Blue Mountains (Day 1, Part 1)

John at Echo Point

We rented a car from Discount Cars on Broadway Street - the first car had a faulty handbrake so the boss kindly upgraded us to an automatic car. This was a very good thing because of the steep and winding roads in the Blue Mountains - John didn't have to worry about gears and clutch control, which meant we could both enjoy the countryside a bit more.

In the rush to get out of Sydney before the rush hour traffic, we stupidly left John's wallet (containing all our ozzie dollars) in Meimei's apartment. Fortunately, I still had my wallet with me, which meant that we could withdraw money from the ANZ bank at Echo Point (they don't charge commission! Take note!).

Echo Point

Echo Point is the most popular lookout on the Blue Mountains scenic drive. This is because it is easily assessible by car and bus and is within walking distance from the train station. Additionally, Echo Point is famous for the Three Sisters - good examples of nymphs turned into limestone stacks - which feature frequently in Aboriginal Dreamtime mythology.

We got there in the morning, so it wasn't busy - or at least it didn't seem busy. The lookout point is very big, so it didn't seem crowded even though there were two busloads of japanese tourists milling around. (tip: parking in the Katoomba town centre - 20 minutes walk - is free, parking at Echo point means you pay by meter - minimum is one hour)

There are well marked out walking paths from the Echo Point lookout, if one is willing to brave the slippery pools of mud. Some of the tracks were cordoned off due to safety issues (mudslides, falling rocks) or for environmental issues (reforestation after bushfires). So, we walked around the area for a little bit, and then decided to drive to Leura Falls instead. We took the scenic Blue Mountain driveway (instead of the motorway), and stopped at every single lookout point along the way.