Saturday, 24 July 2010

Into the Blue Mountains

We took an organised tour out to the Blue Mountains. Tours are always a bit of a compromise I think. You get to go places that otherwise might be expensive or complex to travel on your own (and you don't have to drive yourself) but you are also limited in the time you spend in places. Today was a prime example, we did feel quite rushed at some of the stops (for example at the Olympic Park 'You have seven or eight minutes to be back at the bus'!). Our driver/guide Soloman was German and was very good at time management. And toilet break management.
Our first stop was for morning refreshments at the Nepean River, I was last back on the bus after having to wait behind a long queue for the ladies. Result: I had to sit in the naughty seat next to the driver.



Next stop was a bushwalk to Wentworth Falls. It would have been nicer if we hadn't been so rushed. Again, we were last back onto the bus. The shame of it.

From there we headed to Scenic World, in the heart of the Blue Mountains. We took the Skyway across the 720 metre gap, 270m above ancient ravines and the Katoomba waterfall.

The ride has an electro-sceniglass floor, when they flip the switch, breathtaking views are revealed through the cabin floor. Don't look down! From the Skyway, we saw the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls, Mount Solitary and the never ending expanse of the Jamison Valley. When we reached the end of the ride, we took the Sceniscender down to the rainforest floor. We opted to take the long walk around on the boardwalk, I barely had time to take any photos though as I felt a bit rushed here. We then got aboard the world's steepest inclined railway up from the floor of the canyon. Yay - first back to the bus!

Two of the passengers hadn't arrived back at the bus in time so he dropped us all in Leura for lunch (45 minutes allowed) and went back for them - suprised they weren't lined up against a wall and shot! We just had time for a sandwich in a cafe before heading back to the bus. Yes I think we were last again. It as a shame we didn't have a little longer because the village had lots of little shops and it would have been fun to have a stroll around, although we did make it to the sweet shop (or lolly shop, as they're called here) which stocked sweets from around the world. Cliff found his precious chocolate limes; they were pretty expensive so he bought enough for about one a week until we get home. But he's finished them already.

We headed out the the Kings Tableland for some more fantastic views at Flat Rock. There are no barriers here so you have to make sure you stand well back from the edge (about a metre) as you can see new cracks in the rock. Soloman told us about another guide who brought a group out here and was leading them out to a nearby cave (inhabited by a leftover hippy) when she fell and sustained loads of broken bones, but was miraculously not killed.


Then we went to some cockatoos in the wild - they look beautiful but have a hideous screech, but I suppose other cockatoos must love it.


On the way back to Sydney, we stopped at the Olympic Park, home of the 2000 Games. Whilst it didn't seem to have the awe-inspiring atmosphere of the Bird's Nest in Beijing, they have found a way of keeping it in constant use. Over 5000 events per year are held here, all the local sporting teams use the facilities and it's the site for the Royal Easter Show and gigs - the Big Day Out music festival is held here. This is just something Bejing have failed to harness. They even sold all the apartments in the Olympic Village before the games, used them for the athlete's housing and the owners moved in afterwards. Liam was trying to work out if he could unscrew the casing and get at the Olympic flame torch.

We then caught the boat along the Parramatta river for the trip back to Circular Quay.

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