KATOOMBA – THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER GUIDE

AT’s Alissa Jenkins laps up a girly getaway in the Blue Mountains…all in the name of research of course! If you’re anything like my friends and I, it’s hard to catch up. You might squeeze in the odd coffee or phone call, but between work, family and other commitments, orchestrating some quality time together is a rare feat. In a bid to quash this pattern, I recently spent a weekend away with three close girlfriends – two of which I hadn’t seen in almost a year. Our weekender took us to the Blue Mountains where we were booked in with...

 It’s billed as Australia’s most luxurious escape, owned by one of the world’s most upmarket airlines, so you’d expect Wolgan Valley to offer a flawless experience. But does it deliver? Quentin Long finds out.  The Emirates Wolgan Valley development was the first resort created by the Emirates group outside the UAE. Intriguingly, its announcement was greeted by Australians with more shock than drooling anticipation – or pride in being selected for such a prestigious development. This was largely due to its location. The Wolgan Valley sits between the Wollemi and Gardens of Stone National Parks, on the fringe of the...

He’s cheap but never nasty. Australia’s thriftiest father, Dorian Mode ventures to the NSW Blue Mountains and reveals how you can holiday without spending more than $30 on a family dinner, teach the kids a thing or two, and enjoy a budget family weekend. Yonks ago I penned a feature for AT entitled Blue Mountains on a Shoestring. It was very popular (my wife read it three times). That was pre-GFC, so this year the winter escape is an even more affordable affair. Hey, like most of us with kids, we’re all on a budget, right? So we pointed the...

Experience No.032 in Australian Traveller's 100 Greatest Australian Gourmet Experiences Blackheath might be one of the Blue Mountains’ laid-back country communities but there’s nothing small-town about the food at its award-winning restaurant, Vulcan’s. Chef Phillip Searle has perfected the art of slow cooking, serving blade beef to loyal fans. Chef Phillip Searle mans the woodfired oven with ease, preparing a paired-back menu that lets flavours shine. Just four types of entrees, mains and desserts are readied each day in what was once the Blackheath Bakery. Having mentored a younger generation of heavyweights, including Bentley Restaurant & Bar’s Brent Savage and...

Not to ward off the winter blues but to embrace them completely, Australian Traveller’s Sol Walkling headed to the NSW Blue Mountains and the birthplace of Yulefest for Christmas in July. Christmas in July  When the first European settlers came to Australia, the idea of celebrating Christmas with a tree and Santa Claus dressed in a red, warm, winter frock must have been abandoned fairly quickly. With the seasons reversed Down Under, it’s surprising it took almost two centuries and a group of Irish tourists in the Blue Mountains to come up with the idea of Christmas in July. In...

On the freezing tip of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, near death and crippled with frostbite, once famously turned to Tenzing Norgay and said: “It looks nothing like Katoomba.” Now, had Eddie and Tenzing first spied the gorgeous Blue Mountains through the b’nocks, they would have happily dropped the ice axe and spiky boots for a weekend of pampering and indulgent spa treatments. And let’s be honest: Tenzing could’ve really used an organic honey and avocado facial. On reputation alone, most Sydneysiders choose the regal Hydro-Majestic when planing a romantic visit to the Blue Mountains. But, love it as I do,...