Blue Mountains - part 2, day2

The snow didn't come to anything and the sky cleared up perfectly. It's like one of those crisp, autumn mornings back in Scotland. The air has a chill but you can see for miles.

We head back down to Echo Point to check out the view with a few less clouds. Then take the short hike down to the 3 Sisters.

Mandy waits for me while I hike down the Giants Stairway a little to see if I can get a view of all 3 Sisters from there. It's not happening and I eventually climb back up the 45degree staircase, slightly out of puff.

After our last visit here we headed off to the Jenolan Caves and this time is no different. But we've got 50 percent off vouchers and also, Mandy can walk this time, you may remember she'd done her back in last time and we could only go into one of the smaller caves.

We arrive at the caves and try to suss out which one the large group of schoolkids is going to in order to go in the opposite direction. We choose the 'Orient', it's reputation is as one of the best in the world, so I'm keen to see if this hyperbole is well-founded.

The hype is right. The 'Orient' cave is quite stunning.

Unfortunately a combination of the vast scale of these chambers, my puny little camera and the jostling punters won't give off a decent impression of the scale of things. This chamber was 36m high.

There was almost too much to look at, and there were just too many 'grey nomads' pushing for a good photo spot. And the ubiquitous 'whingin' pommies' repeating everything the guide said about five times to each other.

We both agreed that this would be motivation to get rich and organise private tours round here.

These were mere irritations though, it should be right up there on anyone's itinerary.

From the caves we drove back to Sydney, stopping briefly at the beginning of the Evans Lookout track. This track looks like a lot of fun, descents down to the canyon floor, clifftop trails, and few tourists, definitely worth coming back for a day's hiking.

Blue Mountains (part 2)

Mandy had Monday, Tuesday off and the rain has kept us in for pretty much the past two weeks. It's a major down side to living on the Northern Beaches that when the weather is bad there's not an awful lot to do. So we decided to head back up to Katoomba for a night.

We hoped the weather would be better than last time but it wasn't looking too hopeful, sitting in a small traffic jam just outside of Katoomba, we found ourselves in the surreal position of having the air con on in the car and snow falling outside. But it is winter after all!

We had checked into the art deco anachronism that is the Carrington Hotel. It had that off season feel, and though it retains a lot of authentic colonial features, it does look a bit tired, but still it was pleasant enough. After having a meal and a couple of beers we went back to the hotel about 10.30pm and the off-season feel of the place began to feel a bit more sinister. There was just nobody about, except for the statues of Laurel and Hardy(?). We thought we'd have a little peak at the dining rooms, and, surprisingly enough, it was dead, and just a little creepy.

So here we have it, a deserted hotel in the mountains, off season, a struggling writer (well not quite) and a slightly scared girlfriend. Why does this scenario seem familiar? I blame the alcohol. Red rum anybody!

Blue Mountains and Yellow Caves

After the frustration of the past couple of weeks, because I couldn't get online, and because Mandy couldn't do very much due to her bruised backside, we decided to hire a car and head up to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days.

We arrived in Katoomba at about 5pm. It could have been a really pretty town but we were deep in the middle of a cloud so it was hard to see.

After deliberating whether to head back home we gambled on a local motel, and hoped that the weather would pick up next day.

Checking in was a minor ordeal, first of all the room we were given didn't appear to exist, and the receptionist couldn't tell us where it was. Eventually we found it and she let us in. Then when we came back from unpacking the car, our keys wouldn't work. And neither would the master key. So, after a bit of a kerfuffle we got upgraded to another room.

We had a few beers and food in the local hostelry. I had my first pint in ages, it's all bottles and 'schooners' over here.

The next day the skies had cleared and we headed down to Echo Point to take a gouge at the 3 Sisters and the Blue Mountains. It really reminded me of Colorado National Monument, but a lot, lot greener.


We then headed through the mountains to the Jenolan Caves, over some really nice mountain and pastural land. There are about 9 caves to visit and we chose the 'Imperial', mainly because it would be the easiest on Mandy's back. Other caves are large enough to hold concerts in and have underground rivers and the like, so we'll definitely be back to do a bit more exploring.