The Blue Mountains

The group left for home or New Zealand today, but we stayed on and did the Grey Line Tour to the Blue Mountains. Why Blue Mountains? Because the evaporated oil from the Eucalyptus tree makes the mountains look blue from a distance. It took a little over an hour and a half to drive into the mountains.  Our first stop was Scenic World, which has three rides to provide views of the scenery. First we took a skyway tram across the Jamison Valley getting a picturesque view of Katoomba Falls. From there we took the scenic incline railway down a 52 degree plunge into the valley. This used to be the passageway to reach the coal mines on the valley floor. Because this valley is protected, the valley has rain forest vegetation. Here we spotted a Lyre Bird. It was busy digging in the soil to uncover worms and grubs which it fed to its youngster. Then up to the top on a cable car. The other interesting formation is called the Three Sisters, which has a legend about 3 sisters being turned into stone.

Lyre Bird

After lunch, we had a 25 minute Waradah Aborigine Culture show. Here we heard some of the stories about the totem animals of this region as well as dances celebrating these animals. We also learned about some more about the didgeridoo and how you can play it to represent the various animals during the various ceremonies. From here we walked to Echo point to get a close up view of the Three Sisters and an expanded view of the valley below.

Cassowary

Next we went to Featherdale Wildlife Park, which had a large collection of Australian birds and animals. We saw quite a variety of kangaroos and wallabies, koalas, and the best collection of birds we had seen. Some of the highlights were the owls, the Little Penguins, various parrots and cockatoos, and several varieties of eagles.

White Breasted Wood Swallows

As darkness approached, we headed back to Sydney, but instead of having to drive through all the rush hour traffic, we stopped near the Olympic Center and took a cruise down the Parramatta River to Circular Quay. This was an expensive tour ($199), but worth every penny!