Tea Time

Suits Paul to a T.

Bygone Beautys is amazing. It's so full of trinkets and haberdashery.

It's got 3,000 decorative teapots, some of them 300 years old. Paul was extra careful not to break anything. Here you can indulge in tea the traditional way, with lovely cakes and petit fours.

To get the full flavour of tea: Warm the pot first, put in a teaspoon of loose tea leaves for each person, pour in boiling water. (It’s a chemical reaction you’re after, so the water needs to be bubbling at 100 degrees Celsius. If you’re at high altitude, you’ll need to boil the water in a pressure cooker to get it to 100 degrees.)

Let it brew for a few minutes. Then make your cup the way you want it. Tea in first, then milk and sugar, or a slice of lemon. Or have it black.

To get to the Blue Mountains, Jestar flies to Sydney from 14 cities across Australia. From there, it's about a two hour drive to escape the hustle and bustle and just . . .  relax.