Mount Victoria eclectic – high panorama, cool rainforest, village heritage

Some 120km west of Sydney and at 1052 metres above sea level, Mount Victoria on the western escarpment is the highest and last village of the Central Blue Mountains before the road heads down the pass into the verdant valleys beyond. It is a charming Victorian village with heritage architecture dating back to the 1840s.   It’s One Tree Hill at […]

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Mayfield Garden practically to ourselves

From time to time as the seasons entice, Nature Trail ventures beyond the Blue Mountains west into the pastoral and historic Central West Region of New South Wales, like on this occasion. We arrive in spring and high altitude Oberon’s fickle weather is luckily sunny for us today.  Mayfield Garden is 13 km outside the old logging town of Oberon, […]

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Secrets of the Megalong and beyond

Grand tour this one, so we get an early start at 7am.  We explore what Shipley Plateau has to offer west of Blackheath, plus the entire length of the Megalong. ‘Megalong’ is Aboriginal for ‘valley under the cliff’ – Narrowneck’s ancient and magisterial sandstone escarpment. Locals have long balked at the tautology of ‘Megalong Valley‘ – translated to be ‘Valley […]

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A cloud soaked Grose Gorge delivers a surprise of wildflowers

Keen on an early start especially in the damp mist, determination paid off for us.  Our small group of three drove out to one of the more remote parts of the Grose Gorge. Crawling along in the fog, our driver slowly rounded the corner to Eastern Grey Kangaroos happily grazing wild by the track.  The dark grey male must have […]

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We explored daffodils and heritage country o’er vales and hills

How lucky are we in the Mountains to celebrate spring and be just a short drive from a host of golden daffodils – all very much inspired by English 19th Century Romantic poet William Wordsworth. So last Saturday in mid September our tour headed west from the Blue Mountains, visiting wee Rydal village and its renowned daffodil festival.  As always […]

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