Sydney’s Top Sights - Sydney - page 415

offers of the area's most essential sight: a rocky trio called the Three Sisters OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP . The story goes that the sisters were turned to stone by a sorcerer to protect
them from the unwanted advances of three young men, but the sorcerer died before he
could turn them back into humans.

Warning: Echo Point draws vast, serenity-spoiling tourist gaggles, their idling buses
farting fumes into the mountain air - arrive early or late to avoid them.

THE BELLS LINE OF ROAD

The Great Western Hwy barrels straight through the Blue Mountains, but the spectacular 90km Bells Line of
Road is far more rewarding. Named after Archibald Bell Jr, the 19-year-old who discovered the route in 1823,
the road was constructed by convicts in 1841, navigating a pass between Richmond and Lithgow. It's far quieter
than the highway and offers bountiful views from the mountains' eastern slopes.

Between Bilpin and Bell, Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, Mount Tomah OFFLINE MAP ( 4567 2154;
www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au ; Bells Line of Road; 10am-4pm) is the cool-climate sibling of Sydney's Royal
Botanic Gardens. Native plants cuddle up to exotic species, including magnificent rhododendron displays.
There's a cafe here, and many areas are wheelchair accessible; a people mover circles on the hour.

Gorgeous Mt Wilson OFFLINE MAP ( www.mtwilson.com.au ) is 8km north of Bells Line of Road. Like Ka-
toomba, this town was settled by Anglophiles, but unlike Katoomba, with its guesthouses and cool cafes, Mt
Wilson is all hedgerows, Northern Hemisphere trees and mansions with big gates and driveways. When we last
visited, Baz Luhrmann was shooting The Great Gatsby within its leafy surrounds. About 1km from the village
is the Cathedral of Ferns OFFLINE MAP , a wet rainforest remnant with tree ferns, where native doves explode
from the foliage - an almost unbearably serene 10-minute stroll.

Reaching from north of Bells Line of Road to the Hunter Valley, Wollemi National Park OFFLINE MAP (
4787 8877; www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks ) is the state's largest forested wilderness area (nearly
5000 sq km). Access is limited and the park's centre is so isolated that a particular species of tree, the utterly
rare Wollemi pine (see www.wollemipine.com ) wasn't discovered until 1994. But don't expect to
find any yourself - their location remains strictly under wraps. An equally secret site is a huge gallery of ancient
Aboriginal rock art, uncovered in 2003.

SCENIC WORLD
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