And we’re off!
Headed into the Blue Mountains (no fires) so called because the morning (and, to a lesser extent, evening) air reacts with the eucalyptus creating a blue haze over the forest:
Mountain streams have cut through the upper layers of sandstone, following vertical faults in the strata. The softer claystone layers are more erodible (is this a word?). As the softer rock is eroded, unsupported sections of the cliff collapse, resulting in the characteristic vertical cliffs.
First stop was “Three Sisters”, which looked beautiful (and quiet) in the evening light:
The Aboriginal legend goes thus: three sisters, “Meehni”, “Wimlah” and “Gunnedoo” lived in the valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers weren’t happy, tried to capture them and started a major tribal battle.
As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor took it upon himself to turn them to stone to protect them from 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, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.
We (temporarily) renamed them “Four Travellers” – one for each of us:
It was quiet when we arrived, but it wasn’t long before another Chinese tour group overran the place. In fact, we estimated that 90 – 95% of the tourists we saw were Chinese, maybe because it’s mid-week so the Aussies aren’t available.
Queensland is now the main focus of the bush fires, but they’re still raging in NSW, and we could clearly see smoke from the fires on the horizon.
Other random stuff from today:
Nutritional system on the Weetabix used a star-rating – it was good, but not as useful as the traffic light system in the UK (and not as ubiquitous):
Rudy had kangaroo steak for dinner – it’s texture was like beef but tasted like nothing else I’ve eaten… and it was pretty tough:
I had barramundi, a fish that’s popular with diners because it has no bones:
Our American-style motel:
Bug of the day (BOTD) which was still sat there outside our door in the morning:
