Into the Blue Mountains

It was an early start for us because we were picked up at 7.40 a.m. by minibus to go to the Blue Mountains. It turned out to be a long but rewarding day. It took a couple of hours to drive into the mountains, which are supposed to look blue because of the blue haze caused by eucalyptus oil evaporating off the leaves of the trees. Today they looked more green I think, maybe because it's Australian winter. On the way we stopped at the Featherdale Wildlife Park where we had the chance to meet our first koalas, wallabies and kangaroos. Now I don't like zoos, but this small wildlife park was much more acceptable to me; large enclosures and most of the animals were allowed to roam freely anywhere they wanted. We all enjoyed it. As part of our tour package we were all given tiny toy koalas; we gave them names - Syd (me), Fluffy (James), Feather (Ally), Dale (Jamie), and Tupac (Davie).
On to the mountains and our guide, Mark, told us lots of stories about the area; history, flora and fauna. For example he explained to us that because it is a eucalyptus forest, the forest covering the mountains is evergreen. Any deciduous trees have been introduced by settlers to remind them of home. We went for a bush walk to several lookouts over the Jamison Valley, passing gum trees, tree ferns, and rubbing tea tree leaves for their distinctive smell. There were spectacular waterfalls including the Leura cascades. We went into Katoomba for lunch, a tiny town where the service in the cafe we went into was so slow that we eventually left without lunch and got slices of pizza from a bakery instead.
Then we were dropped off at Skyway Eastern Station where we got two cable cars down to the valley floor. We went for a half hour walk around the walkway, which is duckboard. A bit too civilized and touristy for me, however it was a good way to make the valley floor accessible, it would have been impenetrable otherwise. And anyway, I am a tourist so I shouldn't complain! Back up to the top station on the scenic railway, it was hair-raising at a 52 degrees incline! The driver told me that it's the steepest railway in the world.
Mark took us to our last lookout; Flat Rock, which is at the unfenced edge of a high cliff looking out across the valley towards Solitary Hill. We had been chatting to a French couple and they were scarily playful at the cliff edge, pretending to fall and jumping up and down right at the edge! James and the boys were more sensible but still went really near the edge, I was glad to get back on the bus.
Back to Sydney we headed but our tour wasn't over yet! Mark took us for a drive round the Olympic Stadium then to a park for some boomerang throwing! We all had a go and it was great fun - Jamie and Ally were best equal out of the family. The tour ended with a cruise along the Parramatta River to Darling Harbour. We got back to the apartment at about 6.30 p.m. and I am absolutely exhausted! Even the boys admit to being quite tired. A very good day, we are now going to watch a film and Jamie has bought some Australian James Squire beer for him and James.