Blue Mountain Excursion

On Wednesday, Sara, Aubrey, Alex and I embarked on an excursion to the Blue Mountains. (Alex, btw, is a friend of Sara's from University who has been in Sydney for 5 months. He leaves in a couple of days). The Blue Mountains are located two hours northwest of Sydney, and are a must-see attraction according to every travel book, company and person I have been in contact with. And so we went. Getting there required taking a 2 hour train ride to Katoomba, the town where the mountains are located. The Blue Mountains Explorer Bus Guide Book 2010 (I will be citing this book a lot) describes Katoomba as "a fun, quirky, historic and fascinating township overlooking the most visited tourist attraction in Australia." I don't know if I would go as far as to call it fun, quirky or fascinating, but I can't argue that it was certainly historic. I'd categorize it right along with a Saugerties, NY (wink, wink).

Upon arrival to Katoomba, we purchased a "hop-on, hop-off, all day" bus pass, which included tickets to the three rides at Scenic World. Really, these were just 3 means of transportation around the mountains: two cable cars and one railway. Not exactly the rides you will find at Six Flags. We began our voyage through the Blue Mountains with a ride on the Scenic Skyway. According to the guidebook, "The Skyway Cable Car takes visitors on a 300 metre (that's how they spell it down under) journey above ancient ravines and dazzling waterfalls with views of the internationally renowned Three Sisters rock formation." Getting on the cable car took a huge amount of faith. The view from it was spectacular. The Blue Mountains remind me slightly of the Catskill Mountains back home. This was the first time I had seen a waterfall from above, which was pretty darn cool. And the Three Sisters...well they were certainly three jagged rock formations. But honestly, they were much less impressive in person than the posters plastered all over Sydney make them out to be. Pretty small in size compared to the whole Blue Mountains range. And if the tour guided hadn't pointed them out, I'm not sure I would have even noticed them. Regardless, I am glad I saw them. I would have hated to miss seeing an Australian landmark that is world renowned.  

The Scenic Skyway Cable Car

View of the Blue Mountains from the Skyway Car

Fun Fact: Why are the Blue Mountains blue? The haze which appears to surround any distant object is due to an optical phenomenon called 'Rayleigh scattering'. This effect causes the rays of light which impinge on small particles to be scattered in various directions. The blue haze, unique to the Blue Mountains, is of a different hue and deeper than anywhere in the world. It is caused primarily by Eucalyptus trees emitting oil vapor into the atmosphere which along with fine dust particles and droplets of water vapour, scatter blue light (blue light is short wave-length) more than any other spectrum colour. (From the guide book). 

Katoomba Falls

The Three Sisters

Another Fun Fact: What is the legend of the Three Sisters? The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle. As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come. (From the Blue Mt Tourist website: bluemts.com.au)

Posing with the Three Sisters and the Witch Doctor

Once across the ravines, we hopped on board the Scenic Railway, which the guide book says is the "steepest incline passenger railway in the world," to journey down the mountain and explore the "Jurassic rainforests" below. While waiting to board the trian, we saw wild Cockatoos which I had only ever seen before in a zoo. I was giddy like a little girl. Those birds are so darn cool with their yellow little mohawks. The railway ride was slow, but actually quite terrifying for a brief period where we were slanted at a ridiculously sharp incline. I was afraid to move for fear I would fall out of my seat and tumble down the rows of passengers ahead of me. Fortunately, there was a cage above our heads that prevented this catastrophe from coming to life. The rainforest down below didn't feel like a rainforest. Not that I have ever been to an actual rainforest, but this just seemed to me more like a plain 'ol Australian forest. I did feel as though I were walking around the set of Jurassic Park though, so the guidebook got that description right on. There were tons and tons of long, loopy branches hanging convoluted from the trees. These ignited the urge to jump onto them and swing gaily from tree to tree like George of the Jungle. I refrained from doing so. This place would be a heaven of a playground for monkeys. 

The Cockatoos

The Railway ride down

The Jurassic Rainforest

Loopy branches along the Scenic Walkway

After exploring the rainforest (and by exploring I simply mean walking along the carpeted trail they had laid out for us), we headed back up the mountain on the Scenic Cableway which "glides smoothly between the Scenic World and the forest floor 545 metres away." It was indeed a smooth ride. And a high one, offering the same stunning view of the mountain skyline in the distance. 

The Scenic Cableway

View from the cable car

We then hopped back on the bus and made our way to Leura Park. Here we went on an hour hike through the forest, over babbling brooks and up and down jagged slops, to reach the Leura Falls. Let me tell you, this hike was one awesome workout for my buns; they were burning. The Stairmaster ain't got nothing on these steps! The falls weren't the most impressive thing in the world, but it was still cool to see. As were these gorgeous red and blue colored birds we saw while waiting for the final bus to pick us up. If any birdie (the word I am using to refer to a person who knows birds) knows what they are called, please do share. Let me also tell you that travelling on that double decker bus was scarier than any of the three Scenic World rides we went on. It was the little (big) bus that could, except I wondered whether it couldn't. This bus, bless its soul, was jerking all over the place, put-putting about, and crawling up the many hills we faced. I really think passengers should sign a warranty before they step foot on that bus, because the thought of it toppling over and tumbling down the mountain side did not seem too far-fetched. But we made it back to the little town of Leura safe and sound, where we stopped for some Thai cusine before hopping on the train back to Sydney.

A babbling brook/waterfall along our trek

At a look-out post

The Leura Falls (i think)

The pretty birdies...name?