Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales Just two hours by train from Sydney, the Blue Mountains are a wilderness of canyons, rainforests, plunging gorges and ancient cultural sites.

The Blue Mountains have always been an escape for Sydney's residents, and these are some of the best Airbnbs in the region.

Ecologists set up tea strainers filled with peanut butter and oats in the Wollemi National Park to attract the species which has not been seen in the area for 20 years.