BLUE MOUNTAINS !

The Blue Mountains are the scenic and long-impassable hills lying to Sydney's West. They look, in the distance, soft and green with gentle undulations, but are, in fact, rent with treacherous gorges, bouldered canyons and sheer rising cliffs with waterfalls torrenting out of them.





For twenty-five years the Blue Mountains provided a barrier to explorers, until, in 1813, three men, Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth and William Lawson made it through!
The Great Western Highway that we followed takes their almost exact route from nearly 200 years ago, so the roads are somewhat torturous.
Our first stop was at a small town called Katoomba and a viewpoint titled Echo Point (for obvious reasons I'll explain later).



The view is outstanding - a huge green eucalyptus forest, pierced with jagged rocks called the Three Sisters. Their names are Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo, with the usual story of being turned to stone when pursued by lusty young men from another tribe. But they never got turned back into girls..





There is a Giant Stairway to a cave at the base of one of the Sisters, and a difficult walk to the base of Katoomba Falls.





If you don't have a head for heights, or legs for thousands of stairs, you'll be pleased to know that there is one cafe in Katoomba and they serve semi-decent coffee, with tables hung over a spectacular view and thieving magpies who'll make off with all your possessions!