AUIP Programs that visit Sydney will often head to the Blue Mountains with Discovery Walks Talks and Tours for a day filled with magnificent views and knowledgeable guides.
This year with 30 guests, young and old, Blue Mountains Discovery Walks Talks and Tours celebrated Australian Heritage Week 2011 with a guided walk along the remarkable Grand Canyon Walking Track at Blackheath. Since 1907, the Grand Canyon has provided a way to comfortably walk into a Blue Mountains canyon, something normally reserved for adventurous and athletic individuals, used to harness and ropes. In the early days of walking track construction, passionate competition existed between Blue Mountains townships to provide visitors and locals alike with the most impressive walks into our wilderness. The Grand Canyon certainly is a highlight of the Blue Mountains walking track network and recent restoration work enhances the skill and ingenuity that our early track builders displayed. Right is a picture of one of the amazing look outs on one of many tracks that students can opt to walk at the Blue Mountains.
Some walkers were familiar with the Grand Canyon; some had not walked the track for more than 20 years, and shared their memories of romance and adventure. One participant reminisced of all those years ago, when she had defied her husband and walked the track, and emerged triumphant just a few hours later. Discovery Ranger Christopher Woods shared some of his collection of Blue Mountains memorabilia; historic photographs, maps and tourism promotions of Blackheath and the Grand Canyon in the early 1900’s. Local ecologist Wyn Jones entertained all with inspirational stories of how our natural world maintains itself and how reliant it has become on how we care for and value it.
It was a ‘grand’ day out and the video of the event has been uploaded to youtube as a lasting reminder of the walking track heritage in Australia’s Blue Mountains of Australia. Watch the awesome clip here.
And if you enjoyed that video, there is a video of the National Pass (again in Blue Mountains National Park): an extraordinary track that traverses the middle of a 200metre high cliff. This track first built in 1907 and was given a UNESCO South East Asia award for Heritage Conservation when recently restored by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
For those of you who aren’t necessarily heading to Sydney for a program, we have add on packages that can take you to Sydney for a few days prior to, or after your program. Check them out here.
