Katoomba, hoping for revival
The town of Katoomba (pop: 8300) is the best known of all the many centres which line the roughly 70km of the Great Western Highway on NSW as it crosses the once impassable Blue Mountains. The Mountains council is seated here. The name comes from a local Gundungurra and Darug term meaning 'shining falling water' or 'water tumbling over hill', a clear reference to any of the many waterfalls which tumble down the steep escarpment to the south.The Kedumba River, which flows through the town, sounds like another white-man interpretation of the Aboriginal term. Before the adoption of Katoomba as the town name in 1877, the locality was called The Crushers after a nearby quarry, and the railway station had that name too.
Being at 1017m elevation, starting about 1900, Katoomba became an obvious choice for a mountain holiday destination for Sydney-siders wanting to escape the heat. (It doesn't often snow in Katoomba, it just feels like it ought to in winter!) As coal and shale mining were exhausted, Katoomba became popular for holidaying, but its popularity has had its ups and downs. We think its in one of its downs right now, with many businesses boarded up and a lot of tired accommodation options, but a Katoomba Town Centre Upgrade project is underway to hopefully revive the CBD. Due for completion in 2027, $7.5M from the NSW Government is going towards landscape, streetscape, public amenities, event spaces, public art etc. It remains to be seen if this expenditure will bring more business investment, rather needed we think, and boost the economy in a sustainable way.
Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo
In Katoomba, its all about the view! The fabulous outlook to the south, which Kat shares with Leura, is the view over the Jamison Valley, and most importantly, the Three Sisters, an amazing rock formation at Echo Point, surely the iconic emblem of the Blue Mountains. The towering three sisters (Meehni 922m, Wimlah 918m and Gunnedoo 906m) were formed by erosion 200 million years ago in the Trisassic period. Of course one dreamtime legend of their formation is more interesting - three local Indigenous siblings having been turned to stone in retaliation when their marriage to three men from another tribe was prevented. The Jamison Valley was named after Sir John Jamison (1776-1844) who was a physician, landowner and law reformer. He accompanied Governor Macquarie on a visit to the Mountains in 1815. The Kedumba River drains the valley as it runs into Coxs River.
Famous Tourist Attractions
As if the natural attractions of Katoomba are not enough, businesses have sought to `enhance` them by adding thrills to the experience. We're thinking of the Scenic Railway and Skyway. The railway started life in 1878 with the Katoomba Coal Mine, but as the mine was depleted, tourism took over. Amazingly, between 1928 and 1945, cable railway hauled coal midweek, and tourists on weekends! The incredibly steep, up to 64o, incline makes riding this railway irresistable to tourists, including our grandson! With Scenic World in control from 1945, the Skyway became Australia's first cable car in 1958. It crosses the Kedumba River above Katoomba Falls and 200m above the valley floor. The latest cabin (2017) has a liquid crystal glass floor.
Catalina Catastrophe...
Little known and never talked about is the sad story of Catalina Raceway in Katoomba. Look at a map and you will see that this motor-racing circuit occupies a major fraction of the whole surface area of Katoomba, but it is now a derelict site burdened by a shameful history. Prior to European settlement, the area known as The Gully was a traditional summer camp for the local Aboriginal peoples, but after the white men took to the mountains, Indigenous people were forced to permanently resettle there, or leave. The Aborigines later suffered even more indignity when The Gully became the site of the Catalina Park Amusement Centre (1946-1952) which featured an eponymous flying boat moored in an ornamental lake. And then, someone thought there was money to be made by converting the park to a 2.1km motor-racetrack (1961-1970), then a rallycross circuit with various other noisy activities enduring up to about 2000. Too much fog, difficult access and racetrack competitors caused these commercial ventures to fail. The CP site is now overgrown, only used by walkers and bike-riders. It`s too sad to visit this example of European cruelty and business folly, a site if not of a massacre, but one of extreme dispossession.