THREE SISTERS IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: KATOOMBA, NSW

You’re only in Sydney for a day or two before you embrace the natural wonder tucked into every urban corner, a ruddy-cheeked explorer’s enthusiasm starting to simmer just beneath your surface. “Bushwalking”, “rambling”, “trekking” “tramping”; no matter the moniker, the time-honored aboriginal lure of that most ‘Aussie’ of pastimes rouses your sense of adventure. So, you make your way to the mythical Blue Mountains just in time for dawn. Somewhere along the road rising up to meet you, you’re aware of just how small you are, centuries and eons and epochs having etched their presence on this imposing trio of sandstone siblings before you were even a conceptual speck. The moment readily demonstrates how able you are, at any time, to seek. It is not so much about where you wander but that you do – that you don the freewheeling spirit of Oz simply because you can. Up above the scenic heavens which have long transfixed beholders, there is a golden-lit silence. Before your eyes, the mist clears, reminding you that your next ‘blue mountain’ is never further than where you’re willing to find it.

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© Essential Moment, Bushwalking Australia.