Blue Mountains Journal

It took the new colony quite a while to find a way across the mountains to the grazing land beyond. The problem was that following the rivers which was the normal way to explore kept on thwarting them because they inevitably ended up at steep unclimbable cliffs. Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth took a different approach 1813. I found this in Blaxland's journal: "Before we set out, we laid down the plan to be pursued, and the course to be attempted, namely, to ascend the ridge before-mentioned, taking the streams of water on the left, which appeared to empty themselves into the Warragomby, as our guide; being careful not to cross any of them, but to go round their sources, so as to be certain of keeping between them and the streams that emptied themselves into the River Grose." They thus found a crossing via the ridge line. I'll show you the view in my next post.

It was early winter so still a little bit of autumn colour about. These are not native trees, most of which are evergreen. We take the Jenolan Caves turnoff soon.

Shamrock Inn, Hartley This wonky old inn was built in the 1860s. There would have been plenty of travellers in the region at that time, with the gold rush being in full swing. It's also time we rushed a little further along our trip.

Court House, Hartley The village of Hartley sprung into existence soon after the road after the mountains was constructed. The court house was built in the 1837 to help keep law and order in the area when society was rather rough and ready.

Roman catholic church, Hartley We are starting on a new drive in the greater Blue Mountains today. The plan is to head west on the main road over the mountains and then do the u turn south that takes us past Jenolan Caves (which we visited recently in this blog) to the Kanangara Boyd Wilderness area. I love this drive so I'm going to show you some highlights along the road. Victoria Pass takes you down the western side of the mountains. At the bottom of the pass is the heritage village of Hartley built in the late 1800s. While this church is by no means unique the town of Hartley is a unique cluster of well preserved sandstone buildings in a village that is now all but unoccupied.

We end this tour with a glimpse at a few more gardens in this lovely village. The camillias are out at this time of year.

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson And so we begin the climb back to the gardens at the top. But what a lovely natural garden this has been.

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson The waterfall is nothing much but who cares, the walk was worth it.

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson We've reached the creek.

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson

Waterfall Walk, Mt Wilson Over the road from Chimney Cottage I noticed a sign Waterfall Walk, 45 minute circuit, some steps. It's very damp down here and the colour palette is very green. I am going to post daily for the next week. There is no need to comment as we go along because it is really just green, green and more green ... I just thought it would be nice for you to walk with me and get a sense of the place. I won't be saying much either.

Chimney Cottage, Mt Wilson A pleasant spot with tasty food, nice ambience and a view of the garden.

Autumn, Mt Wilson It's chilly. Let's go find a warm place to eat. There is only one cafe in village.

Church Lane, Mt Wilson Up the road from the church is Church Lane, flanked by beautiful gardens. Most of the gardens integrate the original rainforest vegetation with well established exotic plants. By the way if you are interested in more autumn colour check out my garden over the past couple of weeks at Burnbrae Journal which is posting daily until winter takes hold. And I am doing an autumn drive out west at Sweet Wayfaring currently posting alternate days to this blog.

St Georges Church, Mt Wilson A distinctive landmark of the village is is St Georges church and burial ground. The area was first settled in the 1880s by wealthy Sydneysiders looking for a cool summer retreat. The church was consecrated in 1916.