The day we left Australia in 2020, because of the Covid shutdown, we should have been going to the Blue Mountains. The mountains are supposedly named after the blue haze that hangs over them, and our trip involved a whole day’s travel from Sydney which, in our case, started at the Calmsley Hill City Farm with its menagerie of native and farm animals.
As spotting the native marsupials in the wild can be hit or miss, visiting the farm does give tourists the opportunity to see some of the more elusive animals.
The Blue Mountains National Park has many ‘lookouts’ with some fantastic views over the surrounding rock formations, such as the Three Sisters from the Eagle Hawk Lookout.
After the various lookouts, we visited the Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens on Mount Tomah.
The Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens were free to enter and are the highest in the southern hemisphere at 1,000 metres above sea level. The Gardens are located in a UNESCO World Heritage area and feature a cool climate collection of the Botanical Gardens of Sydney.
The Gardens have some examples of the critically endangered Wollemi Pine that is endemic to Australia and is believed to be one of the oldest and rarest trees in the world estimated to be able to live between 500 to 1,000 years. The tree was thought to be extinct until it was discovered in 1994 by a bush walker in the Wollemi National Park, just outside of Sydney.
The blue haze was not very evident during our trip to the Blue Mountains but it was a very interesting day with some great views and the chance to get up close and personal with some marsupials.
Copyright: Words and photos John Cruse 2025