Sydney to Brisbane Road Trip: Blue Mountains

The three sisters, Katoomba.

I had hoped to keep this blog regularly updated, but when I set out from Sydney with Paul (a friend from back home) and two guys (Jelmer and Gary) he had met while in Sydney, it felt good to be away from a computer for a while. But yes I did mean to update sooner, however I'm now working in Cairns and one of the perks of the job is free wi-fi. So it went something like this.
I met Jelmer and Gary for the first time just outside Sydney where the three guys had been camping. Jelmer owns a great jeep, that he had already driven from Perth to Sydney. We had two tents, a camping stove, a table, some chairs and most importantly it would prove, a deck of cards. We drove to the Blue Mountains to begin our road trip.

One well packed boot!

After referring to a few guide books and maps, we noticed a free campsite, near Woodford, called Murphy's Glen. Jelmer was particularly excited about the drive to the site as 5k of it is off road. We left the highway, and started the descent to Murphy's Glen. There is no way a regular car could have used the track. We really didn't know what to expect of the campsite, as we drove further and further away from the highway.
As you can imagine it was quite a surprise when we finally made it to the campsite and found about ten families who had also set up camp. Obviously Australians are hardy travellers. Unfortunately a few hours after we arrived, it started to rain and continued to do so until the following morning. Luckily rather than leave us to sit inside the jeep all evening, one of our neighbours invited us to use their gazebo. But before that Paul decided to dig a river around our tents, to stop them from floating away!


The Blue Mountains get their name from the blue haze from the Eucalyptus trees. I think we were all amazed by the scale of the area. Although the main viewing area at Echo Point is very well developed for tourists, the views are so immense, as far as you can see are trees and nothing else.

Blue Mountains.

At the three sisters. I'm not sure if the hat has shrunk or my head has grown.

We woke early the next day, but had to pack away our tents wet. We were booked into the YHA Katoomba, for the next night, but decided to extend our stay an extra night when we realised how much there was to see.
The YHA is also a great hostel, it felt like checking into a hotel when we arrived.

Another game of cards, at the YHA Katoomba.

We spent the next day exploring the area a little more, we were joined by our dorm mate Chris, who we discovered is from West Kirby, about 5 miles from my hometown.
We decided to take the cable car to the start of a rainforest walk and then take the furnicular railway (the world's steepest) back to the start.

Paul, Jelmer and Gary in the cable car.


Rainforest Walk

The furnicular railway was extremely steep. You don't have any kind of seatbelt, instead you are expected to rest your knees on the padded bar in front. Panic set in when I realised my knees slid under the bar and left me clinging onto the chair, Gary took some photo's with my camera, while I concentrated on not tumbling to my death. Not to be dramatic or anything.

This doesn't really show the steepness of the railway.

We also visited Katoomba Falls, incredible because it is possible to stand on a plataeu halfway down the falls, the views were stunning.

Jelmer

Paul at Katoomba Falls

The town of Katoomba is a real delight. So far I've found most Australian towns to be very similar, all built on a grid plan, with little variation. With the growth of chain stores at times it can feel very American. Fortunately Katoomba has kept a large number of independent stores and eateries. I really enjoyed our time in the area.