Cakelaw's Travel Tales

However big, however small Let me be part of it all Share your dreams with me.                                From A Million Dreams (The Greatest Showman) No-one is travelling anywhere at the moment as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.  However, that does not mean that we cannot dream of places that we have been, and when we might be able to go there again. At the end of last year, I stayed for a couple of nights at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales. Katoomba is a beautiful town surrounded by even more beautiful natural surroundings.  My last travel post was about The Carrington Hotel, which has many art deco features despite being built much earlier. Katoomba also has a number of other art deco buildings, which are easy to spot as you saunter down the  main street. Take a photographic journey with me and enjoy the lovely art deco shop fronts that lin...

When I stayed in Katoomba at the end of last year, I booked a room at The Carrington Hotel, not really knowing what it was like.  My reasons for booking were that it wasn't a backpackers and it was close to the train station and the main street of Katoomba. I was overwhelmed by how much more The Carrington was in reality.  It is a striking, beautiful property that has been restored internally to art deco style, although it was built in 1883.  The Carrington is indeed a grand old lady.  Rather than give you a potted history of the hotel, you can read about it on the hotel website here .  Looking at the hotel now, it is hard to believe that it was left vacant and derelict between 1985 and 1991. At the sweeping entrance way, you are greeted by these lovely art deco style lamps:  I was lucky enough to book a balcony room (without any idea of what that entailed), but here are the wonderful views across the township and the Blue Mountains from the ...

Another lovely spot that I visited on my travels through New South Wales was the Hunter Valley, famed for its wineries.  I chose to do an overnight tour of the Hunter Valley with AEA Luxury Tours.  This gave me an opportunity to explore some of the Hunter Valley beyond the cellar doors. The driver on day 1 was brilliant.  I think his name was John, but I can't remember for sure.  John is a Sydney-sider born and bred, and gave us a running commentary about various places in Sydney and beyond that we passed through on route to our first destination, Mount View Estate Winery . The view at the top of this post is over the vineyards surrounding Mount View Estate.  At Mount View, we enjoyed our first wine tasting of the day.  I was so impressed with Mount View's wines that I bought three bottles - a liqueur Shiraz, a Cerise (sparkling red) and a Fuschia (rose). Our next stop was for a wine and cheese tasting, lunch and a winery tour at Leogate Estate . ...