THE BLUE MOUNTAINS; TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME

No matter how far or wide I've traveled, I always had a feeling that Australia is one of the most magical lands out there. Maybe I'm bias because it's my home country and I spend more time exploring here than anywhere else. But there's still no denying it's diversity - there's so much pristine nature to discover, it seems endless. That's my kind of place ! And the next chapter of our van-life journey through Australia lead us to the Blue Mountains.. a location that Filippo and I had wanted to explore together since we started living on the road. I had only visited once with my Aunt when I was 15 but it was brief and pretty misty which made visibility poor. So this was very much uncharted territory. As always we had no plans, we just knew it was going to be epic ! And it was.. far more than we could've anticipated.

WHAT TO EXPECT

I was expecting a lot of majestic mountain views, cliffs and bushland.. very powerful, masculine energy. But it turns out that's what you'll find if you only explore the top of the mountains. There are countless walking trails to conquer, rock faces to climb, waterfalls to bathe under and sunset locations to enjoy.. you need a bit of time if you want to scratch more than just the surface. I would recommend at least a week or a few days at a minimum - if you only allow yourself one day, the unpredictable weather might spoil your plans.

We were in the peak of summer, wearing winter clothes/boots/beanies and at some points you couldn’t see more than a couple of metres in front of you because of the thick fog. There’s still options for those rainy, misty days though which are sure to leave a lasting impression.

GETTING THERE

For those of you who aren’t sure, the Blue Mountains are located behind Sydney. And making it to the mountains in the first place is a breath of fresh air after battling through the Sydney traffic. You just follow the motorway out of Penrith and soon enough you'll be there. If you don't have your own vehicle you can always hire one, catch the train or bus (from Sydney), or even jump on a coach tour.

I was in my element as soon as we reached our first location - ready to explore ! Wentworth Falls was first on the list.. quite popular and easy to see why - it's just so impressive. This waterfall pours over a part of rock that bulges out of the side of the cliff. And the cliff itself curved so when you're standing at the base of the waterfall looking up, it feels like you're in a big bowl. Nature really took her time with this one. So if you want to get to the base of the falls, just prepare yourself and bring lots of water (I don't think I've ever seen a staircase so steep). But it is epic and worth it when you get to cool off in the many pools to choose from. If you have children or you’re just not a climber don’t worry, you can view the falls from a few different lookouts. I really loved this stop but little did I know I was about to have my mind blown by what else there was to discover.

WALKING TRAILS

Pack a decent pair of shoes if you love a good outdoor adventure (I say this and I don’t .. there's an abundance of walking trails to choose from. From Wentworth Falls, you can follow trails that cut into/under the side of the mountains and lead to different areas.

I really feel like luck was on our side or the universe was rewarding us for some reason (or maybe we're just friends with the right people).. we spent our time being toured around by friends on what felt like a week long mountain-expedition. And it was perfect in every way ! Probably the greatest part was the weather - it always suited the scenery that we were exploring.

For example, it was sunny for Wentworth Falls and then the rain moved in as we watched our first sunset from 'Sunset Rock', creating such a majestic setting. When we visited ancient fern forests it was thick with mist and raining ever so lightly.. everything was so green, lush and cool. It was so mysterious, it felt like we had stepped back in time.

Our second day was spent driving out to the fern forests for a wander around.. I was speechless ~ everything around me was magical, like I had stepped into a dream. I really hope you can get a feel for the scenery through my photos, because it's really hard to try and explain this place. We followed a track which lead through dense greenery to the bottom of a gorge where water flowed and the rock walls were completely covered in ferns.

Ferns ferns ferns.. from baby ferns on the ground to gigantic ferns which look like they've been growing for hundreds of years. I'd never seen anything like it. So prehistoric ! There are a couple of tracks that lead from the free campground at Mt Wilson and another track further down the winding road called ‘Happy Valley’. And across the road from the free campground is the 'Cathedral of Ferns'.. 100% recommend.

CANYONS, WATERFALLS AND LOOKOUTS

Another day meant another adventure.. the sun was shining for our 3rd day of exploring. So we took the opportunity to tackle a few bush-walks which all lead to amazing cliff views, canyons, waterfalls and lookouts. This was when I really started to understand just how long nature had been working on these landscapes. At one point we had hiked our way down a trail called ‘Devils Hole’ and above us, stuck between the cliff walls dangled a huge boulder. Just crazy !

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And that track was great because it was only about 10 minutes walk each way. You can simple google map these places if you're not sure how to get there. Another epic view that’s perfect for anyway who prefers lookouts rather than those intense hiking trails is ‘Govett’s Leap’. From the viewing platform you have a spectacular view of the mountains fading into the distance, but also an impressively high single-drop waterfall where the water topples over the edge and seems to float its way down to the pool below. The day was packed with so many unbelievable landscapes, but it wasn't over.

A NIGHTTIME ADVENTURE

That evening we decided to go for a nighttime adventure to discover something I never expected to see (not on this journey anyway). GLOW WORMS !! We walked for about 10 minutes before we reached our location (and I’m sorry I can’t remember what the name of this spot is - but a great place to see the glow worms is at the popular ‘Glow Worm Tunnel’). I could hear the sound of the waterfall flowing as we approached through the dark of the night with our torches leading the way. I was in total awe as we switched them off and let the blue sparkles light up the cave wall.. wow ! But I feel like I need to explain this setting a little more - imagine a waterfall which drops just a few metres, but the wall behind/underneath the fall has completely collapsed and formed a ‘cave’ where you can actually walk around/behind the waterfall (if that makes sense). This is where the glow worms have made their home. The more you search in the dark, the secret pockets of glow worms reveal themselves. This was so special to me - my heart was overflowing with happiness and excitement. I felt like I was in a scene of 'Avatar' or floating around in a galaxy of blue stars ! It's just an experience so magical and surreal and we were the only ones there. I could've stayed there all night but with everything we had seen that day, I was ready to relax and process it all.

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MORE OF MY FAVOURITE SPOTS WHICH I KNOW YOU'LL LOVE

A couple of other top locations that I really enjoyed and would love to mention are Lincoln’s Rock, National Pass, Porters Pass, Jenolan Caves and the Grand Canyon Walk. For those photography lovers like me, Lincoln’s Rock is a great spot for those dramatic cliff-edge pics. National Pass was closed while we were there, but there’s still an impressive walk to get to Empress Falls which flows it’s way between a canyon and continues to form into more waterfalls. Porters Pass is a popular spot for climbers, but the walking track which leads to the rock face is stunning and worth it ! There's secret canyons to be discovered.. Jenolan Caves takes you deeper inside the mountains to reveals it’s incredible limestone formations.

If you drive a little further into the mountains you’ll find a location called Kanangra-Boyd National Park.. somewhere I’ve always visioned snapping some amazing pics but didn’t get the chance to make it there.

I didn’t actually have time to complete the Grand Canyon Trail, but it takes about 3 hours and isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s lush and totally worth it though (I asked a group of female travellers who had just completed the trail).

One of my favourite things that I had the opportunity to experience while we were up in the mountains was abseiling ! I used to go abseiling quite a bit, but it had been years since I'd put a harness on. I actually had no idea but the Blue Mountains are an extremely popular location for rock climbing (pretty obvious, yes) and because our friend is passionate about it, he had all of the gear ready to go. We had driven to an amazing lookout location called ‘Hargraves Lookout’. Here you can take advantage of 360 degrees of picturesque views over Megalong Valley.

There were clouds rolling in but we made the last minute decision to set up the ropes and I'm so grateful we did because it's such an incredible feeling of adrenaline and freedom ! It was the perfect way to conclude the trip !

PS. I wouldn't recommend doing any of these activities (rock-climbing, abseiling etc) unless you're experienced or with somebody experienced.

WHERE TO SLEEP THOUGH ?

I know this post is focused around epic locations rather than information on how to plan a trip to the mountains. So.. I thought I'd leave a little info here for you. Just like the majority of Australia's incredible nature-based locations, you can book quite a variety of accommodation. Not just hotel/motel style accom - but cottages, cabins, guesthouses, retreats etc. Like I said earlier, car hire is pretty much a necessity if you want to make the most of your time and explore in depth. There are a couple of main towns where you can find grocery stores, cafes, restaurants and petrol stations.

Just to wrap this all up - I felt like this adventure shifted something inside me.. when we left the mountains I felt so recharged and alive. So much greenery - so many cliff edges to sit on. I'm constantly being reminded that the best times in life are always unplanned, with no expectations. Just going with the flow. If you've never been, add the Blue Mountains onto your list and I hope you find yourself feeling the same connection to this incredible land as I did.

If you'd love to see some videos, check out my 'Blue Mountains' highlights on Instagram.

When I share locations, it's because I'm really trusting anyone reading this to treat nature with respect. Please take all of your rubbish with you because there's nothing worse than enjoying a peaceful stroll in nature and finding cans/cigarette butts/chip packets/etc.

Much love guys ! Enjoy the Blue Mountains

Lexie