The Blue Mountains

It wasn’t raining when we woke up this morning, but it started up before breakfast. It’s raining now, at the end of our day. In between, we had a treat – a foggy, muddy trek down the mountain that best affords the view of the Three Sisters and the Katoomba Falls.

We had a dismal start. The guide sent us to three viewing spots, all of which should have been spectacular if Charlie is to be believed, but we saw a wall of white. That was eerie and impressive, but we didn’t travel for 3 hours to look at fog. For most of us, a trip to the Blue Mountains is a once-in-a-lifetime event and the inability to see the rock formation known as the Three Sisters was heartbreaking.

Still, there was plenty to see as we hiked down the mountain. The path was water-logged, the steps treacherous, but our guide was correct in that what was near us (gum trees, mountain ash, tea trees, mountain devil bushes) shown more brightly in the fog. We saw a few birds and some flowers. There were many overhangs in the rock face; not quite caves, but we had some respite from drips when walking under them. Towards the end of our walk, there was an overhang AND a flat rock formation beneath it, and we were all able to sit down and stay dry (well, keep from getting wetter) as our guide told us a few more facts and stories.

We walked for about two hours in the morning, broke for lunch, and walked for another two hours. As I said earlier, at the start we could only see what was right in front of us. 45 to 60 minutes later, we came to an outlook point and realized the fog had thinned a bit. In one direction we could see tree-covered mountains extending indefinitely. In another direction was a bare, sheer cliff face. Both views were stunning.

We worked our way to the bottom of Katoomba Falls. Due to all the recent rain, quite a bit of water was flowing down this cliff. We had perhaps 5 more views of the falls as we hiked a path that took us to the side of the mountain across from the falls.

We broke for lunch at one of the entry points for the hiking paths. There is a gift shop and eatery there. Over lunch I told Charlie I regretted my inability to share the experience of seeing the Three Sisters with him; this is one of his favorite places to in Australia. We walked out to the overlook after lunch and to our shock the fog had lifted enough so that the formation was visible. What a relief! And then what pleasure! The students had a chance to see the 3 rock towers a few minutes into our resumed walk, and again, and again. Most of our overlooks on the hike after lunch allowed us to see both the Katoomba Falls and the Three Sisters.

We wrapped up our visit by taking the rail car back to our lunch spot. That was a cramped and slightly scary ride up the side of the mountain. But I was so worn out by then, I appreciated not having to walk up.

Tomorrow is a free day for the students.