Where do I start, well I think I need to start with Jenny, she technically is the bookings administrator but as we quickly realised she is the first half of the fantastic family partnership that is the blue mountains eco-tours. She was very accommodating and helped us through the booking process with ease. Paul (Jenny’s husband) the second half of makes the blue mountains eco tours so great and he was our tour guide and driver for the day.
Paul is incredibly knowledgeable about almost every part of Sydney, the blue mountains, the wildlife, Australia’s economics and even photography. I swear he answered every question we asked him with ease. It was like having your our private tutor walking with you.
Our day started at our hotel, yep no need to navigate your way to them, they go the extra mile and pick you up right outside your hotel, no hassle and no fuss and definitely something we were really grateful of at the end of the day, when we just climbed out the immaculate offroader, we were back at our hotel.
We were the last ones to be picked up, so we were straight off to the blue mountains. It didn’t seem like a long drive as we were chatting with everyone on the way. It was nice to get to know Paul and the others on tour better; Paul shared with us local knowledge for the neighbourhoods we were driving through.
Our first stop was amazing; we stood to look out across the top of the blue mountains, looking at the caverns. Not only did we get to take some daring pictures too scare our family back home (all staged of course) but we were offered tea, coffee, traditional Australian biscuits and a selection of sweet fruits. It was awesome to look out at such a stunning view having a cup of tea and a bickie. Yes, yes I know I’m a cliche, but I don’t care, I’m British, and I live for a good cuppa tea.
I was just in ore as Paul shared his knowledge of our surroundings and told us where we would be walking later on in the tour. So we packed up and headed on to our next spot.
So I had heard of the scenic world but wasn’t engaged enough to want to take the ride across the top of the mountains and lucky we weren’t taking that ride, but we walked down into the cavern to experience the stunning views close up. We walked down a winding path that was filled with deep steps; it was surreal because as we walked further down the atmosphere changed and became a cool, moist rainforest. We stopped at our first rest stop, and it was a perfect point to see the famous ‘three sisters’, this was a rock formation with many stories attached to it. Paul spoke about some of the stories and how the stories change from different communities.
Further down we went and with Paul saying the depth we were going was worth it but I looked back, and this chubby unfit girl had her doubts.
Okay so when we did get there it was worth it, what did we reach I hear you ask??? It was a fantastic waterfall; it was excellent and worth the amazing view and stunning photographs. Okay so technically we properly shouldn’t have crossed the fence to get a closer look, but there were no signs telling us not too. So as a daring bunch we took a further look and I’m glad we did, I honestly know that my words could never describe the sights we sore but believe me it was once in a lifetime kinda deal. Paul was amazing and offered his superb photography skills and archly took my favourite shadow picture of us on the cliff edge.
Okay so at this point we were at the lowest point, and that looming steep climb awaited us, ugh yep….. I was hell for me, but it was worth it.
So we’re back in the car and we off again, this time our bellies were rumbling and Paul did a good job talking up the local pie shop and to be fair his recordation was spot on. I had a steak, bacon and cheese pie, oh my days, okay so I don’t normally head straight for the pies, but this was just the way you wanted a pie to be, chunky meat, crispy pastry and fantastic flavours. Yum, yum, yum.
We had a little time afterwards and had a quick look around the very commercial, but I’m sure very endearing to normal thrusts shops. I did drag Lee through the chocolate shop and the deli, well food is my passion. Hehe.
So what’s next on our magical mystery tour, I hear you ask. Well after a short drive we took another little walk and took in another set of stunning views from the other side of the mountains.
But this was completely different, and I did something I never thought I would do, and I’m so proud of myself. The light was a little lower and the air a little cooler. The shear elegance of this spot was so peaceful; it was formed of three platforms that had been almost carved out of the common almost red rocks. The platforms as you can tell by the pictures took you right into the heart of the cavern between the mountains and yes I did the steps all those sharp steep wobbly steps to the bottom platform. Awesome! I faced my fear of heights and feeling unsafe in such an environment, it was an amazing place and somewhere I don’t think me or Lee would have ever found by ourselves. Even us being as adventurers as we are I honestly believe we would have missed this stunning spot without Paul and his amazing family business.
And the adventure didn’t even stop there, we then took a short drive in the fleeting light and made our way to a local, national park with picnic benches and lot and lots of kangaroos and wallabies. It was almost surreal, we were once again offered a large spread of afternoon tea goodies and stood there eating the delicious crackers and cheese with the local wildlife bouncing around us. It was awesome and something you couldn’t do anywhere else or with anyone else with such ease and professionalism.
After our feast we took a slow drive through the rest of the national park, to see if we could see anything else lurking in the twilight but alas we only sore a possum’s tail for a few seconds before he scarpered away.
Sadly it was the end of our amazing adventure and such a great day and one we will never forget. You get so much with them, a luxury car, incredibly knowledgeable professional tour guide, hotel pickup and drop off but really a tour that was catered to our every whim, if we wanted to we could have stayed longer at any place or shorter at others, if we wanted too, Paul was really flexible. I purposely haven’t mentioned the names of the places we visited because to be honest, the only way to experience them properly is with blue mountains eco-tours.
