Katoomba City Of The Blue Mountains
Below: The Scenic Skyway, Katoomba (Steve Parish)
The operator asked everyone on the Scenic Skyway to move around the car as it travelled 1,000 meters above the valley floor.
His aim was to allow everyone to gaze through the liquid crystal floor which had cleared to allow passengers to view the temperate rain forest from above.
He asked the children in the center to move, and was promptly ignored.
Changing his tact, he asked the person in charge of the children to move them, so that the rest of the passengers could have access.
I’d positioned myself in the corner, and was steadfastly gazing at the waterfalls after which Katoomba was named.
I’d tried not to hear the pleas of the cable car operator, as they were my kids you see – all twenty six of them!
Well, not mine exactly! I had brought a group of Korean students to the mountains with their teacher on a sight seeing tour.
Claiming a fear of heights, the teacher had persuaded me to take the kids across the valley on the Skyway!
As the car moved away from the station, I saw her smiling and heading for the coffee shop, and realized that I had been well and truly conned!
Katoomba is in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia.
It is about 110 kilometers, or just over 68 miles, west of Sydney.
Ka-toom-ba is a native Australian word for ‘shining falling water’, and the town was named after the falls in 1877.
Katoomba was first developed as a holiday and tourist destination towards the end of the 19th century, with a number of quality hotels and guest houses being established there.
Today, tourism based on the area’s rugged local scenery and attractions is the main industry in Katoomba.
Being only a short trip by road or rail from Sydney makes it a very popular destination.
Below: Temperate rainforest of The Blue Mountains (Steve Parish)
Allan Plays Mountain Goat
As the Skyway car reached it’s destination, the car operator showed definite signs of wanting to throw me out of the thing as he saw about two thirds of the kids lining up meekly behind me.
There, they’re all out of the center, I said, quite unconvincingly!
I was at a loss, as I spoke no Korean, and only a few of the kids spoke English. And they weren’t volunteering themselves.
As the doors opened, I noticed about seven boys rush out the other door. I raced as fast as I could to catch them, but as I ran, the ones who had stuck with me ran even faster.
As I yelled for them to stop, all I got was a chorus of giggles.
There are a couple of walking trails back across the valley, one that takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete, the other takes almost an hour…
Of course, the kids were tearing off to the longer track…
After about 5 minutes, I’d persuaded some of the kids to wait.
As I scrambled over rocks to avoid sightseers on the path, I caught the kids and sent them back to the group that I had left waiting one by one!
I finally caught up with the ringleader, and he of course, in broken English, refused to come back because he wanted to walk…
I said you can’t, because I am in charge, it is about to rain, I’m going on the Skyway and you can’t walk alone. Come now.
With a shrug, he forgot whatever English he knew, and started walking down the track.
In a flash of genius, I used the universal word that bribes kids everywhere!
OK, I said! Walk! Don’t get lost, because you’ll need to catch a train back. I’m taking everyone else to MacDonalds!
About 3 seconds later he was walking behind me, mumbling and grumbling. Not being able to understand his words, I could grasp the meaning by the look on his face.
As I boarded the Skyway car again, the operator just looked and said…’Oh, you’re back. Please keep your kids off the glass floor…
Entrance to the Grand Arch, Jenolan Caves
In the Blue Mountains, NSW
