Mummy, my legs hurt

Where: Leura, Blue Mountains Distance: 4km Duration: About 1.5 hours We decided to brave the rain that was forecast and go for a wander along the very popular Prince Henry Cliff Walk that hugs the cliffline of Leura and gives gorgeous views out to Mt Solitary and across the Jamison Valley. Access is super easy when you park on Olympian Parade - just 50 metres or so of track takes you to one of my favourite lookouts, Elysian Rock. Now, I've been very slack with my blogging and am writing this many months later - from my Strava activity it appears that there was much crying and whining on this walk so perhaps that's why I don't have a pic of the view from Elysian Rock! Ah yes, it's coming back to me now. Holly was happy and bouncing along, Ty was not. Not. At. All. We didn't end up going very far, just a little out and back along the cliffs towards Katoomba, and then back past where we began, through Gordon Falls picnic area and to the Pool of...

Near Blackheath NSW Time: 2 hours Distance: 7km loop This beautiful lush rainforest walk is well known and well publicised as one of the best attractions in the mountains. We had a kid free weekend so Richie and I were able to enjoy this snowy(!) day in peace. This loop walk is jaw droppingly beautiful; prehistoric in its scale, and lush green everywhere you look. There's so much information online about this walk that I'll just share some photos and skip all the details. Suffice to say there's a hell of a lot of stairs up and down, but the views are totally worth it. On our way back down the mountains, we stopped for a moment to check out the walk to Lake Burrogorang lookout overlooking Warragamba Dam. This walk is about 2.5km from the parking area at the end of Kings Tableland Rd. It was absolutely freezing by this stage - we'd got warm walking around Blackheath then cooled down so I was well and truly frozen when we got ou...

Near Leura NSW Distance: 4.1km return Duration: 2 hours After a failed attempt to do this walk on my birthday in July - failed because Richie was on crutches at the time - we returned on Fathers Day to give it a crack. With the sun shining and the wind howling we set off from the very end of Mt Hay road at Leura. This track is well marked with open low scrubby heath so you can see well off into the distance to the squat, dome-shaped Mt Hay crouching ahead. With the short people in tow we took our time as usual, and there were only a few patches where the bushes were so sharp and overgrown that I had to lift Holly up and over them. Some interesting features including a rock ledge to scramble up and some short eroded rock formations that made for a great perching spot for Ty to lean into the strong wind. The climb up to Mt Hay is gradual but open with little shade in the earlier parts so probably best avoided in the heat of the day. The track rounds a bend part w...

Near Woy Woy NSW Distance: 2.5km Duration: 45 minutes Today we explored Bouddi national park along the very easy boardwalk that begins at Putty Beach and goes for over 8km. We did a small stretch up to Gerrin Point lookout as we had been out for a family lunch earlier that day so the kids weren't up to a big day out. Unfortunately the time of day also meant we had to dodge a lot of people; this one is popular on sunny days, especially when we were there right at the start of whale season. This boardwalk is fantastic in that it hugs the coastline but is open so that you can step off and explore the amazing rock formations and get closer to the coastal views. This might be a bit hairy for smaller kids who are liable to run off a cliff but for our 7 and 9 year olds it was a good adventure. There are some sections early on with stairs, and let's be honest, nobody likes stairs. Apart from that it's mostly open coastal heath interspersed with s...

Near Hazelbrook NSW Distance: 3.4km Duration: ~2 hours Today we explored Burgess Falls and Oakland Falls in Hazelbrook, a beautiful, cool, relatively easy waterfall loop that is accessed from a grassy vacant lot on Winbourne Rd in Hazelbrook (can be accessed from the other end too). Burgess Falls in particular caught our eye as Burgess is Ty's middle name, after his grandfather. These and the neighboring Oakland Falls didn't disappoint; with small sandy 'beaches' they were a top spot to take a break along the way. The track itself meandered up and down through damp lush forest, crossing Hazelbrook creek and bringing us first to the top of Horseshoe Falls, where we carefully peered down over the rock platform to where the falls pooled below. Judging by the number of happy off-leash doggos we encountered this is a dog friendly bush walk; it doesn't appear to lie within national park boundaries. Two giant black labs were frolicking in one of the falls when w...