The Blue Mountains

Friday morning I checked out the hostel and walked across the street to the train station to catch a train northwest to the Blue Mountains. Just 60 km away from Sydney, the Blue Mountains are a portion of the Great Dividing Range of mountains that initially prevented the original settlers of Sydney from spreading west until a path through the Mountains were found in the early 1800s. It was later mined for coal before it became a national park in the early 20th Century. Its proximity to Sydney makes it very popular to tourists as it is easy to access by train, bus, or car.

I took a two hour train ride to Katoomba, the largest city in the Mountains. The train is part of the Sydney rail system and it took two hours because we made many stops along the way. Once we started gaining altitude the view from the train was excellent. The cities sit at the top of the mountain range ridge and the valley and mountains open up in the distance. As we neared Katoomba, we were treated to excellent views across the mountain range.

When I arrived in Katoomba, I walked down the main street to find my lodgings. Katoomba is a sleepy little mountain town with its main street lined by small stores and lots of cafes. My accommodations for the evening was another hostel, the Blue Mountains YHA. This hostel was much cozier than the large Sydney Central YHA and had a very warm and welcoming interior. I again had a four person room and a bunk. I dropped off my bags and set off to do some hiking.

Since it was already noon, I decided to spend the afternoon hiking the Prince Henry Cliff Walk. I walked from the hostel to the east end of town to start the walk. The town is a bit odd because it is normal looking town and then all of a sudden there is a cliff and gorgeous views of a large valley. The Cliff Walk is a trail that is slightly below the top edge of the cliff but goes along the cliff. It is not a difficult walk, but is very scenic and has many great overlooks. I strolled along the trail, occasionally stopping to take in the view and enjoying the fresh mountain air and scenery. After a short while I arrived at the Three Sisters, the well known three tiered rock formation that takes its name from an Aborigine story. From that location, I could not see the three spires, but I could walk down a portion of the Grand Staircase and walk out and touch one of the spires. It was very windy and the drops precipitous. Nevertheless, the had a nice area to sit protected from the wind where I ate my lunch.

Further along the Cliff Walk I reached Echo Point, the large overlook accessible by the road. From here there is an amazing view of both the Three Sisters and the valley and mountains beyond. I joined all the other tourists in taking pictures from all angles and then sat to enjoy the view. I left Echo Point and continued to follow the Cliff Walk until I reached Katoomba Falls. In order to get a good view of the falls I left the Cliff Walk and walked down to the Katoomba Falls Round Walk. There was a few lookouts and I walked out until I was right next to the falls. The Katoomba Falls is not a wide or heavily flowing waterfall, but it is very high and drops from the top of the cliff to the valley below. I started heading back up to the top of the cliff. There was a very nice lookout that I stopped and sat for a while enjoying the afternoon sun and shadows play across the valley. I made my way back to the top and left the Cliff Walk and made the short return trip to the hostel

After resting I went to find dinner. Most of the cafes had already closed, but I found one that was open for dinner on Friday nights. On a cold winter evening I warmed myself with a warm drink and had a lovely bowl of chicken pesto pasta. I brought along a book and I sat and read for a long time. After dinner I braved the below freezing wind chills to go to the nearby grocery store to buy food for hiking the next day. I returned to the hostel, finished my book, wrote a journal entry, and then went to bed.

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