What is the story of the Three Sisters?
There’s no single version of the story, but here’s the most widely shared one: Three sisters namely Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley and fell in love with three men from a neighboring tribe. Tribal laws didn’t allow them to marry, but the brothers tried to take them anyway, triggering a violent conflict. To protect the sisters, a Katoomba witchdoctor turned them into stone. Before he could undo the spell, he was killed in battle and the sisters remained frozen in time.
Another version tells of Tyawan, a father who left his three daughters behind a rocky wall while he foraged, because a dangerous creature called the “Bunyip” lived nearby. One day, the Bunyip attacked. Tyawan used a magic bone to turn the girls to stone, but in the chaos, he dropped the bone and was forced to transform into a lyrebird. To this day, the sisters remain petrified, and some say Tyawan’s spirit still lingers in the valley.