02/07/2026
Today’s trip took us to the Blue Mountains, a famous UNESCO World Heritage national park. At Scenic World, we saw beautiful waterfalls, coal mines, and rock formations in a breathtaking area that is massive in size. We took the park’s Skyway Cable Car ride, which travels between Eaglehawk Lookout and Skyway East Station. From there, we were able to see the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls, and Mount Solitary. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go the entire length of the ride as the winds were too strong, but it made for an exciting experience as we stood in a swaying cabin hundreds of meters above the ground!
After that, we took the Scenic Railway, which holds the Guinness World Record for the steepest passenger railway in the world, traveling at a dizzying 52-degree angle. It took us down to a walk through old coal mines that are over a hundred years old. To get back up, we rode the Scenic Cableway, which offered amazing panoramic views of the surrounding area.
Next, we toured a quaint little place called Leura Garden Village. Other notable locations that we visited included Lincoln’s Rock, Wentworth Falls, Pulpit Rock, and Govett’s Leap.
At the end of this post, you may be wondering why the Blue Mountains are the colour that they are. Well, the reason is based on the oils evaporating from the eucalyptus trees. Those oils give the whole area that special blue sheen. As it gets hotter, the mountains get bluer! This happens due to the Rayleigh scattering effect: the eucalyptus aerosols scatter the shorter, blue wavelengths of the visible light spectrum toward our eyes. There’s a little science for you, folks! :)
