Drive about an hour and a half west on the Great Western Highway from Sydney and you will reach the foothills of Blue Mountains, the town of Katoomba.

A bustling little mountain village full of character and tourists from all over the world.

Almost the end of Winter in Sydney the temperature hovering around five degrees, the wind chill made it feel like freezing. There are plenty of cafes for hot coffee or hot chocolate and good restaurants for lunch catering for all tastes – local, Japanese, Korean, Chinese even Tibetan!

You might even find a resident Cockatoo resting on the restaurant notice board.

We love Katoomba, and Blue Mountains.

We have been coming here for two decades, a truely Alpine village short drive from Sydney with her history, charm and heritage intact.

Drive a little towards the the mountain and you arrive at the theatre to view the vast forest and the famous Three Sisters peaks in the distance.

Further down the tourist trek Scenic Skyway is worth a ride too.

An hour flight north from Sydney landed us in a little airport at Gold Coast, the fun capital of Australia! And it matches its description thoroughly. This applies for people of all ages and tastes.

View from the 77th floor restaurant at SkyPoint tower building attests to the grandeur that is Gold Coast at night.

With eternally pristine beaches stretches as far as eyes can see, there is no competition from any other beaches in Australia. They are just stunning here.

While the Surfer’s paradise beach and surroundings are the most buzzing well into the mid night timing with tourists and visitors from inside and outside of Australia, little further west has the vast land full of canals and waterways home to multi million dollar properties. Many business tycoons from around the world own their own little mansions here. Just wonder what would crawl out of water at night and walk into the house.

If you are not fan of hustle and bustle of a touristy town or crowded beaches, further down south along the beach around Broadbeach and further down south starts a modern living close to the water and a vibrant life style full of world class restaurants, cafes, children parks, nearby shopping centres and other amenities. These parts gives vibes of a big world class city.

Transport systems are excellent with choices of buses, trains, and trams. Trains to Brisbane up North run every few minutes and could be a good choice to work there and live here.

SouthPort is a trendy eatery that also houses the local China town. Its a modern openly designed living town full of many Asian eateries and shops.

Despite being known for high rises mostly, Gold Coast is way more than that. HOTA (Home of the Arts) theatre is a testament to what this city can do to Art, and excellent service.

When we visited HOTA an exhibition of Australian Indigenous arts and crafts was underway with some mesmerising works from the artists.

The HOTA building itself is an spectacular site and also houses a stunning open theatre nearby.

One piece of work comprising of some wood logs and items retrieved after those were washed ashore was a master piece.

There is a hop on hop off tourist ferry service called HOPO that stops at major attractions along the canals of Gold Coast.

Gold Coast sits next to a vast tropical forest with endless adventures to explore nature too. All in all we were in awe of Gold Coast and have been wanting to go back ever since!

About hour and a half hour drive from Sydney near Wollongong Nan Tien Buddhist temple is nestled amid the hills and forests. Established by late Buddhist Monk Hsing Yun to promote Buddhism (Mahayana) in all parts of the world, this massive premise is full of Chinese pagodas, stairs, statues housing several Buddha sculptures, prayer rooms, libraries and shops selling Buddhist memorabilia. Although all the structures are built in modern times recently, none of which are actually heritage, the place transcends into the historic time of ancient Chinese Shangri La.

The main Pagoda reminds me of a similar temples in Su Zhou, China.

At the base of the temple premises near car park visitors are greeted by a smiling standing Buddha statue holding lotus in his hands and blessing the world.

The monastery houses monks, scholars and devotees. You can find monks chatting with visitors in the corridors. There are Buddhism and meditation classes run for anyone interested in learning about the philosophy and that elusive inner peace.

The Temple is connected to a beautifully designed modern institute building dedicated to Buddhist studies by an equally outstanding bridge. The building is standout architecture design and a sharp transition from the Buddhist pagodas to a hip modern design. The inside is spectacular with ultra high open hall greeting you in entrance from all four corners of the building while housing several rooms hosting museums, libraries, conference halls, office spaces and a beautiful cafe.

The Temple is a must visit and one of a kind, claiming to be the biggest Buddha temple in entire Southern hemisphere of the planet. It has an aura of peace and tranquility resembling any Buddhist monastery even with large number of visitors strolling by. This probably has to do with the open wide and fluid design of the place.

Although meant to be a temple, the whole place is fully commercialised with sale of Buddhism related merchandise – wearables, books, jewellery, art products, statues and so forth. However, the temple does seem to able to achieve its goal of promoting Buddhism overall, that is what eventually matters, I guess.

Only about 10 minutes drive from Sydney CBD located in the suburb of Redfern is Tramsheds, an upmarket dining and shopping. It is marketed to be a ‘Grower’s market’ for home grown food, beverage and home utilities.

When we were there late Sunday afternoon there were few shops still selling scented candles, olives and Middle eastern pastries. There are fine dining experience available in local, Japanese or Chinese tastes too.

Inside the shopping hall there is a real tram converted to a restaurant that gives place its name.

The Messina Gelato was God send as the day turned out to be abnormally hot, the queue for the ice cream was the longest in any of the shops. The Barber’s shop that sits right under the travelator and with vintage car seats for waiting customers, was quite busy and teeming with people waiting to get their hair cut by their craftsmen too.

The Place opens up to a large open ground for children to play and people to rest, surrounded by large apartment buildings. Some of the old houses seem to be standing precariously on the edge of the rocks though. If you walk beyond the busy area, you will come across old Redfern streets with lots of heritage buildings. Overall a nice place to spend a day of your weekend.

With couple of nights soaking in the beauty of the NSW Southern Highlands in Bowral and hiking up the Fitzroy Falls, we headed South, our destination was Berry, a town South East of Bowral via Moss Vale road. But on the way we passed through few unforgettable little towns that made the journey all so colourful and memorable, like the Kangaroo valley.

However, just before arriving at a hidden treasure of Kangaroo Valley, we were greeted by a beautiful Hampden bridge reminding me of a fairy tale land. This single lane, 19th century wooden suspension bridge with Castle like towers on both ends appeared out of nowhere and we stopped to take a break and soak in the view. You can walk on the side of the bridge, with Kangaroo river flowing underneath. The sight is breathtaking.

Not long after, we arrived at our first stop to Berry, the beautiful little village of Kangaroo valley.

We stopped at a pub called Friendly Inn for a lunch. The pub was packed with the locals and the tourists alike.

The inn was full of country town pub character with paintings, wooden furniture and local food.

There was live music at the back performed by two local singers when we arrived with tourists enioying drinks.

From the back you could see the hills surrounding the region, hence forming the valley’s landscape.

Kangarro Valley’s picturisqe main street on Moss Vale road is littered with greatly preserved heritage buildings, cafes and eateries.

Its a great place on its own and a must do stop over if you are in the Southern Highlands.

After about another 45 mins of drive we arrived at our destination of the day, beautiful town of Berry.

Berry, with its well preserved heritage buildings, shops and landmarks reminds me of a small replica of old European city in early Twentieth century.

The buzz of the small country town is palpable here and is very charming.

The little town square is cute and full of vibrant shops, cafes and eateries.

There is a monument dedicated to the founder of the town but I found a slightly disrespectful tourist leaning on the statue.