Week 5: Winter in AUS

Happy Winter Solstice!!  That's right...while all of you at home are enjoying the LONGEST day of the year, and hopefully the beginning of a warm summer, we are in the Southern Tablelands of New South Whales where it is the shortest day of the year and in fact winter.  I'm sure you're wondering "How bad can winter in Australia really be?".  Well, since we are traveling South, it can be equated to winter in Vancouver.  The days can be quite mild, if the sun is shining, but the temperature can dip to zero in the evenings.  Don't forget, we are camping!!  Thankfully a quick shop at K-Mart for the necessities, such as a thicker blanket, cozy pants and hoodies, has made the evenings a bit more comfortable.

Captain of the Hippie

But we won't devote any more time to complaining about the weather because we really are happy we made the trip through this part of NSW.  We specifically came to visit the Blue Mountains, Katoomba Mines and Jenolan Caves.  We had a beautiful, sunny day at the Blue Mountains and the mine.  We rode down the mountain in an open rail car on an old caving line.  It is the steepest incline railway in the world, and again, a little too close to a roller coaster drop for Andre.  We also rode the Skyway, a cable car 270m above the the ravines and waterfall in the the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountain Ravine

A beautiful sunny day

The "Three Sisters"

The Scenic Railway

One of the old Mine Furnaces

The Ravine and Three Sisters

The Skyway

The view of the Waterfall from the Skyway

After our hike down to the falls

We spent another day a little further in the mountains at the Jenolan Caves.  The  drive to the actual caves is around 8km of narrow, twisting road up the side of a mountain at an average speed of 30km/h.  There are 11 cave tours available, each around 60-90 minutes long.  The caves were discovered in the mid 1800's and the first tour we did was a large open cave that was the initial discovery of Jenolan.  We then took a 90 minute tour of the Orient cave...one of the most amazing things we have seen!  It was well worth the white-knuckle drive :)

Aside from our tourist side trips, we have spent much time on the road as we make our way to Melbourne.  We plan to be in the city in the next 2 days and spend 4 or 5 touring the area and driving the Oceanic Highway.  The weather reports call for higher temps in the Melbourne area, so we may even take in an AFL game.

Photos from the Jenolan Caves:

That's all for now...more to come in a few days!