New South Wales is a state in Australia, in the south-east. It is characterised by beautiful national parks, inland mountains, such as Blue Mountains. It is also home to the highest mountain in Australia – Mount Kosciuszko.
Grand Canyon track is a popular and very beautiful hiking trail in the Blue Mountains National Park. The track is more than 100 years old. It follows the canyon down through the wet green rain forest, under rock overhangs and waterfalls. You can see many tall and dense trees with twisted roots.
The track is well maintained with beautiful stepping steps which in combination with moss and ferns create an appealing picture. There is even a small but completely dark cave that you would need to go through.
The Grand Canyon track is 6km long loop trail and it takes about 4 hours to finish. It is challenging because you must navigate many steps. You climb down to the floor of the canyon and then back up. It is definitely not for those with knee problems. But many people hike this track. It is definitely a worth while experience and one of the best places in the Blue Mountains.
How to get to Grand Canyon Track
This hiking track is in Blackheath. It is part of the Blue Mountains National Park. The park is roughly 2 hours drive west of Sydney, NSW. You can start the track from the Evans Lookout. This is part of the track. Alternatively, you can start from the Grand Canyon car park.
Wind eroded cave is an interesting and beautiful geological formation in Blackheath area of the Blue Mountains National Park. Not sure why it is called a cave though. It is a massive overhanging cliff with a small cave in front of it. Nevertheless, this wind carved cave would delight children and adults alike. Our kids definitely had a great time exploring it.
You can easily access the wind-eroded cave by a 2WD. It is a short drive from Blackheath town via Hat Hill Road. It takes only a minutes to walk towards it from the car park.
Nearby is a Perrys Lookdown, which has excellent and very new (in 2024) picnic facilities.
While it was not a wildflower season, we managed to see some of these wildflowers blooming there. Below are some of the examples.
Firstly, it is Lambertia formosa. Common name for Lambertia formosa is mountain devil. It is a pretty plant that is easy to notice due to its bright red coloured petals. Looking closer you can see how the ends of the petals curl. This plant occurs naturally only in NSW.
Lambertia formosa (above)
Secondly, it is Flannel flower, Actinotus helianthin. It is a delicate and very pretty flower with soft wool like feel. The flowers are mostly white. But if you look closer, you can see greenish at the end of the petals an middle of the flower. Flannel flower is native to the areas around Sydney. We found a few of these flowers in Blackheath area of the Blue Mountains National Park.
Flannel flower (above)
Thirdly, it is Petrophile pulchella, commonly known as conesticks. It is a shrub with cream-yellow coloured flowers. It is restricted to eastern parts of Australia.
Dunphys campground is a remote and scenic campground in Megalong Valley in Southern Blue Mountains area in New South Wales.
During our trip to Sydney over Christmas 2024, we took time to explore a little of NSW. Blue Mountains was one of the items on the list and we actually wanted to camp there. So, we chose to stay at Dunphys campground.
Facilities at Dunphys campground
There are 15 campsites scattered around, none are marked. You would need to carry your camping equipment if you want a nice scenic spot, e.g. with a mountain view. Alternatively, if you have a roof top tent or a trailer, you can camp in the open grass area. This area serves like a car park. We placed our tents just outside this marked parking area. This way, we easily accessed our vehicle. It has a kitchen and everything else we needed.
There are picnic tables, BBQ, and a non-flushing toilet. A water tank with non-treated water is available, but it didn’t really have any water at the time we camped.
Access to the campground is via a private property, which has a few gates to go through.
Thing to do
There are a few moderate to hard difficulty walking trails of various length around the campground. Katoomba with its attractions, like The Three Sisters and other lookouts is also not far away.
Nature lovers would delight in this place! There are many eastern grey kangaroos that frequent the campground daily. We’ve seen Lace monitor and many birds, including pretty Superb Fairy-wrens.
Eastern grey kangaroos (above) are different to western grey kangaroos that we have in Western Australia. They were quite friendly too :).
Lace monitor (above) or tree goanna is one of Australia’s largest lizards. It grows up to 2 meters in length and is found in eastern parts of Australia.
Superb Fairy-wren female (above left) and Superb Fairy-wren male (above right) restricted to eastern states of Australia.
Location and access
Dunphys campground is in Megalong Valley, in the Southern Blue Mountains area of Blue Mountains National Park in NSW. It is approximately 40 minutes drive from the nearest town Katoomba. There is a mixture of sealed and unsealed roads to get to campground. The last 5km or so of the road leading to Dunphys campground is very winding, steep, with sharp turns.
The towering eucalyptus trees overhang the road, too close for our comfort. We feared not for nothing. On the first night, travelling back to the campground, we actually got stuck on that road. It turned out that a tree fell and blocked the road. Locals told us it happens a lot. So, even though, the road is considered 2WD accessible, we do not recommend towing a caravan there.
The best thing about this campground (apart from awesome scenery) is that there is no entry fee to the national park and there is no camping fees either. Sites require booking though and there is $6 booking fee. Coming from WA where there are not many places that are free, we found camping in NSW so affordable for us!
The Three Sisters is an iconic and one of the most popular attractions in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. It is an interesting geological formation, that has been weather carved over millions of years. The three rock pillars over 900 meters high each stand close together, yet away from the main cliff wall. They stand out in their beauty and uniqueness against the distant mountains of the Jamison Valley.
It is interesting to watch the Three Sisters at different times of the day. You can see their changing colours as the sun moves over them in the sky. They look particularly impressive at sunset.
Location of the Three Sisters
You can see The Three Sisters from a few different locations. However, they are best viewed from Echo Point lookout, near Katoomba. Echo Point is only about 5 minutes drive from Katoomba.
Prince Henry Cliff walk
Echo Point with the Three Sisters is along Prince Henry Cliff walk, which is 7km long, one way. The walk is Level 3, which is moderate difficulty. There are many lookouts along the way. We have only covered part of this walk and viewed the best of what it has to offer.
Katoomba Falls
You can see the falls from Katoomba Falls lookout. The Skyway cable car also passes there. Consequently, it makes an interesting object for your photographs.
Katoomba Cascades
Katoomba Cascades are also along the Prince Henry Cliff walk. They are hidden below. You can spend some time there watching the water cascading down the rock and flowing into the stream.
There is a lot more to see in the Blue Mountains. You need a few days to explore this beautiful region.
How to get to the Three Sisters
The Three Sisters is roughly 100km west of Sydney. It can be reached via motorway or public transport. There is no entry fee to the majority of the park. Although some places, like popular Echo Point, requires parking fees.
In conclusion, I would add that the Three Sisters is a must to see attraction. Firstly, it is so unique and iconic. Secondly, it’s immensely beautiful.
Lane Cove National Park is located 10km north-west of Sydney in NSW, Australia.
We love visiting national parks wherever we go. During our recent trip to eastern states we were lucky to stay at the caravan park (Lane Cove Discovery Park) which has direct entry into Lane Cove NP. This national park offers an escape from city life without having to travel far. Beautiful Lane Cove River passes through the park before flowing into Sydney Harbour.
Things to do at Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park is a great place for a day out with the family. There are easy walks around the park, cycling paths, as well numerous picnic spots with bbq facilities.
Flora and fauna
Both the park and the river are home to a lot of interesting flora and fauna.
Scribbly gum, Eucalyptus haemastoma is a fascinating gum tree. It has distinctive markings on its trunk, as if someone scribbled on them, hence the common name – scribbly gum. Interestingly, the scribbles are caused by the moth as it moves between the old and new bark.
Sydney red gum, Angophora costata, is an another pretty gum tree. It is characterized by convoluted branches. It sheds bark, like many gum trees do, to reveal orange colour smooth trunk.
Eastern water dragon lizard is abundant in the national park, as well as the nearby caravan park.
Australian brush turkey. We found quite a number of them while staying at Lane Cove Discovery park in NSW. They were not shy at all and frequently visited us. Love their bright red head and yellow throat wattle (in males). As they do not occur in WA, we found them very fascinating.
Sulphur-crested cockatoo, native to eastern states of Australia is quite a large and rather common bird. They are intelligent, loud, especially when they are in big flocks, noisy, as well as ‘nosy’. We (especially our younger son) enjoyed meeting them at Lane Cove Discovery park. Although, at the end, we had to tell them off when they became too friendly😊.
Noisy miner – a bird from the honeyeater family – is another pretty bird you can see frequently at Lane Cove National Park.
Entry to the park
Entry to the park is $8 per vehicle. Although, if you stay at Lane Cove Discovery Park, you can just walk into the national park for free.
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