The week of walks in the heritage listed Blue Mountains had its genesis in a story I read as a grade six student, called ‘Sunrise in the Blue Mountains’. The story about 3 sisters who rose early in the morning, made sandwiches and set off to see the sun rise over the Blue Mountains, captured my imagination and many years later resulted in MUAB participants walking a range of walks in this remarkable area of valleys and rock layers shaped by millions of years of erosion.
While all walks undertaken had their own special beauty, for me there were two standout walks:The Grand Canyon and the Undercliff/Overcliff walks. The Grand Canyon Track and the combined Undercliff/Overcliff track offer two completely different but equally spectacular perspectives of the Blue Mountains National Park. One plunges you deep into a sheltered rainforest floor, and involves navigating over 1,000 hand-carved stone steps into a shaded valley before the challenging walk back up. The other hugs the high precipices of the main valley walls with the Undercliff section featuring “hanging swamps” where water constantly seeps through the porous rock and the Overcliff section ascending to the open, wind-swept cliff-tops culminating at Conservation Hut and a welcomed cup of coffee! Also spectacular was the sunset view from Echo Point of the Three Sisters, the valley and the night sky!!
The success of these walks owes a great deal to three people: Joan Staples, Christine Bayly and Robert Baird. Joan’s knowledge of the local area informed some of the walks. She also helped to collate the information and led most of the short walks. Christine and Robert provided valuable feedback on the proposed walks as well as mapping the walks and leading the longer walks. Also adding to the quality of the experience was the conviviality and contribution of the participants.
Many thanks to all for contributing to the success of the walks in the historic Blue Mountains.
Emily Dimitracopoulos
