Sydney Day 3

Today we took a day trip to the Blue Mountains. It was about an hour and 45 minutes to get there, but in the nice car, it was a pretty smooth ride (as a passenger anyway). When we arrived at the Blue Mountains, we were met with some heavy fog and a bit more of a chill in the air. We were getting flashbacks to the foggy day in Cambará do Sul.

Our first stop was the lookout at Echo Point. When we walked up to the edge of the railing, we saw absolutely none of the eucalyptus forest below or the Three Sisters rock formation. However, we'd already paid for parking for an hour, so we went for a small walk down to the Three Sisters and Honeymoon Bridge. It was a nice walk through the forest, and when we got down to the Three Sisters rock formation, I could see the rock from up close! Honeymoon Bridge was closed, but we could see it and it wasn't very big anyway. We kept walking a little further down the Giant's Staircase until I gave up on all the steps knowing we had to go back up in time for the parking. Allan went a tiny bit further, but not much once he realized there was no lookout until the bottom.

Once back at the parking lot after hiking back up the steep stairs, we drove over to Wentworth Falls. We originally planned on going there after Scenic World, but we wanted to give the clouds time to lift. It was about 10-15 minutes drive to Wentworth Falls.

We got parked and began our walk. The loop we did had a few different lookouts and smaller circuits that diverted off the main loop. It was still a pretty easy hike. The good news was, it has cleared up a little so we could see more of the waterfalls that were closer to us. At the Queen's Cascade, there were stepping stones and a small pool with the waterfall. After Rocket Point, Allan decided to head down the cliff to see the waterfall from the valley floor and I continued on the loop to the Undercliff Walk.

I really enjoyed the walk under the overhang of the cliff above. It wasn't busy either so I had the whole path to myself. At points I stopped and just listened to the water dripping off the edge of the cliff onto the forest. I then continued back up the hill to get out of the forest and back to the parking lot. Just before the exit, I stopped at Prince's Rock and had a great panorama of Wentworth Falls, the cliffs, and the forest.

Once Allan and I met back up at the parking lot, we drove past Echo Point on our way to Scenic World. We had some quick lunch, and then entered the park. Our first stop was the world's steepest railway. We waited a few rounds of up and down so that we could get the front carriage. It was pretty steep, but it didn't go very fast. I wonder how they control the speed so well when it's so steep. The ride was only about a minute and a half, and given more time to visit Scenic World, I would've loved to do it again (your ticket gives you unlimited rides on everything).

After we disembarked, we quickly walked through the forest to the Skyrail. We made the same steep journey back up, but it didn't feel steep because it was a cable car that leveled out. The clouds had fully cleared at this point and we had some beautiful views over the forest. The Three Sisters was also visible in the distance. It was great that we finally saw that rock formation.

It was a bit tight for time, so we raced up from the exit over to the Skyway and waited in a pretty long line. Thankfully, the cable car fit quite a few people so large groups got on each time. We rode the cable car across the gorge and saw a waterfall on one side and the Three Sisters and Solitary Mountain on the other. So glad the weather continued to cooperate for this last ride! Not long after we got there and across, as well as a few pictures, the clouds started to roll back in. By the time we got to Echo Point, the view of Three Sisters was once again completely shrouded by clouds.

We lingered for a little while, but it was clear the clouds weren't going to lift. We drove back to the airport, said goodbye to our fancy car, and got the two buses back to Little Bay.Leggi altro