Thursday, December 6, 2012

Blue Mountains getaway

Some how or other I had stumbled across some information online, about all these amazing walking tracks that are in the Blue Mountains National Park...and in particular, one that is called "The Grand Canyon Walk".  Apparently people have been walking this track since the 1800's!! 
That was it....we were hooked & wanted to go!

So, one October weekend in 2012, we had just picked up our new caravan, and decided that this would be our first trip...so that we could walk the Grand Canyon Track :)

And what a weekend it would be....it ended up to be one that we will never forget as our first trip away in our new van....


The Blue Mountains is only a few hours drive from where we live, so being our first trip, there wasn't too much travelling involved.  We arrived at Blackheath, which was where we were booked in to a caravan park, mid afternoon and decided we'd head off to start exploring after having a bite to eat.

Our first destination was to Govett's Leap, where we did a short walk across to Evans Lookout, which was nothing short of spectacular views all the way along the track that follows a cliff edge that falls to the valley below.......


Thursday 11th October 2012

This is the start (top) of Bridal Veil Falls - which you will see lots of photos of 
further down in my post.



Just one of the many, amazing views




Me & my camera :)




What an amazing view!


 
My hubby seems to have this thing of taking pics of me.... taking pics! lol



A beautiful Waratah along the track



Crossing one of the creeks


And here we are at Evans Lookout....and now to do it all again & walk back.


So, that was the end of our first day....a couple of hours spent admiring this amazing area.



The next morning, we woke to this!!

Friday 12th October 2012

Spring snow!!
Omg, I couldn't believe it!

Hubby had got up to go to the loo, and on his return he very casually said "It's snowing outside"
I thought to myself, yeah right!  But then I thought, well it is pretty damn chilly, maybe there is a little bit of snow?!  So I peeked out the window and could.not.believe.my.eyes!!
There was more than just a little....it was everywhere & was still falling!!

I've never sprung out of bed so quickly! LOL
I had to get out there & get some pics...of course!


As the morning went on, it got heavier & heavier...but boy it was oh so pretty....








 






Eventually, the whole area lost power....which meant that we had no way of keeping warm & it just got colder & colder!  So we decided we'd be best to head up into the town & find ourselves a pub or something....somewhere that had wood fireplaces where we would at least be able to get warm :)


So off we went....by foot, and here are some pics of along the way....







 


A snowman someone made on the footpath



This is the main highway....that, as you can see, soon turned to slush, and eventually ended up being closed to through traffic.



So people ended up being stuck in their cars due to the highway being closed.  For those lucky enough to be near townships, they did exactly what we did...headed to the pub!  At least they had the fires going & there was warm food available too!  The pub became quite packed after an hour or so of being there....I'm sure they made quite a little profit from the days events.


By mid afternoon, the snow had stopped & the highway eventually re-opened.  So we headed back to the caravan park & decided to go for a little drive, back down to Govett's Leap to see if  the snow had fallen there as well....and also if it was down in the valley.


By this time, it was slowly starting to melt









We decided to head down one of the walking tracks that goes to the bottom of the Bridal Veil Falls



There was quite a bit of snow in patches along the track....which was basically at the
side of the cliff edge!



We only got so far down there, & because of all the snow melting, it was practically raining on us & we were getting sopping wet!  So we decided we wouldn't go any further, so we
headed back to the car.


And continued for a bit of a drive & ended up going over to Pulpit Rock Lookout...



More breathtaking views!



How gorgeous is that view?!  Such a beautiful country we live in :)



The wind was absolutely HOWLING up through the valley while we were here....so going down these really steep steps it was just roaring through your ears & you had to be quite careful going down as the force of it made it quite tricky while descending the stairs.

And you can see just how steep it is....straight down into the valley floor!






And this is the Pulpit Rock monument.


We hopped back in the car & ended up at Anvil Rock Lookout...which again involved more walking (good thing we love it! lol)



More spectacular views...




And what would Anvil rock be without an Anvil?






Saturday 13th October 2012


The next day....we headed off quite early for the reason we had come here to Blackheath.
To walk the Grand Canyon Track....

I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves.....it truly is a beautiful area & well worth the walk....even if it is up & down sooooo many steps!  If you are ever in the area, trust me, it would be well worth your while to pay a visit & walk this amazing track....


A selfie to mark the start of our walk



The start of the descent.....which was the easy part!






Amazing rock formations


Stopped for a bite to eat :D









Beautiful waterfalls....and he is at it again, taking photos of me... taking photos!






This is one of the entry holes where canyoners go canyoning.
ahhh, no thanks....I don't think so!
It was just a black hole....couldn't see the bottom at all!






Once we were down on the valley floor, the trees were amazing & MASSIVE!









So, you've probably guessed by now.....yep, we are starting to head UP - lots & lots of leg.burning.steps!
















And finally we have made it back to the top!  wooohooo :D



Lucky that the views are breathtaking to make it all worthwhile






 


Ahhh...he's pointing to the wrong place....it should have been the one above where he's pointing....yep, that's where we went.  Took us more than 3-4 hours though as we do like to stop & really check things out...and takes lots of photos, of course :D



Trust us to take the signed pictures at the end! lol



So, as if we  haven't walked enough already....we decided to head back to Govett's Leap & see if we will be able to get down the track to the Bridal Veil Falls without getting soaked....



The view from the top of Govett's Leap - it is just beautiful!



This one is of the cliff wall, where the walking track hugs to it as it descends down to the falls.
And yep, there's still water pelting down from the melted snow....but we brought rain coats this time :)






 


As you can see...it's a pretty primitive track....mostly just the natural formations, with a hand rail in place wherever possible.





 


Time for a selfie :)






 While we were walking the track - which is just a narrow path, mainly made up of the natural rock formations...some of the steps are natural rock as well, but others are man made, with concrete & even steel.  But while we were slowly making our way down, this elderly couple, who were much older than us, perhaps in their 60's or so?....anyway...they came flying past us, RUNNING!!  Down Hill...down all those steps...RUNNING!!  I was totally gobsmacked....who would RUN down there?!?  and then back up the other side?!?  Holy moly....obviously they must be super fit, and perhaps compete in cross country running events or something, and this is part of their training??  I dunno....but I was just amazed at them and their efforts.  Good on them though!!












 Can you believe those stairs?!? 
How on earth would they have built them...there on the side of the cliff?!
Just amazing & mind boggling.  and to think that the old couple ran down these too?! :-O


And this was about as far as I got.....it just got steeper & steeper. So hubby went on without me, as he was determined to get all the way to the bottom!

 And off he goes....


While I took a few shots...and slowly made my way back to the top!
(no doubt he will make it all the way to the bottom & then catch me before
I manage to get back to the top!) LOL









And he made it....and even took a few pics with his little point & shoot camera....
ahhh, teaching him well (some of the time!)



Including this selfie :D



And finally back at the top for a well deserved beer!

So that was the end of another day of walking :)



Sunday 14th October 2012

The next morning, it's time to head home....
But first we stopped off near Mt Victoria, and ended up down this dirt road & eventually, more walking ....


We stumbled across a couple of very derelict looking humpy's....and believe it or not, but people actually live there!  It may be a bit hard to see, but there in amongst the bush is one of the said humpy's....made up of all sorts of things, sheets of iron, pieces of wood, canvas tarps...and just anything & everything.  I'd hate to think what it's like in winter!



This was a convict built road....






Hand made drains....again, by convicts







And that was the end of a fantastic weekend spent hiking just a few of the trails in the Blue Mountains National Park....one day we plan to go back & walk a few more of them :)




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