Blue Mountains

We started our day bright and early at 7:30am with a pick-up by the tour group.

The Blue Mountains is Sydney's greatest recreation area for people who prefer the bush to the sea. They are part of the Great Dividing Range, which stretches from Gippsland region of Victoria in the south to the tropical rainforests of north Queensland.
The range rivals the Rockies in length, but nowhere near in height. Australia's highest mountain is Mount Kosciusko about 500 kilometres south of Sydney. At 2229 metres it is a mere baby by North American and European standards.

Yet the Blue Mountains, peaking at about 1000 metres, proved a heartbreaking challenge until they were conquered by a trio of explorers - Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and Charles Wentworth in 1813. They and four men hacked through dense bush for 18 days to find a route. Sections of the Great Western Highway from Sydney still follow parts of their trail.

The Legend


The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.
These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.
As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

On the way back we stopped at the "rainforest" which just seemed to be another wooded area though they insisted it was different and "more green"...
 
That's right Eric - "Rainforest"
 

One last stop to another lookout point and we were told that we may have the chance to see some wildlife...and we DID...

....no, not Michael, the kangaroo in the background!

Driving up to the mountains and seeing them from several vantage points took all day. We returned back to he hotel around 6pm. It was a very hot day today - mid 80s!