The Blue Mountains - Serene Living

More years ago than I can remember, my mom suggested I watch the movie, "The Man From Snowy River". Now I don't recall the premise (something to do with twins living in the Australian mountains riding horses or some such thing), but I do remember thinking the mountains in Australia sure seem pretty, perhaps I'll go there some day. That movie shaped my vision of the Blue Mountains in my head as a vast series of rolling hills covered in lush forests, not unlike perhaps the Appalachians or Great Smoky Mountains. Turns out it was filmed in a totally different mountain range (The Snowy Mountains, hence the name, duh), so when we arrived in the Blue Mountains about 90 minutes West of Sydney, I was a bit flustered with what we actually experienced.

I had visions of driving up thru deep valleys with hills flanking either side to a home perched on a slope overlooking a babbling brook. I fancy myself a decent map reader and love a good topo map. However, in this case, I read the lines backwards. The main road ascends a gradual climb along an upper plateau with dramatic cliffs falling off either side. So, in lieu of gazing upward, all the views are from above. Think Grand Canyon (more on that later), but instead of a red and amber rocky landscape, the canyons are filled with lush rainforests of eucalyptus and ferns.

My goal in booking our stay in the Blue Mountains was to see if we could find the equivalent of Serene Lakes to Sydney-siders. (For those unaware, Serene Lakes is home to our family vacation home in the Sierra Mountains, and is our little slice of heaven on Earth.) While it's not entirely the same, I am certain that if we were to move to Sydney, we would definitely find another slice somewhere in the Blue Mountains. Despite the inclement weather (decent rain throughout our stay), we had a great time.

View from our balcony

Cockatoos are Aussie pigeons.

Our host provided slippers for our stay. (And legos for the boys). Kittens are my favorite.

And this funny blowy piano thing. Only worked when you blew in to a tube

Day 1 (Nov 17) : Wentworth Falls
Our mountain cottage was in the small town of Wentworth Falls. After settling in, Nicole and I left the kids behind for a quick grocery shopping trip (it's not the kids favorite activity). According to Google Maps, there was a lovely view of the town's namesake on the way to the grocery store. We figured we would make a quick stop, pop our heads out, take a picture or two, then carry on with our chores. Ninety minutes, 4 kilometers of trails, and 75 pictures later, we finally made it to the grocery store...

Some crazy dude about 100 years ago hired a bunch of crazy people to carve a trail in this vertical cliff. His goal was to create a tourist trap. Not a trap to strand tourists, but a trail that would attract them. 

I'm not a heights guy.

Scribed in the rock along the cliff steps to the top...

Cute little mountain town called Leura (adjacent to Katoomba). If there was snow here, it would be mistaken for Truckee.

Apparently this little town figured out what was "Beyond".

Had to stop and take a pic of this store. It should be noted that our family makes compulsory stops at nearly every small book shop we find. We probably could have done a separate blog series on just book stores of the world. 

Day 2 (Nov 18): Scenic World

Despite the lame name, a trip to Scenic World is compulsory for anyone travelling to the Blue Mountains from Sydney. Literally busloads and trainloads of tourists flood this place from Sydney every day and every hour. The main event is the Three Sisters, a series of three rock towers that overlooks a vast and layered valley below. Sure, it's touristy and the weather was terrible, but we were quite happy with our experience. Scenic World offers four different experiences, a skyway, a cable car, a funicular train, and a boardwalk thru a rainforest. We did them all, but it was the train ride that was most memorable. After all, it's the steepest train in the world! Holy Moly, they ain't kidding, it's crazy steep, and totally fun.

For those following our adventures, you'll notice a trend. When we finally get to THE world renowned view (think Mizen Head, and Table Mountain) the weather has conspired against us. This is the famed view of the Three Sisters. Admittedly, we hung around long enough to get some decent pics, but we had to laugh. 

After the clouds passed

We all opted for Cliffhanger...

This may become a regular feature in this blog... We have noticed a curious tendency for the "You are here" dots on signs to be rubbed off. It's so common that when it's not rubbed off, we're surprised. What would possess people to literally touch the spot enough to rub off the enamel is a bit of a mystery. 

The boardwalk at the base of the scenic train meanders through the rain forest. Singing in the rain....

Tree ferns everywhere in the Blue Mountain rainforests

Spaghetti anyone? 

There was this spit off the main boardwalk that inspired some showmanship.

The skyrail is out there somewhere

Skyrail floor was glass. It's a bit of a plunge down

There it is

Tough to see, but it was raining a fair bit here.

I can't imagine what this is for and why is it being sold in the Scenic World gift shop. 

Day 3 (Nov 19): The Grand Canyon

Owing to the fact that we were about to be in another WiFi free zone for the coming week (boating around the Whitsundays! - foreshadowing), Autumn took a day to get ahead of her studies. It had been raining off and on for the past three days, and we finally had a 12 hour window of partly cloudy skies to fit in a hike. As such, Nicole and I took the boys on a hike thru the Grand Canyon (of the Blue Mountains). As we set afoot along a roadway in nondescript bushlands, I was growing disappointed in our choice of adventures.

Then it began a plunge down a narrow canyon packed with lush tree ferns and moss covered rocks saturated with the recent rains. We were enveloped in every possible shade of green that Crayola would struggle to name. The trail (steps really) was incredibly well made and weaved itself around a central creek and along vertical rock faces, many of which jutted over our heads and showered us with rain water runoff. At every turn we were introduced to one spectacular vinnette after another. It was really hard to keep our cameras in our pockets, and it was difficult to capture the beauty of this place. Fifteen hundred feet down, we finally made it to the bottom, greeted by a group heading in the opposite direction who said, "Wow, it's pretty amazing back there." We said... "It's not too shabby back there either," pointing behind us. Yep, they were right. The second half was as overwhelming as the first. Sorry, I'm about to drop a ton of pictures in this blog cause it was so darn lovely in that canyon.

Lots of steps down

Our intrepid guide

Spotting crayfish in the stream

Picnic spot under a rock overhang once used by the Aborigines as a council spot

Trickling waterfalls everywhere

One of the best made trails I have ever trod. Any opportunity for slogging through mud and water was thwarted by perfectly placed stepping stones.

Any opportunity for an inadvertent plunge was thwarted by well placed rails.

Occasionally some of our contemplative poses are staged. In this case, I was actually trying to take it all in. 

Oh yeah, wildlife too.

Considering the hike is a loop, every step down meant an equivalent step up - all 1,500ft. But the reward was yet another stunning view. It should be noted, our boys crushed it! They kept a solid pace and never once complained. We passed a group of twenty somethings on our way up and never looked back.

The higher we climbed, the dryer it became.

From the top. (A bit of panorama camera trick here)

The weather held out

 I have been on my fair share of hikes in my life, and I would squarely put this trek near the top of the list (if not at the top). Good work Australia.

Day 4 (Nov 20): Back to Sydney
We had a flight out the following morning, so we booked a one night stay back in Sydney to be closer to the airport. We ended up in an Ibis Budget hotel across the street from the main Sydney Olympic stadium. Turns out the hotel was converted from a place where the athletes must have stayed. It was effectively a dorm and brought back memories of our freshman days at UCLA (Go Bruins!). But hey, what do you expect from a $80 fare in  one of the most expensive cities in the world. It afforded us an opportunity for the boys to swim at the aquatic park in the Olympic swimming center (if I cared for swimming at all, it would have been cool to do my best Phelps interpretation)

If you only need a place to lay your head, this is about as tight as you can get for five. 

The last time we were here was 2000 and we attended some Para-Olympic events. It was decidedly vacant and a bit solemn this time around. 

Merry Christmas from down unda

Converted a section of the Olympic Aquatic Center in to a pretty decent waterpark. 

Our last Sydney meal... IKEA. (Looking for beach towels for our pending boat adventure)

Random Musings:

1. I found out the Aussies use an exactly opposite system of indicating when a U-turn is acceptable. The kindly police officer that pulled me over asked, "Did you know it's illegal to make a U-turn at an intersection unless a sign says it is ok to do so?" I stammered and said, "oh gosh no, I'm from Canada, and we do it exactly opposite. Eh." (It's all true, except that Canada thing... Never lie to peace officers kids). She smiled, told me to keep it mind, and left me thankful that my first foreign criminal act was perpetrated in the friendliest country in the world.

2. Why does a cup of coffee cost $4.50, a bottle of water cost $2.50, and a Coke cost $3.50, yet a Big Gulp Slurpee only cost $1.00?

3. Speaking of coffee, Aussies are infatuated with instant coffee. It's vile and should be banished from Earth, along with Vegemite.

4. We've been driving on the left side of the road now for three months. It's officially become the "right" side of the road, and it's going to be tough to transition back. Note, neither side is better than the other, in case you were wondering.

5. If you are enjoying this blog, and like the tone, you may want to read books by Bill Bryson. He is one of my very favorite travel writers and consistently makes me laugh out loud. I just finished another of his books, "Notes From a Small Island," and really enjoyed the read. His other classics that are worth a read: "A Walk In The Woods", "Down Under (or In A Sunburnted Country)", "The Life and times of Thunderbolt Kid", and "Neither Here Nor There".

6. Occasionally it's fun to snap some close ups of the younglings:

Cheers! Next Stop... The Whitsunday Islands