Katoomba and the Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains in New South Wales is a World Heritage listed area . Katoomba is situated on the ridge followed both by the main highway and the train line through the mountains. It is close to varied bushwalks at all levels of difficulty featuring outstanding views, waterfalls, spectacular cliff-faces and secluded valleys. Walkers will find many different native plants and birds.

Katoomba was originally a mining town, but many hotels and boarding houses were established there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, catering to holiday makers from Sydney who could travel to Katoomba by train or coach. The train service now takes about two hours from Sydney, while recent road upgrades mean that a car trip will be slightly faster outside peak hours.

The centre of Katoomba is about one kilometre from the cliff face looking out across the Jamison Valley (shown above in a photograph taken from the roof of the Carrington Hotel) and one of the best known features of the Blue Mountains, the Three Sisters at Echo Point. The nearby Giant Staircase leads down to the bottom of the Jamison Valley and gives access to walks at several levels across the cliff face, connecting up with the nearby towns of Leura and Wentworth Falls.

The Carrington Hotel, the venue for the conference, is situated on the main street of Katoomba, about 200 metres from the railway station. The hotel fell into a state of disrepair and was closed down for about ten years from the mid-eighties. However, it has been progressively restored over the last ten years, retaining most of its outstanding architectural features. It still has the feel and scale of a grand old-world hotel, but with modern facilities. There are also many other possibilities for accommodation in Katoomba, with a wide range of tariffs, some of which are listed on the sites below.

• Blue Mountains Council Tourism Office
• Visit NSW: Blue Mountains National Park