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A Trip to the Blue Mountains
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On Friday morning we got an early start and drove to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (about 2 hours). This is the view from Echo Point of The Three Sisters. Aboriginal Legend tells that these three pillars of rock were three beautiful young women of the local tribe who fell in love with three young men from a neighboring tribe. Since the two tribes were going to war with one another, marriage was unthinkable. The three young men resolved to steal the women away and thus obtain their brides anyway.
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Of course this plan didnt work; the shaman that changed the three women into stone was killed in the war, and the three lovely women were forever imprisioned as stone columns. It was very cold up in Katoomba, about 3 degrees C (35 degrees F) and it had snowed the evening before. Some of the snow was still on the ground in spots, and the wind was blowing very hard. The view from Echo point was beautiful however and worth the cold. The bluish tint to the horizen over the trees that gives the mountains their name is caused by the evaporated oil from the Eucaliptis Trees that cover the ground below. This oil dissolves into the air and creates a blue haze over the mountains.
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The Jenolan Caves are another 1 1/2 hours into the mountains from Katoomba through beautiful winding roads. The caves were discovered in the mid 1800's by a local man who went into a hole in the ground finding that the hole opened into a large cavern. The caves were later discovered to be enormous and extensive in their numbers and size. The complex was made into a national monument in the later 1800's to protect them from souveneer hunters that were damaging the caves.
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This is the famous Broken Pillar, caused by the ground shifting after an earthquake. This pillar has become a symbol for the caves.
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The tour goes up and down about 850 stair steps and squeezes through some very narrow openings. The caves were warm, about 55 degrees F once we got down into them, and this was a welcome change. This formation on the left half of this photo is called the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
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The caves were an awesome experience. The tour guide was entertaining and enthusiastic about his job. At two points he turned off all the lights to show us how dark it is 100 feet underground telling us "If you are afraid of the dark, just close your eyes and you won't see anything!" In one cavern they had a stereo system installed to demonstrate the perfect acoustics and played the music from 2001 A Space Odyssey.
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