Forget the Grand Canyon — The Blue Mountains Are to Die for

But they are odd and there are things you should know

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I may change my opinion — if I ever get to visit the Grand Canyon.

I imagine the Grand Canyon is very grand, but also a bit like looking down at the dried-up, leftover detritus from a bowl of Weetabix. But I wasn’t overly enamoured with my first impression of the Blue Mountains either.

In Scotland, we gaze at distant mountains and pine to climb. We drive to the foot of a range, in awe of the spectacle stretching above us. Then we huff and puff to the top, get cold, and scramble down again.

Not so in Australia, at least not with the Blue Mountains. Like everything Australia, they do it upside down.

You don’t see the Blue Mountains from afar. There is only the faint inkling that the distant skyline is slightly higher up than where you are now. The road winds upwards. It’s a dreary climb, and my curiosity extended to wondering how the train running parallel managed to make it up on slippery rails.

I arrived in Katoomba and weaved the car through the depressingly weathered town to a depressingly weathered hotel, booked on my behalf by a cost-conscious son — who I commend because when I looked at the price, I nearly choked on my…