Exploring The Blue Mountains In Australia

By Author: Leura Zones
Total Articles: 38
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It is indeed strange to see the world directly below your feet from a height while on motion. The trip which lasts for a distance of 720 meters across the Blue Mountains in the Skyway is an experience worth relieving again and again. I could hardly believe that I was seeing see the world below my feet; ravines that were created eons ago and waterfalls that were simply too beautiful for words. I couldn't help thinking that it's no wonder that it is called the ‘Walk on air'. The Skyway is the first cablecar in world to have an Electro-scenic glass floor.

Going to Sydney wasn't on the cards a few weeks ago but I got talked into it by a couple of backpacking friends who had bought Australian air tickets and just couldn't wait to see the world. Well, I always imagined that I could see enough of the world from my cable right in the comfort of home in Manchester, cheapest airfare or not! I guess the thought of missing my friends really got me interested and besides, football season was over and the adrenaline needed to be used. Yeah, you get that when you're a football addict! For reasons that I couldn't fathom, my friends ...
... had a fixation on the Blue Mountains and I just went along with them. I guess getting to Sydney was the easy part as all we had to do was to get Australian air tickets and then hop on a plane to the famous Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport. Considering the volume of flights into the airport, we were just lucky as we got one offering cheapest airfare that suited our budget for the trip. Getting to the Blue Mountains is a different ballgame altogether; there is no flight service there (not that we would have used a plane anyway). We settled on the train option and hopped on one from Sydney Central Station.

I saw firsthand why my friends were so particular about the Blue Mountains. Actually it isn't the kind of the normal height you would expect of a mountain. In spite of that, I think the word ‘magnificent' or majestic would fit it nicely. This probably explains UNESCO's inscription of the Blue Mountains region as a World Heritage Area in 2000. Personally, I think one major problem is deciding what to see at the Blue Mountains given the fact that there are so many attractions there. You could simply pass out from the choices available to you. Now, that got to us because we had to draw lots to decide where to go first, at least that was the intention. We unanimously decided that the Scenic World Blue Mountains in Katoomba should be the first and a must.

We also decided to ride the Zig Zag Railway. This steam train took us through a descent of 210 meters and gave us the opportunity to see some majestic sandstone viaducts, three actually. Although, owned and run by a preservation society, it offers thrilling society. The ideal end to our Blue Mountains trip was a day out at the Mount Tombah Botanic Gardens. I don't think it is possible to individually examine the over 40, 000 plants in the gardenbut we did the best we could!