3 Sisters Echo Point Katoomba

3 Sisters Katoomba
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Helen is a bit crafty as you all know. So first up we visited the Craft shop and not really what we thought it would provide. A group of oldish ladies all in to knitting, the place was full of over priced fading products dated round the early 19th century, it is no wonder they don't sell a great deal. The place was packed with ancient knitted goods. Nothing for Helen, no one makes cards. So on to Eskbank House which was built in 1842 by a local stonemason Alexander Binning for Thomas Brown who was the first industrialist in the Lithgow Valley. The house is a Georgian-Victorian style and made from Australian Cedar and local Ashlar sandstone. Thomas Brown established the Eskbank Colliery. The house is now managed by the Lithgow City Council and open as a museum. What it needs is a manager who knows what he has got and start to maintain it and preserve some of the unreal exhibits that are just rotting way. It is very typical of a lot of things here in Lithgow. The Council and businesses are not promoting the town as they should. We have spoken to many people who are not happy but their hands are tied by the council management. In one of the Eskbank buildings, an original old coach house, we found a Hansom Cab fully restored and sitting covered in dust slowly deteriorating. Eskbank House needs a curator who has drive and dedication and knows what is needed to preserve the history. This visit was disappointing and somewhat boring as one comment we found in the visitors book said. The guide was an apologetic person who continually said "oh sorry it should be behind glass", or "it should be up on a stand out of the mud" One good thing the Eskbank guide did tell us was an attraction for afternoon visiting. The Three Sisters at Katoomba and Echo Point Lookout. Katoomba itself is a holiday destination and you could pack 10 days with non stop activities. I can imagine what it will be like when NSW School holidays start from today. The drive to Katoomba was interesting with quite a bit of traffic and plenty to see. Getting closer to the town was as if you were in the outer suburbs of Sydney. Electric trains, buses, old trolly buses, and people everywhere. We didn't follow Toms directions to a T and followed the old signage on the road and the directions from the Eskbank House guide. Echo Point a mecca for tourists, every nationallity from every point of the world, it was find an Ausy day. But the VIEW, I've never seen anything like it. The Eskbank House guide was right too, the afternoon is the best time to go because the sun is shining on the 3 sisters. The Ruins at Echo Point aren't as such a building, but just rocks that look like a ruins and you can't see them without binoculars or a camera until the sun moves a bit a shadow is cast. Our neighbours and their massive rig have just left, I'll put a photo of it in tomorrows bulletin Sunny & fine today again, but a bit cool.