Australia 2012
Day 2: the Blue Mountains
One reason settlement in Australia kept to the coast for many years was the mountain ranges a few miles inland from the eastern side of the continent. What was once a barrier is now a lovely place to visit on holiday, even during what passes for a winter Down Under. (Even above 3000 feet, it got down to the 40s at night and up to perhaps 60 during the day.) On our second day together, we caught City Rail to the Blue Mountains National Park, getting off at Leura. After checking into our B&B and getting lunch at a nearby inn, we grabbed a bus to Scenic World and boarded the glass-bottom Skyway for a trip across the valley. Besides the cliffs themselves (reminiscent of those at Mesa Verde) and the flocks of wild cockatoos in the valley below, we got lovely views of the Three Sisters rock formation — and glimpses of the lookouts (as in photo 43) we would would reach hiking the next day. One thing we wish we could have done differently was not to be doing this during the winter school holidays, as plenty of local families had the same idea!
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