Adventure in the Blue Mountains

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We arrived in Katoomba about lunch time. Katoomba is home to the Three Sisters and Echo Point. Echo Point is a beautiful view. The Three Sisters is a rock formation which looks a lot like the Twelve Apostles but on land (see the Great Ocean Road post). It is also very beautiful.

We went into the information center and they recommended a walk for us. We’d walk down the Giant Stairway (about 900 steps) and walk across the valley to the railway. We’d take a short train ride up the other side – to avoid having to walk up the 900 steps. Then, since the train doesn’t drop you at the same place you started, you have to take a cable car back to Echo Point. We went back to our campervan to have some lunch before we headed out.

We started out our journey. Before we even got to the Giants Stairway, we walked down to get a close up view of the Three Sisters. It was pretty, but it was much more breathtaking from a distance. Also, there were a lot of tourists there which really took away from the experience. We headed down the stairs. On our way, we passed a sign that said “Last Train 4:50”. We were a bit concerned because it was 4:00 and there were about 900 stairs and another 2 km between us and the train. If we missed the train, we’d have to walk back… Meanwhile, people were coming back up huffing and puffing, wishing us luck on our journey. It was a bit disconcerting, but we pressed on.

We reached the bottom well past the 4:50 deadline. But we had hope that there must be another way so we pressed on. We hiked across valley. It was a lovely walk, but it was hard to enjoy knowing 900 stairs stood between us and the top. But we kept our spirits high and enjoyed the scenery.

At the other end, we found the Furber Steps. Well, it was another way up and at least it wasn’t named the Giant Steps. We headed up. About a quarter of the way, Jigar saw a side path. He wanted to check it out. I refused so he went to check it out alone. A few minutes later, I heard him calling me. I walked over to find a beautiful private waterfall. We rested there and Jigar enjoyed a stale nutella sandwich.

Then we pressed on. We had barely begun the steps, but we didn’t know that then. We climbed and we climbed and then we climbed some more. Just when you thought you couldn’t possibly go up one more step, there were more steps... at least there were lovely views along the way. Finally, we made it to the top.

We thought we were done which was lucky because the sun was setting. The only problem was the cable car wasn’t running either so now we still had to walk about a mile back to Echo Point. And we had to walk fast because it was rapidly getting dark. You do not want to be caught in the Australian bush after dark.

With about half an hour of walking left to go, darkness fell. My thoughts were on the fact that 9 out of the 10 most poisonous snakes all live in Australia, in addition to about a million other dangerous animals. But luckily, those kinds of creatures tend not to hang around walking paths that people frequent so we made it back safe and sound. When we reached Echo Point, exhausted beyond belief, we were treated to a view of the Three Sisters all lit up. It was a beautiful sight.