Australia 1997

Monday 17 November ... continued from the previous chapter.

The Blue Mountains are really an escarpment, with the steep slope facing Sydney and an only slightly less steep western face. It is cut by deep steep-sided canyons which make travel very awkward and thwarted many attempts by the early settlers to cross into the interior by the usual approach of following the rivers. Ultimately, they tried following a ridge and found a way across. That route is now the main highway west from Sydney towards Perth, and passes through Katoomba (pop 8,300), 110 kilometres by rail from Sydney and about 3,300 feet higher. Katoomba is the main tourist centre of the region, attracting a lot of short break visitors from the coast for the scenery and walking.

It was a short walk from Katoomba railway station to the Youth Hostel where the staff were on hand to check me in and give me a leaflet detailing the facilities of the hostel and town and suggesting some walks in the neighbourhood. Since it was only about two o’clock, a walk seemed a good way to pass the afternoon and I set off for my introduction to bush walking.

This was hardly an adventurous outing, the area around the town is well provided with good tracks linking the major natural features and I followed the Prince Henry Trail from the end of Merriwa Street, just below the cliff top above the Jamison Valley, towards the Three Sisters. An interesting feature of this stretch of track is the occasional patches of litter, which I later found corresponded to the location of car parks on the road above.

The Three Sisters are pinnacles standing off from the cliff face. Close by, I descended the Giant Stairway - 900 steps it said at the top but I’d counted only 427 (or was it 477?) when I reached a sign saying half way. By the time I’d reached the bottom (40 minutes to descend about 200 metres), I’d lost count several times so was in no position to argue the toss. From there, I followed the Dardanelles and Federal Pass tracks to the bottom of the “Scenic Railway” which was built to transport coal and miners up and down the cliff and now carries lazy and/or infirm tourists. At an angle of 45 degrees, it is one of the steepest cable railways in the world. I watched the train arrive and depart before ascending on foot (slowly) by Ferber’s Steps then back along Prince Henry Track to Echo Point before returning directly to the hostel.

After a shower, I went for a quick look round the facilities of the town. The recommended eating pub had no food, so I went into a cheaper pub instead. The amazing thing is - it was a cool evening ...

Tuesday 18 November — Wentworth Falls

... and it was still cool in the morning when I caught the 0756 train to Wentworth Falls, ten minutes down the line. After buying some milk for breakfast and muesli bars for lunch, I wandered down Charles Darwin Track along Jamison Creek to the top of the Falls. The descent beside the Falls is a wonder of hewn and concrete steps executed in the 1890s, with the occasional metal stairway. (I didn’t bother counting the steps.) I descended with great care and took a couple of photographs at the bottom before setting off along National Pass Track which I followed (rejecting the enticements of Slack’s Stairs (descend facing inwards!) to join the Wentworth Pass Track (for experienced bushwalkers only)). When I reached the point where the Wentworth Pass Track rejoins the National Pass Track, I had a look along it and it looked not much muddier or less made up than National Pass Track, but who knows what lay in between. As it was, the National Pass Track was a level 3ft wide ledge along the base of a (sometimes overhanging) cliff with a very steep bushed slope below.

Anyway, the track then climbed up the Valley of the Waters past Empress Falls, then from Lillian’s Bridge, an easy ascent with detour round a golf course and an excursion to Gladstone Lookout on Inspiration Point to admire the view. The track ended at a road which I quickly left on an unmarked track around another bit of golf course where I had to cross only two tees and the clubhouse car park to get to where I wanted.

It was now after twelve, the sun had broken through and the temperature was rising rapidly but the strenuous walking was over. I picked up another track down to Gordon Falls and up to a relatively level stroll along the cliff top with only minor deviations for various viewpoints. On my way to the Leura Cascades, I met a party of SAGA walkers, over twenty of them. I will never understand the attraction of walking in such a large group, never silent, always moving when someone else decides. Half an hour later, on the road back to the hostel, they were in front of me and I had a terrible fear that they might be heading for the hostel. But they weren’t, thank goodness.

Back at the hostel, I couldn’t open the room door and discovered that I had the wrong key. Why did it work last night? - because the door had not been locked! Then I booked to stay another night (Thursday) and for a coach tour (I need a rest) tomorrow to the Jenolan Caves. Fish and chips for tea, it would have been all right but I think the fish (hoki) had been sitting in the warm before cooking. Finished with a glass or three before returning for an early night.

Wednesday 19 November — Jenolan Caves

Yesterday’s walk must have been a bit of an overexertion as I didn’t wake till ten past seven. My right knee and both calves were a bit stiff but that had worn off by the time I reached the Parakeet Cafe where I broke my fast with sausage and egg with chips, toast and tea.

The coach pickup at the hostel at 10 o’clock carried me just the short distance to the railway station where we sat for half an hour while other passengers arrived. When we set out from there, we followed a circuitous route through Katoomba picking up more passengers before a brief stop at Eaglehawk Lookout near the top of the Scenic Railway to admire the view over the Jamison Valley. It was ten to eleven when we left there for Blackheath and another stop at the Govett’s Leap Lookout to admire the view over the Grose Valley.

From Blackheath, we travelled west on the main highway for a bit, descending the east slope of the mountains then headed north for the Caves. The last five miles was a sharp descent on a narrow road clinging to the side of a steep slope with no formal system of passing places, just an occasional widening of the road where nature permitted. Most of these would not have accommodated two coaches but all the coaches tend to arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon. It was the motor-homes which caused problems.

At the foot of the hill, the road passes through the “Grand Arch”, a natural formation which has been widened to allow the passage of coaches (just), before reaching the car park and tourist facilities. There was a choice of three cave tours, I opted for the first available, the Chifley Cave which is not considered the best but still provided a fascinating hour’s tour. That left me with an hour and a quarter to wander around outside, smoke my pipe, climb up to the Carlotta Arch (who she?) and take a quick stroll by the Blue Lake before I had to board the coach for the return journey.

There were no detours on the way back and I left the coach at the railway station, immediately diving into the Katoomba Hotel for a couple of beers. That’s been a different pub each day so far, all reasonable but none particularly attractive. When I left, I bought spit lamb in pitta bread for tea and went for a wander on the other side of the railway tracks to try to work out why I thought last night that the sun was setting in the east.

Thursday 20 November — Katoomba

Well, for some reason I didn’t wake till ten past seven, so I just got up and dithered around until it was a reasonable hour to go forth in search of some breakfast in the town. The Brown Jug charged $6.50 for bacon, eggs (scrambled), toast and tea. I then visited the railway station to check the train times for my planned visit to the ZigZag Railway at the weekend. An excellent service is available on both Saturday and Sunday.

Time for a leisurely stroll - I meandered down past the top of the Scenic Railway and out onto the Narrow Neck Plateau where I detoured for a quick look at the pumping station which lifts water from the Megalong Valley to serve the needs of the Blue Mountains townships. I did not go looking for the notorious ladders which provide the access route to the valley at that point. A bit further out the Neck, I did descend the Golden Stairs (20 minutes for 150 metres) into the Pitts Amphitheatre. I don’t know why this is shown on the information board as a “family” walk while the Federal Pass track below is not. It seems strange that families should be encouraged to undertake a difficult descent just to climb back up again.

Anyway, I headed off on the Federal Pass track, crossing the reasonably stable debris of a land slip (path closed on some signs) round to the foot of the Scenic Railway. This was built to uplift coal (as opposed to the Denniston Incline in NZ) and is allegedly the steepest cable railway in the world at 45 degrees; it seemed steeper! At the top, I had a quick cup of tea before walking back round the cliff top to Reid’s Plateau to photograph the Scenic Skyway, a cable car hanging in space above the Katoomba Falls. (Well, you can’t see the falls from Reid’s Plateau but you can from the Scenic Skyway.)

Then it was back to the hostel to clean up but I took too long and got to the station just in time to see the Indian Pacific go through before I got the camera out. Two diesel locomotives, one wagon (full) of cars and lots and lots of passenger cars. Then off to the pub, Geerin’s again, happy hour from 5 till 6 so I had one more than I might have had.

After that, it was back to the hostel for a quiet evening, booking beds for the weekend at Gardiner’s Inn in Blackheath and at the hostel in Bundanoon for next midweek. Arranging accommodation has been so straightforward that something must go wrong sometime. I settled down to write this and was accosted by Margaret from Airdrie who had notices the John Smith’s bag in which I keep this diary and other books. She will be in NZ for Christmas and New Year, halfway through a 14 month world trip, and was able to give me some useful information on Tasmania.

Friday 21 November — Katoomba to Blackheath

When I looked out of the window at five to seven, it was overcast but looked like it would clear. At five past seven, torrential rain started but it was off again by half past. I was in no hurry so I took my time getting up and packed and meandered along to the station, getting there just as another shower started. I caught the 0931 interurban to Blackheath, ten minutes up the line, and the rain was almost off by the time I got there. Check-in at the hotel was very casual, “Ah yes, here’s the key, pay before you leave”.

Having dumped my gear in the room, I decided that it would stay dry, and ambled the five kilometres to Medlow Bath on a dirt road mostly parallel to the railway line. The tavern at the Hydro Majestic Hotel was shut (it looked fairly derelict through the window) so I took tea and a cheese platter in the hotel lounge. The hotel was built at the turn of the century as a spa and the public rooms have a fine view over the Megalong Valley. After a couple of hours, I returned to Blackheath by the same route.

Gardiner’s Inn Hotel claims to be the same establishment as the “historic” Gardiner’s Inn of 1831. They must have rebuilt it in sections to maintain the continuity as I doubt if much of the present building is that old, though it is not exactly modern. However, it is comfortable enough. I paid for three nights then spent a pleasant hour in the bar before an excellent dinner in the dining room, reef fillets in a peppercorn sauce followed by apple strudel, all washed down with a bottle of Glass Mountain 1996 dry white, the whole repast for about £15.

Saturday 22 November — ZigZag Day

The ZigZag Railway uses the track bed constructed in the late 1860s to take the railway down the western face of the Blue Mountains by means of a zigzag involving two reversals of the train. This was bypassed by a new route through 10 tunnels in 1910. The line remained in limbo until work started in the 1970s to relay and open it as a preservation project.

Since it wasn’t actually raining in the morning, I decided to catch the earlier train to the ZigZag - a decision which earned me a footplate ride on the former Queensland Railways Class DD17 locomotive 1047 now named “City of Lithgow” (the citizens of which town assisted with the purchase of the engine) as it took empty stock up from the depot to start the public runs from Clarence. Mind you, I’m not sure the tunnel did any good to my white T-shirt and light coloured shorts. I took the first public run back down, affording fine views over the valley and surrounding hillsides. (I’d been more interested in watching the engine crew on the way up.)

At the bottom station, I was looking around for a photo spot when one of the staff pointed out a rock on the other side of the valley and the start of the track leading up to it, so I rushed up there just in time to get some shots of the train setting out again for Clarence. Back down again for a quick browse round the depot, they have recently acquired some diesel railcars from Queensland, 2006 (which I photographed in Cairns in 1988 but not this time), 2016, 2011 and 2020 (I did photograph these last two).

The visit to the photo spot had revealed an alternative route between the two stations - a walking track - so rather than wait for the next train up, I spent a pleasant forty minutes puffing up the track to Clarence, where I had time for a cup of tea and a pie before catching the next train down to the bottom where I had an hour for another cup of tea and a more thorough exploration of the shed before catching the 1545 back to Blackheath.

I definitely needed a shower, and did my best to remove the accumulated soot from the headband of my sun hat before going out for fish and chips for tea followed by a beer or two before bed. The barman this evening was the same lad who had been working in Geerin’s in Katoomba a couple of nights earlier. He was a bit confused by my drinking a different beer but it was on special offer!

Sunday 23 November — Blue Gum Forest

I partook of a continental breakfast in the hotel before setting off about nine o’clock, in fine weather, for a wee stroll. I took the Govett’s Leap Road from the town to the park headquarters where, for an easy break in, I followed the Heritage Track to the lookout, rather than continuing on the road. The descent into the Grose Valley was interesting and, although it was well protected, I was glad to reach the bottom of the falls whence I followed Rodrigues Track to Junction Rock and tuned left for Acacia Flat and the Blue Gum Forest. This is a very nice forest, pleasantly aromatic and probably worth the four hour walk in.

I’m not so sure it was worth the walk out! This started with a severe slog up Perry’s Track. It took me two hours to climb 600m in 2km to Perry’s Lookdown from where it was 4km of dirt road before continuing on a track around the cliff edge and a finish up Pope’s Glen Track back to the town, arriving at twenty to seven after a round trip of 24km. I doubt if I would have managed it without the water tank at Perry’s Lookdown.

At the hotel, I could not face the stairs without a beer so I had a small number, showered and went to bed.

Monday 24 November — Blackheath

After my exertions of yesterday, a quiet day was called for so, since I’d had nothing to eat last night, I broke my fast in a leisurely manner with scrambled eggs on toast (with bacon and tomato) and tea at the Wattle Cafe, preceded and followed by pints of milk. It was about ten o’clock when I set off for the Grand Canyon via Neates Glen, about 4km of minor road leading to a sharp descent of 150m into the canyon. The sun rarely reaches the bottom of the canyon and for a kilometre, I enjoyed my first (and only) cool walk in the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately, it was soon time to regain the 150m up to Evan’s Lookout where I was pleased to find another water tank.

The track along the top of the Griffith Taylor Wall was a bit up and down, being cut by the Govett’s Leap Brook. As I approached this, I thought it had started to rain but it was just spray from the falls. When I reached the park headquarters, I was relieved to discover that there was a bus into town in ten minutes so I waited for that and to pot with the purists.

Back in town, I took a litre of milk up to my room to nourish my recovery and managed back out in time to photograph the Indian Pacific passing through the station on its two and a half day journey to Perth. There was still time for a couple of leisurely beers before bed.

Tuesday 25 November — Blackheath to Bundanoon via Sydney

Time to relocate. I settled for pint of milk for breakfast before heading for the 1013 train to Sydney. The lad in the ticket office made out the ticket to Bundanoon by hand, charging $22 which was a dollar less than the ticket machine had wanted yesterday. We were delayed ten minutes at Katoomba while train and station staff searched for David Rain (I don’t know why; it must have been serious, one young lad in my carriage was asked to produce identification) but had made up all but two minutes by Penrith and recovered that to arrive in Sydney a few minutes before half past twelve.

At Central Station, I left my pack in the left luggage (which was under threat of closure - it wasn’t making enough profit - but was later reprieved after a campaign led by a couple of nuns) then lunched in the station restaurant on chicken cooked in tomato and basil and served with various vegetables. My reason for coming right into Sydney rather than changing at Penrith and Liverpool (a more direct route) was to obtain a map for the Bundanoon area, and this I did before partaking of a couple of beers in the Edinburgh Castle (the first within the early afternoon Happy Hour) and returning to the station.

I had time to photograph the 1553 Orange Express, one of the last trains in New South Wales with traditional loco-hauled coaches, before catching the 1547 Goulburn train, with which I would have connected at Campbelltown had I taken the other route. We ran slowly out to East Hills and never recovered the lost time, arriving five minutes late at Bundanoon just after six o’clock.

From the station, I headed straight for the hostel, checked in and bagged the washing machine. Jocette (the manageress) was aghast that I intended to use the tumble drier on such a fine night but I explained that I wanted to get the sheet sleeping bag dry before I went to bed. She warned me that the drier was not too efficient so I put the heavy things outside on the line (they were dry at eight next morning) and the rest was dry in time for a quick visit to the shop for milk and something for breakfast.

Wednesday 26 November — Bundanoon

For breakfast, I had tea and carbohydrate before setting out for a walk in the Morton National Park. First to the Glowworm Cave, not the most appropriate destination on a sunny day but it was a cool corner and I used my imagination. From there, I made my way down to Dimmock’s Creek. The map shows a track down the creek to the Bundanoon River but I could see no sign of it and returned to the main track and continued along the top of the canyon passing Riverview, Mark Norton and Amphitheatre Lookouts before following Nicholas Pass to the bottom of Fairy Bower Falls where I stopped for lunch.

Then I made the mistake. Instead of maintaining or gaining height, I descended almost to the river before tackling a stiff ascent to Tooth’s Lookout. It took me an hour to gain 200 metres. The first 50 were no problem, the next 45 not too bad, but then my stops became more frequent and by the time I reached the top, I was taking a break for every five metres climbed. I put it down to the heat.

I had no stomach for more lookouts and headed for the pub. Here there was some discontent amongst the locals as the beer coolers had broken down the previous evening and only been back on for a couple of hours. Consequently, the draught beer had not yet reached its optimum temperature. It was still warm enough to taste (not a good thing with Aussie beer) and the regulars were drinking bottles from a large chilly bin full of ice. Someone came in and said that the temperature had reached 40 degrees Celsius in the early afternoon.

On my way back to the hostel, I bought some chunky soup, pear halves, cream cheese and crackers for tea and spent the evening reading.

Thursday 27 November — Moss Vale

It looked like being another scorcher so I decided against walking and instead took the 1027 train one stop up the line to Moss Vale to arrange my travel for Friday at the station there (as Bundanoon station had no ticket office). This was quickly done, train to Canberra with coach connection to Cooma, and I wandered into the town. It was Crazy Sale Day! The main street was lined with stalls staffed by people in fancy dress. I don’t know whether the prices were crazy, I wasn’t there to buy anything.

After tea and a sandwich, I walked a couple of miles out of town to the Cecil Hoskin’s Nature Reserve bordering a small piece of wetland on the Wingecarribee River. Not so very wet in this weather, it was so hot that most of the ducks were keeping under cover. With not much to see, it was only an hour or so before I returned to the town to wait for the train in a pub where I fell into pleasant conversation with a Mr McKew, who was not happy about the spelling of his surname but philosophical about everything else.

I was sitting on the platform waiting for the train when I was approached by a young lad who asked if he might borrow a dollar. Well, why not? It was a while before I began to wonder what he might want the dollar for, and when he might return it. Of course, he never returned. Ah, well.

Back at Bundanoon, I managed another beer before heading for the hostel, picking up a small Danish salami and milk for my tea. The rest of the evening was spent catching up with this diary and reading.