The Blue Mountains is a mountainous regions and a mountain range located in New South Wales, Australia.
The name Blue Mountains is derived from the blue tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance. The tinge is believed to be caused by mie scattering which occurs when incoming ultraviolet radiation is scattered by particles within the atmosphere creating a blue-greyish colour to any distant objects, including mountains and clouds. Volatile terpenoids emitted in large quantities by the abundant eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains may cause mie scattering and thus the blue haze for which the mountains were named.
Continued from last post which we arrived at Katoomba, a most visited town in Blue Mountains.
By the time we reached there, it's raining heavily!! There are few attractions at Blue Mountains and one of the famous one is Echo Point Lookout.
(i) Echo Point Lookout
Echo Point is a great point to have a close up view of the Jamison Valley and the iconic Three Sisters. Who is Three Sisters or more exact what is Three Sisters??
Three Sisters are actually three rocky monoliths sticking out conspicuously from the ridge of the mountain. Their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m). There are many legends surrounding the Three Sisters. The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that a father who had three beautifull daughters, Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three brothers, warriors from the neighbouring Nepean tribe, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by their father using a magic pendant (some say magic bone) to conceal them. The father then turned himself into Lyre Bird to escape from the warriors pursuers, and flew away carrying the pendant. Alas, the pendant was too heavy and it dropped down to the forest below.
Once the battle was over, the poor father as Lyre Bird returned and shouting out his woes in all sorts of languages as he scratched the forest floor looking for the pendant, yet this was never to be found. The Lyre Bird has been searching for this pendant ever since. Remaining in rock formation, The Three Sisters stand silently in their magnificent rock formation overlooking the valley hoping that one day he'll find the pendant and turn them back to original state.
Nowadays, when visiting The Three Sisters, if you listen carefully you may be able to hear the Lyre Bird (the father) as he continues his quest for his lost pendant. The Lyre bird is versatile and can imitate the calls of many other birds and even the sounds of modern day civilisation.
Such a sad legend isn't it? Well the fact behind the Three Sister's formation based on geologic explanation was that the Sisters were formed by land erosion. The soft sandstone of the Blue Mountains is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers, causing the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley to be slowly broken up.
So what do you think? For me even after knowing the fact, I still preferred the aboriginal legend then the scientific one :D
It was really a bad day for us as we couldn't even got out from our car to the lookout point. The rain fell heavily, so we just had lunch inside the car while waiting the rain at least if not stopped, subsided.
Since we already in the Blue Mountain, and no way we could return back here on the other day (we had a very limited time for this trip remember?), so we decided to proceed with next attraction, Scenic World.
(ii) Scenic World.
Located just a stone’s throw from Echo Point and the town centre, Scenic World comprises four unique ways to experience the Blue Mountains, the Scenic Railway, the Scenic Skyway, the Scenic Cableway and the Scenic Walkway. These together with the one of the largest souvenir shops in New South Wales, a cafe and a cafeteria, make up the complex known as Scenic World Top Station.
So we arrived at the Scenic World Complex and parked our car (parking is FREE!).
We entered at the main building and bought the tickets for unlimited rides of all 4 attractions at AUD35/person. Children under 4 years old is free so no charged for baby Musa. For more info can check at Scenic World Website.
Scenic Skyway
Glide between cliff tops and gaze at the rainforest canopy through the glass floor of the Scenic Skyway!
Suspended 270 metres above ancient ravines, the Skyway provides a unique thrill as breathtaking views are revealed beneath your feet through the electro-glass cabin floor. For the less adventurous, seating and solid flooring is also available. With 360° views, the 720 metre journey provides the best views of Katoomba Falls, the Three Sisters, and Jamison Valley stretching to the horizon.
And we proceeded to board the Scenic Skyway.
In the middle of the Skyway is a transparent floor that allows you to see the valley below!
It should offers you an awesome view of the mountain and Katoomba Falls from the Skyway, however the mist had limited our view. Quite upset.
The best pictures of Katoomba falls we managed to shoot. Hope these won't give you a bad impression of this place as it is actually very beautifull and amazing. Just we came here at the wrong time... 😭😭
Arrival of the Scenic Skyway to the Eastern Station. It's a short 5 minutes walk from the Skyway Station to Echo Point or you may want to spend time trekking down to the bottom of Katoomba Falls where you can get even closer to nature. However since it was raining, no point for us to have an outdoor walk, so we just stayed in the skyway and returned back to the main building. (Infact all of the passengers did the same).
Scenic Railway
From the main building, we continued to ride the Scenic Railway; that boasts it is the steepest passenger railway in the world with a 52º incline and is now one of the most popular man-made tourist attractions in Australia. The ride takes you down the steep descent 310 metres past Orphan Rock, through a a short natural sandstone tunnel and emerging into ancient rainforest at the Jamison Valley floor.
The newly revamped carriages let you adjust your seat in three positions, ‘cliffhanger’ which makes the incline 64 degrees, relax into the ‘laidback’ position or stick with the original seating at 52 degrees. Whatever you choose, be prepared to hang on as you feel the incline get steeper and steeper as you ascend the cliff face. This is a thrill ride so be prepared to scream!
Once we'd finished screaming, we arrived at bottom of the cliff and took the stunning views of the rainforest and sandstone cliffs up close and glimpses of the Jamison Valley, Three Sisters and Orphan Rock, which is a pillar of rock separated from the main cliff and standing solitary like a sentinel on duty.
Scenic Walkaway
Next, the walk through a Scenic Walkaway for a closer view with nature. The Scenic Walkway is 2.4kms of elevated boardwalk through the rainforest at the bottom of the cliffs. Once you disembark the railway you have three options for walks along the Scenic Walkway, each of varying distances which may take you approximately 10 minutes, 30 minutes and 50 minutes respectively. We decided to take the middle route to the Cableway Bottom Station.
Wandering around the Scenic Walkway of boardwalk and valley floor, the rainforest just towers above you.
Amongst the Jurassic Rainforest is information about the mines and miners who worked in this place and had to get the coal up that crazy incline.
Along the way, explore elements of the site’s coal mining history including the mine entrance, a replica miners’ hut and scale bronze sculpture of a miner and his pit pony.
Whichever walks you choose to take, keep your eyes peeled for birds, especially lyre birds that are frequently spotted drinking from the streams. All of the walks are well signposted with information boards along the way that tell you about the rainforest and the history of some of the items left from the areas mining past.
Scenic Cableway
We had a leisurely walk and very soon we arrived at the Bottom Station of the Scenic Cableway known to be the steepest aerial cable car in Australia. The Scenic Cableway takes you on a 545 metre ride into the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area rainforest of the Jamison valley.
We waited patiently for the cable car to arrive then went into the Scenic Cableway, a large glass cable car that travels the stretch across the Jamison Valley where you can catch glimpses of the Three Sisters, Orphan Rock and Katoomba Falls. As we already descended via scenic railway, now its time to ascend back to the main building.
The cable operator shared information about the area and pointed out the Three Sisters, Orphan Rock, Mt Solitary as we slowly passes the area.
Unfortunately it was not a good day for us as the rain still not stopping so the only thing we could see were fogs!!
For those who didn’t like heights or just the idea of being suspended by only a cable, I could assure you that being on-board feels very safe. The car moves so calmly that if you had your eyes closed, you wouldn't even know you were moving. In our case, the mist had blocked our view, so we didn't see the valley and didn't aware on how high we were from the ground. 😄😄
Back to the main building, we called it a day for our Blue Mountain trip (if you have more time, you can actually repeat any of the rides you want as the ticket available for unlimited ride). As per our case, since it's already 4pm, we needed to get back to Sydney for check in to our next accommodation at Bass Hill Holiday & Residential Park. Overall, despite the bad weather, we really enjoyed the experiences we had. Don't forget to visit Blue Mountain if you come to Sydney ok!!
So read my next post on my journey back to Sydney. Till then, Bye!!
Sydney, The Land of OZ Fast Link Here
1) Day 0 – The Journey KL to Sydney and 1st Night at Ibis Hotel
2) Day 1 – Pick up Rental Car and Start of Grand Pacific Drive
3) Day 1 – GPD (Otford Lookout, Stanwell Park and Cliff Bridge)
4) Day 1 – GPD (Wolonggong & Kiama)
5) Day 1 – Night at Windang Beach Tourist Park
6) Day 2 – Trip to Blue Mountain
8) Day 2 – Night at Bass Hill Holiday & Residential Park
9) Day 3 – Darling Harbour / Waterfront
10) Day 3 – Sydney Wild Life Zoo
11) Day 3 – Madam Tussauds Sydney
12) Day 3 – Ferry Ride, Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge at Night
13) Last Day – Checked Out and Shopping Paddy Market
14) Last Day - Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
15) Last Episode Sydney
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