Blue Mountains Journal

Here's another shot of the Kanimbla Valley. It turned out to not be such a bright idea venturing west that day. The alternative route west was cut off for some reason so there was double the traffic on the Great Western Highway. Even after cooling our heels for a couple of hours in Lithgow to let it clear it was a very slow crawl back home. That's it for this trip. I'm starting a visit to Berrima over at Sweet Wayfaring today.

As there wasn't a whole lot new out along that track we decided to venture just over the mountains to the Kanimbla Valley. I didn't work hard on photography, for once I was content to just sit and take in the view. Suffice to say this valley is rolling farmland embraced by the great cliff walls of the mountains. Very pleasing to the eye.

There's still not much going on flower wise other than the low growing wattles which are flowering profusely across the forest floor and lining the road at the moment.

This one is at the end of Grand Canyon drive out from Medlow Bath. We haven't been there before so just went to see what was at the end of the road.

If you like antiques you'd love the Victory Theatre at Blackheath, it's a treasure trove. That's it for this walk. I've started a new trip over at Sweet Wayfaring today. Will be back here in a week or two.

Why walk when you can have afternoon tea? We stopped by the Victory Theatre in Blackheath for a warm drink before returning home. It's quite a good spot to eat, though we usually go there to browse the antiques. I'll show you the display tomorrow.

For us it was the short, but steepish walk back up the track to the top. When I bought these walking boots 10 years ago the shop assistant said they would last me 15 years (to justify the high price). Yikes I thought, I'll still be wearing them when I'm 60. Only 5 years to go and they are still looking new ... obviously I don't get out walking enough. At this rate I'll still be wearing them when I'm 70.

We met this family of walkers at Pulpit Rock. With their two little ones they had walked all the way around from Govett's Leap and were stopping for a breather and snack before doing the return journey. They have lots more energy than me.

Pulpit Rock is another spot with good views but not as good as Anvil Rock.

I liked this tree, that we saw on the way back from the eroded rock. We're heading on next to Pulpit Rock which is nearby.

I loved the rock so much here are some more shots.

Well this rock was rather special.

At the Anvil Rock car park there is a sign to "Wind Eroded Rock". Now I thought we had already seen plenty of wind eroded cliffs so wondered why this should be specially sign-posted. So here we are heading towards the "Wind Eroded Rock".

Please admire the cliff faces viewed from Anvil rock while I tell you the story of the anvil. It was named Anvil Rock in 1938 because of its shape. In 1948 an ardent bushwalker who was company secretary of a company that made anvils donated the anvil. It's a heavy thing that took 4 people to carry it and set it in place. Then the plot thickens. In the 1970s it disappeared, presumed to have been thrown over the cliff. Search parties were sent out to look for it to no avail. Then in 2005 when a rescue sqaud was recovering the body of a person they saw the anvil among the trees at the base of the cliff. In 2008, a joint effort of the Parks and Wildlife Service, Blackheath Rotary, local police and community members recovered the anvil and set it back in it's place. I remember reading about the recovery in the local newspaper last year and found the full story at the Blue Mountains Local studies site .

The big surprise is the stupendous view from Anvil rock. It juts out between cliffs to the right, front and left. Remember Mount Hay where I took you on a tour recently. It is the roundish mountain towards the right of the photo.

That's where we're heading. There's an anvil at the top that the guy is standing on.

We are on a short walk to Anvil rock. This is at the end of a rather short 5kms or so of dirt track out from Blackheath.