I went in a 4WD van with 3 others, all British (a married couple celebrating the wifey's 50th and another 20-something wanderer like myself). Mike, our tour guide, was in essence the Australian version of my Poppy (mom's dad), not only in looks but also in demeanor, which made for a fun day :)
We started off at the Featherdale Wildlife Park, which isn't too far from where I live here. We got to meet all the Australian native animals (except for the Tasmanian devil who refused to come out of his log) and take pictures with the koalas and kangaroos. The kangaroos were hilarious--they have such energetic personalities. We witnessed two of them get into a sparring match with each other (according to the staff, they were just playing around) and another one bolt after a woman carrying an umbrella--it wasn't until she threw it down that the kangaroo stopped chasing her around in circles! I guess he had some repressed fear of umbrellas?
Speaking of which, it was a VERY rainy day. We were quite worried on the way to the mountains that we wouldn't get to actually see anything. All of us had heard stories of complete white-0uts on days like today. We made it to Mt. Tomah for lunch at the Botanical Gardens, and our fears were confirmed--we couldn't see a thing of what should have been a spectacular view from our balcony table. Mike assured us that the mist could lift very quickly, and our other lookouts were on the other side of the mountains, so there was still a chance. Sure enough, we drove to a few different lookouts with sweeping views of the valleys, waterfalls, and eucalyptus forests.
When we got to Katoomba, where the famous Three Sisters stand (there is a really cool Aboriginal story behind the name), we had a chance to go down into the valley by scenic railway, and come back up by cable car. It was absolutely beautiful!
Lookout from Katoomba--Three Sisters on the left(warning: there are a lot of photos--I get a little snap-happy sometimes)
I am definitely planning on getting back into the mountains again before I leave--hopefully on a sunnier day! :)
1 comment:
Megan,
Your dad told me about your blog. As you know, Jeannie and I lived in Sydney (Thornleigh) for 8 years. Kelly has shown me all of the photos from your recent trip. They certainly brought back memories for us. We've been to Katoomba and the railway several times. We have pictures of our children at the very end of the scenic railway when they were just toddlers. We also have a original painting of the Three Sisters. What a beautiful sight. In those days, there was only a little fence at the end of the rail. Is that still the case? I believe that we also visit the same animal park when we first arrive there. It's interesting that while the Pink Galahs are pretty birds, farmers shoot them because they eat up their crops. Thanks for sharing your pictures. Gerry Fredrick
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