Sydney, Australia-12/26/2017 -1/1/2018

Day 5-Blue Mountains National Park  -12/30/2017

Coal mine-Scenic World attraction park

At the end of the walkway our guide is leading us to an old coal mine near by.

Mining tools from 1989 on display.

 

 

The mine is no longer operating as you can see.  The mine is located at the bottom of the Orphan Rocks (tall rock you saw on my previous page)  and steel columns are added to support the entrance of the mine.  The mine closed in the late 1930's.

 

 

For safety reason, nobody is allowed inside the mine.  It still has hundred of kilometers of tunnels inside the mine.

 

 

In front of the Coal mine there is a sculpture of a miner and his donkey hauling the coal in a wagon.

 

Close look at the sculpture.

 

If you look carefully in the ground, there is still trace of charcoal under the rock.

 

 

We are now on the Railway terrace where you have the closest access to the Three Sisters

 

   

 

View from the railway terrace of the cliff

 

The Threes sisters are at the end of the cliff.

 

View of the Jamisson Valley (the Three sisters are on the far left).

 

Clear view of the valley on a beautiful day.

 

 

Railway that used to haul coal up the cliff and then transported to Katoomba.

The Scenic Railway was built to haul coal over the 1,000 feet up from a mine in the Jamison Valley and developed notoriety for being the steepest railway in the world and is recognized with a Guinness World record.

 

Passengers can choose the position of their seat by adjusting up to 20 degrees. Choose CLIFFHANGER at a steep 64° incline; LAIDBACK for a more relaxed journey; or for loyal fans, ORIGINAL at 52°.  I don't remember what position we choose but it was a scary ride.

The railway takes you all the way up.

 

   

Fun ride and it is also the end of our tour in Scenic World park. 

River Cruise 

From the Scenic World Park our bus driver drove us to the Parramatta wharf which is about an hour away.

He dropped us off and said good bye to us as we are taking the ferry back to Circular Quay. 

 

From the Parramatta wharf we boarded the Rivercat Ferry.

 


We are a bit exhausted by now after exploring the Blue Mountains since early this morning and we were glad to be sitting down and enjoy the view of the Parramatta river. 

 

View of the Business center from the Parramatta River.  

 

More view of the city from the boat.

 

Woolloomooloo Harbor located in the inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney.

 

Woolloomooloo was originally a working-class district of Sydney and has only recently changed with gentrification of the inner city areas of Sydney. The redevelopment of the waterfront, particularly the construction of the housing development on the Finger Wharf, has caused major change. I was told that Russell Crowe has a nice appartment located on the Finger Wharf.

 

The Carrick Chamber Bridge and the Finger Wharf on Woolloomooloo.

The Opera house in the distance.

 We are now at Circular quay!  Group picture of a couple of American and the girl we met during this trip.

Basically there are only 5 Americans on this excursion and we hang out together.  Our guide stuck with this group the whole time as he probably know that Americans usually tipped well and we all did.

To our surprise barely anybody gave him a tip. Maybe tipping is an American thing.


NEXT...Dinner at TheMeat & Wine Co.

 

 

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