One day more

Waking up in Sydney on a sunny morning, it was tempting to say that we'd adjust our plans and stay in the city for the day. But we knew, we'd just mooch around some favourite places we'd been before and try to relive some special moments. Fun though that can be, we'd be missing a chance to go somewhere new and that could be far more fun.

So off we went, joining a group for an hour or two driving to the Blue Mountains, noticing the extensive road markings for cycles as we left The Rocks and drove beneath the approach to the Harbour Bridge and out through the suburbs.

The thing is, I had reread the description of our tour today and made a note of Scenic World. Were we headed for a theme park? One of our “minor irritations” about travelling in Australia on an earlier trip was how packaged many of our experiences had been, rather than simply allowing visitors to see and explore places for themselves. Was this going to be more of the same?

We didn’t know, but as we got nearer to our destination, our guide began to offer some details. Although the tour description we had read stated that we'd have two hours to explore Scenic World, guide John said we'd stick together as a group. (aaagh!)

He handed round some maps - they'd run out of English language versions - and said we'd begin with the railway (in red), walk the boardwalk from there to the blue cablecar station which would take us back to the Visitor Centre, from where we'd ride the Skyway (yellow) across the valley and back.

I will admit to questioning our wisdom in going ahead here, for really, being herded around like this wasn't my idea of fun. But, we were here now, so we made the most of it.

First stop, the Scenic Railway.

With the mist settled in the valley, I also wondered just how much we'd see today?

But as we waited in line for the ride down, the mist lifted and the visibility improved considerably. Hurray!!

I spotted a photo of one of the earlier carriage designs, thinking how unconcerned everyone was about safety back then! Not only that, but how little expression the passengers reveal! It was surely quite scary to ride in that open carriage without a seatbelt or something to hold onto?

We gradually made it to the platform to wait, offering a chance to take a closer look at the wilderness we'd be riding through. Those tree ferns are magnificent, aren't they?

We'd be sitting three to a seat and as we noted the choice of seat pitch, I hoped that the woman riding with my Hero and I would not want to select the “Cliffhanger” setting! Thankfully, she was of the same mind as we were and we were all happy to be “Laidback”!

In we piled…held on tight whilst the doors closed and off we went, over the edge and down “the world's steepest railway”.

It was all over in a couple of minutes. As we got out at the bottom station, another trainload boarded the other side and made the return journey backwards.

As John gathered our group together by the sign, I felt thankful that firstly, I'd not had to walk down a steep pathway or take a long set of steps to reach the valley bottom, but also that we came down on the railway and were not going to ride backwards to the top again!

For me, the best part of the trip was this walk through the forest. Even though I'd have preferred to have done it in my own time, without the pressure of being in a group, it was useful to have John with us to point out things (like the Three Sisters rock formation which had appeared out of the mist across there) and to explain a little about the background to this area.

For there had been coal mines around here in Victorian times. The geology was broadly a mix of sandstone with areas of coal deposits and shale here and there.

As we walked, we passed one or two remains of those earlier coal mining days. It appeared to be mostly drift mining, though there were shafts to manage the build up of coal gas beneath the surface, so perhaps there had been some underground activity too.

We passed some spectacular geological formations and as we went, John suggested we keep an eye on the undergrowth, for yesterday he said, he'd seen a group of Lyre birds. We needed a bit of a description at this point, for we had no idea what we were supposed to be looking out for, though the chances of seeing anything were pretty slim when we were walking as a group like this.

No sooner had we turned the next corner than we found ourselves in another queue.

The Scenic Cableway was boarding and before we knew it, we were joining another seventy five people on a standing room only cablecar; not my Hero's favourite mode of transport by far - but at this point, what choices were there?

Out we swung into the bush, lifting up above the trees on a short ride back to where we had come from, the top railway station.

As we went, I focused on the escarpment.

Steep and precipitous at this point, the black shale and coal deposits were quite clear to see amidst the pale sandstone.

But again, the ride was over in minutes.

No sooner had we got our bearings and taken a picture or two than we were back at the top and in the gift shop once again. A quick walk through to the other side, we followed John and the yellow signs to the Skyway. This time, my Hero and another member of the group had time to decline this opportunity and chose to remain in the cafe rather than swing high above the valley in a yellow bubble.

The views were indeed spectacular, especially of the Katoomba Falls

and of the Jamieson Valley in particular.

Though there was a bit of a surprise which would surely have tipped my Hero over the edge once we'd begun the journey over the valley. A “click” accompanied the opening of the shutter and the glass floor was revealed!

I think quite a few people may have been dicombobulated by that, though thankfully, I was standing to one side, on solid floor!

From here, we had a fine view of the Three Sisters and noted how that early mist had cleared completely, giving us a clear view for quite some distance.

Though those looking a little closer at the escarpment were rewarded by the sight of a rock climber. Can you spot him?

The thing is, having reached the other side, the only way “home” was to join the queue for the return ride and come back the same way!

At least I remembered to stand on the other side to get a different view!

That just about wrapped it up for Scenic World, then. Do I feel as though I have fully experienced the Bue Mountains? Not really…though to be fair, I'm not sure how much once might see/learn whilst just passing through. Perhaps those cablecars and so on were simply a means to get a better view? I will reserve judgment on that one!

There's no doubt that this area is a real tourist hot spot. Our next stop was a viewpoint for the Three Sisters, which I delegated to my Hero, who had not really had an opportunity to see fully.

He returned five minutes later with great photos and stories of the number of people there!

It was early afternoon by now and our itinerary had mentioned visiting a small town for lunch. Here we were then, in Leura for an hour and a half, on our own at last and set free to find a bite to eat and have a wander around this pretty village.

From there, it was a couple of hours drive back to Sydney, over the ANZAC Bridge and into the city and back to Mariner. Sadly, we had some packing up to do and a few farewells.