Home Sunday 10th November 2024: That As They Say is a Wrap!

After a wonderful excursion into the Blue Mountains, we boarded a local commuter train for the 64-mile journey into Sydney.  As we were approaching Sydney Central Station so the Indian Pacific, duly cleaned, serviced and boarded by the next group of guests, was departing for the return journey to Perth.

With the grey and overcast weather we have had in the UK over the last 10 days – I heard that since the 28^{th of} October there has been less than 18 minutes of sunshine(!) – I wish I was back in Australia. 

I hope you will all be able to join me again on the 25^th March 2025 when I shall return to Australia to ride the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide and take a tour of Kangaroo Island and Tasmania.

Until then Au Revoir.

Day 9 Wednesday 9th October 2024: Day 4 Off Train Experience in the Blue Mountains: Views from Echo Point



The final part of this excursion was to take the short drive from Scenic World to Echo Point a lookout about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of Katoomba. The lookout offers a view to Three Sisters, Mount Solitary and the rock formation known as the Ruined Castle.

The Three Sisters are an unusual rock formation on the north escarpment towering above the Jamison Valley which you can see behind in the photo. Their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906m).

The Three Sisters were formed by land erosion around 200 million years ago during the Triassic period when the sandstone of the Blue Mountains was eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers, causing the cliffs surrounding the Valley to be slowly broken up.

The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters, according to Wikipedia, is that three sisters, Wimalah, Meeni, and Gunedoo, lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three men from the neighbouring Nepean tribe, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back.

The third photo is towards the rock feature named the Ruined Castle.