Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia - Part 2

On my second day in the Blue Mountains, I did a half day eco tour with Tim Tranter of Tread Lightly Ecotours.  I cannot speak highly enough of Tim - he is a trained ecologist who lectures at universities both in Australia and in the US, and is extremely knowledgeable about the Blue Mountains, having lived there for over 40 years.  Tim's tours cover biology, geography, geology, botany, meteorology, forest management and aboriginal culture.  What is also terrific is that Tim will tailor the tour to suit your interests and fitness levels.

Tim picked me up from my hotel in Katoomba before embarking on the tour.

Tim took us on The Valley of the Waters walking tour, showcasing various types of forest (including rainforest), Empress Falls and Queen Victoria Lookout.

The start of the tour contrasts eucalypt forest with scrubby grassland:

Tim then showed us the Geebung bush, which grows edible fruits.  The Geebung bush is a member of the Protea family.  Tim took one of the unripe fruits from the tree and cut it open to show us.  There is a large inedible seed inside, and Tim told us that the fruit tastes a little like pepper and walnut:

Next to the Geebung bush was a banksia tree which had finished blooming, with the hard dark "Banksia men" cones on display:

The diversity of the forests in the Blue Mountains in demonstrated by this photo, which shows where the scrubby bush meets eucalypt forest:  

This is some kind of leptospermum that I spied along the walking track:

Here are some purple pea flowers - perhaps Blue Bonnets:

Here is another type of leptospermum along the walking track:

These are some yellow pea flowers:

For a change of pace, there were also some lilies growing along the track: 

These spiky yellow flowers are weirdly colloquially called Drumsticks (scientific name Ispogen anemonifolius):

Tim pointed out the different layers of forest along the way.  This photo shows the various layers of eucalyptus forest and rainforest.  The Blue Mountains is home to some of the last remaining Gondwana rainforest in the world; unfortunately, some of it has been lost in the recent bushfires that swept through the region: 

Tim discussed the bushfire management activities undertaken in the mountains, and pointed out the difference between new growth forest (from controlled back burns), with three year old forest (from the previous bushfires) and older forest that had not been recently burned.

The Blue Mountains are not actually mountains but a dissected plateau; however, as Tim said, the Blue Mountains sounds much cooler than the Blue Plateau.

Tim stopped to show us the distinctive layers of ironstone at one lookout:

We continued our walk towards Empress Falls, and I spied these pink bell flowers (orchids? lilies?)

Here are some more white bell flowers of unknown genus:

The views along the Valley of the Waters walk are stunning - here is just one of them:

Here are some more flowers along the track - I think they are blue orchids of some variety:

This is one of the lovely pools in the Valley of the Waters:

Isn't this cascade beautiful:

This is another of the views along the Valley of the Waters track:

And another - you can see that the terrain was not all straight forward:

Finally, we reached Empress Falls:

This is the area of the Falls where canyoners pop out - you can see from the slope and depth that this is not an activity for the faint hearted (and definitely not for me):

Here is an example of the rugged sandstone cliff faces overlooking the falls.  Tim said that the First Peoples sheltered from the extremes of weather on these cliffs: 

We stopped for lunch at Queen Victoria lookout.  Lunch comprised a delicious wrap from Hominy Bakery in Katoomba.  Here are some of the fabulous views from the lookout into the Jamison Valley: 

It is easy to see how the Blue Mountains got their name from these photos.

After lunch, we walked to the Conservation Hut and back up to Tim's vehicle, heralding the end of our half day walk.

Tread Lightly Eco Tours

100 Great Western Highway

Medlow Bath NSW 2780

Ph: 0414 976 752

For more information about the flora of the Blue Mountains, see Blue Mountains Wildflowers.

For more information about The Valley of the Waters track, see this site.

For information about what to see and do in the Blue Mountains, see this site.