The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the Australian region of New South Wales
50 Kilometers (30 miles) west of Sidney.
Some of these mountains reach 1100 meters
height. Their name is due to the blue haze that hovered above the mountains, which
is produced by the oil from the plentiful Eucalyptus trees. The Blue Mountains extend
from the west side of the Nepean River to westward
until Coxs River.
The Blue Mountains are a great spectacle to lovers of the nature; because, they
offer to the visitors a wonderful scenery full of wildlife. The area is composed
by a sandstone plateau of 1.03 million hectares; there are also many escarpments
and gorges of up 760 meters in depth, cascades and many other amazing landscapes.
Most part of Blue Mountains area is within the Greater Blue Mountains National Park,
which is a World Heritage Site and one of the seven national parks
of Australia.
This region is considered one of the most popular tourist destinations near Sidney.
The Blue Mountains are especially popular amongst people in summer, when they prefer
to avoid the heat of the coast; since, in the Blue Mountains, it can find spectacular rock formations, cliffs and ravines and enjoy a mild climate. The region is dominated
by the temperate eucalypt forest. The Blue Mountains park is one of the best representation
of Australia’s biodiversity; since, this place is home of many endemic species of
life such as the Wollemi pine, the Sydney peppermint, the turpentine or animals,
like the eastern grey kangaroo, the red-necked wallaby, the wombat and many other
species. This National park offers some of the most wonderful walking trails of
the country. It is an excellent place by the lovers of the adventure tourism; since,
it offers also activities such as rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing and a nice
hotel infrastructure.
There are many interest and marvelous points in the Blue Mountains, such as the
Red Han Cave (where scientists found several Aboriginal hand stencils), the Jenolan
Caves, the Mount Boyce, the Mount Piddington, the Mount York, the Mount Wilson,
the Three Sisters or the Wentworth Falls; some of them are located in the road between
the small town of Leura and Katoomba.
There are two main routes to explore the Blue Mountains. These routes run through
the Great Western Highway or along the beautiful Bells Line of Road. A great way
to know the Blue Mountains is using the train from Sidney to Katoomba, which is
available every hour and stops at several places along the Blue Mountains. There
are also some bus services that offer a tour for some of the most famous attractions in this wonderful site.
History
The region of the Blue Mountains has been inhabited by several millennia by the
Australian Aborigines. The oldest vestiges of human presence in this zone were found
in the Red Hands Cave, a place near Glenbrook. In this cave was found a rock shelter
with stencils made by adults and children. On the other hand, archeologists have
discovered some grinding grooves which would have been used to sharpen stone implements.
View of the Blue Mountains
During the early colonial time, British considered the mountains impassable. This
wrong idea was very convenient for the colonial authorities; since, the legend of
the insurmountable mountain barrier was a great story to deter convicts (who were
the main inhabitants of Australia at the beginning of the colonial period) from
to escape.
But, in 1792, John Wilson, an ex convict was the first European man that
crossed the Blue Mountains. He lived then, with the aborigines and became an intermediary
between the natives and the British; nevertheless, Wilson was never officially recognized
as the first man to find a route to cross the mountains. Later, at the beginning
of the XIX century, many people made explorations trips in the Blue Mountains. In
1813 an expedition composed by Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles
crossed the Blue Mountains and received officially the credit for crossing for first
time this mountain range.
In 1814 the Governor Macquarie ordered the
construction of the first road through
the Blue Mountains, which was completed on January 14, 1815. Thanks to this road,
the rich deposits of coal and shale of the mountains started to be exploited.
Many mining operations were established in several zones of the Blue Mountains during the XIX century, producing an important development in the region.
The Great Blue Mountains National Park was proposed for first time in 1932 by the
conservationist Myles Dunphy. The Park proposed by Dunphy, included zones that are
occupied currently by the Blue Mountains National Park, the Wollemi National Park,
the Kanangra-Boyd National Park and the Nattai National Park. Nevertheless, the current Blue Mountains National Park was
created only in 1959 and 41 years later, in 2000, the Blue Mountains were nominated as World Heritage zone, being the fourth
zone of New South Wales to be listed by UNESCO. Today, Blue Mountains are one of
the most important tourist destinations of Australia and one of the most popular
wonders of this country.