Driving in and around Katoomba
Up and down the highway
The Great Western Highway is Katoomba's main road in and out, duplicated all the way from Leonay to just west of the town. Terrain is one of the things that decides how fast brake pads wear, and the run down to the plains is a long descent. Use a lower gear on the way down instead of riding the brakes.
Colder than the city
Katoomba averages 7 degrees cooler than Sydney, and winter maximums are typically about 10 degrees. RACV says batteries are more likely to go flat in winter and long cold spells, and NRMA says extreme cold can shorten a battery's life.
Mist, rain and the odd snow day
Katoomba has many misty days, well over a metre of rain a year, and the upper Mountains see around five snowy days. Headlights, wipers and tyres with good tread matter more up here than they do down on the plains.
A tourist town
Tourism is Katoomba's main industry, and Echo Point is about 2 kilometres south of the town centre. If you're visiting and the car has broken down, give us the postcode where the car is now, not your home one.
If the brakes feel wrong on the way down
If the brakes smell hot, the pedal goes soft or the car won't pull up the way it should, slow down, pull over somewhere safe and switch off. Let the brakes cool, and don't carry on down the mountain until a mechanic has checked them. If anyone is hurt or in danger, call 000.
The jobs that come up in the upper Mountains
Brake pads and discs, batteries before and during winter, coolant, tyres and lights. Coolant isn't just for summer: NRMA says the mix of water and chemicals also stops freezing and corrosion, so it's worth having the strength checked before the cold sets in.
Pink slips work the same as in the city: most light vehicles more than 5 years old need one from an AIS station each year. Pink slips in Sydney has the details.
Where we'd start
Before winter, we'd have the battery tested, the coolant checked and the brakes looked at in one visit, since the drive back down the mountain is where worn pads show themselves. A battery more than three years old is the first thing we'd want tested.