There are endless hikes (aka bushwalks!) at your footsteps in the Blue Mountains. It was hard to decide which one to take, but we knew we wanted something in the area that we could do in just a couple hours. I had read great things about Wentworth Falls, so that was the one!
We fueled up with breakfast at the Hotel Blue.
Then we were off to the trail head. We started around 9:30 am along with many others (though the parking lot and surrounding streets were PACKED when we left around noon!). This beautiful hike starts at the top pool of a waterfall, and follows the valley and cliffs down to the bottom of the waterfall along the National Pass Trail, making for about a three mile loop. The waterfall plunges about 100 meters, or 328 feet, to the valley floor and the trail was created in the early 1900s with picks, shovels, and a little bit of dynamite!
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| This is the top of the waterfall |
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| They built in stepping stones to go across the top of the waterfall |
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| This is where is plunges over the edge! |
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| It doesn't look like it here, but it is SO STEEP! And pretty much a straight drop off the edge. Thank goodness for the railing! |
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| The plunging waterfall |
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| Will dunked his head! |
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| oofta! On our way back up! |
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| Overlooking the waterfall from a different lookout point. |
This area is just stunning. I'm so glad we took the time to go all the way to the bottom of the waterfall. Plus, it adds to the conquering of my fear of doing things that scare me! haha. It was seriously so steep!
We went to Leura, the town between Wentworth Falls and Katoomba. It's a cute little town with a main road of shops and restaurants. Many places were closed for Boxing Day, but we managed to find some lunch before we set off for Hunter Valley - wine country! We had a four hour road trip ahead of us so we had to get going. When was the last time we even drove for that long? Oh island life . . .
Did I mention yet that in Australia they drive on the OTHER side of the road? Thank goodness for my personal chauffeur. It is really so challenging to drive on the other side. And to drive where you don't really know where you're going and through windy roads, too! I couldn't not try it out, so Will let me behind the wheel of our Holden "lion car." (Ever since my first time to Europe I've had a thing for Peugeot cars, mostly because of the cool lion hood ornament. In Australia they don't have Peugeots, but they do have Holdens, which also have a cool lion for the emblem!) I think I made it down the street for 90 seconds, max, and even pulling off to the side of the road was hard! I didn't even have to turn or merge, that would have been so difficult. But in my defense I'm used to driving my little Jetta, not an SUV, so that was an added challenge!
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| lion car! |
So Will hopped back in the driver's seat and took us all the rest of the way. I appreciated it before, but I had a new understanding now.
As we crossed through the outback we saw a wallaby, a 5 foot monitor lizard, and endless beauty all around. Oh, and lots of tailgaters, too!
Finally, at long last, there was an opening through the mountains and there were fields of green and gold. We made it to "The Hunter"!
We checked into our hotel, cleaned up from the hike and the drive, and walked across the street to a restaurant where we sat outside overlooking the valley. We had delicious salad and cheese and crackers and wine of course! It was the perfect way to end a long day, and begin a wonderful stay in Hunter Valley.
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