Blue Mountains

It was Mother's Day in Australia today, so we had a rare 'family day out' with a trip to the Blue Mountains - the first time we had made the trip since arriving (and also since we last did it with Laura and Caroline in 1993). After a hot sunny day yesterday it was more cloudy today but bright and with the occasional sun, so we set off at 9.30 and headed out on the Western Highway through the suburbs, before climbing up into the mountain region.

It took about an hour and half to reach Wentworth Falls where we stopped and had a short walk through the bush to the main viewpoint. There was also a new path that has recently been opened that went down and across the falls and then down a series of rock steps to the lower falls - however, the girls weren't keen and Sue and I will have to do that another day!

There was a noticeable chill in the air with the difference in height (around 1,000m) but the views were good since there wasn't a heat haze over the mountains today. We next headed to the main tourist centre - Katoomba and Echo Point - for lunch and a view over the Three Sisters rock formation.

After this we headed back towards Sydney via the less busy route to the north and through the fruit growing area around Bilpin - it was a long drive and brought us through the large new housing developments in the western suburbs before eventually getting back in the last afternoon.