My Trip to the Blue Mountains
Day 2 of my four day weekend began bright and beautiful. Actually, that's a lie, because I believe it was pouring this morning, but I was still sleeping. By the time I crawled out of bed (11 am ) it was mostly sunny with big white fluffy clouds.
Since it was such a nice day, I had to go ahead with my original plans despite my 3 hour delay in starting... Drive up to the Blue Mountains and hike around the Three Sisters.
Now for those of you who don't know Australia very well, the Blue Mountains are about an hour/hour and a half west of Sydney and are called the 'Blue' Mountains because of the blue haze that often surrounds them - a result of the eucalyptus trees that are abundant in the area. (Man, with this kind of drivel, I should have been a tour guide or something....)
Now, I'm of two minds as to how my day went, so I've decided instead mixing my natural negativity in with the nice parts of the day, I'll recount my day in two separate stories: the glass is half-full story, and the glass is half empty story.
The Glass is Half Full - aka What a Beautiful Place!
The drive up was gorgeous - blue skies and white fluffy clouds, almost no traffic and mild temperatures. I got there in good time, stopped by the tourist office and the woman inside was extremely helpful. Showed me the best route to take, how long it would probably take me, suggestions on alternative return routes and wouldn't sell me a map because she told me I wouldn't need one - I should save my money for something else. How cute was she? And definitely an anomaly in a tourist booth....
Went to the Three Sister's lookout to start off then headed down the cliff - The Grand Staircase. 1,000 steps. I tried keeping track, but only got to 780 before reaching the bottom. Maybe the exertion affected my counting abilities..... All I know is that my legs were like jelly when I got to the bottom - took a half hour of walking funny to work out the kinks.
Walked the valley floor path. Really pretty - eucalyptus trees, ferns and even a waterfall. (Waterfalls are my favourite - which you would know if you've ever seen my trip photos - I have a zillion photos of waterfalls - none today though because, of course, I forgot my camera...)
Met lots of friendly people along the way - typical on hiking trails in and around Sydney. People often stop to ask how the track is, or say hello or sometimes just smile in greeting. It's like you're part of a common group because you're hiking the same paths. I didn't realise how much I missed that from my traveling days..
Arrived at Scenic World. Sorry - going to have to tell the glass is half empty story now...
The Glass is Half Empty - Tourist Hell aka Scenic World
First off - tourist office? People just buying crap to say they'd been there and climbed the stairs - but I gotta tell you - after having climbed down them myself, there's no way 90% of the people there had done much more than think about walking down the stairs....
Secondly - Three Sister's lookout? Tourist hell. People pushing and shoving so they can get a picture that looks like no one is there (really...) Made the first 50 stairs a little dangerous. Thank goodness, most people didn't travel below the lookout....
Lastly, Scenic World - aka Tourist Hell - need I say more? The info I had was that there was a ride up the Mountain at the other end of the valley floor. What I didn't realise was it was jampacked with tourists and the 'scenic' ride up was in a jam-packed gondola called 'Scenicscender'. Hideous. In line for 45 minutes, I should have just gone up the stairs - it would have taken the same amount of time... and the tourist throngs wouldn't have made me nearly freak with claustrophobia on the way up. This is just the kind of place I always made an effort to avoid when traveling. Ironic really that I get trapped in one as a local...
The Glass is Half Full - Part 2 - What a Wonderful Day
Made my way out of Scenic Hell (refuse to ever call it Scenic World again) and ambled along the Prince Henry path on my way back to Echo Point where I'd left my car. Lots of kookaburras, cockatoos and some parrots (or were they parakeets? not really sure). Sat for a while at the top of Katoomba Falls (indulged my love of waterfalls...). The cliff walk was a great way to end the day. Scenic views on the valley top - angled views of the Three Sisters and surrounding mountain tops. A great way to really see the blue haze settle over the valley as the sun went down.
To end the day? No parking ticket despite being two hours later than I meant to be and a relaxed drive home - singing to all my favourite CDs.
So wasn't really so negative after all, but its hard to stay that way when I can still smell the soothing scent of eucalyptus on my clothes as I recount the story... Could I ask for more? Chocolate perhaps, but I'll be good and go without for once....
Since it was such a nice day, I had to go ahead with my original plans despite my 3 hour delay in starting... Drive up to the Blue Mountains and hike around the Three Sisters.
Now for those of you who don't know Australia very well, the Blue Mountains are about an hour/hour and a half west of Sydney and are called the 'Blue' Mountains because of the blue haze that often surrounds them - a result of the eucalyptus trees that are abundant in the area. (Man, with this kind of drivel, I should have been a tour guide or something....)
Now, I'm of two minds as to how my day went, so I've decided instead mixing my natural negativity in with the nice parts of the day, I'll recount my day in two separate stories: the glass is half-full story, and the glass is half empty story.
The Glass is Half Full - aka What a Beautiful Place!
The drive up was gorgeous - blue skies and white fluffy clouds, almost no traffic and mild temperatures. I got there in good time, stopped by the tourist office and the woman inside was extremely helpful. Showed me the best route to take, how long it would probably take me, suggestions on alternative return routes and wouldn't sell me a map because she told me I wouldn't need one - I should save my money for something else. How cute was she? And definitely an anomaly in a tourist booth....
Went to the Three Sister's lookout to start off then headed down the cliff - The Grand Staircase. 1,000 steps. I tried keeping track, but only got to 780 before reaching the bottom. Maybe the exertion affected my counting abilities..... All I know is that my legs were like jelly when I got to the bottom - took a half hour of walking funny to work out the kinks.
Walked the valley floor path. Really pretty - eucalyptus trees, ferns and even a waterfall. (Waterfalls are my favourite - which you would know if you've ever seen my trip photos - I have a zillion photos of waterfalls - none today though because, of course, I forgot my camera...)
Met lots of friendly people along the way - typical on hiking trails in and around Sydney. People often stop to ask how the track is, or say hello or sometimes just smile in greeting. It's like you're part of a common group because you're hiking the same paths. I didn't realise how much I missed that from my traveling days..
Arrived at Scenic World. Sorry - going to have to tell the glass is half empty story now...
The Glass is Half Empty - Tourist Hell aka Scenic World
First off - tourist office? People just buying crap to say they'd been there and climbed the stairs - but I gotta tell you - after having climbed down them myself, there's no way 90% of the people there had done much more than think about walking down the stairs....
Secondly - Three Sister's lookout? Tourist hell. People pushing and shoving so they can get a picture that looks like no one is there (really...) Made the first 50 stairs a little dangerous. Thank goodness, most people didn't travel below the lookout....
Lastly, Scenic World - aka Tourist Hell - need I say more? The info I had was that there was a ride up the Mountain at the other end of the valley floor. What I didn't realise was it was jampacked with tourists and the 'scenic' ride up was in a jam-packed gondola called 'Scenicscender'. Hideous. In line for 45 minutes, I should have just gone up the stairs - it would have taken the same amount of time... and the tourist throngs wouldn't have made me nearly freak with claustrophobia on the way up. This is just the kind of place I always made an effort to avoid when traveling. Ironic really that I get trapped in one as a local...
The Glass is Half Full - Part 2 - What a Wonderful Day
Made my way out of Scenic Hell (refuse to ever call it Scenic World again) and ambled along the Prince Henry path on my way back to Echo Point where I'd left my car. Lots of kookaburras, cockatoos and some parrots (or were they parakeets? not really sure). Sat for a while at the top of Katoomba Falls (indulged my love of waterfalls...). The cliff walk was a great way to end the day. Scenic views on the valley top - angled views of the Three Sisters and surrounding mountain tops. A great way to really see the blue haze settle over the valley as the sun went down.
To end the day? No parking ticket despite being two hours later than I meant to be and a relaxed drive home - singing to all my favourite CDs.
So wasn't really so negative after all, but its hard to stay that way when I can still smell the soothing scent of eucalyptus on my clothes as I recount the story... Could I ask for more? Chocolate perhaps, but I'll be good and go without for once....
posted by lala at
9:37 PM
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