Mount Wilson, Blue Mountains: Wilderness escape without completely abandoning civilisation

By Brian Johnson
Updated May 26 2017 - 11:08am, first published May 17 2017 - 12:09pm
Trees provide a fireworks-like explosion of red, yellow and orange when autumn comes to Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains.  Photo: Wolter Peeters
Trees provide a fireworks-like explosion of red, yellow and orange when autumn comes to Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains. Photo: Wolter Peeters

Two hours out of Sydney and I'm a thousand metres above sea level and into another world of crisp air, giant ferns and cackling king parrots. Below me a shimmering blue wilderness merges into a distant horizon of thumb-sized skyscrapers. The petrol-fuelled hum of the city has been replaced with a shiver of gum trees and a slow-spreading mood of satisfaction.