Blue Mountains

Sunday, January 13, 2013

We were up very early today.  We left our apartment at 7:00 am to head to the Blue Mountains.  We wanted to get to Scenic World when it opened.  I had read a few reviews online that stated the tour buses arrive around 10:00 am.  We wanted to miss the crowds. 

Scenic Railway

Sydney, Mom, and Dad on the railway.

Adam, Kristin, and Dagan on the railway.

Once we got to Scenic World, we decided to get the discovery ride pass.  This allowed us to ride all the rides both ways.  We started with the scenic railway.  It is supposed to be the steepest in the world.  We went down 52 degrees.  It was a challenge to get in it.  As it started, they played the music from Indiana Jones.  We dropped very quickly.  We decided to ride it back up right away.  We just changed seats, so we could sit in the front car.  It was actually the last day the train would be running for a few months because they are constructing a new one.

The Three Sisters are behind us under the clouds.

My Dad on the boardwalk in the rainforest.

The Three Sisters

Dagan, Sydney, and my Mom

Next, we rode the scenic cableway.  It took us to the forest floor.  On the way down, we were able to see the Three Sisters rock formation.  There was a boardwalk through the rainforest.  Dad walked with us for a little ways, and then we continued on.  It was a beautiful walk.  Many of the trees were labeled as well as abandoned mining equipment.  I can't imagine getting into this area to mine.  It would have been very difficult.  The first part of the loop was downhill, so we had to go uphill on the way back.  It was a steady incline with a 75 stair climb at one point.  Sydney counted them for us.  We rode the cableway back up to the top.

Should we have left them there?

The last ride was the scenic skyway.  We unfortunately couldn't see much because a cloud had settled on the mountain.  We were glad we had seen the Three Sisters on the other ride.  We could hear the waterfall, but could not see it. There was a glass floor in the middle of the skyway.  We could see the clouds and the trees once we got close to the building.

Looking through the glass floor into the clouds and tops of the trees.

Our booth has this roof above it.

Adam did some research while we were on the skyway and found a fun place for us to eat lunch.  It was called the Common Ground.  The inside looked like it could have been a hobbit's home.  It was really neat. 

We squeezed 6 of us into this booth.

After lunch, we went to an aboriginal cultural center.  None of us were impressed with it.  It was way too touristy.  It was really just a gift shop.  We decided to try a different one on the way home.  After driving around for a while, we found the center, but it was closed, so we decided to head home. 


We had another fun day.  Tomorrow, I think will be a lazy day for all of us except Adam.  Someone has to work.  HA!