Continuing our Australian East Coast Road trip, we left the seaside town of Shoal Bay in the morning in pouring rain, trying to get a jump on the day. We’d had great weather all along, but Shoal Bay was a wash out as was Coffs Harbour the previous day, as it was a full day of rain. Our next stop on our itinerary was the Blue Mountains National Park three and a half hours away. We bypassed Sydney for the time being to spend a couple of days in nature. There’s so much to do in the area and we were eager to explore. You can marvel at the great expanse of the park from various lookout points, hike the miles of trails, check out the numerous waterfalls, go mountain biking, camping and learn about Aboriginal culture. We arrived in the town of Katoomba in the afternoon where the temperatures were cooler but no rain. This gateway town to the Blue Mountains sits at 1017 meters above sea level, (3337 feet) and has a quirky, artsy and rustic charm to it and is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. There are lots of old art deco buildings and vintage hotels with a “time stood still” look to them. The Three Explorers Motel located a stone’s throw from the park’s visitor centre was our accommodations of choice. Rated as 3-star motel, it was anything but. It was dusty and looked a bit run down but we made it work. In a town of cheap hostels and vintage hotels, the star rating is relative, I guess. As we travelled the country, we realized that at some of the smaller hotels, reception closes early so if you’re running late, gaining entry may involve a few phone calls or texts and a little work on your part. This was the scenario when we arrived at the motel.

We made contact with the motel manager who informed us that the room was unlocked, and the key was inside, okay then! After settling into our room, we took a short stroll to Echo Point. This is a centrally located area of the park with the visitor centre for all your general information needs, it’s also the jumping off spot for many of the park’s walks and lookout points. We walked around a bit, checked out some of the vista points and got our first sight if the iconic Three Sisters sandstone rock formation. This vast park, divided into six areas, each with its own distinct features, is a listed World Heritage Site steeped in Aboriginal history and folklore. The indigenous Darug and the Gundungurra peoples are the traditional custodians of the land. You can hike as little or as much as you want as there are miles of trails. You can do the short Three Sisters or Prince Henry cliff walks which has amazing views, however, if you’re motivated enough, there’s the Giant Stairway with its 980 steep steps to Jamison Valley floor.

On our second full day, we planned to explore quite a bit more. We walked the Prince Henry cliff track to the Scenic World Skyway Station. Of course, there were plenty of stops along the way to enjoy the ever-changing scenery. We watched the Skyway cable car as it traversed the valley between the cliff tops. Later, we hiked down to Katoomba Falls.

Katoomba is a tiered waterfall that reaches 230 meters high and is only a short 45-minute walk from Echo point. This walk took us along the cliffs before descending into the valley. We visited in May which is one of the drier months, so the falls were not in full splendor, still worth the trip however. The vegetation was lush and green, and we especially loved the wide variety of ferns.

After the waterfall hike, we took an alternate route back and made a stop at Lilianfels Park. It’s a small park not far from our motel with shade trees and some grassy open areas, picnic tables and toilets. There were a few interesting artificial caves as well. The centerpiece here is a sculpture dedicated to the convict road builders who laboured in chains for many years and made it possible to have passage through the Blue Mountains. The indigenous people of the area are represented in the piece as well.

The following day, a short drive through the quaint village of Leura would bring us to the Pool of Siloam walk in the Gordon Falls Reserve. This is a moderate 1.6 km return walk. The starting point has a picnic area with grilling area and toilets. There’s a cool looking hobbit style artificial cave that can be used for shelter if you got caught in the rain. The walk starts out as a dirt/gravel track and changes into a series of stone steps, some of which can be slippery as you make your way down. It’s a visually stunning walk through the rainforest to the pool of Siloam where the Gordon creek forms a cascading waterfall into the pool at its base. While not the biggest of waterfalls, there’s always something magical about the sound of falling water in a rainforest.

The payoff at the end is the waterfall and a refreshing pool where you can take a dip or just relax and listen to the soundtrack of the forest.

Next up was the Valley of the Waters track which was only a ten-minute drive from the Gordon Falls Reserve. In a park with over twenty waterfalls, getting to some of them, especially the larger ones required a bit of bushwacking. We’d seen a few of the smaller more intimate ones so we opted to do the more moderate hike to the Queen Victoria lookout instead where you see the wide expanse that is the Jamison Valley. Just getting to half of them would’ve required us adding more days to our itinerary and that wasn’t possible at the time.

On our final day, we did another great walk from Echo Point to get a close up of the Three Sisters, experience the Giant Staircase and see the Honeymoon Bridge. On the way on a well-defined path, we passed through large groves of eucalyptus trees while listening to the sounds of birds like cockatoos, crimson rosellas, pied currawongs and lyrebirds.

The Giant Stairway walk is a challenging 4.7 km hike that takes you to the bottom of the valley. You can do a loop and return to Echo Point or continue along the Federal Pass to Scenic World vintage train station. Here you can ride the train back up or endure the steep climb back up the Furber Steps to the cliffs.

Having just done a portion of the Giant Stairway, we headed back with a stop at the Spooners lookout. You never get tired of the views. On the way back, some of the birds we’d been hearing throughout the forest actually revealed themselves and we were able to get pretty close for a few nice pics.

We concluded our final evening with a short walk to view the sunset. It was a cool and crisp evening but a great treat, nonetheless. We could’ve easily spent a week here and not run out of things to see and do. Goodbye from Katoomba, we really enjoyed our time here.

The Blue Mountains National Park is only a short one and a half to two hours drive from Sydney. We stayed in the Katoomba area which for us was best suited for the time we had. There was plenty to do there, and we squeezed in quite a bit in the limited time we had.

Getting there. From Sydney CBD, take the Western Motorway M4 until it changes to the A32 which goes right into Katoomba.

Blue Mountains weather. Click HERE.