2000/02 Australia trip - Katoomba |
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After a good, unhealthy breakfast we walked to an overlook and then to another, and then we were into a hike along the cliffs. I think here that you are either walking along looking up at cliffs, or down at valleys, or you are climbing up or down. We wandered through the bush, meeting up with parrots, goannas (big fat lizards), and of course all kinds of weird plants, especially the banksias with their giant seed pods.
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Wentworth (8.55) |  |
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We thought this bushwalking was leading us into wilderness, but suddenly we met an ice cream van. We’d found the main parking lot for Wentworth Falls, with lines of buses and hundreds of kids and tourists on outings. We walked down a steep track to look at the falls, something we’d be doing a lot of over the next few days. By the time we’d climbed up again, we were feeling a bit of jet lag and Sandie was already sunburned.
So we drove a few miles further to Katoomba and the Sky Rider Motel. The owners were expecting us (this Internet stuff really works!) and very helpful. They obviously loved the area and ran a good motel. They said the heat was very unusual. We thought it was great!
We cleaned up a little, and set out for some more exploring. Katoomba has some great overlooks but it is difficult to get around as most of the streets end at a cliff top. By now it was very windy and as well as hot, with the light radiating off the rocks, bright enough for the reflected light to cause shadows.
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Katoomba (16.33) |  |
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Katoomba has been a tourism spot for a hundred years, somewhere cool to escape to when Sydney became too hot. So, they have some touristy stuff like a cable car across the valley, and a cliff railway, and a revolving floor in the restaurant, so everyone gets a view while munching. Most of this had closed for the day, and we munched on Devon Teas, the only customers.
We took the trail and stairs down to view Katoomba Falls, spectacular with the wind blowing the water around. The sun was setting as we went on to view the Three Sisters, probably the most well known formation in the Blue Mountains. We ended up in the next town, Leura, for dinner at what used to be the Post Office. It had the ambiance of a Post
Office too! Not a great success.