We were feeling a bit blue at the prospect of leaving beautiful Oz during
our final excursion in this wonderful country - a visit to the Blue
Mountains National Park which happens to be a short drive from Sydney.
The mountains gain their name from the blue haze which blankets the mountains
in the region. The national park provided nice hiking trails, though the feature
attraction is certainly the three sisters monument - a rock formation of 3
tall, nearly identical pillars. One thing that stands out about our visit was
the scary ambience of the night we stayed in Katoomba. It reminded me of several
dark, chilly Halloween nights from my childhood... it was windy, dark, and
the numerous trees in the area surrounding the park visitor center (located
close to the 3 sisters) creating a forbidding environment. We foolishly decided
to go look at the Sisters in the dark (they're lit up by several banks of flood
lights), but ended up hurrying back to the car in a state of panic after the
night had its impact on our nerves. Although the whole event seems silly now
in the comfort of my living room, I can certainly say that my imagination (with
some help of course) can still produce the frightening fantasies from my childhood...
Well there you have it.. this page concludes our trip to Australia and hence our wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime trip (though we might do it again when we retire!). We want to once again thank all our family and friends who helped make this trip truly memorable. By now we are settled in at home once again and we welcome all of you to visit us (perhaps not all at once since that would be a bit cramped!). Thanks for reading and we'll hope to have you along on our next adventure.