Tales of Exploration and Rejection

  Blue Mountains, Australia
Monday, January 12, 2009

By early afternoon after leaving Newcastle, we had reached our much anticipated destination of the Blue Mountains - only an hour or so drive west of Sydney, yet it's another world entirely. The Blue Mountains are a place of profoundly spectacular natural beauty. Regrettably, we had only a day and a half to explore their splendour. And obviously that only allowed us to see a fraction of it; but even that was enough to keep our mouths continuously agape.
 
After checking into our hostel, the Flying Fox in the mountain town of Katoomba, we made straight for Echo Point, a viewpoint (and a rather splendid one at that) providing an astounding panorama of the Jamieson Valley. From here we were able to see the phenomenon that gives the Blue Mountains their name. They were named as such by some brilliant soul who was intrigued by their hazy blue appearance from a distance. Apparently it is due to a fine mist of oil exuded from the Eucalypts which then refracts the sun's light and voila! You have yourself some blue mountains. 
 
Not to be a party pooper by bringing up pesky details, but I think the Blue Mountains aren't so much mountains as they are an 1100m high sandstone plateau that over thousands of years has eroded away to form immense valleys and stunning gorges... A slight misnomer is all - and, really, the Blue Eroded Plateau doesn't exactly have the same ring to it so who can blame them for taking a bit poetic license??
 
To the left of Echo Point, 3 sandstone towers stand like sentinels over the valley. According to the folklore, these "3 Sisters" were turned into stone by a sorcerer in order to protect them from the unwanted advances of 3 young men. As luck would have it, the sorcerer died before he was able to return the girls to their human form. The things we're forced to do to avoid sexual harassment from arrogant men!! What a world, what a world. (Of course, there is the possibility that they were in fact, really nice blokes with a soft spot for really snobby lasses, in which case we are talking about what could be the WORST tale of rejection ever told. Ouch.) I'm sorry, have I gotten off topic again? ;)
 
As was to be expected, we arrived at Echo Point to discover the valley shrouded in overcast skies. It was still a fantastic view - you could say the clouds added a dramatic effect to the scene - and we decided to trundle down to the 3 Sisters where, after climbing down a staircase of the most death-defying nature (and only part-way, mind you!), you can cross a bridge over to a large cave-like opening on the first sister (somewhere around her waist I reckon). We started to continue down further down the "Giant Stairway" as it is called, but the valley suddenly disappeared in a thick fog, followed shortly thereafter by a soaking shower of rain. We about-faced back up the stairs and discovered quickly how lacking our cardiovascular fitness was.
 
The next day we awoke to blue skies and glorious sunshine and couldn't be more pleased about it. We went straight back to Echo Point to re-examine its grandeur on a clear day. The deep green of the dense bushlands in the valleys and atop the plateaus provided an earthly contrast to sheer cliff faces whose sandy layers reflected the sun's rays and rather brilliantly if I may say so. In the distance, these colours faded into an ethereal blue-on-blue backdrop of mountains and sky. You could easily forget that a prosperous little town lay just behind you and lose yourself in a daydream set in the early days of explorers and settlers. Until an exhaust-belching tour bus rocks up and spews forth a herd of tourists snaps you back to reality - but it is a lovely daydream while it lasts. 
 
And besides, why stand there looking glazed over when you can go out and LIVE the dream?! Well, for a couple of hours anyway and then go out for a nice café lunch... which is just precisely what we did ;) We set off from an obscure starting point in a residential area of the town of Wentworth, down a path into the National Park. It took us alongside a peaceful creek for a while with tall green grasses and striking wildflowers. Eventually we came to the edge of the plateau and a huge valley spread out before us. From there we began a gradual downwards trek. Well, at times, it was far from gradual actually; more freakishly steep stairways that were carved right out of the cliff face distracted us from the incredible views and made us much more focused on our feet and the guard rails.
 
We were on a trail called the National pass which took us around the perimeter of the valley somewhere in the middle between the plateau above and the valley floor below. At times we were walking along an alarmingly narrow cliff edge; sometimes it was little more than a sideways trench cut into the soft sandstone by the erosive forces of nature. But we were still quite high up with spectacular views, so it was nothing short of incredible and invigorating to have this breathtaking part of the world at our feet. The path led us up and down, through lush rainforest and past picturesque waterfalls, great and small. There were quite a few of these handsome water features, each one totally unique to the others, but one in particular completely and utterly stole the show. 
 
I have never seen anything quite like Wentworth Falls. The name is totally inadequate as far as giving any clue to the magnificence of these falls goes. The cumulative drop measures a drop of 300m, but an intermediate cliff breaks it in two. The National Pass took us through this dividing point and I wish we could have stayed there all day. Way above us the water rushed over a rounded bluff and sprayed down like a bride's veil into a small group of tiered shallow pools and more "mini" falls. As the water has carved its path through the sandstone to make these pools and continue on its way, it has also smoothed and buffed the stone. So, as the crystal clear water runs over it, it has the appearance of polished marble in a medley of rusty oranges and rich browns. 
 
I can also tell you from experience that it was as slippery as polished wet marble! I couldn't resist taking off my shoes and socks and wading into the crisply cool waters of these shallow pools. Dave had to coax me back out so we could keep moving. Just on the other side of our path of boulders across the stream, the water launched itself once more, falling the rest of the way to the valley floor below. As we continued along the pass we were able to look back and see these two segments of falls as a majestic whole. Unbelievable. 
 
Our little journey of exploration took us a couple of hours and kept us breathless throughout most of its duration - either out of awe for our surroundings or from the sheer physical exertion for which we were fractionally unfit. The so-called "home-stretch" was by FAR the most strenuous as it was stairway after buttocks-burning stairway, winding our way back to the top of the escarpment. It was brutal... yet still beautiful: we climbed alongside a waterfall and had plenty of stunning views to stop and appreciate (it had nothing at all to do with needing to catch our breath!!)
 
When we at last reached the final step, glistening with perspiration and glowing red like Rudolph's nose, we found a most conveniently located café. We figured it would be a bit on the pricey side, but when you are a café at the end of a grueling trail, well, it's not so hard to entice some weary hikers through your doors, no matter what the cost ;) And we were no exception! Our budget-conscious will had been beaten out of us by the trail and we were in no position to quibble about prices... especially since we would need to walk another 20min to get back to our car! These café owners are not so dumb I think.