Nocturnal at Katoomba

A couple of weeks ago we read in the Sydney paper about an event being held at Scenic World at Katoomba.  It is entitled “Nocturnal”.  Scenic World is located on the opposite side of the Jamison Valley to the world famous Three Sisters rock formation.  We have never gone there, as we figure there are too many tourists, but this sounded rather good.  Katoomba is about an hour and a half from home towards Sydney, in the Blue Mountains.

For your ticket you get a return ride on the Skyway across the valley, beside Katoomba Waterfall.  Then you ride the Scenic Railway to the bottom of the valley.  From there you walk along the boardwalk and take in all the wonderful illuminations that have been installed.  Finally, you travel to the top of the valley via the cable car.  After which it is time to have a hot drink and toast marshmallows, if that is what you enjoy.

We headed down last Thursday.  The weather was forecast to be cold and potentially showery, so we rugged up.  We drove through a short, sharp shower just before we arrived at Katoomba, but other than that, there was just one tiny bit of drizzle, later in the evening.  Phew.  Yes, it was cold, only reaching 8 degrees C, but that’s Katoomba.

As we had arrived in plenty of time, we had a bit of a wander up and down the street.  We popped into a couple of op shops, not expecting to find anything, but I ended up making a purchase.  My first favourite band was Sky.  I know, an odd choice for a teenager, but then, maybe I’m just odd.  Anyway, my albums are on cassette and I now have no way to play them and we do now have a turntable.  Score!  And it’s in perfect condition.  What was the chance?  Now to find the rest of them.

Next, it was time to find some very early dinner and we came across a rather quirky little cafe.  It was all nooks and crannies with little booths.  Lots of interesting features and curly natural wood.  The food was just what we wanted.  Nice and simple.

Now to pop out to have a look at the Three Sisters.

They looked lovely in the late afternoon light.  We were a bit too late to get the sun shining on them.

By the time we arrived at Scenic World it was dark, so let the fun begin.

The big wheel that drives the cable car was all lit up.

You walked through a twinkling tunnel to reach the main part of the building.

First up, a ride across the valley in the Skyway.  This is what it looks like in the day time.  The car is 270 metres above the valley floor in places.  You can even  go “Beyond Skyway” and travel across, tethered to the top of the car.  Not for this little black duck.

Anyway, as it was night, you couldn’t see anything, so there was no worries about being afraid of heights.  You could hear the waterfall, but not see it.  They did turn some flood lights on later, so this run would have been better.  Ours was packed, while this one was nearly empty.  That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

We could now see the Three Sisters lit up in the distance.

Next was the Scenic Railway.  This  is a photo in the day time.  

Not for the faint of heart.  The seats have you lying back at a strange angle when you hop in, but you see why as you start to descend.

The Scenic Railway is the steepest railway in the world.  You can see all the interesting fact on the boards above.  Mick and I have ridden on several incline railways on our travels, but this was the first time on this particular one.  The train was built in Switzerland.

Once again, as it was dark, you didn’t really get a feel for it.

Having said that we haven’t travelled on this one.  That is true for Mick, but for me, I have travelled on this railway line, but in the predecessor of this train.  In 6th class we were here on a school excursion.  We walked down the Giant’s Staircase at the Three Sisters, to the valley floor, then along a hiking trail and back up on the Scenic Railway.  

This is the train that I travelled in back then, in 1976.  They have it here as a static display.

Here is a historic photo of it in use in the very early days of tourism.  The reason it was built is that there was a coal mine down in this valley and the area we walked through was the regenerated mine area.

Once we reached the valley floor we followed the board walk and took in all the illuminations.  

It was beautiful and there was the perfect musical accompaniment as you walked along.

At the end of the boardwalk you reached the station for the Cableway to take you back to the visitors’ centre. Here is the daytime photo.  This one apparently is only about 220 metres above the ground.  But, being night time, you don’t get any sense of that.

Once back at the top, it was time to go and get a nice hot coffee and stand around the fire pit.  Mick doesn’t enjoy toasted marshmallows, but the ones that were being toasted were nice big ones.  We settle for a cheese toasty, which was just as good, before hopping in the car and driving home.  

We were back home by 9.30, so not a late night.

The evening was wonderful and we are so pleased that we came across that random newspaper article.

So, now we have to go back in the daytime, as there was so much that you went past and couldn’t see.  You can see why it is such a popular place to visit.  It will definitely be on our wish list for the not too distant future.