Hiking the Blue Mountains

On "Blue Mountains Day" as declared by our itinerary, we were out on an 8:24 am train to Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, a 2 hour train ride from Sydney. Once in Katoomba we walked through town and out to Echo Point, where we could see the famous rock formation known as the Three Sisters.

Interesting fact, the Blue Mountains get their blue tint from the oils from the Eucalyptus trees' leaves evaporating. We then hiked to the base of the 3 Sistas and down the 861 steps down the side of the formation know as the Giant Staircase.

Once at the bottom, we bush walked our way through the valley, past some waterfalls, and then up the Fuber steps. This hike took about 2.5 hours, and other than the mass amounts of steps, was rather easy. We then had a nice lunch in Katoomba and took a train to Wentworth Falls.

At Wentworth Falls, we took the Charles Darwin Walk to the falls, which took an hour of easy walking along a babbling brook.

some flowers along the easy trail

Then it was onto the challenging trails. We took the National Pass to Wentworth Pass which went straight down the side of cliffs on some ladders, and up and down some ridges. It had some gorgeous views.

We decided after the fact, that the trail was technically closed, but decided to disregard the sign.

one of the many ladders

At the very top of Wentworth falls (see picture to right)

We came down along one set of falls (which cooled us off with the spray when the wind blew) and then up another set. It was a very long hike and the sun was setting by the time we got back to the town. We napped some on the 2 hour train ride home, and then showered off and got a late dinner at a pizzeria in Sydney. After a super long day, we finally went to bed after midnight.