From Katoomba Station it is roughly a 30-minute walk to the Blue Mountains.  Once you get there, it’s all mountains, hiking trails and tourists.  There’s several buses and tour buses that will get you there but we opted for the walk.  

Hiking The Blue Mountains in Australia

Getting To The Blue Mountains from Sydney

It’s pretty easy (and cheap!) to take public transportation to the Blue Mountains. Flights To Fancy has a detailed post on how to get there from Sydney:

HOW TO PLAN A SUCCESSFUL BLUE MOUNTAINS DAY TRIP FROM SYDNEY

Arriving In Katoomba: Gear Up!

When I arrived at the Blue Mountains after the 30-minute walk from the train station, there was a tourist info center with shops and restaurants.  I go straight into the gift shop looking for anti-fly gear.  I find a hat ($10AUD) and scarf ($10AUD) at a reasonable price.  Before purchasing them I’m looking around at the other souvenirs for sale.  A sales associate approaches me and starts explaining to me what I’m looking at.  They sell kangaroo parts.  Actual limbs of a kangaroo: A “lucky” kangaroo foot; a kangaroo claw back scratcher; kangaroo foot lighter.  It was a little disturbing since I wasn’t expecting to see that but it makes better sense than throwing these parts away.  I passed on purchasing those items and explained that I just came in to buy something that kept the flies away.  Then I’m shown to the hat section where they have a hat to keep flies away.

It’s a hat with corks on a string so as you walk, the corks swing around causing the flies to stay away from your head.  Genius!  I purchased this hat and was safe from flies from then on.  As I walked around in the fly infested areas of Katoomba, I must have passed by over a thousand people.  Not one person was wearing the same hat I was.  Suckers.  This hat is amazing.  A tourist family pointed at my hat, took a picture and started laughing.  I saw flies bothering them and I had the last laugh (which is always sweeter).

Prepare To Defend Yourself From Nature

I’ve never been more harassed by flies in my life.  They were all over my face and my arms were getting tired from trying to swat them away.  I planned on getting a hat and a scarf to hide myself from the flies once I found a store.  I would have paid to take the bus to avoid that many flies.  If you have an Opal card, buses run down the main street towards the Blue Mountains from Katoomba.