16th February - The Blue Mountains, News South Wales, Australia

Despite the antics of the evening before we were up early to meet the coach pick up at the Four Seasons.  We made our way through the Sydney morning traffic and headed west out of the Sydney on the M4 and through the impressive Rozelle Tunnel.  The weather had not be good on the previous day and today it was still overcast, but dry.  There had been mist the day before and the mountains were not visible, so as we headed west  it was fingers crossed.

Our first stop though was the Featherdale Wildlife Sanctuary, near Blacktown on the outskirts of Sydney.  Similar to the sanctuary we visited in Hobart, this was more a zoo, specialising in Australian wildlife with over three hundred species on show, although the majority of these were birds.

The sanctuary was surrounded by a housing estate, which has probably grown up around the zoo.  In the trees surrounding the car park were Eastern Cattle Egret.

A lot more orange brown head and neck feathers on these than we see on the Cattle Egrets in Europe.  They were nesting with young birds still present in the nests.

Ii don't usually like photographing the animals in zoo conditions, but as was the case in Hobart there was the chance to capture animals that you would not see in captivity back home.

A Kangaroo with a young Joey.

A Koala, admittedly looking like it was not in a cage, but it was!

And another good view of a Tasmanian Devil.

Our fellow passengers had their chance to have their photo taken with the Koalas and to spend money in the gift shop before we continued on west towards the Blue Mountains, somewhere else I visited back in 2003, but failed to see anything due to the smoke coming from the bush fires.

We were heading to the Katoomba region, the easiest accessible part of the park for a day trip from Sydney.  Our first stop was Lincoln's Rock.  It was quite busy, but the valley was full of mist and we could not see a thing.

While lots of Korean and Japanese people took selfies with the mist behind them I was attracted to calls coming from the bush.  The calls came close and revealed themself as a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo.

The Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo is a large cockatoo. It is easily identified by its mostly black plumage, with most body feathers edged with yellow, but not visible at a distance. It has a yellow cheek patch and yellow panels on the tail.  They have a slow wing flapped flight.

 

It settled in a bush and showed off the tail feathers that give the Cockatoo its name.

With the mist not looking like it was going to clear any day soon we returned to the coach.  Walking back I noticed something red in a bush and on closer inspection it turned out to be a Crimson Rosella.

The Crimson Rosella is named for has mostly crimson red plumage and bright blue cheeks. The feathers of the back and wing coverts are black broadly edged with red. The flight feathers of the wings have broad blue edges and the tail is blue above and pale blue below and on the outer feathers.

The Blue Mountains is best known for its soaring sandstone ridges blanketed in native bushland. Nestled within the wilderness lie charming mountain towns, one of those was our next stop, the picturesque town of Leura, where we had an early lunch and a wander around the small shopping area.  From Leura we headed to an estate where were took a short walk to view the Bridal Falls in the Jamison Valley.

The Blue Mountains have been inhabited for millennia by the Gundungurra people, now represented by the Gundungurra Tribal Council Aboriginal Corporation based in Katoomba, and, in the lower Blue Mountains, by the Darug people, now represented by the Darug Tribal Aboriginal Corporation. 

The Gundungurra creation story of the Blue Mountains tells that Dreaming creatures Mirigan and Garangatch, half fish and half reptile, fought an epic battle which scarred the landscape into the Jamison Valley.

We walked through the bush and down to a viewing platform that looked over the falls.

We were fortunate that there had been rain on the previous day as this meant the falls were in full flow.

The mist was still hanging in the valley, but there were signs it was beginning to lift.

Once again I strayed away from the scenery and picked up a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo flying across the valley and up into a Eucalyptus tree.

A pair greeting each other with raised crests.

Cockatoos in the mist.

The mist was lifting and it was possible to see the sandstone ridges.

We moved to another view point where the view was clear at last.

The question is, why are they called the Blue Mountains?  Well the Blue Mountains is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in colour, giving a blue haze as now could be seen.

Walking back to the coach this Common Brown butterfly showed well, yet another simple Australian name, its brown and common.

Next we were off to try and see the main landmark of the Katoomba region, the Three Sisters, hopeful the mist would stay away.  We made our way to Eagle Rock, where there is an overview across the valley to the sisters.

The Three Sisters is essentially an unusual rock formation representing three sisters who according to Aboriginal legend were turned to stone.

Next we followed the Cliff Road around to the next valley, this one called Mega Valley, so guess what it was very big.  From the view point there was a good view of a rock called the Boar's Head, because of it's likeness to a Boar's Head.

A closer view.

Views out across Mega Valley.

It was then back to Echo Point, the main viewing area for the Three Sisters.  This had really changed since I was here back in 2003, then there was a cafe with a view, today there was a walkway, and concreted plaza all with looks out to the Three Sisters.

The Three Sisters is the Blue Mountains’ most spectacular landmark.  So what is the aboriginal legend as to why the three sisters were turned to stone?

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and 'Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

The clouds were building up and there were signs that it might rain, our tour was up and it was time to head back to Sydney.  As we approached the outskirts of the city around the Olympic Park we encountered a tremendous thunderstorm, the freeway was flooded and the cars and trucks all slowed as the visibility was impaired. Then as quickly as it started, the storm moved away and as we came out of the Rozelle tunnel there was no sign of any rain in the city.

We were dropped off at the Four Seasons and from there we went down to the Rocks for dinner.  However with our flight the next day to Melbourne we had to behave as there was packing to be done, so it was dinner and then back to the hotel.  Tomorrow yet another leg in this incredible adventure.