ve seen on YouTube, it is a nice place to have a walk around and maybe see some shops and eat at some restaurants. If your entire day is at the Katoomba area anyway, go there and have a fun time. But for me, it was that or missing the ferry at Parramatta, so I skipped Leura.
- If you’re doing the Blue Mountains by yourself, either rent a car or buy the HOHO bus pass. I initially thought when I was planning this in May that maybe the destinations were walkable distances, but I bought the bus pass to stick to a time schedule to meet the ferry timeslot I wanted. And judging from the bus ride, I made a wise choice.
- For the Scenic World optimal routing, I did Cableway first from the East Station, then I did Railway, Walkway and the Skyway in that order. For the Walkway, allot at least a full hour and walk the longest route. It’s the best route in the Walkway IMO, makes the far trip to the place worth it.
- Take note where the card tapping areas for the stations are. For example, in urbanized city areas, there’s the unmissable metal entrance gates where you can tap to be let in or out. For some open areas like Parramatta Wharf or old stations like Katoomba Station, always keep an eye out for the installations with an Opal logo and a card reader. Those serve as the payment gates in a way.
- Also, for Australia, I find it best to have a top-up card service like Wise. It helped me stick to my budget.
The next day was what I pegged as my “chill day”. It’s my birthday after all, so I have zero plans to exhaust myself silly. Just one big destination and then freestyle the rest of the day after.
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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