You may wonder what these three things all have in common. Well on Saturday afternoon we discovered the link when we decided to go for what we thought was going to be a short uninteresting walk along Station Road, close to our house. That is except for an historic railway cottage I wanted to photograph. These cottages were a standard build along the railway, for railway workers and there are not too many left. This one is now a weekend cottage though I am not sure how much relaxing rest you would get being so close this busy line.
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| The date on this building is 1867. |
After getting some photos of the cottage we went about 1km along the road when we found a track, marked by white tape on a tree, going down into the bush and valley below where we are staying. We later discovered that this was the Wonderland Track and much of it was in need of trimming. Not far along this track we met a couple bush bashing their way towards us. They told us that if we kept going we would come to both Mark's Tomb and the Sunbath. We had heard of these two features from the locals and in fact John had been going to take us on a guided tour. This area is steeped in history, all of it related to the Hydro Majestic, the iconic hotel on the cliff just along the road from us. This hotel was built in 1904 by business man Mark Foy, and he operated a health resort for the wealthy. The hotel commands the most wonderful views across the Megalong Valley, but it was the area below the hotel that was used for exercise and treatments. Looking at the re growth of the bush now it is hard to imagine that the area had been so highly developed. There was quite a network of tracks taking you to the cliff's edge, many which are still there for today's intrepid walker, a tennis court (no sign of that now) and a Sunbath. It was this that we managed to find. A large circular pool, 6m in diameter was filled with sand where the guests were able to take in the sun.
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| Imagine soaking up the sun in this pool. |
Before we got to this particular spot we spotted a very old metal sign pointing us down to Mark's tomb.
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| This does say Marks Tomb |
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| It was difficult to get a good photo of the 'tomb'. |
We followed the track down to this huge rock formation that was hollow and had three arches. Mark Foy had requested in his will be to buried here, but in the end there was not enough money to carry out his wishes. We had a short but steep walk back up the hill to the end of our street and were ready for a refreshing cuppa.
This link gives a much more detailed and accurate history of the area, including the Hydro Majestic Hotel. At present the hotel has been empty for the last four years. A consortium has purchased it and have just started on a huge restoration project. It will be very interesting when we return next to see what they have been able to achieve. On researching this post, I can see that there are still plenty more tracks to explore, including one that will take us down into the Megalong Valley. A challenge we may yet take up.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/travel/a-history-of-the-hydro-majestic-hotel-20130613-2o6ye.html
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