Tag Archives: New South Wales

Guns Guns and More Guns!!!

Heading north I drove through Lithgow and the people that are unaware Lithgow holds a very special place in our Australian history. It is where we built our small arms supporting our war efforts in the first and Second World War. It is also a place where we now build our current and future small arms for our defence forces.

At the Lithgow smallarms factory they have a museum dedicated to this past and have a room dedicated to pistols and revolvers. For anyone fascinated in our military history and firearms in general this is a must see as the collection here is amazing!!!!!

While the museum itself is relatively small the collection they have is vast and extensive. It takes in our Australian history and history of other countries around the world.

Lithgow smallarms factory
Welcome to Australia’s history

Downstairs is where they have the long arms while upstairs they have a room that has the most extensive pistol and revolver collection I have ever seen. This room has over 1000 pieces all of which belong to one individual that donated these to the museum and boy oh boy there are some real gems in there.

Take for example this little palm pistol. I’ve only ever seen these and books and never actually thought I would see one in real life, so goes without saying that I was blown away.

Lithgow smallarms factory
palm pistol
Lithgow smallarms factory
palm pistol

I think I must have spent a good few hours just looking at the multitude of firearms in this building, while trying to imagine the history behind each and everyone of the pieces.

Here is just some of the collection to wet your whistle.

Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory

Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory Lithgow smallarms factory

The Walls Where You Can See for Miles

At the top of the stairs there is a fantastic lookout that looks over the magnificent Kanangra Walls.  These walls form the southernmost and of what is a spectacular valley and gorge that goes on for miles and miles from this location and believe it or not I had the opportunity to watch the new years eve fireworks from there.

Now for anyone that knows where the Kanangra-Boyd National Park is, they would know it is miles and miles and miles and miles away from Sydney so imagine my surprise when some of the other people there who have been regulars for years asked if I was hanging round to watch the fireworks. Now considering only had to wait another 40 minutes hell yes I was going to wait.

And to my surprise i could in fact see the fireworks from there!!!!! WOW

Before it got dark and the fireworks started I snapped this picture below and you can see why they call it the Blue Mountains!!

Kanangra Walls
Kanangra Walls

There are varying stories as to why the mountains seemed blue however one smart little cookie scientist put it down to the fracturing of light and the fact that only the blue light is disbursed due to atmospheric conditions within the gorges. This is not a unique to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales it can be seen in other places around the world which share similar characteristics.

No matter what the reason the view is spectacular and one I will definitely go back and see.

It was kind of a shame to leave this place but my journey and travels were taking me north up to the Jenolan Caves.

Waterfalls and steps

After dropping my gear off at the Boyd River camping ground I did a quick run down to the Kanangra Walls which also holds a fantastic waterfall at the bottom of a rough bush track that is made up of slate and what only seemed like around 400 steps on the way down.

It’s a scientific fact that if you count the amount of steps going down to a place any account the amount of steps coming up from the exact same place on the exact same path, there are always four times as many steps going up. It’s really weird like that, and this place was no exception.

It’s return walk of about an hour but I think you can actually do it in about half an hour if you reasonably fit. You do have to be really careful however as there are no fences and the ground is made up of shale and can be very slippery in places with no chance of forgiveness for a slip could see you fall off the edge of the cliff. 🙂

It is however worth the walk because at the bottom you come to a fantastic little waterfall that has a fairly deep hole at the bottom of which makes for a very refreshing place for a swim on a hot day.

Kanangra Walls Waterfall
Kanangra Walls Waterfall

Given that this was peak season I had this waterfall all to myself which I thought was kind of amazing.

After all who wouldn’t want to be here!

I sat down there for around 45 minutes or so admiring the waterfall and testing out the cool freshwater, especially as it was really hot.

Kanangra Walls Waterfall
Kanangra Walls Waterfall

It was started to get dark down there so it was time to head off back up the 8 million steps so I could reach the top just in time before the sunset and giving me a fantastic opportunity to photograph Blue Mountains and the Kanangra Walls in all its glory while I enjoy the last few hours of 2015.