Katoomba

The morning after Anzac Day, Alex & I boarded a train for the two hour ride to Katoomba – a quaint town in the Blue Mountains and home to the famous Three Sisters rock formation (to my left behind us in the photo above).  We stayed in a historic hotel (and I use the term hotel lightly) that was gorgeous but antiquated (there were shared bathrooms on each floor – one for men, one for women).  We dropped off our bags as soon as we arrived and headed down the hill towards the Visitor’s Center, conveniently located right next to the Three Sisters viewing area.  The Three Sisters were pretty cool but the view of the valley was magnificent. 

We decided to get in our first hike before sundown and headed down the Giant Stairs – a 1,000 step path straight down into the valley – towards the trails.  We walked a couple of miles through the jungle checking out the scenery and enjoying the hike when we came upon the Scenic Railway – an easy option for getting back up the mountain except that, at 52 degrees, it’s the steepest incline railway in the Southern hemisphere and there was no way I was getting on that (check out the photos, it looks like a death trap masquerading as a rollercoaster but it played the Indiana Jones theme song every time it took off, which redeemed it slightly).  So we went back a few hundred meters to the Ferber Steps, another 1,000 step path back to the top.  Along the way we crisscrossed Katoomba Falls and had beautiful views of it as well.  Once at the top we were going to take the cliff walk back to Three Sisters before heading back into Katoomba but it was closed due to fire so we had to walk back along the road up three huge hills on our way into town.  After cleaning up, we the best Thai food I’ve ever had at a restaurant the guidebook recommended, Chork Dee, then called it a night.

Up bright & early, we left our bags at the hotel and headed back out on the trails for a hike Alex was SO excited about to the ‘Ruined Castle’.  Full disclaimer, they didn’t claim it was really a castle, just rocks, but it looked like it would have an amazing view.  And it should have since it was a six hour round trip hike.  When started our walk, there were clouds in the valley and the sun was reflecting beautifully off the rocks, our enthusiasm was going strong.  We encountered such varied terrain on our way there, it was like we were in different worlds – the first third was Australian jungle, then a bit that was more like Arizona with its rocks & barrenness followed by a section right out of Twilight with its Pacific Northwest forests and the final leg was full of ferns and could have easily been mistaken for the country in Illinois.  After a few hours of hiking, we arrived at a sign that told us we were only 600m from the ruins and we eagerly scrambled the rest of the way up the hill where, much to our disappointment, all there was were a few large, spider-covered rocks and no view.  Alex was crushed, saying the only thing ruined were his hopes and dreams, as we sat enjoying our Subway lunch and, despite our plans to enjoy a quick rest there, it wasn’t long before we were on our way back.  The hike back was easier since we had landmarks to indicate how much further we had to go and we made good time. 

We came back to the city on the train that night feeling exhausted and dirty but also a sense of accomplishment.  It was a quick, fun detour in our Sydney time but one I really enjoyed.  I don’t think my descriptions did it justice so check out the photos so you can appreciate the beauty of it all.