I found myself lost inBlue Mountains National Park, and I hadn’t even left my hotel. For the first hour in theHydro Majestic Hotel, a sumptuous Art Deco warren about 90 minutes west of Sydney, my hometown, I wandered wide-eyed from one theatrical setting to the next, savoring the glass-domed lobby and quirky murals from the 1920s that depict both medieval knights and outback safaris. However, even amid the Gatsbyesque flourishes, it was the sweeping vistas of the Megalong Valley, considered the Grand Canyon ofAustralia, that were the most captivating. Looking out at the atavistic expanse — which was, as the name promised, bathed in azure eucalyptus haze — I expected a pterodactyl to sweep into view.