FREEZING COLD!

That is what my girls and I agreed on on this second day of our Mother-Daughter trip to Sydney. We were off to the Blue Mountains today.

We were picked up at 7.30am by the Gray Line coach and on our way to the Blue Mountains at 8am. On route to the Blue Mountains, we first stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Park where we fed kangaroos (really hungry marsupials), took photos with a koala (really sleepy marsupial) and saw other indigenous animals such as emu, Tasmanian devil, dingoes, etc. We spent an hour there from 9.30am to 10.30am. It was quite nippy, only about 6C. The girls were complaining about the cold. *shiver shiver*







Around 11.30am, we arrived at Katoomba, the home of the Blue Mountains. We were dropped at Echo Point to take photos of the Three Sisters rock formation. It was freezing! The girls wanted to go home lol. But it was really cold, I could hardly feel my fingers. When the coach driver picked us up 30 minutes later, he reported that the temperature was only around 2 or 3C. No wonder!




The sun came out from behind the clouds to shine upon the Three Sisters

The sisters struggling to walk against the wind and the cold lol

We were dropped off at Scenic World Top Station for 2 hours, 12.20pm to 2.20pm. I decided to take the girls on the rides before we had our buffet lunch that was included in the tour. First, we took the Scenic Railway that is the world's steepest incline railway down to the bottom of the Jamison Valley. It was really exciting but all too soon, the ride was over.

Photo while waiting for the rail train


Us, waiting for the rail ride to start

All in one piece :)

We walked along the Scenic Walkway (the 10 minutes route) where we saw the old coal mine entrance as well as local flora, e.g. tree ferns, ribbon gum trees, etc.






We went back to the top via Scenic Cableway, the steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere. After the cable car ride, we went on our last ride, the Scenic Skyway (return) which is 270m above ancient ravines and dazzling waterfalls. We were suspended over Jurassic rainforests as the Skyway glided across the sky, except that it was also swaying slightly in the wind which was blowing at 40km/hour. The Skyway driver reported that with the wind chill factor, it was -6C then! NO WONDER, we were FREEZING. We saw Three Sisters (again), Katoomba Falls, Mount Solitary and the never ending expanse of the Jamison Valley.

Katoomba Falls as seen from the cable car (can see the skyway hanging in the air)

Orphan Rock, used to be accessible but no longer, as seen from the cable car

Scenes from Skyway - Katoomba Falls


Jamison Valley



Us in the Skyway

The Three Sisters

Orphan Rock against the background of Jamison Valley

After the Skyway ride, we had our buffet lunch at the Revolving Restaurant, Scenic World . The girls and I were really hungry lol. The girls were so hungry that they even ate kangaroo meat with gusto lol. :P



We left at 2.20pm and we drove along the Cliff Drive where we saw fantastic views over Megalong Valley. Next, we stopped at the mountain village of Leura for 45 minutes and we visited a local attraction, Treasured Teapot Museum at Bygone Beautys, Leura. Leura is a picturesque village but it was too cold (only 0C) to walk and browse around the village. :S brrrr...



On our way back to Sydney, we were given a quick tour of Homebush Bay, the site of the 2000 Olympic Games, the stadiums and facilities of the Olympics.





We reached Sydney city centre around 6.30pm. It was good to be back and to warmer temperature in the city (around 11C) lol. Apparently, it started snowing in the Blue Mountains as we made our way down the mountains.

Tomorrow we are going on a Port Stephens Dolphin Watching day trip. :)