The Ayers Family Trip Around Australia. . .: The Beautiful Blue Mountains

We’ve been staying at a free camp in Bilpin, which is about 50 ish km from Lithgow. It has normal toilets, a playground and an oval for the kids to run around in. We decided to avoid the touristy track around Leura and instead headed to this north section of the Blue Mountains National Park.

This morning we drove up to the lookouts of Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine. What a surprise we had there! The driving was through dense, lush bush and then all of a sudden the town of Mt Wilson appeared, exactly in the middle of nowhere. We weren't expecting towns, just mountains and bush! There has been a lot of rain lately, and the gardens look just glorious as a result. Just having a moist feel, with rain and/or dew drops on the foliage makes such a difference to a garden’s appearance.

We saw lyre birds run across the roads at two different times – a first for all of us.

We found a place called ‘Cathedral Gardens’ near Mt Irvine which is not included in the ‘Camps’ book that would have been a gorgeous spot to free camp. Lots of toilets, lots of space and lots of bush walking to do.

Some of the houses and gardens around here are just gorgeous – and all seemed to have something a bit quirky about them, whether it be a conservatory, the render, the cubby house or the flowering trees…

Today we also visited ‘Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens’ which is one of three of Sydney’s Botanic Gardens. The garden is focussed on ‘cool climate’ plants, having particular attention on Rhododendrons. These aren’t my favourite plant but it was fascinating to learn some of the history behind the search for so many different species. In the 18th and 19th century there were a number of amateur botanists, many of who were surgeons in their “real” jobs who catalogued so many different types of plants.

There were gnomes to be found all around the gardens. A great way to keep the kids interested!

Max finds a friend!

There was something very special about the gardens – perhaps because the focus was on having people explore and learn about different plant types meant the layout was friendly and easy to get around, rather than being simply beautiful gardens.