Overnight adventures – Majestic Beauty and a whole lot of fun – Blue Mountains

Aka getting the most out of life - the holiday when you don’t have the time or the money for a long one…

By Lydia C Lee

Faced with a weekend alone with the kids while my partner went on his scuba diving trip, I seized a deal in the Accor 40% off sale, as we were back to a one room family for a change, which cuts costs considerably! I chose the Fairmont MGallery Resort in Leura, purely because they have a warm indoor pool and we could spend the afternoon swimming.

Come Saturday, due to the Olympics, we headed off later than intended so had a quick stop and early lunch at Schwarz Bakery in Wentworth Falls. This specialist German bakery does mean gourmet pies (I’m a huge fan of their Red Wine and Cracked Pepper Steak pie), amazing cakes and those giant German bread pretzels. It gets really busy, so if no tables, get take away and eat at the picnic tables in the main street or duck round the corner onto Sinclair Crescent and there are picnic areas with playgrounds by the lake. A very pretty and civilised alternative.

We high-tailed it to the Everglades. I had never been, so this was the treat of the weekend for me. I’ll be upfront and say we picked the wrong season – Spring and Autumn would be the time to go, however, it was still really lovely and we all enjoyed exploring the manicured (though leafless) gardens, the glades and the breathtaking lookouts. I had expected the children to complain (or be a pain) but I didn’t even need to use the Lolly Shop bribe – in fact, when I said to my 11 year old son that I thought I might duck up on a school day in Spring to see the flowers, he replied “But then we can’t see what it’s like!” This is not a boy interested in flowers or gardens, but I think from our inner city dwelling, the expanse of a beautiful garden is surprisingly still an enjoyable occasional treat.

We pottered around for about 90 minutes, exploring all the pathways, then headed to the highlight of any trip to the Blue Mountains for children, The Candy Store. This is not cheap, but it is a must. It’s that lolly shop of our youth, where the walls are stacked with jars of sweets. Be warned, it gets crowded and chaotic as the buses of tourists have added it to their agenda. My advice is to save it for after lunch or an adult activity that the kids may not be so keen on. That way you can say “If you wreck this for me, we won’t go to the lolly shop” (I take no responsibility for therapy required by your children as a result of this bad parenting; I take all responsibility if your children are well behaved at the art gallery/restaurant or whatever activity you planned for your enjoyment). We spent an alarming amount of time making our choices (I gave the kids a $5 limit, and with that, they could choose what they wanted) but we finally escaped with much excitement. The candy for the 4 of us cost more than our lunch! You have been warned.

We checked into the hotel, and for some reason, I’d been upgraded to a courtyard room – so I sat in the sunshine with a cup of tea and the peace, while the kids ate their stash and watched the endless Sponge Bob on Nick (We don’t have pay tv so that’s still a big treat of any hotel). Another treat for me was the Mor Snow Gardenia toiletries - a small touch but really lifted my mood with the little luxury.

Then we headed for a few hours at the pool. The Fairmont has a really lovely outdoor pool as well as a mammoth indoor pool, plenty of pool toys (including basket ball net) and spa (placed so you can supervise children swimming in the pool, while sitting in the spa – a win for the adults). Another word of warning. The Fairmont is VERY well set up for children, so as a result the pool was teeming with kids. Even though I was part of the problem, I was slightly overwhelmed on arrival to the pool. However, if you are a kid, you are probably going to have an absolute ball! There is also a gym and sauna but due to lone adult supervision, I couldn’t review them.

The Fairmont is a resort, and as such, has tennis and squash courts, a golf course, yoga classes, day spa, billiard room and Segways.  They have a games room for the kids, with arcade games, table tennis, pool table, table soccer and air hockey. A new addition is a games room for the under 4’s. It is a state of the art indoor play centre. It has the climbing frame and ball pit, as well as rocking horses, Little Tike roller coasters and cars. This was the highlight for my youngest, and we spent a lot of time in there (bring a book, there are comfy couches).

If you are planning on eating at the hotel, book early. We normally go out into town but as we spent so much time at the play centre, I decided we’d eat in. The Buffet restaurant didn’t have availability until  after 8 (and the fine dining was fully booked – but I wasn’t signing up for that, given my 3 year old company!). We did get a table immediately in the bar, near the roaring fire and the food was reasonably priced (the kids menu has decent portions, large enough for the the 8 year old).  It was a very civilised evening for me, and the kids had no complaints, so it turned out to be a good choice for us all.

The following day, after a huge buffet breakfast, another play in the games room and a potter around the picturesque grounds, we headed off to the fabulous Scenic World. It understandably gets high tourist traffic so get in early to avoid queues. There are a number of different packages, but you want at the bare minimum,  a ride on each of the vessels – and definitely organise your route going down on the scenic railway (don’t take the back carriage as it has a cover on the roof that obscures your view – unless it’s raining, of course) and back up on the cable way. Everyone adores the scenic railway, not for the scenery but for the very steep grade of the line. At 52 degrees, it’s the steepest incline railway in the world. Once at the bottom, there are easy bush walks on the broadwalk (carpeted no less!)  and more rustic bushwalks on the other side of the glass bottomed Skyway. Even with the 3 year old walking, we still spent 45 minutes walking towards the Three Sisters and back, with no complaints. The views are spectacular and for us, unfit and un-outdoorsy city folk, we had that bush and rainforest experience, but doable for the single parent/3 children ration. While it is expensive, it’s worth every cent and we were there for just under three hours, learnt a few things about nature and the history of the area. The children can’t get enough of the scenic railway, so if you are keen to entertain, get the unlimited rides…

There are plenty of food options in the Blue Mountains, but we headed off to finish our trip with lunch at the Bakehouse on Wentworth in Leura. This is a busy café but worth any wait you may have. The gourmet pies are amazing – perfect pastry and I struggled to choose between the Tandoori Chicken or Beef & Guiness but eventually went with Lamb Curry, Lentil & Spinach, which was SENSATIONAL! They also have breads and cakes, as well as coffee and tea, to warm up with from the brisk winter air.

We had a really relaxing and enjoyable weekend, entertaining for all four of us despite our different ages and interests. It was just one night away but we came home feeling as if we’d been gone for a week. The best part for me? Feeling a virtuous parent as the kids were computerless for the weekend, and we didn’t have to argue once about it!

Practicalites:
Fairmont MGallery  http://www.fairmontresort.com.au/
Schwarz Patisserie – 30 Station St, Wentworth Falls
Everglades Historic House and Gardens http://www.everglades.org.au/
The Candy Store, Shop 6 178 Leura Mall http://candystore.com.au/
Scenic World  http://www.scenicworld.com.au/
The Bakehouse on Wentworth 208 – The Mall Leura  http://bakehouseonwentworth.com.au/

Further Reading:
Sculpture at Scenic World
Sculpture at Scenic World 2019
Everglades Historic House and Gardens

Linking with the #GardenAffair for the photos of the Everglades gardens.