​The World Heritage listed Blue Mountains are just two hours from Sydney and home to some of the best hiking in Australia. We guess there's a reason we run so many hikes there right?! Here is our pick of the best hikes in the area. 

By Karen Irving

Meat-eating plants seem so exotic you might imagine them deep in the Amazon or the rainforests of Borneo. But in fact the UNESCO world heritage Blue Mountains National Park boasts the most diverse range of carnivorous plants in the world, with nearly 240 species. Along the trail from Govetts Leap to Horseshoe Falls on the Emu Trekkers Blue Mountains hike, you’ll spot several varieties of carnivorous plants, including the world’s largest and most impressive display of Drosera Binata, or “sundews”.

By Tristan Harley, CEO of Emu Trekkers.

It is amazing to see how far Emu Trekkers has come since launching its first walks in September 2017. As Australia’s first not-for-profit outdoor tour operator run entirely by volunteer guides, we have made a great start in the tourism market and are already beginning to make a difference to kids in need. 

Emu Trekkers is based on a simple idea that it is possible to offer unique tourism experiences in the natural environment that authentically connect visitors to the local community, raise awareness about important social issues, and in a small way help those communities by providing funding and assistance.

Our overarching mission is summed up in our four-word motto - ‘Hike Australia. Help Kids’. But in everything we do, we try to go further, to inspire others to make a difference, and to think about how they can positively support the communities where they are based.

Sydney-based,100% not-for-profit, outdoor adventure operator, Emu Trekkers has donated $15,000 to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) to celebrate its own first anniversary. The donation brings Emu Trekkers total commitment to ILF to $20,000, or the equivalent of 2,000 culturally-appropriate books, delivered into the hands of children in remote Indigenous communities in Australia.The donation was presented to ILF Executive Director Karen Williams by Emu Trekkers co-founder and CEO, Tristan Harley and the team of volunteers.

I came across Emu Trekkers whilst on an overnight hike in the Blue Mountains earlier this year. Our groups kept crossing each other on the trail, sharing words of encouragement as we made our way up the beautiful but steep incline to Govetts Leap, where the hike ends.
 
We finished within a few minutes of each other, and with high fives and back slaps all round I decided to find out a bit more about the group that had been our shadow for the past 24 hours.

Curracarrong Falls. Image by Daniel Tran Photography.

When most people think of the top things to see in the Royal National Park near Sydney, they tend to think of the Figure 8 Pools or the Wedding Cake Rock. But one of the most underrated natural wonders in the Royal National Park along the Sydney Coast Track is Curracarrong Falls, a waterfall right next to Eagle Rock.

Most waterfalls are formed in the upper sections of a river in steep mountains, but what makes Curracarrong Falls so unique is that it empties out directly out into the Pacific Ocean. Think about it, where else in the world have you seen a waterfall that drops directly into the ocean?

Wikipedia suggests that there are only 30 areas with coastal waterfalls, also known as tide falls, like this in the world, making them incredibly rare. In Australia, the only other recorded coastal waterfall is in Waterfall Bay in Tasmania. The rest are scattered around the world in places like Mealt Falls in the Isle of Skye, or McWay Falls in California. But surely there must be more? After all, how much can we really trust Wikipedia :)  

In a recent publication in the journal Geomorphology, two US scientists Patrick Limber and Patrick Barnard state that coastal waterfalls with constant flow are relatively uncommon and there is no broad explanation of how they develop and evolve. ​

​They suggest these coastal waterfalls are caused by a unique interplay of marine and terrestrial processes. Essentially, the horizontal erosion of the landscape caused by the impact of ocean waves (which forms sea-cliffs) has occurred at a faster rate than the erosion/incision of the earth through rain water. For this to happen, you will generally need to be in a place where the sea-cliff is retreating rapidly and wave energy is high, while the flow of water is relatively small.

"My husband recently went away to New York without me (it's ok - we discussed it first) leaving me home alone. The weather had been pretty beautiful so I wanted to try something new in the great outdoors, however finding a willing companion on short notice was proving hard! 

Being a bit scared to venture out too far on my own, I was looking to join a group for added fun and safety - not that I was looking for anything particularly dangerous but I am very uncoordinated and a bit of a wuss.
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