Having lived near mountains a good part of my life in
Colorado, British Columbia and
South Korea, I certainly miss the opportunities to jump in my truck and find the nearest trail head. Little did I think my next venture to the mountains would be in Australia when Dhina agreed to take me the day after Christmas.
So, for the sake of memories, I dug up this picture of me hiking in the
Colorado Rockies about 15 years ago. Wow, how life can change in that amount of time... from living in Colorado to living in Thailand with a few stops in between =)
The
Blue Mountains are located close to Sydney, in the southeastern province of
New South Wales. Cynthia remembers taking her young 3 year old daughter to the mountains after arriving in Australia and her daughter exclaimed when first seeing the mountain range, "They really are blue!" And, indeed, they do have a bluish tint to them.
While we didn't spend much time (as the Australians call it)
bushwalking trails, Dhina and I were able to visit
Katoomba,
Echo Point and a local attraction called
Scenic World.
Katoomba is a major town that borders
Blue Mountains National Park while
Echo Point is a perfect vantage point to view the sandstone rock formation called
The Three Sisters. This is where
Queen Elizabeth II viewed the mountains and
Three Sisters 62 years ago and I am standing by the plaque to prove it. Hm, I wonder if they will put up a plaque letting everyone know that I was here... as if =)
There is a commonly told aboriginal legend of the
Three Sisters:
The three sisters, Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three men from the neighbouring Nepean tribe but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and decided to use force to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back.
I was fortunate to get a closer glimpse and understanding of the mountains when venturing through
Scenic World. For instance, since they were rich in coal and shale, mining for these resources began in 1865.
Scenic World provided wonderful displays of what mining looked like 150 years ago, while visitor rides gave us a good look at the mountains from a bird's eye view.
The
Katoomba Falls provided another photo op while Dhina and I explored this part of the mountain range in this part of the world.
