The Blue Mountains - The Three Sisters and Wentworth Falls

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So, here we are in the Blue Mountains and they really are blue but, why is it so? According to a map produced by the Blue Mountains City Council, the phenomenon is known as ‘Rayleigh Scattering’ after Lord Rayleigh who first investigated it. It is caused by scattering rays of light coming in contact with fine dust particles and droplets of oil dispersed by the eucalyptus trees. The distinctive blue haze that gives the Blue Mountains their name is quite different and of a different hue than that found in any other part of the world. The first official use of the name ‘Blue Mountains’ is attributed to Captain William Patterson of the New South Wales Corp, in his dispatch describing his attempted crossing of the mountains through the Grose River Valley in 1793.

Our exploration of the Blue Mountains commenced this morning at Echo Point Lookout which overlooks the Three Sisters rock formation in the Blue Mountains National Park. The Three Sisters form a very impressive and very accessible rock formation and the surrounding gorge is stupendous. Photographs really do not do the area justice because every vista is so vast you cannot capture it in a single photo, although some of Bernie’s panoramic shots come close.

We had paid for only an hour of parking (@$4.40/hour!) at Echo Point so took a short walk along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk and down to the sisters. It’s quite a steep walk down to the sisters ... and back up again and, really, you get a better look at them from the Echo Point Lookout.

Next we drove around to Wentworth where we parked the car (rear to curb, what is with that in NSW?) beside Wilson Park. We had decided to walk into Wentworth Falls via the Charles Darwin Walk which follows the Jamison Creek through a variety of natural landscapes with changing foliage. The path also follows in the footsteps of the famous naturalist, Charles Darwin, who walked this way in 1836. I have to confess that I didn’t actually realise that Charles Darwin visited Australia or, if I ever learnt this, I had forgotten. Charles Darwin visited New Zealand in December 1835 and Australia from January until March 1836, on the return portion of his voyage around the world in the HMS Beagle. Coincidentally, about this time last year we were in Shropshire - Darwin’s birthplace.

At the end of the Charles Darwin Walk we found ourselves at the top of the Wentworth Falls and we connected onto a track that took us down .... and down ... and down to a point where we were able to look up at the falls cascading from above. Fortunately we had a packed lunch with us and we sat at the bottom of the falls eating cheese sandwiches and contemplating the climb back up the track! The honeyeaters were so cheeky they were darting around Bernie’s feet looking for crumbs.

We finally managed to haul ourselves back to the top of the falls. The track we undertook is certainly not one for the faint hearted! One big advantage, though, is that there were very few other people on the track so it felt almost like we had the national park to ourselves.

Rather than walk directly to the car park we decided to take the Undercliff Track thinking that it would be a relatively flat walk to the next track that connects to the car park. Wrong! It had a fair amount of up and down, but it was nowhere near as strenuous as the trail that we had already completed. It also gave us some different perspectives on the falls. Probably too may different perspectives resulting in way too many photos!

We eventually made it to the Wentworth Falls car park by way of Princes Rock Lookout, Wentworth Falls Lookout and Jamison Lookout. However, this was not where our cars were parked; we left both cars parked at Wilson Park. Why, oh why did we not think to drive one of the cars into the falls car park this morning?? Already feeling pretty exhausted we now had to face a two kilometre walk along Falls Road to Wilson Park!

When we reached the cars Cathy and Steve decided to call it quits for the day and head back to the house. We decided to drive around to Conservation Hut to see how accessible the lookouts were over there. In the end we just settled for some ice-creams because the shortest walk was about half an hour return ... and we could see that it was another steep one with stairs involved.

Rather than spend the half hour doing that we decided to drive back to Echo Point to photograph the Three Sisters in the afternoon sun. We only wanted to have a quick look and snap a couple more photos in the ‘golden hour’, but the minimum amount of parking we could purchase was an hour for another $4.40. It was well worth it, though, to see the Three Sisters bathed in afternoon sunshine. It’s definitely a tip for others who might be planning to visit the Three Sisters - they are best visited in the afternoon if your itinerary allows for it.

From Echo Point we drove around to Katoomba Falls. Oh dear, these falls are treated like the poor relation with the signposts looking as if they haven’t received any maintenance in decades. Fortunately the paths were not so dilapidated with lovely smooth and even concrete steps taking us out to Reid’s Lookout for more magnificent views. We even found another spectacular rock outcrop that probably would have looked better in this morning’s sun?! If possible, it’s probably best to be in the area for a few days to try to get to all of the attractions in great light. Anyhow, we cannot complain because we have had a gorgeous day in the Blue Mountains.

At this point we decided to call it quits too and made our way back to the house. Gosh it was nice to sit down with a drink after the exertions of today. After putting our feet up for a while it was time to prepare some spag bol and salad for another dinner ‘at home’.

Two games of Bolivia to the girls tonight. The pendulum has swung in our favour, but the tournament is not over yet.



Steps: 21,254 (16.08kms)

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