Tuši's blog: 12351

Sunday, March 10, 2013

12351

Australia: Day 10: Blue Mountains, Katoomba Area

Early in the morning I took the train to the famous Blue Mountains, a dissected plateau carved in sandstone bedrock. They are now a series of ridge lines separated by gorges up to 760 metres deep.

AUS$ 8.40 from Sydney to Blue Mountains

I stopped in Katoomba, the most visited town in the Blue Mountains that is located 106 km to the west of Sydney and lies 1,017 m above sea level. After the shopping I went to the Echo Point, where a nice view to the famous Three Sisters is. There are many legends associated with this rocks and one of them goes like this:

"Three sisters, Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo had a father who was a witch doctor. His name was Tyawan.
Long ago there was a Bunyip who lived in a deep hole who was feared by all.
Passing the hole was considered very dangerous, therefore whenever Tyawan had to pass the hole in search for food, he would leave his daughters safely on the cliff behind a rocky wall.
One fateful day, Tyawan waved goodbye to his daughters and descended down the cliff steps into the valley.
Meanwhile at the top of the cliff, Meenhi was frightened by a large centipede which suddenly appeared before her. Meenhi took a stone and threw it at the centipede. The stone continued on its journey and rolled over the cliff, crashing into the valley below which angered the Bunyip.
The rocky wall behind Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo then began to split open and the three sisters were left stranded on a thin ledge at the top of the cliff. All the birds, animals and fairies stopped still as the Bunyip emerged to see the terrified girls.
As the Bunyip began to approach the girls, to protect them from harm, their father Tyawan used his magic bone to turn them into stone.
Angered by this, the Bunyip then began to chase Tyawan. Becoming trapped, in order to flee from the Bunyip, Tyawan changed into a magnificent Lyre Bird, yet in the process dropped his magic bone. Tyawan and his three daughters were now safe from the Bunyip.
Once the Bunyip had disappeared, Tyawan returned in search of his magic bone, yet this was never to be found.
The Lyre Bird has been searching for this magic bone ever since. Remaining in rock formation, The Three Sisters stand silently overlooking the valley hoping that one day he'll find the bone and turn them back to former selves.
When visiting The Three Sisters, if you listen carefully you may be able to hear the Lyre Bird, Tyawan, as he continues his quest for his lost magic bone."

Each of the Three Sisters stand at 922, 918 & 906 metres tall, respectively.

I continued with walking on Prince Henry Cliff Walk and then I went down to the bottom of the cliff.

Entrance to the Giant Stairway, that descends about 900 steps

My food for 2 days

When I reached the bottom I continued over the Federal pass to Katoomba Coal mine, which was closed in 1945 ans since then it remained as a tourist attraction.