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Published: January 31st 2008
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Moving on from Newcastle, we bypassed Sydney, and in the pouring rain made our way up into the Blue Mountains. Just an hour out of Sydney, this national park boasts some of the most amazing scenery in Australia. First we headed to Katoomba and to the Echo Point lookout where the famous view of the Three Sisters can be seen. Not today however, as all the mountains were shrouded in mist. So instead, we headed off to find a campsite in Blackheath, a short distance up the road. Then back to Katoomba, to the Edge cinema. If we couldn't see the views in real life, we were going to see them on the six storey high screen at the Edge cinema. The short film they show gave us views of the mountains and descriptions of the wildlife. It discusses the problems faced by the ecosystems due to increasing human activity in the area. It goes deep into the canyons of the park, and finally shows us the Wollemi Pine - a fern tree that was thought to have died out with the dinosaurs, but was discovered in a hidden valley in the Blue Mountains in the mid-1990s.
We woke the
following morning to see blue skies. Worried that it would cloud over again, I bullied Jen out of bed to go and see the views. The closest to our campsite was Govett's Leap, which gave us amazing views over the Grose Valley and Bridal Veil Falls. Then we drove back to Katoomba, first to Sublime Point lookout, also with great views, but the clouds were begining to gather at this point. In the trees above us, black cockatoos were happily munching away at the fruit. Then back to Echo Point lookout where the three sisters could now be seen. We didn't spend long there as we had decided not to pay out the extortionate parking fees a second time! The we headed back towards Blackheath and to Evans lookout (just a little further south of Govett's Leap) for more fine views and some breakfast.
I would have loved to spend more time here. There must be some fine bushwalking in the Blue Mountains and I would have liked to give canyoning a go. But we had to move on and so we headed west toward the Jenolan Caves. About halfway there, Jen had to brake sharply as there was
an echidna crossing the road. The echidna barely flinched, and wasn't going to stop for photographs. The road down to the caves was very narrow and winding. The Jenolan caves are limestone laid some 430 million years ago as a coral reef. A complex network of streams have, over the years, cut an elaborate and remarkable system of caves through the limestone rock. With too many caves to visit in one day, we opted for a guided tour of the Lucas cave. It had some beautiful formations, but both Jen and I had been in more amazing caves. We also did a self-guided tour of the Nettle cave, where we were able to see stromatolites - limestone bulges with a strange blue-green colour caused by the algae that grows on it and give it a funny shape. Then we headed off, leaving the park to the west and stopping for the night in Oberon.
The next day we turned south towards Canberra. We stopped briefly in Goulburn, visiting the Old Goulburn Brewery (a strange place where very few of the exhibits seemed to have anything to do with beer) and the Big Merino - a 15 metre high sheep
that celebrates the importance of wool production to Australia. Along with the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, there are a number of large monuments around Australia to whatever the region is famous for. Since we were passing, we went and had a look.
Then on to Canberra. Stopping only once to admire a view, we headed into the capital and found a campsite. Then we drove up Black Mountain and went up the Telstra Tower to get a view over the city. As national capitals go, Canberra is quite small and spaced out, and we could see this from the tower. The next day we went to visit New Parliament House, the High Court, the Library and the National Museum. All of which may sound boring, but we found it quite interesting. When Australia became a nation in 1901, it needed a capital. With Sydney and Melbourne squabbling over who should be capital, it was decided a new city should be built. Canberra was designed by Walter Burley Griffin (after whom the artificial lake is named), a Chicago based landscape architect. When the capital moved to Canberra in 1927, it was recognised that a permanent parliament house would take
too long to build and so a temporary one was built. The "Old" Parliament house remained the seat of government until 1988 when the new building was finally opened. We had a look around on a guided tour and then took in the view from the roof.
We walked around this bit of the city, visiting the high court, the lake and the library, where there was an exhibition on the Afghan cameleers who used to drive camels in Australia for explorers and traders. When the camels became obsolete in the 1930s, they were ordered to be destroyed. The cameleers couldn't bring themselves to do this and so let them go. As a result, Australia is the only place in the world where you can see wild camels. Then we drove through the embassy district. When designing the embassy buildings, the different countries were asked to design them typically to the architecture of those countries. Some, such as China and Papua New Guinea, took this seriously, however the British High Consulate seems to be letting the side down a little.
The last stop of the day was the Australian National Museum, exhibiting all things Australian - a lot
of which is quite interesting, but the Garden of Australian Dreams simply defies explanation. The next day, before leaving Canberra, we visited the Australian War Memorial, the monument to the fallen Australian servicemen from the first world war onwards. It also includes a museum describing all the battles that have been fought. Gallipoli, of course, features prominently.
From here we left Canberra and headed back into New South Wales towards the Snowy Mountains. If we get round to writing the last instalment, then you can read all about it!
Jamie
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Tom
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What happened to the echidna? Did you save it from tyre-squashy-death?