Australian citizens can now take a little piece of the Blue Mountains with them when they travel overseas, with the Three Sisters playing a starring role in the latest Australian passport.
The beloved landmark overlooking the Jamison Valley in Katoomba is one of 17 iconic landscapes from around the country featured in the new ‘R Series’ passport, said to be one of the world’s most secure and aesthetically pleasing travel documents.
The new document takes you on a visual journey around Australia: the front and back cover pages represent the East and West Australian coastlines, while the 17 visa pages showcase iconic landscapes in photorealistic renderings - from Wineglass Bay in Tasmania to the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru in the Red Centre and the Bungle Bungle Range in WA.
The Three Sisters is one of just three NSW landmarks featured, with the other two Sydney Harbour and The Breadknife in the Warrumbungles.
Under ultraviolet light, other elements and security features become visible: the sky in each landscape becomes a unique landscape, and a local species of native fauna appears.
When the Three Sisters are shone under UV light, lightning flashes across the sky and a platypus becomes visible in the bottom-left corner.
The R Series passports also continue the tradition of including Indigenous artwork and culture in its design, incorporating the work of the late Uta Uta Tiangala and the late Michael Nelson Jagamara.
Part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, the Three Sisters holds special significance to the Gundungurra and Darug First Nations people, and is a declared Aboriginal Place. The three weathered sandstone peaks overlook the vast Jamison Valley with views of Mount Solitary, Narrow Neck Plateau and the Ruined Castle, and are best seen from Echo Point lookout on the edge of the escarpment at Katoomba.
The Three Sisters – which, according to legend, represent three sisters (Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo) who were turned to stone to protect them from harm - is an unforgettable sight that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. Whether swathed in moody shadows at sunrise, glowing under the setting sun or floodlit at night, it's a timeless symbol of the Blue Mountains and Australia as a nation.
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