Sydney Travel Blog: Part 10 – Blue Mountains’ Stunning Natural Beauty

2-Day Combo: Sydney City Tour + Sydney Harbour Lunch Cruise and Blue Mountains Day Trip

Once the tour bus passed Sydney City, the natural beauty of Australia started to awe everyone. I thought the 2-hour bus ride was going to be a boring one, but the scenic drive kept me busy enjoying the roadside scenes and capturing them on camera as much as possible.

The tour guide, who also happened to be the coach operator, was giving a running commentary of everything we were passing along with a lot of Australian history. So there was a lot to absorb.

Once I reached the quaint mountain village of Leura, there was a short break to get off the bus. A suburb in the City of Blue Mountains, Leura has a population of 500 and a 1000m- (3300 ft) elevation. This is actually one of the few places in Australia where you can enjoy occasional snowfall in winter and four distinctive seasons.

Although Leura is a small town, it’s full of attractions that can be explored. Fine coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques and galleries, golf courses, Fairmont Resort, Everglades Gardens, Gordon Falls Reserve, Toy and Railway Museums, Cliff Drive, bush walks, Leura Cascades, and the Mount Hay region are a few to mention.

Leura is also known as The Jewel in the Mountains Crown and The Garden Village. I walked along the streets of Leura for a bit and grabbed some coffee from a coffee shop. I love small towns and villages, but always end up living in big cities like New York City or Toronto.

The name Leura comes from the Aboriginal language and means “lava”. Leura sits on volcanic rocks and many have been found in this area.

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