I know my birthday was last month, but the festivities have well and truly flowed into December. It almost feels greedy at this point, but if you can’t be a little self indulgent on your birthday, when can you?
One of my gifts this year from Jamie was a night in the Blue Mountains and I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out. After spending a good portion of this year in lockdown, it felt like a dream to be able to pack my bags and leave Sydney.
We hit the road early on Saturday morning and after about 45 minutes we reached the lower Blue Mountains. Glenbrook is the first town you reach when going to the Blue Mountains from Sydney and it’s always worth stopping in.
We’ve also stayed here previously, and loved exploring Jellybean Pool and the local eateries. 2773 was the most enjoyable of them all, with good food, service and laid back setting. We decided to make a quick stop here for breakfast on this trip.
Jamie ordered the hash brown stack and I ordered the mountain mushrooms with a poached egg. We wolfed down our meals. They were fabulous as always.
After leaving 2773 happy and well-fed, we got back on the road and drove to Katoomba. We were only going to stop in and grab a few things at the grocery store but Jamie spotted a shop called Mr Pickwicks he thought I would like. He was right. I did love it. That boy knows me so well.
Mr Pickwicks is full of weird and wonderful items. From antique homewares, kitchenware and clothing, to unique curios from around the world. My favourite being the Central African circumcision mask dating back to 1850 (though I’m not too sure Jamie shared the same curiosity for this particular item).
And that is just the top level. If you make your way downstairs, you’ll find rows upon rows of old books. It was an absolute dream for this bookworm. Jamie saw the joy on my face and offered to purchase something as a gift for me. I walked out of there with two books, one of them was a history book from 1909 that I can’t wait to get stuck into in the new year.
After spending far too long at Mr Pickwicks, it was time for us to head to Lithgow for the main event. Jamie had booked us an afternoon at Sparadise, a Japanese bathhouse. There’s both indoor and outdoor baths, set at various temperatures, and because you’re in the middle of nowhere, you are surrounded by mountain and lakeside views. It’s really quite a beautiful setting, making it so easy to completely unwind and let go.
We had a 3 hour time block booked and while 3 hours sounds like a long time, I found it was just right. We made our way to all the different baths, spending a little longer in the ones we really enjoyed. Jamie and I both loved the room that had the hot bath, cold bath and the herbal steam room in the one spot. Such a great combination! We left the bathhouse feeling so relaxed and rejuvenated. If you ever have a spare afternoon in the mountains, I highly recommend booking yourself in for some self care time.
To end our night, we went to Blue Fox for dinner in Lithgow. It’s a funky bar/restaurant, and given that it was a Saturday night, it was packed to the rafters. Despite how busy it was though, the service was fantastic. Everyone was friendly, we were attended to quickly, and our food was both delicious and served quickly too.
Jamie could not stop raving about the slow cooked ribs, and we both absolutely loved the spicy Korean chicken wings. The perfect little spot to end our night!
We got up early the next day to head home, but before herring back on the road we fit in one last food stop at The Lithgow Tin Shed. We were seated on the back verandah, where we got to soak up some sunshine (a welcome sight after weeks of rain in Sydney). Jamie ordered the big breakfast and I ordered the croque monsieur.
I know I’m going to sound like a broken record, but the service and food were both wonderful. I can honestly say we did not have one meal we did not enjoy during our trip, nor did we have any unfriendly service anywhere we went.
It was perfect little getaway. A reminder of what our life was like before the pandemic, and hopefully a taster of the normality we are all wishing for once again.
Laura x