Grandma's Visit - More Blue Mountains

Because the weather had worked against us on our first day in the Blue Mountains, we decided to return to the Three Sisters and see them in the light in which they are best seen - sunshine!

If you're wondering why the Blue Mountains are called the Blue Mountains its because "the ever present haze that gives the Blue Mountains their name is casued by rays of light striking droplets of oil dispersed by gum trees. Haze usually results when sunlight illuminates floating particles such as dust, water droplets, air molecules and, in this case, the fine mist of oils."

We then went to "Scenic World" where we took the world's steepest incline railway into an old (now defunct) coal mine, walked through the rainforest in which it is located, and William and I took a cablecar back up to the top. Ian and Mum decided that there was no need for them to be dangling from a cable that many metres above the ground, so they took the railcar back up.

First, here is the view of the Three Sisters and the other local ranges from Scenic World.

Here are two Sulfur-Crested Cockateils that were feeding at the entrance of the railway at Scenic World. The railway is the steepest incline railway in the world. It takes you 415 metres down into the rainforest where, in the late 1800's, men dug for coal.

Once you're in the rainforest, you can't even see the Blue Mountains. It is so dense with foliage, the air is cool from being shaded from the sun, and you can smell eucalyptus. Here are a few pictures from the rainforest.

You can find out more about the very interesting history of coal mining in the Blue Mountains on the web at http://www.scenicworld.com.au/info_history.asp. Next it was on to the Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens......