Blue Mountains

December 3, 2016 -- The Blue Mountains are a mountainous region and mountain range in New South Wales, Australia. They aren't far from Sidney, maybe a couple of hours. We stopped on our way back from Armadale (to Sidney to fly to New Zealand). 

I bought the souvenir picture.

We went to Scenic World. Scenic World is a tourist attraction in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The region was originally a coal mine. After WWII, it gradually became a tourist attraction. It offered several ways to see the surrounding scenery: scenic railway, scenic skyway, and scenic cableway. Mary Beth and I did all three. The views were awesome.

Scenic World

Kathy watched from below.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the scenic railway at Blue Mountains is the steepest in the world.  It was a pretty neat experience. 

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The Blue Mountains cable car at the Scenic World is one of the popular tourist attractions in Sydney. The Swiss made, cable car itself allows up to 84 passengers and provides unobstructed views with its large glass windows: 

Scenic Cableway

Track

Huge windows for viewing

"Hanging by a thread"

At the top

Three Sisters are an unusual rock formation in the Blue Mountains. They were formed by land erosion over 200 million years ago. Their names are Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo. There are different legends about their formation. 

 Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo

Blue Mountains

Another view

Orphan Rock is a pillar of rock separated from the main cliff and standing solitarily like a sentinel on duty. At one time there was a staircase to the summit of Orphan Rock. Access to the rock was stopped in 1974 due to a mudslide.

Orphan Rock

Echo Point

Named for three beautiful sisters

Legend of the Three Sisters:  " Three sisters from one tribe fell in love with three brothers from a neighboring tribe, but their love was forbidden by the Elders. A tribal war ensued. For protection, the sisters were turned into pinnacles of rock by the medicine man, who, unluckily for everyone, died in battle before reversing the spell. Since then, the sisters remain for all time imprisoned in the rock, towering sentinels over the Jamieson Valley spread out below." (commonclimber.com)