Hebitch Down Under: 'Brue' Mountain.

Rowds and I decided to go to one of those one-day tours thingy on a minibus to the Blue Mountains. Started early in the morning with the bus picking us up from our hotel.

On the way to the Blue Mountains, we drove pass the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics ground in Homebush Bay:

Had a quick stopover at a really sweet town for morning tea and biscuits.

Haizz... Dunno what that girl doing:

Pro showing how to do it:

Our guide and driver showing us the native flora the aborigines used in their rituals:

Hmmm... I forgot what these were:

Or these... Maybe they were the same thing??:

What I know is that the aborigines used to peel the coverings of these fruits (or are these the flowers?) to get that red furry part which they burn as incense for their rituals:

And this an aboriginal rock engraving of a (you guessed it) a kangaroo. It is not just any kangaroo, its actually used as a marker for travellers (a map of some sort). This solitary kangaroo has a curious triangular structure between his front legs. Nearby is a circular depression, which may resemble the snames at Elvina site in Kuringai National Park*.
*http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/SydneyRockArt/index.html

The line across its belly symbolizes the pouch of the animal, thus indicating that the kangaroo is female:

This rock engraving is dated centuries old and its amazingly located in a very claustrophobic neighborhood with simple houses and narrow streets (suitably named Kangaroo Street).

From there we headed to one of the many lookouts (King's Table) at Blue Mountains. Blue mountains has an area that is dissected by gorges of up to 760 metres in depth, and has high points up to 1,190 metres above sea level*. The Blue Mountains are said to be created slightly ahead of its rival the Grand Canyon in the United States millions of years ago. The Blue Mountains consists of seven national parks and a conservation reserve*:

Why Blue Mountains? It is derived from the blue tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance. The tinge is 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.It is widely, but incorrectly, believed that this is created by light reflecting off the oil vapors given off by the eucalyptus leaves*.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(Australia)

I love sitting precariously on the edge of the cliff. There is nothing like swinging your legs above a hundred feet drop:

Australia's next top model?:

Its so liberating:

This is the closest she will get to the edge:

Next it was to another lookout point called the Echo Point, can you see the Three Sisters?:

We went to Scenic World located beside the Three Sisters, where there were three types of rides you can take to enjoy the scenery:

I was warmly welcomed by the host:

Warmly welcomed...:

So what is the story of the Three Sisters? It is said that the three sisters were chilling out one day on top of the mountain. They were waiting for their father (an aboriginal 'wizard') who was out collecting herbs at the foot of the mountain. The youngest sister saw a caterpillar crawling near where they were resting so she threw pebbles to shoo it away. The pebbles rolled down and eventually caused huge boulders to roll down to the bottom of the mountain where a monster (or giant, or 'big foot', depending on the version) was living in a cave. Awakened from his slumber (these monsters are always sleeping, no?) and pissed, he began climbing up the side of the mountain to kill the three sisters.

When the wizard returned, he saw all the commotion and with his magic wand turned his three girls into three rock formations to protect them. The monster, more pissed than ever, then turned his attention to the wizard. The wizard turned himself into a bird to fly away from the monster but in his haste, left his wand behind. And that is why the three sisters still stand as rock formations up to this day, and the Australians have this bird called the Groundscraper Thrush, always scraping the forest floors as if looking for a missing wand.

Moral of the story, small mistakes can have large consequences... and don't turn your daughters into stones, next time just kill the monster instead...

So we took the Cableway trip down to the Scenic Walkway in the valley (called the Jamison Valley).

The Cableway:

And then headed to the Scenic Walkway where our guide was showing us more of the native flora and fauna:

Ribbon Gum tree, named because the peeling bark looks like ribbons:

Think this is the Smooth-bark Gum tree:

Huge Blue Gum tree:

Came across this abandoned miner's hut:

The Orphan Rock:

There were many 'junk' left behind by the 19th century coal miners, who used to live and work in Jamison Valley:

There was an abandoned mine too. And I just couldn't help it...:

This is the ventilation furnace which I swear gives off cool 'air-conditioned-like' air.

Refilled our bottles with water from the natural springs:

They used to use this railway years ago:

Poser... yeah yeah, I know...:

Gorgeous aren't they? The three sisters; their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m).:

Cam-whores!:

So we then took the Scenic Railway up to the Top Station again, a hell of a ride, I tell ya. I recommend you going down in this instead, its a roller coaster-like ride; really steep and helluva fun:

Wild cockatoos:

Hungry and exhausted we went to a small town of Leura for lunch:

We recommend the Candy Store for those of you with sweet tooth:

Next up was the Wentworth Falls:

I think it was over 200 steps down to the lookout for the falls:

It was beautiful with the rainbow and all...:

Can you see the rainbow? Its just beside my chin on the falls:

It started to drizzle for a little bit as we climbed up back to where the minibus was parked:

Next, we drove to a wildlife park, where we saw wild kangaroos!!!

I was so happy, haha...:

The smaller ones are the females:

Itchy itchy:

These two went to the bushes for some alone time...:

The 18th century Europeans were fascinated with these creatures; early explorers described them as creatures that had heads like deers, stood upright like men, and hopped like frogs.