If you search for Sydney tours online, or look at tourist leaflets in the city’s hotel lobbies, it seems that everyone runs tours to the Blue Mountains, the foothills of which start just 50km west of the Sydney CBD.
Today we gave in to the hype, and joined one of the smaller (and slightly more dignified) Blue Mountains tours. Inevitably, we ran into coachloads of tourists at points throughout the day, but we started earlier than all of the big groups, and our guide, Ian, has had four years of practice keeping his groups ahead of the crowds.
The Blue Mountains are so called because of the prevalence of the eucalypt (gum tree) in the region. In the hot sun, a fine mist of eucalyptus oil is discharged from their leaves. The mist refracts light, making a haze which appears blue from a distance.
As Ian explained during the early morning drive west, one of the early convicts to arrive in New South Wales from Europe – John Wilson – became the first settler to cross the Blue Mountains. Previously, they had been seen as an insurmountable inland barrier (conveniently really, as this meant the convicts were contained by mountains on one side, and ocean on the other!). Wilson was later killed by Aborigines, but his success prompted a wave of exploration in the area. After the discovery of coal and a number of new sources of fresh water (crucial, since the colony was suffering the effects of a severe drought at the time), Governor Macquarie ordering the construction of a road, and this road followed more or less the same route that we took out of the city today.
Throughout the day, we visited a number of lookouts, offering views that become increasingly more breath-taking as the day went by.
The first lookout, at the town of Katoomba, provided great views of the Three Sisters. There is more than one story to explain the name given to this rock formation, but the most commonly-told story tells of three sisters who were members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the sisters. A tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder in order to protect them. Unfortunately, he was killed in the fighting, and no one else was able to turn the sisters back!
Just down the road from Katoomba is Scenic World, a tourist attraction providing short rides which offer some alternative ways to views the mountains. As well as a more conventional cable-car across the valley, we rode the world’s steepest passenger train – with the aid of seats that could be tilted forward to further exaggerate the angle, you were actually riding at a 52 degree incline!
We left Scenic World just as the hordes were descending! We were very thankful for Ian’s well-rehearsed routine as we would have been queuing for an awful long time if we’d been there just a few minutes later!
Next we visited Cahills Lookout for a view of Boar’s Head Rock and more spectacular views across the valley. Around this lookout are the charred remains of thousands of trees that were caught up in a recent bush fire. Ian explained that anyone looking to build a new house in this part of the world can no longer use timber frames, and all windows must be double-glazed and shuttered. Satisfying these new building regulations (which can add more than $100,000 to the cost of building a new house) is a pre-requisite for obtaining house insurance, and given that properties in this region will – on average – be the victim of a major bush fire every twenty years – that is not a corner anyone in their right mind would be cutting!
Lincoln’s Rock – otherwise known as Flat Rock – provided our final lookout for the day. Though we were not here to see any particular rock formation, Lincoln’s Rock provides a stunning 360 degree view of the Blue Mountains region and was well worth the slight test of nerve required to get anywhere close to the edge!
On the way back to the city – and with temperatures nudging 40 degrees – we visited a wildlife park, and later took a drive through Olympic Park, home of several of the stadia used for the 2000 Olympic Games. From here, we transferred to a ferry for the short ride back to Circular Quay.
