The Blue Mountains
The area is named for the blue haze formed by droplets of oil evaporating from the eucalyptus forest that carpets the hills.
For city dwellers, the Blue Mountains offer the advantage of nearby wilderness. The disadvantage for the Blue Mountains is that they are close to Sydney. Buses carry Asian tour groups and troops of Australian pensioners into the region. At popular lookouts, the place seems more like Disneyland than a National Forest.
Picturesque and eminently photographable, views often are obscured by people posing for “I was here” pictures. Spectacular nature gets reduced to mere backdrop.
A lookout platform hangs out over a 1,000’ cliff. Steps away from the tour bus parking area, it’s the most popular spot within the hundreds of square miles that make up the Blue Mountains. Everyone eventually winds up here.
Even the Queen, who stood on this spot shortly after she ascended to the monarchy.
The whole point of this particular lookout is a rock formation called The Three Sisters. Those of us who have been to Yosemite might not be particularly impressed by these stones, but then again, Yosemite isn’t a day trip from anywhere. Proximity to civilization is the big plus here.
Tired from a busy week in Sydney, Laura and I completed our appreciation of The Three Sisters and returned to our lodgings at Redleaf Resort in Blackheath, near Katoomba. After a nap, we took a short walk around the neighborhood, planning to make some serious day hikes into the canyonlands the next day.
As we walked, a light rain—no more than a heavy mist—began to fall, producing a beautiful rainbow. We remarked that truly we were in Oz.
What we didn’t realize was that this rainbow presaged a huge storm that would last for several days. Floodwaters would isolate some towns with and would cut our intended route up the coast highway. In the end, we were to be imprisoned in our hotel room for three days.
Oz, indeed.