DAY THREE:- LEURA VILLAGE AND THE JAMISON COAL MINE



The alarm rang exactly at 6 A.M. and neither of us got up to switch it off, 5 minutes later I snoozed it and 15 minutes later it rang again. By the time I got out of bed and rubbed my eyes it was 6:30. I woke up the wife. Post some morning cuddling, we brushed, changed, skipped bath and hurried to the hotel lobby for breakfast. Carrying only a few snacks, a bottle of water and our digicam, we reached the foyer at 5 minutes past 7 only to be informed that our pickup had come and left. We groaned, hitched a cab till Star City, (cost us 10 dollars for what would have been a 10-minute walk), which was the last pickup point of the coach. An aged Sikh couple from Delhi stood with their voucher in hand unable to figure out where they were scheduled for the day. Apparently they were to be a part of our coach and I told them to wait alongside. Shortly, the coach arrived, we handed over the voucher and boarded it and were off to the Blue Mountains, Jamison Valley & the steepest train ride of the world and the Featherdale Zoo.

A particular thing I noticed in Australia and New Zealand was that the coach driver doubled up as the travel guide. So our coach driver-cum-tourist guide was Matthew, a balding, greying but a likable gentleman in his late forties informed us that the journey would be about 4 hours and we'd be taking a stop at Leura Village on our way to see the Three Sisters, Blue Mountains and thereon to the Jamison Valley. Matthew started out telling us about the Aussie heritage and history, geographical features, wildlife, landmarks, lifestyles, which interested me a lot and put the wife to sleep. Slowly we left the hustle bustle of Sydney city Monday morning and moved on to the suburbs and as habitation receded, we got a toast of rare natural beauty. In about an hour and a half we reached Leura where we stopped for half an hour for tea/coffee.

Nothing, I repeat nothing was above two floors in Leura and the fragrance rendered a sense of deja vu. We stopped by at a church which was apparently closed down but it had a lawn which was full of lovely dry leaves that had fallen as autumn had just begun. A short walk brought us to the main market lane, which was dotted with numerous trees and shrubs with rare varieties of magnolia flowers in unimaginable hues and the sky was as if it was lit up with the colours of the flowers and we took ample photographs. It was a very peaceful place and the people went about their work in a very leisurely manner unlike the city where pedestrians walked faster than cars. Additionally, most of the population consisted of people from Australian or European origin again different from the city where Asians outnumbered them by millions.


In about an hour from our departure from Leura we reached a mountainous area and a huge valley known as the Jamison Valley. Three conjoined rotund-at-the-top rocky structures formed the end of the mountains while hazy mountains formed the backdrop at the horizon. We were informed these are known as the Three Sisters in Australian folklore. The story goes that a magician father turned his three daughters into stone and himself into a bird to save them from a man-eating bear, and lost his magic skittle when his hands turned into wings. And to this day he flies in the valley looking for the lost orb. However, it might be taken as my personal opinion that, though the blue mountains and the three sisters were a sight to behold, they frankly do not live up to the hype built around them. Although it would have been a different story had we visited the Jenolan caves, which we had to unfortunately skip owing to time considerations. As we were through with the photo-ops of the three sisters and the vast Jamison Valley, we were led to the Scenic Valley coal mine area, where the world's steepest train ride would take us right into the depth of the Jamison Valley, which promised considerable excitement.
It is known as the old railway or the scenic railway, with a 52 degree incline, this old cable train is the steepest in the world. It takes you deep into the heart of the 19th century coal mine (now dysfunctional) situated in the Jamison Valley. From where the train drops you, there is a dainty walkway built within the lethargic rain forest typically comprising of birch trees. On the path you can see the entrance of the ancient coal mine and you can have a look at the remains of the mine which have now been resurrected. In the forest broken coal carts are visible which were used to ferry coal. From the end of the walkway, a cable car takes you flying over the valley back to the summit where a souvenir shop and a cafe greet you. You can buy your own photographs as you zip down the scenic railway which are taken by an automated camera installed.
After a light meal and ice-cream, we boarded the bus yet again for the Featherdale Zoo, which ironically is located in the suburbs of Sydney. Featherdale is a wildlife park and as we entered, we were greeted by the curator with a baby kangaroo wrapped up because of the cold. We were told the name kangaroo actually means, "I don't know/I don't understand". When Captain Cook discovered Australia he saw the kangaroo and asked the local, what is this large grasshopper called and they replied "Kangaroo! Kangaroo!". That's how the name stuck. Hilarious but true. As we moved further we reached an enclosure where a herd of kangaroos fiddled around. After the initial hesitation, we realised they were quite harmless and touched their fur and played with them. The park housed a wild variety of fauna, especially the tasmanian birds, housed in aviaries. Apart from the kangaroos, we saw the koalas, wombats, emus, tasmanian devils and even our own Bengal tigers. And we stamped our Featherdale passport with stamps of the animals we saw and we had collected all stamps by the time we were through and the sun had disappeared to reveal a saffron dusk over the wildlife park.

As we moved away from the Featherdale Zoo, I reminisced over the events of the day and smiled at the tiring yet very informative and enjoyable day. Our coach started on its journey into the city and on the way, Mathew gave us an unscheduled complimentary tour of the Sydney Olympic Village. It was a truly a sight to behold, the grandeur of the infrastructure. We stared in awe at the aesthetics of the design. We were informed that Sydney, by far, is presently the most prepared venue for the Olympic Games and if it were scheduled for Sydney, they can be up and going in three weeks, that's all! The city was all hustling and bustling and we looked so lost what with having spent the entire day in virtually uninhabited areas. We jumped off at Darling Harbour, the only place we knew we could find some palatable Indian Vegetarian food. We chose rice, whole gram dumplings curry (kadi pakora), spiced beans (rajmah masala) and black lentils in butter gravy (dal makhani) with Indian breads. A wholesome meal (which we had to reluctantly share with storks) later, we strolled around the harbour, sat for a while, enjoyed the breeze and walked down to our hotel amidst alluring fountains of all shapes and sizes, which as I said was a 10-minute walk. And dozed off without even thinking about anything else.