Blue Mountains

We arrived in Katoomba at the caravan park about 8ish so the lady had left us details of where our pitch was in an envelope on the office door. Very tired and cold so we made some hot soup and a bread roll and of course a Becks, the first of the holiday. Managed to make the bed and found the wash rooms then it was time for bed and a bit of tv, no we don't have a tv but some programs I downloaded.
Boy it was bloody cold and I couldn't sleep due to being so cold but managed to put off going for a wee.
Waking at 8.30 to beautiful sunshine and realizing how lovely this site is and at $41.00 (£20) a night is excellent value. So we showered and headed to the kitchen for some tea and toast for breakfast, you can't beat having your morning cuppa in the sunshine. So off to the office to pay our bill and get some info for our days trekking. As it turns out we are just across the road for the start of the treks into and around this area of the mountains.
We started with the Prince Henry Cliff Walk which took in most of the view points and gave some amazing views.
Echo Park
Katoomba Falls
The Cascades
Furber Steps
The Three Sisters
Honeymoon Bridge
Giant Stairway
After reaching the Three Sisters we decided to walk down to the canopy floor and along the Federal Pass which hopefully will take us back but we still have to climb back up. The climb down was very steep and consisted of steel stairways and rough treks, you are surrounded by the mountain on one side and dense rain forest on the other. We finally reached the train and the canopy walkway which takes you around all the mines and tells you a bit about the history of the mines and mountains.
The walk was really nice as not busy like the view points are, due to the coaches arriving and everyone rushes for the photo before having to get back onboard. The canopy walk was more busy as its part of the tourist route between train and cable car. By the time we had finished I was knacked and did think of getting the train back up but it cost $16 (£8) or a 45 minute walk, the walk won.
Back at camp my ankles are shot after walking over rough tracks for 5hrs, a cuppa and a short rest and everything back working but I think I may hurt in the morning.
We organized the van as it was a mess, it's still a bit messy but now we know where everything is. For dinner I cooked burgers on the bbq's the site supply's and a beer to wash it all down.
Saturday 3rd we woke to yet again a gorgeous morning, after a shower and some breakfast we planned our day. So heading back to the Echo Point view point we parked up and started on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk heading towards Leura Cascades. This walk took in some amazing view points but it got very hot and I was still tired from yesterday's hike so on reaching the car park at Leura we decided to turn back to get the car. Driving the couple of miles to Leura took minutes and we were quickly parked up in the shade and had some lunch. We headed back down the cascades but decided it would be too much to go to the bottom in the heat, so we headed back up and carried on to the cliff walk to the Bridal Veil lookout.
While walking we met a couple of ladies who told us about some other nice places like The Grand Canyon walk and Evans lookout near Blackheath. Evans lookout had some amazing views again looking out across the Blue Mountains. It was now after 3 and the Grand Canyon was was 3-4hrs so as we didn't have enough time we decided to wild bush camp at Blackheath Glen Reserve. We arrived after down to the valley for 6miles before we reached the bottom, not sure the car will get us back up tomorrow. There are toilets here but eco ones and that's it, no signal just SOS, no power and pitch dark. Very busy place off course as its free. Dinner cooked by head torch, couscous and burgers left over and the left over cheese cake. Yes we are roughing it as there is no shower in the morning.
So no shower but we did find a rest area with proper toilets and running water so we could brush our teeth and have a bit of a wash. Such a nice place we decided to have breakfast there also, so a bowl of cereal and a chat with some other campers. Helpful info from them is that you don't have to pay for the gas bbq's in the rest areas, just turn up and switch on. They also told us about a great app call "wikicamps" costs £4.49 but they said worth every penny. Also they informed us that the clocks had gone forward by an hour, so where we thought we had got up early we hadn't.
So off to the Grand Canyon walk which they estimate as taking 3-4 hours, it was a cooler day so the walk should be more enjoyable. If you only do one walk in the Blue Mountains this should be the one, it's like walking through a jungle with water falls, pools and huge steep sides surrounding you. The walk takes you to the bottom of the canyon which kills your knees as its so steep, it's a mental game also as you know at the other end you have to climb back up. I had a quick shower in one fall to cool down, another good thing about this walk is that it's not crowded like the main walks. We completed the walk in 2hrs 10mins so pleased with that, my knees and ankles are now killing me so pleased to be hitting the road to Canberra.