Day 7 - Blue Mountains

Day 7

Another early start at 6.30am in order to get up, ready and eat before our train out to Katoomba which is 2 hours away by train. As we stepped out of the apartments it was raining. Pac-a-macs came out for another day! The train station was around the corner where we bought our ‘link’ ticket which was our return train ticket plus unlimited use of the explorer bus in Katoomba. Most of the trains are double decker which reminded us off the animal transport ones that are full of sheep on the way to market! Once we had got on we searched for a seat so we were facing forward and had some space. We were then amazed by a lady who got on the train and in one smooth manoeuvre was able to use a handle that changed a back facing seat to a forward facing one! Why do we not have these in the UK?? Deb snoozed most of the two hours away. As we got closer to the Blue Mountains the views opened up into fantastic scenery just obscured by mist and a little bit of drizzle. This was still falling once we reached Katoomba station.

We got off the train and went to the main office where we swapped our train ticket for a bus pass (basically a tour guide that functioned as both). The explorer bus is a ‘hop-on hop-off’ red London Double decker style bus that drives you around different places of interest. Allows you to see as much as possible without having to cover the kilometres! We initially got off at stop 10 which overlooks Katoomba cascades and provided a gentle walk towards Scenic World. It had almost stop raining by this stage and we walked down some steep steps that placed us at the bottom of a free flowing cascade. It was flowing particularly vigorously because of the previous nights rain. We continued out walk through some tree cover out towards the cliff edge. The rainforest basin below was covered with a carpet of mist that prevented our view below. However, the scale of the sights was breathtaking and it just increased the mystique of what was below. We continued our walk towards Reid’s Lookout which had an almost vertical drop to the tree canopy below. Here the trees below looked like those found on model railways made of coloured sponge! As we arrived at Scenic World (stop 12 for those who are counting!) the mist had begun to rise which would make our railway journey more impressive.

Scenic World is a small area of Disney in this vast national park. They run three ‘rides’ that allow you to view the rainforest. A skywalk with a glass bottom (Deb didn’t particularly fancy this one), a railway and a cablecar. We decided to take the railway down to the rainforest floor which is 200m below. The railway does not saunter its way down but takes the most direct route! It is 415m long with an incline of about 52 degrees at its steepest point! This was more like Oblivion than Toytown train! The train is actually in the Guinness World Records as the steepest railway and used to be used to ferry coal miners up and down. As you get in the pitch of the seat means you are laying backwards with nothing but the person next to you from stopping you falling out! It accelerates very quickly reaching its top speed quickly. Deb was grabbing onto Scott and possibly left fingernail imprints on him! The views whizzing before you were amazing and we were at the bottom before you even knew it.

At the bottom of the railway is a rainforest walk that allows you to see the natural flora of this area of Australia. It was pleasant and informative. Even Deb enjoyed the historical and geographical information! By this time it was decided by way of a vote (2 to nil) that it was lunch time and we found a pleasant bench underneath a gazebo next to a running creek. As we were removing our sarnies we were joined with a bird. Now, the birds here are all on the BMI >25 side and they are obviously very intelligent at getting hold of visitors food so we were very watchful! We took our first bite and the bird hopped even closer! By this stage we had had enough of our visitor and waved him away where he retreated back to his initial perch. There was nothing left for him apart from a lonely crisp on the floor. He grabbed it and took it back up with him! He then let us watch him break it into smaller pieces to eat!

After we completed our walk around the rainforest we got the cablecar back up. This is the 4^th steepest cablecar in the world. We got back to the top and realised the buses were on their one hour lunch break so decided to walk the distance to stop 14 ‘Echo Point’

The walk took a while but with the mist lifting the views were even more spectacular than earlier and gave a true sense of proportion to everything which had been missing from earlier. Echo Point is where the tourists and their buses hang out. The reason is the views you get of the three sisters. We personally hated the place as there were so many people and it spoilt the area but the views were excellent. A walk down the ‘Giant Stairway’ led us to the base of the first sister and provided a different view looking back up towards the cliffs we had just been at. 121 steps to this stage with another 850 down to the rainforest floor! We decided to instead return up and walk along the cliff to Honeymoon point (very aptly named we thought).

We caught the bus from stop 15 at Honeymoon point over to stop 17 which was actually a good couple of km walk. This placed us directly above Leura cascades which were very pretty both from above and below. At this stage our feet had decided enough was enough so we walked back up to the bus stop to catch the next bus back to the train station. We decided to catch the train from Leura station which is one stop after Katoomba and wandered through the village. We bought a much needed coffee and sat waiting for the train.This time we sat up on the top deck and relaxed for the two hour journey back to Sydney. It was 6.30pm before we reached Sydney and it had been a very long and tiring day.

In the evening we met Nat (one of Deb’s old work colleagues from her time in Birmingham). She works in Sydney now and had arranged to meet her. Nat took us to ‘the rocks’ which apparently used to be where all the Harlots and Prostitutes hang out (mum/dad, chris/stu)! It is just behind the quay next to the Harbour Bridge and is actually now one of the most exclusive and desirable places to live! Deb finally got to eat some monster mussels and Scott had a pizza which was on the small side. We walked around to the Opera house after dinner and sat having a drink where there was a live band playing which finished off a fantastic day.

Deb also counted her mosquito bites! 150++!

Tomorrow is campervan day!