Love at First Sighting

When early explorer George Evans first clambered atop Mount Tapitallee and laid the first set of (european) eyes upon Kangaroo Valley, his recorded impression was "a view no painter could beautify." Perhaps the pioneering surveyor was better suited for exploration than exposition ... yet we cannot help but empathize. Cliches such as "picture perfect" or "awesome view" fail to do justice to the place, yet can hardly leave here without feeling the urge to utter them. For in a country known for it's bounty of visual delights, Kangaroo Valley stands out as something special.

A Feast for Your Senses

It begins the moment you round the pass and catch your first glimpse of the interlacing ranges that ring the valley below. Mornings layer them in a soft mist. Afternoons, the slanting sunlight paints them in bold strokes of amber, violet and blue. You catch your breath, blink and smile. (perhaps you're on to something here) You drive a bit further, rounding a corner or cresting a hill and ... ZING! - another knockout view! Perhaps this time it's the shafts of sunlight dancing down though the rain forest to play gently on the mosses, ferns and wild flowers ... or perhaps its that perfect moment at sunset when horizontal sun rays slip under the clouds to light up the far escarpment in gleaming golds and ... but wait, there's something else! Appearing in the distance and arching up and over the mountains, you stare in disbelief at rainbow - and not a drop in sight!

Well well, you've only been introduced and already you're falling. Fortunately, the Valley reciprocates; the shapes, sounds, colors, and textures of the place conspiring to please only you. Your visit becomes a collection of special moments; private exchanges between you and nature, as she reveals her most intimate secrets.

On a less whimsical note: Kangaroo Valley is actually a unique topological occurrence. Rather than a "fold" between two mountain ranges, this is a true "valley": a semi star-shaped basin crossed by several waterways and ringed by mountains. Only a few like it on the planet. Strewth!