Govett's Leap To Pulpit Rock Bushwalk

Here are some pictures from the bushwalk Morgan and I did in Blackheath last weekend. We were intending to to the walk to Pulpit Rock from Govett's Leap, but missed a turn off and ended up at a place called Boyd's Beach. Only, according to the signage it was Boyds Beach - it turns out that the Megalong Valley is the Land That Grammar & Correct Punctuation Forgot. Oh, and there wasn't really a beach, just a pool with a sandy bank. Nice enough though.


Morgan
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


Morgan, as we were wandering around Blackheath prior to starting the walk.


Govett's Leap Sign
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


Most of the work done in setting up the tracks and lookouts in the area took place in the 1920s and '30s. The main Govett's Leap lookout area has lots of buildings and plaques commemorating the history and establishment of the area.


Megalong Valley
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


It's a bit hard to judge the scale of the Megalong Valley in photos, but it's huge and stretches for kilometres. The name Blue Mountains refers to the fact that the distant mountains really do have a blue tint when you see them 'in the flesh'. Apparently the blue haze has something to do with the Eucalypts that cover them. If you look at the first outcrop on the left of the above photo, and then look at the right hand edge where it juts out into the valley, the little vertical outcrop on the edge is Pulpit Rock, our original destination.


Ghost Gum
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


The area is all heavily wooded in Eucalypts, especially River Red Gums and Ghost Gums. I like the way the light is dappled in this pic, and the exposure makes the sky look deep and moody.


Pool
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


Every so often we would walk through areas of deep shade, sometimes alongside the water and sometimes through deep glades of tree ferns.


Yellow
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


There was amazing flora and fauna everywhere. This flower was tiny, less than 1cm across and very delicate. They were too quick to photograph but we saw lots of birds, including some impressive black and yellow cockatoos.


Bush Reds
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.


The colours of the bush always amaze me. I especially love the way some species of Eucalypts turn from green to red when the leaves die.

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and something that Morgan and I both love doing. We're planning on doing quite a bit more bushwalking, expecially now that Autumn has taken the worst blast of Summer heat away and before it gets too cold and wet to be able to do it comfortably. It's so nice to share the experience with someone you care about, all the little joys of pointing things out to each other, chatting and sharing some laughs on the way.

The rest of my photos from the walk are in this Flickr set.