Sydney, Australia - Part 3

The state of New South Wales is more than just the city of Sydney. The Blue Mountains is part of the Great Dividing Range that separates the lush eastern coastal strip from the more arid interior. These mountains are spectacular with tall eucalyuptus trees, deep river valleys, waterfalls, and craggy cliffs. The Blue Mountains derive their name from the ever-present blue haze that is caused by light striking the droplets of the eucalyptus oil that evaporate from the leaves of the dense surrounding forest these eucalyptus trees. There are also vineyards in the lower Hunter Valley of the Blue Mountain. The Hunter Valley not only a major site for coal mining, but is the oldest commercial wine producing area in Australia.

If you want to use a guided tour to be sure to explore all the key attractions in the Blue Mountains, there are several private bus operators that offer day trips from Sydney. Oz Trek Adventure Tours (http://www.oztrek.com.au/) is one of the better ones. The day trip not only includes a visit to the key sites in the Blue Mountain, but also a tour of the Sydney Olympic site and a visit to a wildlife park where you can see kangaroos and wallabies in the wild.

Featherdale Wildlife Park at Doonside (near Blacktown) is Sydney’s ultimate interactive wildlife experience. You can hand feed a kangaroo, wallaby or emu - or enjoy a face-to-face encounter with one of our friendly koalas - amongst one of Australia's largest private collections of Australian native animals and bird life. Featherdale's facilities include a Café, souvenir shop and shady picnic areas with BBQ's. The Park is conveniently located just 40mins from Sydney’s CBD and is en route to the famous Blue Mountains. Winner of ‘Major Tourist Attraction’ Award at the Tourism NSW Awards in 2005.




Katoomba is the largest town in the Blue Mountains and the focal point of the Blue Mountains National Park. The town is about 2 hours outside of Sydney by train, bus or car. The most visited and photographed attraction in the Blue Mountains are the rock formations known as the Three Sisters. The most popular place to view the Three Sisters is at Echo Point. Two viewing platforms extend out over the valley, offering panoramic views of the rock formations. Aboriginal legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle. As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come. In reality, the Three Sisters were created through erosion. According to the Australian Museum, the pinnacles are made of Triassic sandstone and were formed when wind and rain caused perpendicular joins in the rock to wear away, leaving the three blocks of sandstone separated by steep vertical cliffs.

While the Three Sisters are the most popular attraction in this part of Katoomba, there are plenty of other things to see and do. At nearby Scenic World (http://www.scenicworld.com.au/), the glass-bottomed Skyway offers visitors dizzying views as it rides over the Jamison Valley. Skyway is a cable car that travels 984 feet above the Jamison Valley and the round trip takes about 6 minutes. The views are spectacular. The Scenic Railway is the world’s steepest incline railway. It consists of a carriage on rails that plunges 1,361 ft. into the Jamison Valley at a maximum incline of 52 degrees. It is very steep and quite a thrill riding down the escarpment to the valley floor below or riding up. Many take the Skyway down, going for the walk in the Valley, and taking the Railway up (backward seated) or vice versa.

There are several bush walks from Echo Point via the Giant Stairway. This descending staircase of 900 steps and runways was originally constructed in 1909 and some of the original chisel marks are still visible. The Giant Stairway provides a spectacular entry to the Jamison Valley and located adjacent to the Three Sisters, on Prince Henry Cliff Walk and the Cliff Drive. Even though many of the steps had to be hewn out of the cliff and metal stairs installed at other points, an effort was made to take advantage of the natural ledges, erosions and projections. At the bottom, walkers can then enjoy the lush rainforest of the Jamison Valley with its canyon, waterfalls, and underground rivers.