Weekend trip to the Blue Mountains
Interesting facts about the Blue Mountains
The Blue Mountains are one of the attractions close to Sydney are the Blue Mountains.
In 2000, the Blue Mountains were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the biodiversity of eucalyptus trees.
The ähterischen oils of the eucalyptus evaporate and create a blue haze over the mountains.
The largest of the cities in the Blue Mountains is Katoomba, in which we have also stayed.
Why a weekend trip?
Between the south and north of the Blue Mountains are approx. 200 km, so there is a lot to discover and from Sydney you need about 2 hours by car.
We wanted to see several sights here and decided to arrive on Saturdays and visit the 3 sisters and make a walk on Sunday.
The No. 14 hostel in Katoomba has dorms and twin rooms. It is very cozy, has a fireplace in the living room and a nice outdoor area. Unfortunately it is so cold in the bathroom that you hardly want to take a shower.
The Three Sisters
One of the landmarks of the Blue Mountains is the Three sisters, a rock formation that stands on a plateau.
An Aboriginal legend says that 3 sisters (Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m) and Gunnedoo (906 m) lived in the area with their father, a magician.
There also lived a Bunyip, a kind of mythical creature. This awakened angrily when one of the Schwesten threw a stone. The father wanted to protect the daughters and turned them into rocks to turn them back later. The Bunyip turned against the father, who turned into an animal, flew away and lost his magic bone. He is still looking for him and the three sisters are waiting to be transformed into people again.
The three sisters are especially nice just before sunset, as they are then directly illuminated by the sun.
Next to this beautiful sight you will be rewarded with a first real view of the mountains.
After that we visited friends who were travelling with the camper. After an incredibly enchanting sunset, it went on with some wine in icy temperatures.
The Grand Canyon in the Blue Mountains
The Grand Canyon hike is 6.3 km long and you need approx. Three hours. The walk in itself is not very tiring, but bad are the stairs, which you have to climb from the canyon back to the parking lot.
You will get information about the Grand Canyon walk on the National Parks page.
During the hike you start on a plateau with a view of the Blue Mountains and go down a few steps.
After the stairs comes a piece that looks particularly beautiful and where the first photos are worthwhile.
As soon as you reach the bottom, the vegetation changes from normal trees to a jungle with small lakes and rivers.
It is definitely worth the 3-4 hours walk to make. If you want to climb, you can take your equipment with you and abseil in half the way.
