Hiking the Blue Mountains in Australia
Our second day turned out to be one of our best days yet! On Day Two we spent our time in the Blue Mountains, visited an incredible Australian landmark called the Three Sisters, and completed the Darwin’s walk trail which lead us to the beautiful, Wentworth Falls☀️.
We started our day leaving our hotel around 10am with our back packs full of a lot of water, our cell-phones and go pros fully charged, a book (for the long train ride), and bathing suits. When we left our hotel, we decided we were going to buy a packable lunch to enjoy for later that day, and grab breakfast along the way before we got on the train. On our walking route to the Central train station, we grabbed two big breakfasts and coffees at Kafe Kaz. The restaurant was cute, and we sat on their outside patio which we spent conversing, and people watching. As I sat there drinking my refreshing iced coffee, this was one of the first “Holy shit, I’m in Australia” moments.
We got to Central station, and after purchasing our Opal pass with a $20 credit, we went to platform six and caught the 11:15am train. We decided the first thing we wanted to do was visit the Three Sisters Landmark which was at the Katoomba stop, two hours away. When we arrived in Katoomba, we went to the nearby Information Centre, and got the directions we needed to go visit the Three Sisters in Blue Mountain National Park. This was a walkable route, and after being on the train for two hours we were happy to do it.
Once we got to the look out we were speechless (the pictures attached don’t even do it justice). To see this landmark in real life, and to be in that moment (instead of on my cellphone viewing it from Google Images) was an incredible feeling. One thing Erika and I have been doing that I’ve really fancied is that for every remarkable view, attraction, landmark and experience we have, we stop taking pictures, put our phones down and take in our breathtaking reality.
After we visited the Three Sisters, it was already around 3pm. To go back to the train, we decided to take a bus this time instead of walking. By the time we arrived back, the information desk was closed, but we knew we were going the direction we came from on the train. Our next stop was Wentworth falls, which was only two stops away from Katoomba. When we arrived at the stop, we both agreed that this was a good time to eat our packed lunches. We each brought along ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, and veggies but wished we had bought a Gatorade along the way to keep our sugar levels up, and to drink something other than litres of water.
Being honest, it was very hard to find the correct way to the beginning of the Darwin Walk trail. We were lucky to find two friendly ladies hiking that brought us exactly to the starting point. Our hike only took around 3.5 hours (roundtrip), but was completed at a fast pace. There were many waterfalls we got to see along the way, thinking each one we passed was the “big one” we were told about. We were getting very tired from all the up hill walking but passed a group of hikers that promised us it would be worth the hike, and encouraged us to keep going. When I was completing many steep stair cases to get to this promising view, I knew this waterfall would have to be incredible to be worth this unexpected, tiring workout.
When we finally got there, it was more than I ever expected. I felt so small, looking up at which seemed to be like the endless, beautiful water fall. The waterfall continued into an area you can swim in, with refreshing cold water which seemed deserved after a challenging hike. This is where Erika and I changed into our bathing suits and enjoyed the view of the water falls, the fresh water on our skin and the hot sun still beaming on us.
After completing our hike we took the 7:48pm train back to Central Station, and arrived around 10pm. At this point we were starving, so made the call to grab some Hungry Jacks (an Australian version of Burger King) and call it a night. We couldn’t have asked for better weather to complete this hike, and didn’t regret for one second any of this perfect day.
