This New Blue Mountains Tour Goes Beyond the Iconic Three Sisters & Into Gundungurra Country

Kate tried out a new Blue Mountains tour that goes beyond the famous Three Sisters, immersing visitors in the culture and stories of Gundungurra Country.

We Are Explorers acknowledges that this adventure is located on the traditional Country of the Gundungurra people who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them as the Traditional Custodians and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

The Three Sisters is perhaps NSW’s most photographed landmark west of Sydney. A trio of ancient sandstone rock formations that stand as sentries to the expansive Greater Blue Mountains Area.

Day trippers to the region are usually told about the Indigenous significance of the Three Sisters, a trio of women who were turned to stone very long ago, in the Dreamtime. However, on Gundungurra Country, where Katoomba sits, First Nations culture isn’t relegated to ancient stories; it’s alive and kicking, thanks to passionate Elders like Uncle David King. 

A new immersive guided excursion at Katoomba’s Scenic World, the Buunyal Tour, takes visitors walking through Gundungurra Country, and I couldn’t wait to experience it.

Read more: Remember to leave no trace

Buunyal Tour Facts

Cost: Tickets start from $96 per adult and $56.50 for kids aged 3-15
Group size: Max 12 people
Inclusions: Up to 3-hour tour, Scenic World entry, unlimited rides on the Skyway, Railway, and Cableway
Tour times: 10am start
Ticket bookings: Scenic World

Getting to Know Gundungurra Country Through Personal Connections

I’ve joined along on the morning’s Buunyal Tour, where I’m welcomed by Uncle David King, a Gundungurra Traditional Custodian and our tour guide for the day. With an effervescent enthusiasm and a warm welcome, I know we’re in for a special day with Uncle David at the helm.

King worked with Scenic World to create this tour, launched in 2024, as a new and unique offering to Blue Mountains tourists. The Buunyal Tour is a 2.5-hour-ish leisurely walking tour that aims not to recite history and facts to visitors, but to tell individual stories of family and country. The tour also utilises the unique transport methods, like the Scenic Skyway gondola, that Scenic World is known for.

‘During the Buunyal Tour, we share personal Indigenous stories. The goal is not just to talk about culture, but the guides who share their story. You’ll learn a little bit about the Blue Mountains, and you’ll learn a little bit about the cultural stories here. We’ve been given permission to share the stories in context, and they give you a connection to Country’, King tells me.

After a Welcome to Country, King passes around some special family heirlooms he’s brought along, including a boomerang, and tells us more about his background and Gundungurra Country itself, a vast and diverse Ngurra/Country that spans 6,942 square kilometres. It includes not just the Blue Mountains but also Goulburn and the Southern Highlands.

Speeding Down to Ancient Rainforest

While the geologic formations of the Blue Mountains may have developed over millennia, today, we’re travelling through time in seconds. Our tour is now officially on the move, and we board the Scenic Cableway, the steepest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It transports us from the clifftop visitor centre and down into the ancient Jamison Valley, a place of great importance to the Gundungurra people.

While the Blue Mountains are treasured as a pristine outdoor recreation destination, the protection of these landscapes also means the visual stories and wildlife that the Gundagarra hold dear are uniquely preserved, something that sadly isn’t the case in all areas of the country.

‘Here, the stories are still very visual because of the environmental history, with the fact it was never heavily farmed. Then it was made a NSW National Park, then a World Heritage Area’, King explains.

As we stroll among lush ferns, it’s easy to feel like you’ve stepped back in time, albeit with the added conveniences of wooden boardwalks and educational signposts. Some of these signposts include Indigenous drawings by Kelsie King, a talented local artist and King’s daughter. Beaming with pride, as any proud father would, King uses the signs as talking points, educating us about the environment we’re walking through.

Gundungurra Country Reveals its Stories, but Only if You Stop and Listen

So many plants within this temperate rainforest hold special meaning to the Gundungurra, and once you stop to look for them, it totally changes how you see the Blue Mountains. King points out the Mountain Devil plant, a source of sweet nectar, and other bush tucker and medicinal plants he learned about as a child.

Later, we hear the call of a lyrebird, which stops King in his tracks. These unique birds not only have exceptional abilities to mimic sounds, from other birds, humans, and even power tools, but we also learn that the lyrebird has a strong connection to King’s family.

He’s always listening for bird calls as he walks, and he smiles as the lyrebird’s calls evoke memories of his relatives. It’s a poignant reminder of the importance of slowing down and being present in the moment, whether I’m deep in nature or rushing to a work meeting.

Our time on the Buunyal Tour has flown by, and I feel completely renewed. I have a clearer and deeper knowledge of the Blue Mountains, a place I’ve loved visiting since I first moved to Australia over ten years ago, and I feel lucky to have learned so much from King about the region’s people and culture.

Turns out, I’m not alone in feeling this way.

As I chat to King after the tour ends, he tells me;

Essential Gear for the Buunyal Tour

• Warm, comfortable clothes
• Your sense of curiosity and any questions you’d like to ask
• A booking through Scenic World – advance bookings are essential during busy periods, as this tour often sells out
• An open schedule – your tour also includes all-day access to Scenic World, so leave plenty of time to enjoy the boardwalks and trails down in the Jamison Valley via the railway, skyway, and cableway

How to Get to the Buunyal Tour, Katoomba

The Buunyal Tour departs from Katoomba’s Scenic World. There’s ample free parking available, or enjoy the 35-minute walk from Katoomba Station (there’s a direct train from Sydney’s Central Station). You can also arrive at Scenic World via the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus, which departs from Katoomba Station or offers multiple pick-up locations throughout both Katoomba and Leura.

Keep Exploring Gundungurra Country

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• The Complete Guide to 12 of the Best Wildflowers in the Blue Mountains | NSW
• Southern Highlands Road Trip – Hit 9 Waterfalls in 1 Weekend
• Belmore Falls – The Most Spectacular Waterfall in the Southern Highlands