This was the best day so far. Went to Katoomba which is the main village people go to when they want to see the Blue Mountains. It is a good ways outside of Sydney and most people take guided tours. Like – as I’m discovering – most things in Sydney, these tours are pretty expensive. Also if you read the reviews a lot of people complain about not having enough time or wasting time doing things they weren’t too excited about. So, after a little bit of research I decided to just take the train out there. They have a local hop on hop off bus which gets you around to the different sights and at the end of the day you can take the train back to town.
First stop was the main attraction: Scenic World. This is a must see and I think I paid $30 AU to get in. They have 3 “rides.” One the claim is the steepest railway in the world (really it’s called a funicular). Then there are 2 trams. One is what you would expect – a tram that goes from the bottom of the mountain to the top and the other they call the Skyway which goes straight across from one side to the other. I’m sure you can check it out in the photos below or on their website. The views are really spectacular and riding the funicular was a riot.
After that got back on the bus and went up to a really cool hiking spot that ended up and a little waterfall called Leura Cascades. I got some so-so long exposure shots you can see below. After that went to the nearby town of Leura and from there caught the train back to Sydney.
I think it deserves mentioning that wherever you go people use different names for the same thing, or the same name for different things. For example: train, cable car, cable way, and tram. For me it is just too confusing when people say cable car, so for my purposes I choose not to use that term unless I’m in San Francisco. Really there is such a big difference between a train which has a cable underneath, whether it be a street car or a funicular, and what I would consider a tram which is a small gondola hanging from a cable. So you won’t hear “cable car” from me rather I will use the terms tram and funicular unless I have a good reason not to.
Scorecard:
Trams: 2
Funiculars: 1
Walking:
Steps: 17733
Miles: 10.25
Calories: 1220
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