‘A crystal atmosphere reflecting a liquid blue never excelled in purity even by soft azure splendour hung over the old Venetian palaces by the magic brush of Turner, lay on the mountain tops throughout the weekend. Sunshine illumed the crags and played fantastic vagaries of colour amidst the fresh foliage, gleaming in gilded beauty on the outer fringe of fern curtains and throwing into deeper shade the bosky nooks of the laminated cliffs and mossy gorges.’

One Edwardian visitor to Katoomba was so inspired by its beauty that he felt compelled to send this fulsome (and full-page) account to the Blue Mountain Echo. While today’s tourists may sometimes appear less enraptured when they are released from coaches at Echo Point, their itineraries still adhere to a sublime principle of grand depths and sweeping views. But travel several towns downhill to the walks around Hazelbrook or Lawson, and you will find yourself virtually alone among the chill pools and dainty waterfalls that the Victorian imagination once transformed into fairy grottoes.