I took the train up to the Blue Mountains for a bit of bush walking, I’d been told that the weather can change at short notice in the Blue Mountains so I spent half the morning looking for a waterproof jacket in case it rained. I got there and while it was cloudy there was plenty of sun shining through, so I checked into a hostel and headed down into the valley.
The Blue Mountains aren’t any more blue than other mountain ranges, and they are not really mountains anyway. There are no peaks, the whole areas seems to be a system of gorges cut through some plateaus. What is impressive is that on the top of the plateau there are normal temperate dry forests but as soon as you head into a gorge it turns almost instantly into rain forest.
I walked down the track and checked out all the little sidetracks on the way. One took me to a waterfall and heading back down to the main path I heard the most enormous crunch. I jumped and spun around to see an entire tree come crashing down through the forest and across the path where I had been walking less than 30 seconds before.
The rest of the walk was pretty uneventful by comparison, I got down to the bottom long after the last cable car had taken the last tourists back to the top and walked back up to my hostel.
The next day, I went down the giant staircase and walked from Katoomba to Leura through the bush and jumped on the train back to Sydney. Leura is a much nicer place than Katoomba which had nothing at all going for it, other than cheap places to stay the night.
Food of the stay: I had lunch at a cafe in Leura before getting the train back, it was very good.
Rosko recommends: Anything that get you away from the crowds in Katoomba is good.