*So-called because the mountains in the distance appear slightly blue - due to droplets of oil released into the atmosphere by eucalyptus trees. So they're not actually blue, and I'm not sure if they're technically mountains, or just regular levels of ground left behind when some clever colleague of Slartibartfast carved out dramatic valleys. For years they were considered impassable, until somebody had the bright idea of following ridges rather than valleys. Anyway, we are left with lots of dramatic cliff faces and lookouts and some very tall waterfalls.
The first stop-off is Wentworth Falls. This offers a spectacular view of much of the region, and a short walk gets you good views of the Falls. At first they look like an incredibly high waterfall. Then you realise that this drop is just the longest part of a ridiculously high series of waterfalls. Great work, nature.
The main towns in the area are Katoomba and Leura, and they're both nice places to stop on a sunny day, full of antiques shops and bookstores and other quirkiness.
There's colourful wildlife, too
The main lookout is Echo Point, which offers the closest views of the Three Sisters - three pillars that stand next to a cliff. They are probably a bit overhyped - I guess they're the standout 'recognisable' feature in a lovely area - and you can't see anything here that you can't see from elsewhere - rather than pay for expensive parking here, in retrospect I would have driven on to a lookout a bit further away but with more perspective.
We drove on round the corner to Scenic World, which makes it easy to get down into the valley and back without taking the 1,000 step stairway. Contrary to the popular order, we want down The Sceniscender (TM) - a big cable car - and back up the world's steepest railway. The preferred order is the other way round, presumably because the world's steepest railway is a bit like the world's slowest rollescoaster, but doing it our way gets you quiet carriages and the best seats. It's ok - they have some remnants of gold mining at the bottom (and their own old counterweight to a previous version of the railway, which they seem to have dumped), but ultimately you're walking through a forest on a man-made walkway and it suffers in comparison to the views up above, so very missable.
As I mentioned above, there are better views at Eaglehawk especially, and the view over the Narrow Neck Plateau, and also notably over the Grose Valley and Bridal Veil Falls from Govetts Leap. We enjoyed these and took the scenic route back, through lots of fruit farms whose shops were sadly closed. As I say, an overnight trip would have its advantages...
Narrow Neck Plateau, sticking out...
A great day out, if you ignore all the hassle we had getting back with toll roads and bad signage. We followed a friend's dinner recommendation into the suburbs on the north shore and drove back via the Bridge. Unfortunately this incurs a toll with no booths, so there's a fair degree of hassle and extra expense paying online on an unhelpful website. Not very impressed with Sydney's transport in general - nothing links up, and the bus system is based on complex fares and minimal information at stops. I believe a new modus operandi is imminent, which is good news for the visitor. Fortunately central Sydney is reasonably walkable.
On Tuesday we tried to wrap up the major things we hadn't done. Lilly went to the fish market and bought an awesome lunch. Most of you know my views on fish... so does my wife, and she managed to pick me up some melon while she was there!
Next up was the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with an ukiyo-e exhibition called Hymn to Beauty - mainly the work of Utamaro. Although this was largely women and household scenes, it was pretty good, and the permanent exhibition wasn't bad. It also had a display of, effectively, A Level students' art which was very impressive. Good gallery.
Lilly had been looking forward to a few lengths at an open-air saltwater pool on the harbour edge - 'The Boy' Charlton Pool, named after a local Olympian. Nice spot for a swim. Busy, but most people there were sunbathing rather than swimming. And it was a scorching day.
Finally we caught the Manly ferry, largely because it's a cheap way to get great views of the harbour, especially the Opera House.
Manly Beach sounds like it belongs in Los Angeles, but it's a regular beach much like Bondi with swimmers and surfers, and the little town there is nothing special. We did have a nice sunset dinner at the Bavarian Beer Cafe by the harbour - we managed to find the one table with a view but no reserved sign, and the Hofbrau on tap was a nice change.
No comments:
Post a Comment