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Published: April 1st 2008
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The beach where we watched the dolphins
Couldnt get the little buggers on camera!! We woke again early and packed all our things away. The highway rest areas are convenient and free but they do not always have the best toilet facilities and there are no showers. We figured if we headed down to the coast we could get both and have breakfast too. We set off for hawks nest it was not too far away from where we had stayed and we were pulling up by the sea before we knew it. Tim got the kettle on and I started cooking the bacon it was only when we were sat eating and drinking in the front (it was cold) that we spotted what we thought was a dolphins fin. Tim said he thought he had seen one a few moments before. At closer inspection and to our utter disbelief there were 2 shouls of dolphins off the coast. We spent over a hour watching them feed up and down the shoreline, only 20 metres out. A local lady explained that they are there most mornings and that the beach round the corner was notorious for encountering them when you swam. Well you dont need to tell us something like that more than once and
we drove round to where she had mentioned looking to pitch up for the day. We were disappointed to find what seemed to be a school outing and around 30 kids canooing in the area. We decided to head back to where we had been and see how the weather panned out. It is hard to know what to do when the weather is indecisive. In the end as it was still really early we went down the road to use the internet. we had to book our ferry crossing on New Zealand and also change our camper van rental date to a little longer. We needed to find a place to stay in sydney once our van went back and also our first night in Auckland. It's not all beach sitting and star gazing you see!! that and the fact that the blog needing sorting too!!!!! The internet was quite expensive again so the blog ended up being left, plus the guy would not let you download photos which is a pain. Anyway after we'd finished all that the weather had not improved so we took the decision to drive through the day and into the blue mountains. we
would be a day early but we were both keen to get to them anyway.
That day we drove through some of the most beautiful and mind boggling scenery. Our path took us through both the Wollemi and Yengo National Parks. Passing Mount Tomah at over 1000 feet above sea level. The views were spectacular but very difficult to find places to stop and take pictures off the highway. We passed quiet suburbs with wonderful prestigious houses and gardens. We also passed small vineyards which was very tempting not to stop at. Our plan was to head towards a place called Katoomba where the most famous area of the blue mountains is. This meant that we drove pretty much all of the day and stopped late in a rest area on the outskirts of a small town called Blackheath. We stopped and purchased some local red wine to go with dinner and a few nibbles for our planned card game later (arnt we exciting?). The rest area we chose we had to ourselves which is unusual. We figured we were still around 40 minutes outside of Katoomba which we would drive the next morning.
We woke early which
you do on these rest areas as they are quite close to the roadside. The night had been cold in the mountains and all of a sudden the fleeces we had both lugged round with us for the last two months were more than welcome. We headed off for Katoomba as it gets quite a nice right up in our book and it is also the place to get to the 3 sisters rocks. Personally I was not that impressed with the town, maybe it was the dreary weather but it was described as having a vaneer of historic graciousness. However it seemed a bit lack lustre and a little industrial. Maybe we missed something?? Anyway we didnt stay and headed straight back to the highway without our signs for the 3 sisters. All we knew was that we needed to look for Echo Point lookout off the highway. Just before we got theere we passed a place called Scenic Skyway. We stopped and took a look and found that there was a cable car down into the Jamison Valley to an old coal mine. You could also view the 3 sisters on the way down which seemed an added
bonus. Normally you can also ride the scenic railway originally built in 1880 straight down the gorge but that was closed unfortunately. The ride cost about 20 dollars and it was pretty good. IT ios very steep into the gorge and it was also quite cold on the day. The views of the 3 sisters were really good but they were much smaller than we expected. We had a good walk round the valley at the bottom and through soem of the old mine information. It is amazing that the guys would work down here in such remote conditions. We then headed back up on the cable car and on our way to find Wentworth Falls which looked pretty impressive in our guide book.
The falls were around another 30 minutes through the mountains. Once you get to them there is a look out point over the valley and a 20 minute walk down tot he view point for the falls. They were amazing and the lookout was the busiest place we had been. We really enjoyed the mountains and would have liked to stay longer there is just so much to see and do. There are lots of
The 3 sisters
Aboriginal legend has it that the rocks represent 3 sisters imprisoned by their father to protect them from a bunyip. We have yet to find out what a bunyip is!! walks which we did not get a chance to enjoy but Sydney was calling and our final leg of Australia was close........
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