The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA), located 1.5 hours' drive west of Sydney, is Australia’s most accessible wilderness, and has just celebrated its 10-year anniversary of World Heritage listing.

Visitors can experience the most amazing natural scenery, world-class attractions and nature-based adventure activities. All of this is complemented by quality accommodation, dining, specialty shops, arts, and heritage and cultural experiences.

Indulge your senses and reward yourself by staying for the recommended minimum two nights to fully enjoy the highlights of this truly unique wilderness and its vibrant community.

Thanks to all who participated in the 2011 Winter Magic Festival – it was a spellbinding success!


As the winter solstice draws near, the Blue Mountains Winter Magic Festival beckons light and warmth back into our days in an explosion of energy.

Attracting more than 40,000 people annually, the festival parade simmers with artists, jugglers, drummers, choirs, musicians and snake-handlers. Katoomba’s main street is transformed into an art gallery as ArtStreet takes over shop windows, showcasing local artworks in the week leading up to and after the event.

Arrive in style on the Blue Mountains Flyer, take part in drumming workshops, enjoy the antics of roving performers and musicians on 11 different stages, soak up fireside entertainment at The Carrington, meet the world’s deadliest snakes, indulge in the region’s finest local food products, and see out the day in a fanfare of fireworks.

For those unwilling to shake the spell of Winter Magic once dawn arrives, drop by The Carrington Hotel on Sunday and be entranced by Norwegian ‘ice musician’ Terje Isungset, master percussionist Tunji Beier and award-winning vocalist Kristin Berardi as they perform together for the first time in Australia.

Location: Katoomba town centre
Date: Saturday June 18th, 2011
Time: 8.30am – 8.30pm. Fireworks at 6.15pm

We hope you enjoyed the Blue Mountains Flyer steam train trip and the Winter Magic scenic outing at the 2011 Winter Magic Festival.

Katoomba's Winter Magic Festival on Saturday, June 18th offers its patrons a touch of nostalgia, partnering with Heritage Express to offer steam train trips to and from the festival.

Evoking the pioneering spirit of Australia’s colonial days, the Blue Mountains Flyer scoops up its passengers at Sydney's Central, Strathfield, Westmead and Penrith stations and ascends the Great Dividing Range to the festival doorstep, while the Winter Magic Steam Train meanders along the ridge from Katoomba to Mount Victoria and Bell in a family-friendly scenic outing.

With timber paneling, luxuriously upholstered seats and a complimentary glass of wine, the Lounge and Premier classes on the Blue Mountains Flyer are so indulgently reminiscent of days past you’ll feel lulled by the spell of Winter Magic before you even reach the festival.

If you’ve never had your senses knocked out by the heady aroma of fresh truffle, now’s your chance. Lowes Mount Truffiere at Oberon was one of the first successful truffieres established in NSW and now sells its nuggets of black Perigord gold at local and Sydney markets, where they’ve been acclaimed by Sydney food writer Terry Durack.

Winter heralds the arrival of truffle-hunting season, where you can slip on your gumboots and join truffle hounds Morris and Sully, and owners Col and Sue Roberts, on dedicated truffle hunts. Watch the dogs in action as you learn about the truffle industry and seek and taste fresh truffle for yourself. Fresh and preserved truffles are also available for purchase, and truffle services are available to interested parties.

Hunts are conducted from June 4 – August 20 every Saturday afternoon at 2pm but, as they’re limited to 12 people and the season is about as fleeting as truffle shards infusing into buttery pasta, you’d better book quickly.

Truffle facts:

• Why are pigs used as truffle hunters? Research has found that truffles contain a steroid similar to that produced by male pigs, which attracts female pigs in the same way as pheremones do.

• Commercially available ‘truffle oil’ and ‘truffle aroma’ actually contain no truffle at all: as the long-term preservation of truffle in oil can lead to health risks, these products are created in the lab using ‘nature-identical’ synthetic ingredients.

• Fresh truffles have an extremely short shelf life; experts recommend they are best eaten within three days of harvesting, although French black truffles can last for up to three weeks.

• Truffieres were first developed in Australia in Tasmania in the 1990s and have since flourished in NSW, Western Australia, the ACT and Victoria, with others underway in South Australia and Queensland.