The Australian Bucket List (2) - Blue Mountains

When I close my eyes and think of the spiritual places in my heart, one of them is the Govetts Leap lookout in Blackheath. Lots of people visit the Blue Mountains, but most end up in the main area near Katoomba. I first got to know Blackheath when I went to a meditation course there, and I've been in love with it since. 

I drove up from Sydney on a rainy day, and as I ascended the foothills of the Blue Mountains, a heavy mist descended. 

I stayed two nights at this beautiful airbnb, on the edge of the bush on the quiet side of Leura.

It's a straw bale house and the owners left this little window in one wall just so one could appreciate how the house is actually built! 

It rained for most of my stay so I stayed inside by the fire, played the violin, read and sketched. It was a soothing time of self-reflection, albeit a little melancholic. 

I almost always stop by the Yellow Deli in Katoomba when I am in the mountains, it's a really cute place that reminds me of the tavern in Lord Of The Rings. I always imagine that I am a hobbit, though there's no grog and it's only Yerba Mate. My friend told me it was run by a cult.. maybe slightly offputting! 

On my last day the rain finally stopped. I got in the car and drove straight to the place of my heart - Govett's Leap lookout. What a stunning view! The ground was wet and most walks were closed in the area following a tragic family accident about a month before where a landslide claimed the lives of four people. 

One could still walk down the hill to the viewing platform where Bridal Veil falls crashed into the valley below, pretty full after all the rain.  

I just adore this landscape, the quintessential rugged sandstone of the east Australian coast

 

Doesn't it look like someone's cut it right there with a knife? 

Everywhere I turned, there was mist...

You can see in this picture why it's called the Blue Mountains - I think it's the oils from the eucalypts that gives it this blue colour from a distance 

This was an excellent vegemite-miso scroll from Black Cockatoo Bakery, a real hipster bakery that has opened up in Katoomba & Lawson. I had this scroll at Sublime Point, one of the most stunning spots in the Mountains but it never has many people there!

Carved into the rock at Sublime Point - do you think these people are still in love? 

Last stop of the day was Lawson. Here I trudged my way through some real muddy spots to get to Fairy Falls. I didn't counter a single soul getting to and from these falls. Quite a different feel to the big falls in Blackheath, but very nice indeed.  

Goodbye for now Blue Mountains, I will miss you!