Back to the Blue Mountains

After taking it easy for the last couple of weeks after my accident I decided to get bit more active again on Friday. I took the train up to the Blue Mountains and spent the day hiking, this time my destination was Katoomba.

Katoomba is the main town in the Blue Mountains and it is also home to many of the more popular tourist attractions of the area. With my arm still in cast I felt it prudent to stick to relatively easy walking tracks frequented by tourists.

I decided to follow the Solitary Kiosk loop walk. This track covers a wide variety of terrain with the first half of the walk down in the valley and the second half up on the cliffs next to Katoomba. From Solitary Kiosk the track quickly descends to the valley below with some small waterfalls on the way. Down in the valley the track is relatively easy and follows a bushtrack surrounded by dense vegetation for several kilometers.

After a couple of hours walking I arrived to Furber Steps. These long and steep steps lead back up from the valley to the cliffs above. From the steps I got some great views down to the valley and I also caught my first proper sight of the Three Sisters, the most famous landmark in the area. In addition there was a great spot for  getting some closeup shots of a waterfall.

After the long climb up the Furber Steps I finally arrived to the top. From here on the track follows the top of the cliffs quite closely and also passes right next to the Katoomba Cascades, a really pretty small waterfall. There are also many lookouts on the way, the most famous of these is the Echo Point with a superb view of Three Sisters. This easily accessible lookout is the most popular spot in the Blue Mountains and for a good reason.

After Echo Point my track continued along the cliff tops back to the Solitary Kiosk. While the views were not quite as impressive as from the Echo Point, there were still plenty of great sights along the way. After getting back to the Solitary Kiosk it was time to walk back to the railway station and take a train to Sydney.

In addition to the walks the area also has quite a few other attractions for tourists. These include the Scenic Railway (the steepest incline railway in the world) and Scenic Skyway cable car. While interesting enough, I decided to give them a pass this time around.

I also managed to take quite a few shots along the way. While things were made bit trickier by the cast, it was still reasonably easy to get the shots I wanted. Luckily it was a sunny and bright day so minor camera shake was less of an issue.

It was definitely very nice to do something bit more active for a change. Blue Mountains still has lots of excellent walks left but I feel that my two days there cover enough scenery for my current Sydney trip. In a couple of days it’s time to head back to Melbourne, anyway. While I have greatly enjoyed my time in Sydney (for the most part, anyway), Melbourne is a much nicer city to live in and I’m quite happy to return there.

• 2012-11-24 Portsea Hole