The Blue Mountains

We’d been repeatedly told that one of the “must do’s” in around the Sydney area of New South Wales is to visit the area of the Blue Mountains about an hour west of the city.

We headed up there on the back roads from Canberra via a small town called Oberon. Probably the closest we are going to get to driving in the outback on our trip as we’re mostly sticking to the coastline. Along the way we stopped of at one of the services areas on the main road. As you can see from the picture below they leave a lot to be desired…

instead of an array of Ginsters snacks, Krispy Kreme doughnut stands and plush welcome break toilets we refreshed at a stinky long drop which was out of toilet paper and took shelter from the beating sun under what resembled a disused bus stop.

Spent the night at a free campsite before heading down to the world famous Jenolan Caves early next morning. 

The temperatures are peaking at all time highs here around the country and many states, including most of the areas we’ve been to in new south wales, are enforcing total fire bans as bush fires are breaking out all over the place. So spending the morning 100 meters underground in a chilly cave was lovely. 

The caves themselves are over 430 million years old, way way older than dinosaurs, and the sediments contain fossilized ocean creatures from a time when the are would have been several hundred meters underwater. Over time the landscape forced itself up into the Blue Mountains region and formed the caves. There are some seriously impressive formations, including the broken column, the bishop, Beethoven the dog and the cathedral cave, so named because it contains rocks shaped as features from a cathedral hall including the alter, pulpit and stained glass windows all in one chamber.

Following morning we took a quick walk down to Wentworth Falls for some more awesome early morning views into the Jameson Valley. It just looks like a giant broccoli farm when you’re that high up.