Christmas in July - Blue Mountains - Weekend Away from Sydney

Christmas in July is a tradition all the Brits in Sydney partake in each winter. July in Australia is winter time, and sees groups of friends wearing obligatory Christmas jumpers/onesies, heading for the Blue Mountains to get in on the yuletide action.

Why the Blue Mountains? They are close by to Sydney and as Christmas here is in summer, aka the hottest time of year, the temperature during winter feels more like back home at Christmas time. It can get quite cold in the Blue Mountains, and the thought of curling up to a log fire with some wine after a big meal is very appealing.

We headed up after work on Friday in my housemate's car. You can also get the train to the Blue Mountains for day trips too. One of the girls Cathy had organised the whole thing, the house and all the meals. She had managed to secure a massive house in Blackheath, a town near Leura. There were around thirteen of us altogether. Each meal was prepared by different teams. One of the best meals was breakfast on Saturday morning, Baked Eggs with Chorizo by Ed.

The Three Sisters are perhaps the most famous attraction of the Blue Mountains. They are pretty amazing to look at, but for me, the valley behind adds to how magical this place is. I want to explore some more one day.

We then moved onto another part of the park, where we walked down to an amazing waterfall with an incredible view of the valley. Some cockatoos also joined us.

Back to the house, I helped head chef Cathy prepare the main meal, a full on roast with all the trimmings! The rest of the night continued with party games and dancing.

The next day we left Blackheath behind, spent the early afternoon in Leura and then back to Sydney for work the next day.

Memory
When my family visited Australia back in 2005, we stopped off in Katoomba for a few nights. Back then I remember visiting Scenic World, and our parents having to buy us hats, scarfs, fleeces etc as it was unusually cold and we were not prepared, despite being Scottish! My father still has his beloved fleece. We had stayed in some random hotel, which was like being transported back to the 1970s. I also remember watching the news about the crazy queues and shortages of the new Harry Potter book around the world (the one where Dumbledore dies) and then us walking into the Kmart in Katoomba to a humungous pile of untouched Harry Potter books. It was like heaven!

Double Bay - Sydney - Day by the Bay

A few months ago, a friend called Jenny invited me to come to her flat in Edgecliff, and from there we went for brunch in Double Bay.

Edgecliff has quite a few high rise flats, but when you get up to the 16th floor, you can understand why people live here. The view is incredible! Jenny and her housemates are able to see most of Sydney Harbour, and all the secluded bays.

We then made our way down towards Double Bay. On the walk you come across some beautiful old houses with old trees, which give the place a sense of history. Difficult to come across in such a 'new' country.

We ended up brunching in a local restaurant, Indigo. Jenny got the baked eggs while I had the most delicious fruit salad.

Walking along in Sydney, you always get reminders of where you are. Sometimes, and I know this is cliche, but I have to pinch myself. I still can't believe I live here!

When we got down to bay, we watched as the sun set. Upon doing so, we decided to sneak into the Yacht Club for a drink. To be fair, we didn't realise we had to be members, and no one said anything. We had a glorious view of the Bay and washed it down with some fabulous wine.

Views, brunch and wine - a perfect Saturday in Sydney.