GORDON FALLS LOOKOUT AND ELYSIAN ROCK, LEURA BLUE MOUNTAINS NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA
See the blog entry on Gordon Falls Reserve, which gives
details of the origin of the reserve and also my You Tube videos on the area.For a good read, go to Trove (trove.nla.gov.au)
and look up the story printed in “The Blue Mountain Echo” (NSW: 1909 - 1928) for Friday 18 April 1919. The
author must have walked down to or close to the site of the present lookout to
have been able to see the waterfall. The Lookout is easily reached from the parking area. Before getting even
that far, you will pass an old painted sign on the left, on which the faint
words “Fairy Dell” can just be discerned. The sign has gone now (June 2021).
This could refer to “Fairy
Glen”, accessed by a track now out of use leading from the Lookout track.
See the sample page from “Mountain Mist Books” here on how to locate this old track. On the other hand, the map shows Fairy Dell
below the cliff line. Another good read from “The Blue Mountain Echo” from September 1913 shows how Alderman
Lindeman was thinking about the pass in the valley below which now bears his
name. See here .
Gordon Falls
Lookout is a good place to view
the Three Sisters from the “other side”, which looks decidedly unusual
for those who only know the Echo Point aspect. You can view both the upper and
lower falls by craning your neck a bit.
 |
| The lower fall |
 |
| The upper fall |
The Prince
Henry Cliff Walk commences at Gordon
Falls, and the first lookout encountered is at Elysian Rock. The track (August
2013) was closed beyond this point because of bushfire damage, but reopened several years ago. You can return to
the parking area via the steps up to Olympian Parade.
Until the construction of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk in the 1930’s, the
three rock lookouts (Elysian, Olympian and Tarpeian) each had separate access
tracks, which remain to this day. It is to be hoped that the Cliff Walk track
which links them will be reopened soon. (It was, about 18 months later, after reconstruction of the Buttenshaw Bridge).
The Elysian Fields or Elysium is, in Greek mythology, a place of
perfect happiness prepared by the gods for the worthy dead. No doubt this is
where the Rock derives its name, which is a cut above all the Fairy Dells and
Fairy Glens in the Blue Mountains.
My video of this walk will be found here.
https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos
All New England and other Geology blogs and videos
Limestone Caves of NSW
Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs
Shoalhaven District Geology
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