Rise and shine! We had to leave early because Blue Mountains is about 1½ hours away from our home. We packed tuna sandwiches and anchovies fritters in case we cannot find any halal foods. For the kids, it will be butter sandwiches instead just in case tuna might be too spicy for them.
Everyone’s asleep at the back. Well who wouldn’t when the ride rocked you to sleep and you were shielded from the heat outside by the full-blasted aircon. Even my navigator nodded a couple of times with his eyes closed. I’m not complaining because it was indeed an enjoyable drive.
Blue Mountains… Finally we have arrived. Wait a minute… According to the GPS, it’s another 15-30 minutes drive. So…… We actually have arrived the Blue Mountains town in the Katoomba suburb, not the attraction yet. Alright just continue driving…
Yes!!! I saw the signage!!! Scenic World Blue Mountains! Hooray!!! I simply couldn’t wait to step into the electro-glass floor of the Scenic Skyway. Imagine standing in a cabin around 1300m above sea level supported only by a cable. It’s really thrilling!
Tickets can only be purchased onsite. Each ticket came with a wristband with a printed barcode that can be scanned to enter the station for the rides. There’s no rule on which ride we should take first because we will finish at the same place so we chose to ride the steepest passenger railway in the world first, the Scenic Railway. This ride was totally different from any theme park rides. When we entered the carriage, the seating position was 52° inclined. As it descended deeper and deeper, we felt like we were standing instead. I was seated with my legs hung and busy snapping pictures and recording the experience. When it started to incline at 64°, I started to panic because I struggled for a while to keep my balance and ensure that I did not drop my phone. Fortunately it lasted for less than 10 minutes.
Once we reached, we took the shortest route to the Cableway Bottom Station because 1) we are not into long walks. 2) We are not into nature. 3) We just want the shortest route. Don’t get us wrong (although you may not be judging), we’re not lazy. We just felt that 5 minutes were enough to take some pictures with cascading stream background, listen to the birds chirping, and breathe the fresh air. Plus, it was scorching hot! The weather was at a peak of 42°C. Wrong day but at the right place. 🙂
We took the Scenic Cableway, ascending to the starting point. It was more than 500m journey and hubby suggested that we stood at the back of the cabin so that we could have a picturesque backdrop of the plateau for our pictures. Very smart!
Our adventure was adjourned because it’s lunchtime. We went to the Terrace Café, ordered several drinks, and sat away from the counter because we smuggled some munchies. Hahaha… If the foods there were halal-certified, we didn’t have to do this ok. All the ‘wiches were walloped, left only the fritters. Now that everyone’s full, we resumed with the final ride.
The ride I’ve been waiting for… Scenic Skyway. When the cabin door opened, everybody was rushing to the windows to get the clearest view of either the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls, Jamison Valley, or all of the above. Me, I dashed to the middle and pulled my kids. A couple of minutes after the ride commenced, they switched on the electro-glass cabin floor and revealed breathtaking views. I convinced my kids that it’s extremely safe. I asked them to jump to prove it and they did!
Multiple times! Ok I admit, I jumped too but only once. :p The journey to Skyway’s east station will halt midway so that everyone could be Nigel Barker and flashed their cameras. Once we disembarked, we headed to the lookouts where Allah’s creation took our breath away once again. Blue sky, white clouds, green trees… If we could print the photos instantly, they would make great postcards. Snap snap, click click, and it’s time to go. We bought several souvenirs (mostly magnets) and left contented.
Within few minutes drive was a chocolate factory which I added in the itinerary since it’s on our way back. It was a major disappointment because the chocolatier wasn’t around and they only sell chocolates. No nougat at all. Since we’re already here, might as well we buy some. We were surprised that we finished early hence we discussed where else to go to kill time. Eureka! Since we didn’t manage to shop till we drop yesterday, we unanimously agreed to go to DFO once again.
This time round, we ate at the foodcourt first before spending on apparels. The japanese foods were surprisingly halal but it was too late. I’ve already ordered Turkish foods.
As usual, I was targeting men’s wear because hubby still hasn’t bought anything yet. From 1 shop to another, nothing seemed suitable. We saw an Oakley shop and went in. There was a sale on the long sleeves tshirt. 2 for AUD45. Damn! I mean it was damn cheap! Thank goodness there were 2 pieces that he liked. I quickly grabbed it (before he changed his mind) and saw another long sleeves tshirt which I knew he would love, especially when it was also darn cheap. 1 thing led to another. He saw a laptop bag that can fit his ginormous Alienware and bought it too. Finally hubby beamed like a child who was given an ice cream.
Such a relief. I can now shop for myself guilt-free. evil laugh Somehow my conscience kept telling me to minimize shopping and I obeyed. I ended up buying only 2 blouses. Alright let’s go home before any more damage is done.
Do share your views and post any questions you have in the comments box and I will have them answered in an instant! 🙂
Later,
Teana
