The Spectacular Blue Mountains – Day 21

The Blue Mountains are a little bit of a curates egg, there are areas of outstanding beauty and there are honeypots of tourist concentration. It is inevitable that such a beautiful area easily accessible Sydney will attract sightseers. Indeed I should not be hypocritical, why should I enjoy the area and deny it to others. What we did find is that it is easy to find areas of great natural beauty, which can be experienced a short distance from the crowds.

We started this morning with a visit to the most famous site, The Three Sisters at Echo Point, because it was only five minutes from the hotel. The early morning sun had created a spectacular effect as the valleys were covered with cloud that we looked down on. The white fluffy cloud meandered through the valley floors with a bright blue sky above. To contrast I returned this evening when the cloud had gone, but now the threatening black of the late afternoon thunderstorms silhouetted the mountains. I am hopeful of some faster Internet in Sydney that will allow me to upload my photos, as my words do not do justice to the beauty of the two scenes.

We then meandered round the Scenic Mountains Drive stopping at the numerous viewpoints. The busy Great Western Highway intersects the area and it is almost impossible to travel any where locally without using it. So we left the town of Katoomba where we are staying and drove west along the highway turning off in the town of Blackheath, to the National Park Visitors Centre and Govatts Leap. This was situated on the other side of the ridge, and allows views of waterfalls tumbling over the cliff edge, and also allowed us to appreciate how dense the canopy of the temperate rain forest is. There is no break in it and there must be very little light on the forest floor. I took a short walk to Bridal Falls; here I shared the spectacular look out with only a couple of others. This whole area was lovely. I returned to collect a patient Marion who had been sitting on a bench taking in the view, and I think people watching.

Then by way of contrast we drove down onto the valley floor so that we appreciated the escarpment from below. There was a lovely shady outdoor café where we had a lovely light lunch. There was time to visit Hargreaves Lookout before we ventured back to the hotel. While Marion had a little rest I walked into town to buy ferrules for her walking poles. Stopping in a bookshop, what a surprise, the cover of a book about the history of the area showed the station platform crowded with Edwardian ladies and gentlemen taking a day trip to the mountains. So the local tourism is not a new phenomenon, tourists like us just come from further afield.

So a lovely days sightseeing and walking, when the weather was equally glorious. This is the final day of the touring element of our holiday as tomorrow we head for Sydney.