Australia Day 25: The Blue Mountains

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Today we decided to head out of Sydney and visit the famous Blue Mountains World Heritage Site. Since our hotel is only a couple of blocks from the train station, it was super easy to jump on the train and arrive in Katoomba around 10:30 in the morning.

Mainstreet Katoomba

We booked the “Hop-On, Hop-Off” bus, and got off at one of the early stops in the Prince William Cliff Walk.  It was glorious!  Although there were other people who came through, most of the time we were completely alone.  We spent some time with a beautiful lyrebird, as well as several Rosellas and a few other birds.  

The Superb Lyrebird

There were little metal creatures from time to time to keep us entertained.  We liked this skink.

Huge trees loomed over the path - and very sheer cliffs down!!

We also enjoyed the fantastic views of the cliffs and valleys.  We arrived at Echo Point around noon, and took many photos of the famous Three Sisters formation.

We hopped on the bus and went a few stops to the Katoomba Cascades.  Some of the bigger waterfalls were closed, but we enjoyed what we saw.

Finally we went around the rest of the route and stopped at the Gordon Falls Overlook.  The views were spectacular - impossible to catch on film!  It was also getting cold as the sun went down.

Along the way, we trekked about 13,000 steps, at least half of them up and down stairs. 

We got back to Katoomba, got sandwiches at Subway, and ate while waiting for the train home. It was a wonderful day!