Blue Mountains Trip Part 2

 Day 3- Blackheath Rhododendron Gardens, Leura, Hydro Majestic and The Three Sisters at Echo Point

It was a misty, foggy morning and you couldn't see much. It had rained overnight but was relatively dry in the morning so we walked around Blackheath and discovered the Rhododendron Gardens. They were very extensive and it was quite atmospheric with the mist, so we had a lovely morning walk.

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After breakfast we headed to Leura where we wanted to do the Cascades Walk but it started to rain quite heavily so abandoned that and went shopping in Leura instead. Leura had a strip of shops down either side of a middle strip of blossom trees, was very pretty. First stop was a lovely smelling chocolate shop, then a number of delis, cafes, art shops, we spent a couple of hours just checking them out. Then it was off to the Hyrdo Majestic for high tea. It was still pretty foggy so we were concerned that we would miss out on the lovely view of the Megalong Valley from the Hydro. Not long after we arrived the mist lifted and we enjoyed the view and the food!

It was a lovely way to while away a couple of hours

The view when we first came in, thankfully it lifted

The entrance hall

Afterwards we were able to wander through the hotel and see the areas that had been restored, it was very impressive

 

Time to leave and the mist was rolling in again

It wasn't far from Medlowbath to Katoomba so we thought we would pop down and see if the Three Sisters were visible. It wasn't looking good, but lady luck was with us and the mist blew through and we spent about an hour around Echo Point and we were able to walk down to Honeymoon Bridge which gives a closer view of the Three Sisters.

The mist rolled in and out but we were lucky and got some good shots. We head home tomorrow so glad we got to see them today!

On the Road with Deb to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains

 Day 1- Canberra to Blackheath- Govetts Leap, Hargreaves Lookout and a Ferny Walk in Megalong Valley

Deb and I drove up to Blackheath the back way, via Goulburn, Taralga and Oberon. It was lovely and green, very picturesque, little traffic but lots of potholes to be avoided. It had been raining heavily in Canberra but once we left the ACT we pretty much had dry roads all the way apart from the occasional short shower. We arrived in Blackheath and found our delightful cottage where we were staying. We missed our "third amigo" or partner in crime- Kerrie, who was off in New York of all places!

We each had a room with a queen bed so it was very comfortable

This was our cottage for our three night stay- just a short walk up to some lovely cafes, delis and a very nice patisserie and bakery. We arrived around 1:30pm, so settled in, had some lunch then headed out and explored the area. We had to do as much as we could when the weather was dry as showers were predicted every day. Our first day was the driest.

We found a lovely little walk down in the Megalong Valley- lovely rain forest, bubbling brooks, ferns and lots of green! 

We also went to Hargreaves Look out- it looked out over the Megalong Valley

The white building you can see in the distance is the Hydro Majestic where we are having High Tea on Monday afternoon.

We also went to Govetts Leap on the other side of Blackheath which overlooked the Grosse Valley. The scenery is just stunning.

 

As we walked down to the lookout we spotted the first of many waratahs flowering in the wild.

Day 2 - Cliff Top Walk, Bells Line of Road, Mt Wilson, Mt Tomah and Attempt 1 at Echo Point and the Three Sisters

We headed out for a walk early in the morning at the end of Govetts Leap Road on the Cliff Top Walk. There was lots of ups and downs and stairs, and that wasn't even walking down into the valley. The clouds and mist when we started were beautiful and also more waratahs as well.

We took Deb's new walking shoes for their first walk- not a bad start to their walking career!

These were the stepping stones over the waterfall

The creek above the waterfall

 

The view down to the waterfall

 

The waterfall in the distance

The waterfall we crossed

Just as we got back to the start it began to rain and continued to rain on and off for most of the day, mainly showers. We enjoyed our breakfast when we got home, showered and headed out to explore the Bells Line of Road. We first headed to Mt Wilson an historic visit with lots of gardens which would be good to explore on a drier day.

                     

We needed our umbrellas today, we walked into the Cathedral of Ferns, it was a lovely walk, a bit muddy and wet underfoot but worth it.

We stopped for lunch then called in at the Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens. Another lovely spot.

We would have loved to explore further along this road but decided it was just getting a bit too wet so headed back to our cottage. Later on it seemed to clear a bit so we headed down to Katoomba and thought we would check out Echo Point and the Three Sisters. As we got into Katoomba and headed down to Echo Point all we could see was mist- the Three Sisters were not coming out to play!

This was looking down at the Three Sisters- nothing to see. The fog was very thick as we headed back into Katoomba, all gone back in Blackheath 10 km away!