At the risk of beating a recurring theme to death, moving internationally is not much fun. Our furniture has still not been delivered, but at least we now have promised delivery dates, these being Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week. It will be wonderful to have some chairs in the house at last.
The barren nature of our home became very apparent to us this week as our youngest son, Andrew, came from Canberra to stay with us for five days. He had to bring his own inflatable mattress for sleeping, and we often found ourselves carrying the two cushions we have upstairs or down according to where we wanted to sit and chat (or, almost as excitingly, to watch our new TV set that I installed on Tuesday evening). In the spirit of improvisation, I thought the three of us managed well by sharing our two plates, one mug and knife for the week.
Much of this past week was spent looking at refrigerators, window blinds, kitchen fittings and bathroom layouts, which I don’t think was Andrew’s original aspiration when he offered to come and visit us. To compensate for the week of drudgery in trying to set up our home in the absence of furniture, Di and I took Andrew for a day trip to the Blue Mountains on Thursday.
Located above an escarpment to the immediate west of Sydney’s outer western suburbs, the Blue Mountains is a beautiful area of heavily wooded, deeply dissected sandstone plateau. Some of the gorges are as deep as 750 metres (2500 feet), earning the area the nickname of Australia’s Grand Canyon. Of course, the canyons of the Blue Mountains are not as large as the Grand Canyon, and the green,
heavily forested valleys are a stark contrast to the oranges and pinks of the Grand Canyon’s arid terrain, but there is a strong parallel in the processes that led to the formation of the two areas. Both areas were formed when tectonic uplift raised manifold layers of sedimentary rock upwards in an area through which an antecedent stream was flowing. In both cases, the rate of erosion by the river was greater than the rate of tectonic uplift, and so the river continued to flow along its course, cutting a deep valley through the ricks that were rising around it.
The Blue Mountains, which have now been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, were named because of the characteristic blue haze that lies over the area when seen from a distance. The haze is caused as volatile terpenoids are released into the atmosphere by the millions of eucalypt trees in the area, and the terpenoids cause mie scattering when hit by incoming sunlight, especially the ultraviolet part of the spectrum.
We had great weather for the trip to the Blue Mountains, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 20s (Celsius). We began our explorations at the traditional starting point for Blue Mountains trips – Echo Point, which provides a stunning view of the Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness and the famous rock formation
known as the Three Sisters.
We completed two short walks along the Prince Henry Clifftop Walk before driving into Katoomba, which is the main urban centre in the Blue Mountains, for lunch. After eventually finding a place to park in this beautiful ‘heritage’ town, we discovered a wonderful place to eat, the
Yellow Café. The food was excellent, being fresh, organic, home-grown and home-made, as well as affordable. The atmosphere was a mix of Australian bush heritage and Nimbin hippiness, and the ambient music was good enough for a concert in its own right. I have made a mental note to return whenever I visit the Blue
Mountains in the future.
We spent so much time lingering in the Yellow Café that the remaining sightseeing time was somewhat limited. Our intention was to take Andrew for a ride on the Scenic Railway, which is the steepest railway in the world with a 52°incline.
The last time I went on the Scenic Railway (maybe 40 years ago?), it had tiny open-topped carriages with chain wire for sides. It is now a thoroughly modern, glass-topped vehicle – arguably considerably safer than the daredevil experience of rising the train in the past. Unfortunately, it was not possible to buy a ticket for the railway only; only combined tickets were available for the Scenic Railway, the Scenic Skyway, the Scenic Cableway and the Scenic Walkway.
Although these experiences would have been undoubtedly “Scenic”, we simply didn’t have enough time before sunset to do justice to them all – hence my second mental note for the day; next time, get to the Scenic Railway in the morning and spend several hours exploring.
It is several years since I have had the opportunity to visit the Blue Mountains. My ‘taster’ on Thursday has convinced me that I need to return more often and for longer periods of time.