About Blue Moutains
If you are seeking an escape from busy streets of Sydney, Blue Mountains National Park is perfect for a day trip, a weekend getaway or camping. It is a vast region only 50 km west of Sydney, one of the most visited in Australia and extremely popular between international and domestic visitors, who come here to admire ancient landscape from lookouts, bush-walking, bird watching or seasonal festivals in the little towns. Blue Mountains has got the largest network of walking tracks in Australia, which cover an area over 250 km and it is home to about 1000 canyons. No wonder that the National Park is part of UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Story of Three Sisters
Blue Mountains are well-known for the unusual towering sandstone rock formation Three Sisters. Three Sisters are sacred Aboriginal site, the legend says that there were three young and beautiful sisters living in Jamison Valley in Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three brothers from a neighboring land, however, the law of their tribe forbid girls to marry outside their community, so the brothers decided to capture them and carry them away.
There was a great battle in between their two tribes. An old witchdoctor was worried that someone will harm the young sisters so he transformed them into a sandstone for their safety. Unfortunately, the witchdoctor was killed in the battle and no one else was ever able to reverse the spell and turn beautiful girls back into humans.
This sad story resonates in your mind when you are looking from the Echo Point at this unique rocks. Somehow you can see the sad faces of the three young girls that were seeking love but instead of happiness they met only misfortune in their lives. Now they are overlooking the Jamison Valley giving it special mysterious ambiance.
Getting to the Blue Mountains
The easiest way to experience Blue Mountains in one day is taking train from Sydney to little town Katoomba. The ride takes about 1.5 – 2 hours, so better leave early! From the Katoomba train station it is a short walk to the Echo Point, from where you can admire the beauty of Three Sisters. Then continue the hike along Prince Henry Cliff Walk, which will offer you breathtaking views over Jamison Valley and will lead you to the stunning Katoomba waterfalls through the ancient rainforest. There are two stops at the waterfalls, one in the middle (maybe I should not admit this but we usually jump over the fence so we can get a better view. This is not possible right after rain when the waterfall has got too much water because the surface can be slippery and dangerous), the other at the bottom.
Scenic Railway
If you follow further down the Furber Steps, they will lead you to the Scenic Railway that can easily take you back to the top. The Scenic Railway was originally constructed between 1878 and 1900 to carry coal. It is the steepest funicular railway in the world, the cable car has got maximum gradient of 52 degrees and it goes through the rock cliffs for 415 meters. Do not worry if you realize you do not have a ticket at the beginning of the ride, you can purchase it after.
The experience from the Scenic Railway is really funny, I personally enjoyed it a lot and I felt like a kid on a roller coaster. It has got glass roof so you can admire the scenery while listening to the theme song from the Jurassic Park, it is fast and steep and there are no seat belts so you feel like on a real adventure!
Katoomba Falls
As mentioned before, there are lots of possible hikes and tracks in the Blue Mountains. This one is the most popular because it is easy (even though after the Furber Steps your legs will be a bit shaky), it combines some of the main attractions – Three Sisters and Scenic Railway, yet there are not as many tourists (especially during the week days). This hike offers you a possibility to cut your route a little and take another cable car, this time with glass bottom, from where you can see the Katoomba falls from an aerial view.
I love having rest in the middle of the falls, if you are going in the middle of the week, there is a great chance that there will be no one (or very little people) around, so you can just chill and bask in the natural beauty of the valley spreading under you. If you are lucky enough, you can spot rare species of black cockatoos flying above your head, sometimes they stop by to drink some water, then fling away again.
Coming back to Katoomba train station, you will be passing by a little bistro called Yellow Deli. They are offering delicious sandwiches, salads and all day breakfast, plus they have a juice bar mixing up smoothies and other drinks. It is our favorite spot to finish off a day.
Wentworth Falls
If you have already done this “main hike of Blue Mountains” and you are looking for some new tracks, during our last day-trip we did a great 12km hike from Empress Falls to Wentworth Falls through National Pass, finishing on the Charles Darwin Walk. Warning sign at the beginning of the track told us this is going to be a rough hike with creek crossings and lots of bush walking. I don’t consider myself as a great hiker so I was little bit concerned if I can do it, but in the end I didn’t find it too difficult. Yes, we had to cross some water streams and climb up lots of stairs all the way on the top of the falls but the views of the valley spreading under us with misty waterfalls creating a colorful rainbow were absolutely worth it!
After hours spent in the rainforest we were starving, so we stopped to grab some food in the Blue Mist in the town of Wentworth Falls. It is a cute little café that includes a bookshop upstairs, offering honest home-made food, refreshing lemonades and sweet cakes and pies coming right from the oven to your plate.
Why are Blue Mountains called "blue"?
And why are Blue Mountains called blue? It is because of the many kinds of Eucalyptus trees, commonly known as Gum trees that grow in the area (there are over 100 different kinds of Eucalyptus). During hot sunny days, the trees discharge a fine mist of eucalyptus oil from their leaves. The mist reflects lights, which makes it look blue from the distance.
Have you been to Blue Mountains? Would you visit the National Park based on this article? What are your favorite hiking tracks? Give me some recommendation in comment section below for our next visit!
