Three Sisters Blue Mountains | Dream Time Legend & the Scientific View
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Three Sisters Blue Mountains are a magnificent eroded sandstone formation that attracts the hearts and minds of its visitors. Many different colours of the sandstone bring its changing characteristics to the view throughout the passing days and seasons. Three sisters also stand magnificently illuminated by floodlit up until 11 p.m. against the black background of the night sky. These beauties also played a major role in the past as a foundation of beliefs and stories of the Aboriginal people.
However, this spiritual place of the Aboriginal ancestors is a part of the Blue Mountains National Park today. Three Sisters Blue Mountains are at Echo Point Katoomba, just around 2.5 km south of the Great Western Highway. These sisters who stand over 3000 feet above sea level attract millions of visitors each year and joining a Blue Mountains day trip is everyone’s bucket list irrespective of local or overseas travelers. Queen Elizabeth lookout platform is the best selfie photography spot in Blue Mountains of our experiences.
Some many stories and legends describe the story of three sisters from many different points of view.
Table of Contents
Aboriginal Dream time legends of Blue Mountains Three Sisters
Legend of the Three Sisters Blue Mountains – 1
‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and ‘Gunnedoo’ were three sisters born in the Katoomba tribe. They lived in the peaceful Jamison Valley with the other members of their family. They grew into three beautiful young ladies as the days passed. As the story says, there were none to match their beauty ever walk the valley. So, it was not a surprise when the stories of their beauty travel far beyond the Jamison Valley.
Many in the Katoomba tribe tried to steal the hands of these maidens but none succeed in the effort. However, it was not only those in their own tribe who took upon the challenge. Unfortunately, the ones who could steal their hearts were three brothers from the Nepean tribe. It was unfortunate as the laws of the Katoomba tribe prohibited them marry anyone who is not from their own tribe.
Yet, the brothers charmed by the beauty of the lovely maidens refuse to accept the laws pointed by the elders. They were so detrimental to have the hands of their lovers that they were ready to do anything for them. So, tried to steal the sisters from the tribe and this started a war. The witch doctor of the Katoomba tribe was afraid of the safety of the girls. So, he took matters into his hand and made a plan to keep the girls safe while the war goes on.
He turned the sisters into stones and place them on the mountain as the Three Sisters Blue Mountains we know. The war ended but unfortunately, the witch doctor died in the war. People of the tribe tried to bring the sisters back to life but no one was powerful enough. Only the former which doctor has been as powerful as to reverse the spell. Now you know the first legend of this mystical lookout If you are leaving Sydney on a day trip to Blue Mountains.
Legend of the Three Sisters Blue Mountains – 2
Long ago, there was a Bunyip who lived in a deep hole near the area known as the Blue Mountains today. Everyone was afraid of it and passing the hole was considered very dangerous. There was also a witch doctor called Tyawan living in the same area. He had three daughters named Meenhi, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo.
Tyawan had to pass the hole with the Bunyip whenever he went looking for food. He knew the danger of the area well so he was very careful when doing that. He even left his daughters safely on a cliff behind a rocky wall before starting his journey.
One day, Tyawan said goodbye to three sisters and went down the cliff stepping into the valley as usual. Meenhi who was on the cliff saw a large caterpillar and threw a stone at it. The stone missed the caterpillar crashing into the hole where the Bunyip sleeps. It woke up and ripped apart the wall in front of the girl. Seeing this, their father used his magic bone to turn them into stone. So, they became the Three sisters Blue Mountains New South Wales Australia we can even see today.
Annoyed by this, the Bunyip then turned to Tyawan. So, he changed into a Lyre Bird but dropped his magic bone while transforming. He waited till the Bunyip moves back into the hole and returned in search of his magic bone. But he could not find it. So, he couldn’t turn himself or his daughters back into their true forms. It is said that he still flies around the Three Sisters’ Blue Mountains looking for his magic bone.
Alternative view or the scientific view of the Three Sisters
The age of the Three Sisters
The real story of the Three Sisters Blue Mountains is as wonderful as the fiction. The rocks below the mountains are dated over 470 million years old. But the age of the mountains themselves is around 250 million to 170 million years. So, they truly belong to the Triassic Period of the earth.
Formation
The entire Blue Mountains region was under a shallow sea in the past. So, large amounts of sediment of the seawater slowly sunk to the floor making horizontal layers. Then, these layers formed rock beds and shales. Later, these layers formed rock beds sandstones, and then volcanoes erupted and blasted through the coal, sandstone, and shale layers. They form ridges and sharp shapes which are then eroded by wind, rain, and mainly the rivers. This process formed them into the shapes we know today.
Charles Darwin himself told the small river below the mountain could not have made the unusual valley. He guessed the sea must have made it through coastal erosion. However, he was wrong as the river is what cut the Grose Valley with enough time, rain, and wind.
Discovery
No one explored the Three Sisters Blue Mountains New South Wales Australia or any of the Blue Mountain area truly until 1813. However, the area quickly became populated with miners with the discovery of coal beneath it. But this coal extraction ended as quickly as it began due to a banking crisis in 1895. A few short sections of single-rail tracks are all left from the mining history of the area. One could also find a railcar on display outside one of the former frontier towns. Many mysterious holes in the cliff faces are also a result of that forgotten history.
However, the three sisters’ Blue Mountains are much easier to visit today and there is much to do there. You can enjoy the wonder of the natural sights with many attractions surrounding them. You can even join adrenaline-inducing activities like mountain climbing or caving. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Why are you still waiting? Book Blue Mountains tours now to see the natural wonders.
Related articles
