The Blue Mountains: Katoomba
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On September 23rd, 1995 Rhonda and I decided to get out of the city for a day. We went up to Katoomba, which is about 40 minutes from Kingswood. It is a tourist town in the mountains. Up until this point, the farthest west we had been was Glenbrook, another small tourist town in the Blue Mountains. (See our visit to Euroka clearing) City Rail has the trains running quite far into (and over) the mountains. Keep in mind these are electric trains, which amazes me, although it might be something pretty unintersting to other people... Anyhow I digress (as usual).
When we got to Echo point, we decided to have a look around. It is unbeleiveable the amount of forest here. This first photo was taken in September. The second photo was taken with my new lens in March. Quite the difference in my photographic ability by this point (at least in my mind)
Here is the story of how the 3 sisters were made.
Once upon a time, there was an old witchdoctor with three beautiful daughters. One day the daughters
were playing on the edge of the cliff while their dad was in the valley hunting for food. One of the sisters,
Meenhi I think it was, threw a stone at a little lizard, and it missed and went over the edge of the cliff. She
had broken a cardinal law of the bush. NEVER throw a stone over a cliff.
The falling stone woke up THE BUNYIP, a mythical creature of the bush, who angry that his sleep had
been disturbed, lumbered toward them, making a terrible noise. The Witchdoctor, hearing all the fuss, ran
toward his daughters to save them, but he was too far away, and so he pointed his magic bone at them
and turned them into stone just as the Bunyip's face crashed into the rock where they had been a
moment earlier. The Bunyip now turned on the Witch Doctor, who turned himself into a Lyrebird and ran
into a cave to escape the Bunyip dropping his magic bone.
You can still see the Three Sisters Meenhi, Weemala, and Gunnedoo, trapped in the rock, and the Witch
Doctor still searching for his bone scratching in the soil to this day.
It really seems as though you can see forever here. It is quite beautiful. This area is called the blue mountains because of the amount of Eucalyptus trees here. The oil from the trees evaporates into the air and the oil scatters the light making the area seem more blue than it really is. Whatever the reason, it was quite beautiful here.
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| Lonely Planet Guide to Australia | Access Sydney (Access Guides) by Access Press (Editor) | Citypack Sydney (1st Edition) by Inc Staff Fodor's Travel Publicatio | Time Out Sydney Guide (Time Out Guides) | Eyewitness Travel Guide: Sydney by Kirsty McKenzie, Ken Brass, Deni Bown | Fodor's 99 Pocket Sydney (Fodor's Pocket Guides) by Fodor |
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Now I was a skeptic at Katoomba Scenic Railway. They advertised it as the steepest railway in the world. A grade of 52 degrees at its steepest point. If you aren't sure what 52 degrees is, get out your protractor. Now just imagine going down a hill at 52 degrees. That is damn steep. There is a metal cage over the train for you to hang on to, and to keep things inside the train (purses, wallets, keys, babies, etc.)
Actually the sign says to "Hang onto valuables such as purses, cameras, wallets, infants as they may fall out and be damaged."
Yes the insurance company would frown on claims of lost and damaged infants I am sure.
Folks, they aren't lying. This thing is steep.
This is Wentworth Falls, a beautiful cascading waterfall about 300 metres high. Yes, this picture is of a 300m high waterfall. Flanked on all sides by gum trees it is really quite a sight to see. The sound of the rushing water, accompanied by the beautiful green trees. At the same time you could see crimson rosellas, galahs, and sulpher crested cockatoos flying around. Sigh... If you'll just excuse me, I'll be heading back there.
