The Blue Mountains is a city, made up of 26 mountain towns dotted along the Great Western Highway that crosses the mountains. It is a city within a World Heritage National Park. Approximately 100 km west of Sydney, the area is one of Australia’s natural wonders and a popular tourist destination with bushwalks, views of valleys and sandstone escarpments, caves, gardens, galleries and cafes.

Penrith, a major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, is at the foot of the mountains and is often the starting point for exchanges. Meeting there on the Nepean River, home of the Olympic White Water Rafting and Regatta Centre, you see the Blue Mountains rising to the west.