Blue Mountains Family Holiday: Day 1

It was all excitement in the Peters household as we prepared to leave for our family holiday. This was somewhat held up by... well... me actually, as it also corresponded with the final round of the US Masters, which as could be expected when we were trying to get away, went to a play-off. In the end, it was won by Bubba Watson, who overcame Louis Oosthuizen on the second play-off hole. Having had $5 on Bubba at $39 to win the tournament, it added another almost $200 to my IASbet account as well. :)

We headed off at 10.00am, and the going was fine until halfway up the mountain, at which point we struck holiday traffic and roadwork, which meant that the last 15 kilometres took 50 minutes of crawling instead of the typical 10 minutes.

Josh can't believe we have to line up for toilets at Leura!

Arriving at Leura at 1.00pm, we discovered half the world's population had also made its way to the town centre. Eateries were crowded and expensive, and running out of food. After lining up for a toilet break and a quick wander around the main street, it was decided that we would go to Katoomba, book into our motel, and check out the food situation there.

The motel was great, our two-room suite perfect for the family. With the kids now crying about the neglect we had shown to their eating habits (being now after 2.00pm) we dropped our bags and walked up Katoomba Street. Michel's Patisserie beckoned, and after pies and sausages rolls along with strawberry milk, appetites were, for the time being, satisfied.

We then followed Helen as she began a systematic attack on all shopping venues in Katoomba Street.

Of most interest were the Emporium's which not only interested Helen but drew the kids attention as well, with many model cars and trains and hats and scarves and jackets... and everything else you could imagine.

The kids outside the Katoomba Vintage Emporium

Helen also had to have a quick squiz at the Carrington Hotel again, in the hope that one day she may get to stay there. Fat chance.

After about three hours of window shopping, we decided on the Katoomba RSL for dinner, in the hope that we could get something to satisfy everyone. Jess and Maddi decided on Chicken Scnitzel and chips (but left the salad), Josh decided on fried rice (but eventually ate boiled rice with tomato sauce), Helen had a red curry (that had little to do with curry), while my Sizzling Mongolian Lamb was actually pretty good! $95 for five meals and drinks. Reasonable without being super.

We returned to the motel to watch Yogi Bear, with the voices of Dan Ackyroyd and Justin Timberlake. It was definitely made for kids with little for the adults to hold on to.