The Blue Mountains are about two hours’ drive west of Sydney and the town of Katoomba is in their heart. The name for the region comes from the distinctive blue haze that the gum (eucalyptus) trees give to the air when it is hot although the temperature up here (about 1000m above Sydney) is much cooler than on the coast, up to 26 degrees at the moment with a refreshing breeze most of the time. This whole region is a natural park and there are numerous visitor information centres, marked walks, etc. One of the most well known views is that of the Three Sisters rock formation in the Jamison Valley and the best view is from Queen Elizabeth Lookout,which was “visited by her Most Gracious Majesty in 1954". There is no mention of Her Most Gracious Maj undertaking the walk we did, which involved descending the Giant Stairway (900 steps taking us down about 250m) and walking around the bottom of the Three Sisters and ascending again (thankfully) by the Scenic Railway, claimed to be the world’s steepest railway with an incline of 52 degrees. Well worth the AUS$10 (€5) not to have to climb back up 900 steps !
Katoomba is a similar sort of place to Airlie Beach, lots of backpackers and places selling tour tickets, but this time the focu is on mountain walks and treks rather than island visits and dive trips. The youth hostel, conveniently located to the large police station, was one of the biggest buildings in town.
Anyway, that's the end of Phase 2, the Aussie Odyssey. Now we're off to Sydney Airport where Michael & Jane return to a cold London and I'm off to Thailand to meet Rosemary, Helmut and the two terrorists.
More from Thailand....
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