Attractions in Leura Blue Mountains
Address: 37
Everglades Avenue, Leura
Phone: 02 4784 1938
Today, the Everglades Gardens are an amazing combination of the past
and the present. Throughout the park-like gardens designed by Danish-born
Paul Sorenson, we move from a formal amphitheatre setting to native bush
outlooks, all in the course of a few minutes. Sorenson’s expertise
is apparent throughout.
Henri Van de Velde purchased this rocky and sloping thirteen acres,
much of it damp. A primitive weatherboard, which the family used for
weekends in the Blue Mountains, sat above the million-dollar views into
Jamison Valley. A year later in 1933 when Australia was caught in the
throes of the world-wide depression, wealthy Van de Velde commissioned
Paul Sorenson to create a garden. And, what a garden they built.
With a small army of local artisans and labourers, Sorenson cut and
levelled the property creating a terraced paradise, a series of formal
and informal gardens down the hillside. Thousands of tons of earth and
rock were moved and Sorenson’s sixty workers built miles of curving
dry-pack retaining walls and gently sloping paths.
In 1936, the new modern-style summer house was completed, a rambling
two-storey Art Deco in the centre of Sorenson’s Everglades. Sorenson
continued his collaboration at Everglades until Van de Velde’s
death in 1947 when the property was then sold. In 1962 The National Trust
acquired the property and the Van de Velde summer residence is now home
to the charming Tea Room and Gift Shop.
Special
holidays have recently become annual events at Everglades and the excitement
and commotion of young children and their grandparents can be heard throughout
the gardens. It is the Gardens’ effort to bring a new generation
into this setting that will ensure its future now and in the decades
ahead.
But, a gardener’s work is never done. Restorations continue daily
carrying on the work of Paul Sorenson in the magnificent Blue Mountains ‘gardens
for all seasons’.
Address: Sublime
Point Road
Phone: 02 4782 5011
It would be hard to find a more dramatic setting for a round of golf.
With exceptional views of the Blue Mountains from every hole, it is the
14th that leaves one gasping in awe. We are vividly reminded that even
in a sporting environment, we are still surrounded by the spirit of the
World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains.
For more than 100 years, golf and the Leura Golf Club – now adjacent
to the York Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains, have been an integral part of the recreational
and social scene. Members are proud of their important and long heritage
in Leura.
And Leura golfers and their guests have been, and continue to be, a
hardy bunch — inclement weather does not deter them. Driving along
Sublime Point Road in an early morning misting fog, a lone golfer can
be sighted, headed for the second tee. Hopefully the spectacular vistas
of the Blue Mountains, however limited, bring out spectacular golfing!

If you have arrived empty handed, you can hire everything from the first-rate
golf shop: motorised carts, clubs or shoes. Note: Call for details about
the Leura Golf Open held annually in the Blue Mountains in September.
Address: Corner
of Violet Street and Cliff Drive, Katoomba
Phone: 02 4782 2699
Four distinctive and thrilling rides and walkways make up the Scenic
World attraction and each is one of a kind. From the Skyway above, or on the world’s steepest railway, you’ll see ancient ravines and
waterfalls, Mt Solitary, Ruined Castle and the old 1890 coal mines of
the Blue Mountains. International travellers, school children and backpackers
come from all corners of the world to Scenic World in the Blue Mountains
and this is an experience you won’t want to miss. Don’t overlook
the short explanatory film as it prepares you for the natural spectacles
you are about to see. Scenic World has a small café for take away,
and an open air restaurant overlooking the Jamison Valley is a delight
on a sunny day.
In
The Leura Bushwalks, we are taking you on three easy walks that go beyond
the shopping area of Leura. While not vigorous, these walks take you
out of the village centre and into nature’s bounty. Along the escarpment
and down to the lookouts you will discover Leura in its relationship
to the Blue Mountains and the World Heritage designation that preserves
it. Each short walk to a lookout will get you up close and personal with
the natural beauty that prompted Leura’s attraction to visitors
to the Blue Mountains.
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