Three Sisters (Australia)
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The Three Sisters are an unusual rock formation in the Blue Mountains of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia, on the north escarpment of the Jamison Valley. They are located close to the town of Katoomba and are one of the Blue Mountains' best known sites, towering above the Jamison Valley. Their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m). The formation receives more than 600,000 visitors per year.


Formation

The Three Sisters were formed by land
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
around 200 million years ago during the
Triassic period The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
when the
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
of the Blue Mountains was eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers, causing the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley to be slowly broken up. When the Blue Mountains were covered in seawater, the ocean carried large amounts of
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...
that gradually sunk to the floor in crosswise layers. These layers later created rock beds and shales. Around 200 million years ago, volcanoes erupted through the coal, sandstone and shale layers, forming the ridges and the shape of the Three Sisters.


Aboriginal legend

The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that three sisters, Wimalah, Meeni, and Gunedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three men from the neighbouring Nepean tribe, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back. This legend is commonly claimed to be an Indigenous Australian
Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...
legend. However, the legend as is commonly told may be traced back to non-indigenous 16-year-old schoolgirl Patricia Stone, who gave the formations their "indigenous" names. The Aboriginal
traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...
, the
Gundungurra The Gundungurra people, also spelt Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gandangara and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Shire ...
, have a different legend that includes the Sisters rock formation. The Three Sisters were declared an Aboriginal Place in January 2014, making it the 98th place in New South Wales to be declared as such.


Giant Stairway

From nearby Echo Point, a bushwalking trail leads to the Three Sisters and down to the
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
floor via more than 800 well-maintained steel and stone steps called "the Giant Stairway". Then a 1.5-hour walk on The Federal Pass trail leads to the base of Katoomba Falls and the Katoomba Scenic Railway. Walkers who don't wish to climb back to the top can take the Scenic Railway back to the plateau for a fee.


References


External links


Panoramic view of the Three Sisters

Article about the making of "The Giant Stairway"
{{Blue Mountains topics , state=autocollapse Rock formations of New South Wales Geography of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Tourist attractions in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Australian Aboriginal mythology