The Blue Mist Mountains Of Katoomba...

"...on the trail of the three sis-ters"

Yesterday we went to the Blue Mountains National Park, which are about 100 miles west of Sydney. On the drive out we dropped in to a sanctuary that's mainly for injured, endangered or orphaned animals. Most of what we saw we'd seen at Taronga but most of these guys had been hand reared or had a fair amount of human contact. Despite the Koala's overall furriness (2 of them were actually awake) the wombats are officially Australia's cutest animal. We were equally impressed with the brazen-ness of the kookaburras, they seemed very happy to sit on the backs of the benches and pose for photos. We also saw a Tasmanian Devil, but he just kept running round in circles so i couldn't take a photo. However, for those of you on the RMGS 3rd year trip to Rouen, just sit back and recall Darren's Taz impression, on the coach.

Then we got to the Blue Mountains. They're so called because when sunlight hits the vapours from natural oils that seep from the eucalypt trees, a blueish mist forms around the forest tops. Our photos don't do this region justice as to the naked eye it really does look blue. Apparently when they have a really wet winter (like it hasn't rained enough here) the blue is far more vivid and can even be seen from the centre of Sydney. The forest area at the base of the mountains is predictably home to loads of koalas, although we didn't see any - probably all bloody sleeping. However there were loads of cockatoos flying about and stripping bark from the trees. I found it particularly hard not to snigger every time our driver referred to them as "cockys".

Then we moved on to a lookout point for the Three Sisters. Again our photos can't show how amazing these rock formations are. They do look truly majestic against the backdrop of the forest & mountains. Depending on your views of science and rock erosion you may prefer one of the Aboriginal Dreamtime legends for the naming of these rocks. It is said that when the men travelled into the bush to discuss the matters of the tribe, 3 girls followed them. The tribe's witch doctor chased them through the bush, so to save them their father turned his 3 daughters to stone with a magic stick. In retaliation the witch doctor turned the father into a bird. It is said that if a small bird is seen at the base of the rocks scratching about, it is the father of the sisters trying to find his magic stick. I like to think that Paul Hogan used elements of this in Crocodile Dundee, for when he goes into the bush & dances with the tribe, and the camera bird follows him. Or maybe it's cos women are so bloody nosey.