Bushwhacked by the Bushwalk

"Whacked out" on Edinburgh Castle Rock

Blue Mountains view

Three Sisters

Duncan suggested the title for this entry because that’s how we feel. We just completed a two hour bushwalk and feel completely “whacked out”. However let me start from the beginning because it’s been a day of getting lost.
We decided to take the Essential Opera Tour at the Sydney Opera House because the backstage tour guide did not talk about the design or engineering of the building. We attended the opera and loved being in the foyer looking out over the harbour and wanted to know more. We chose the 9 a.m. tour so that we could head out to the Blue Mountains afterward. We decided to drive the car to save the half hour walk up the hill back to our townhouse. We’ve driven in cabs to the opera house twice so we figured we knew how to get there, and we did, we were just doomed by the traffic system they have in Sydney. We wanted to bypass the Cahill Expressway but couldn’t figure out how to do it. Then even though we wanted to turn right and got into the right lane, this was the wrong lane. Oh no, we were in the lane for going over the Sydney Bridge to North Sydney – oh no. And the traffic coming back the other way, if we could figure out how to return, was bumper to bumper, oh no! It was Budapest all over again. We’d had this same experience in Budapest when we were trying to get to our hotel in Buda. We were in the wrong lane and went over the bridge to Pest and then we had to figure out how to get back and we didn’t have a map. Oh no!
Well we got off the bridge asked for directions, got back on and crawled back to the city. Actually traffic went a bit faster than we anticipated and we had a lucky break and were able to get to the opera house parking garage very easily. We literally ran and would you believe, our tour was just getting ready to go at 9 a.m. on the dot. We’d made it. Boy that’s living on the edge. The tour was excellent, and the guide very informed and able to answer any questions. There were few people in the group, and we climbed 200 stairs. We loved sitting in the concert hall, the opera house, the theatres and seeing the Jorn Utzon room. The tragedy, every opera has a tragedy, is that he never saw the finished building. He resigned for the project because of politics, returned to Denmark and though he agreed to design some changes in 1999, he was too old to travel and his son, also an architect, oversaw the work. The outer shell of the opera house is his design, but the concert halls inside are not. There is one small reception room that is his design and it is named after him and is graced by a beautiful painting designed by him, his interpretation of a favourite piece by CPE Bach.
We then enjoyed a pastry and cappuccino looking out over the harbour and planned our route to the Blue Mountains. We have this crazy rental car, we may as well use it, was our reasoning. Actually getting out of the city went very well, and we found our way to the tourist information station in Glenbrook, where a very friendly chap discussed the possibilities and sold us a bush trail map. I had seen an ad for a cafe called the Conservation Hut that was at the trailhead and seemed like a good starting point. It was already 2 p.m. and though Duncan was antsy, we enjoyed a 50 minute lunch on the patio with an unsurpassed view of the Blue Mountains. I had smoked trout fishcake with a fried egg on top, and Duncan had a vegetable stack with tapenade, we both enjoyed homemade lemon and bitters to drink. We shared carrot cake and enjoyed wonderful cappuccinos to finish off.
We then headed down the stairs into the bush. The suburban area in Wentworth Falls is interesting because the homes and businesses are right on the edge of very dense bush. I’ll bet those living there never venture down. The trail we wanted was washed out so we changed direction and began our descent into the hanging swamp. We twisted and turned down many steps, both natural and manmade. Whenever we met someone we questioned them as to our route because the trails were not well marked, and we were never sure which trail we were on, even though we had a map. We had fabulous views over canyons and waterfalls, climbing up and down and over bridges. We thought we were on the Nature Trail, but we didn’t have the specific guide to this trail so we weren’t sure what the numbered markers were pointing out, but it was reassuring to see them there. We went over a bridge and began a long ascent up about 400 stairs (I kid you not) – twisting and turning. Finally we came up to civilization only to find that we were on the 15th hole of the Leura Golf Club, not at all where we thought we were heading. So we decided to return to the bridge where we thought we had gone wrong and head up the other side of the canyon. We were looking for the Edinburgh Castle Rock. We came to several large rocks before we find the one with the label. It was splendid with a memorable view so we snapped a few photos. We believed we were close to the road to take us back. So we continued up the trail up about 300 more stairs (I kid you not). I was so winded that I thought if I were to trip and fall on my face, I would never rise again. Fortunately I was able to remain upright. We met an elderly couple on their way down the 700 stairs. They were hiking in the opposite direction, it was already 4:45 p.m., and they seemed unphased. They told us we were about 35 minutes from the Hut. Well we were, but it seemed to take forever. At one point we found a sign that said Conservation Hut 11 minutes. We hiked about 15 and seemed to be heading down again, so I insisted we backtrack to a point where we could get up on a road. We asked the friendliest fellow who had to take his ear protection off – he was mowing his lawn with a loud mower – to point us in the right direction. He was a big fellow wearing an Aussie outback hat and when he spoke his voice was unexpectedly high pitched. He just seemed delighted to help and then went back to mowing. We were never so happy to see a car as we were hot and sweaty. As for wildlife, we saw one snake, one rodent, either a marsupial mouse or a bush rat and one butterfly. No koalas or echidnas, not much at all really. The vegetation was unbelievably dense and spiky, and there were lots of beautiful little ferns and strange looking purple and white fungus.
We drove to Echo Point to see The Three Sisters rock formation at sunset. The view was awe inspiring with the sun on The Sisters, then we headed into Leura to buy cold beer and chippies (potato chips or crisps if you’re from the UK). We’re planning to finish up our odds and ends in the frig for dinner, but boy will that cold beer taste sublime, I can hardly wait.