Day 1 –
Three Sisters
Getting up very early, we packed for the Blue Mountains and
crept out of Bondy’s flat, trying not to wake anyone.
Driving out of Sydney during rush hour took us quite some
time until we were on the motorway heading for the hills.
After around two hour of driving, we later arrived in a
small town called Leura which seemed to be quite quaint, so we parked up and had
a look around. We decided to get a spot
of breakfast as we knew we had some walking to do later so found a café and
ordered what was possibly one of the best cooked breakfast’s we’ve ever had.
Feeling very full we headed to a nearby shop to pick up some
provisions for the night before driving to the town of Katoomba, where we had
booked for the night and next to the Three Sisters.
More by luck than design we immediately found the look-out
point for the Three Sisters, so parked up and took a wander. The Three Sisters are three columns of rock
that are located in a large picturesque canyon, so we took in the views and
took some pictures before getting back in the car and heading on.
We had been recommended some places to visit by Bondy so we
headed for the next one on the list which was Govetts Leap. Once there, we took a look at the fantastic view and as we
wandered around we noticed that we could do a walk from here to the next place
on Bondy’s list which was Pulpit Rock.
The walk was 3km there and 3km back and was graded as
intermediate so we thought we would give it a go.
The walk was pretty spectacular as we walked along the top
of the cliff edges, passing waterfalls, crossing streams and getting fantastic
views of the Blue Mountain’s landscape.
About 2/3’s the way round we then spotted where we were
heading for, Pulpit’s rock. It was a rocky headland that had a ladder heading down
to a viewpoint right at the front of a cliff.
We continued along the path looking out for Koala’s along the way (we
didn’t spot any), until we reached the top of Pulpits rock.
It was quite windy when we got there and the ladder
staircase that led down to the viewing platform looked quite precarious. So
being very gallant I let Shell descend first (not really, I just wanted to get
a good picture of her at the edge!).
Once I got the photo in the bag I then joined her down on the platform
so we could admire the stunning view over the Blue Mountains together.
Wishing we had bought some water with us we then headed back
the way we came and after about 1 ½ we arrived back at the car park where we
could finally take in some refreshment.
It was now around 2ish so we thought we would find somewhere
to get a proper drink and so headed for the quaint town of Blackheath where we
found a pub to have a quick beer in.
Next up we drove to another recommended place which was
Mount Piddington, the drive started off OK but as we got closer we found
ourselves driving along a very rutted dirt track, so had to slow down a bit as
our car was not designed for it.
Eventually we reached Mount Piddington so got out of the car and climbed
up the final bit to the top. The view up
here was not quite as spectacular but it did give great views of the
surrounding valleys & mountains.
From here we decided to head back to Katoomba to check into
our motel for the night. The room was pretty
big and had a small laundry next door, so we took advantage of this doing a
batch of washing. I was in a race with
another guest as there was only one dryer and was pretty pleased when after
checking the wash cycle every 5 minutes, I managed to beat her to the dryer.
Once our laundry was finished we decided we would get a
take-away rather than go out for a meal as there didn’t seem to be any decent restaurants
nearby. So we headed out in the car and
picked up a Chinese take-away which we took back to our Motel room. Then we
just relaxed and watched TV before going to bed.
Day 2 – Wentworth Fall’s/Sydney
As we had enjoyed our breakfast so much the previous day we
headed back to the same café in Leura, although we opted for the light breakfast
this time.
We then tried to head for the Conservation Hut which is the
starting point for the Wentworth Fall’s walk.
Unfortunately out Sat-Nav had different idea’s and after sending us down
a couple of dead ends we found a car park a short distance away.
Leaving the car we then took a short 20 minute walk along a
wooded pathway that took us to the Conservation Hut. We popped into the building to get some
information on the walks we could do, ensuring that we ended up at the car park
where we had left the car.
The walk we chose was a 5km Difficult walk that took us down
into the valley of waters and finishing at Wentworth falls. It started of fairly gently then it started
to head down and then further down using metal ladders along the way.
There was water coming off the rock walls all around us on
the way down and we soon came to the first waterfall, Empress Waterfall, which
was very pretty.
Walking on a bit further we came to a point where we were not
sure which direction to go, either down more ladders or continue a path leading
round the middle of the cliff-face.
Looking up and seeing the cliff edge towering above us high in the sky
and realising we would have to climb back up there we opted to take the middle
track.
It was a stunning walk with fantastic views on every corner
you took, with small rainbows forming from all the water coming off the cliffs
and spray/mist. We couldn’t believe how
few people were actually doing this walk.
Back at the top we found our car and started off on our
journey to Sydney. The Blue Mountains
are absolutely stunning and we could have spent more time here. It’s
unbelievable that this area is just a short 2 hour trip from Sydney, we glad we
made the effort to get there.
On the way back to Sydney we stopped off in a small town to
get a drink before continuing on our way, arriving back at Bondy’s around 2ish.
Bondy was pretty impressed we had visited all the area’s he
had recommended and after chatting for a bit we made a plan for the afternoon.
Shell, Bondy and I caught a bus into town and then caught a
train to the other side of Sydney Bridge as we thought it was about time we
actually walked across it before we left Sydney for good. We got off the train and then headed across
the bridge. We had already decided that the bridge walk across the top of the
Bridge arch was too expensive at $240 each and seeing as you could just walk
across the middle (for nothing)and still get great views of the harbour and
Opera House I think we made the right decision.
Bridge done we then headed on a mini pub crawl to the three
pubs that claimed to be the oldest in Sydney (that we didn’t get a chance to go
in on ‘the rocks’ walking tour). We
checked out, ‘The Australian’, ‘The Lord Nelson’ and ‘Hero of Waterloo’, one of
which claimed to have manacles in the basement where they press-ganged drunks.
Quite a few pints later and the worse for wear we then all
headed back to Bondy’s flat for the night.
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