Experiencing Scenic World with the Grandkids     

Memories of Scenic World have me hurtling down a steep incline holding on for dear life. I recall the short bone shaking ride on the Scenic Railway with teeth clenching terror. So, when we line up with Mr 7 and Mr 9-and-three-quarters for their first experience of the steepest passenger railway in the world, I attempt, not very successfully, to hide my fear.

Scenic Railway

When the train comes into view, hauled up the tracks by thick steel cables, it hardly makes a sound, I realise that things have changed. Considerably. Each car, neatly trimmed in red, is enclosed by wide viewing windows. Mr 9-and-three-quarters presses the black button to adjust our varnished wooden seat to the mid-position. It feels the most comfortable.

Seated in the second row, I chew on my lip, still unsure that this ride is for me. Mr 7 snuggles under my husband’s arm, trying to be brave. The opening chords of the theme song from Indiana Jones blast through the speakers as the train begins its fast four-minute 52-degree descent into the Jamison Valley.

I grab the bar above my head – more for stability that anything else. It’s not as scary as expected. And then it’s over and Mr 7 is beaming. “Let’s do that again,” he said. Halfway down, possibly in the tunnel, he opened his eyes and shoved my husband aside.

Scenic Walkway

Promising that we will return to the Scenic Railway after lunch, we set off on the 30-minute Scenic Walkway, loop to the Cableway, searching for the Gruffalo and his friends along the way. That activity, available from March to August, keeps the boys entertained. I am on the lookout for a lyrebird.

A small group of people are gathered near the Cableway entrance. They’re peering across into the forest. I hear knocking sounds and the calls of other bird calls coming from the forest floor. There I spy two lyrebirds scratching in the dirt, their calls mimicking sounds of people and birds of the forest. My day is complete.

Scenic Cableway

My favourite ride is the smooth glide up from the valley in the Scenic Cableway. Like the other two rides, it’s over all too soon. The menu at EATS270 Restaurant is mostly fast food, but the boys are happy with their chicken burgers, and we enjoy our Coal Miner’s beef burger on a charcoal bun.

The queue for the Scenic Railway is longer than this morning. We’ll be on the third trip down, but the time passes quickly. This time we’re all more relaxed and Mr 7 sits looking out of the window. The return trip, as the cables haul us up backwards, is almost as much fun.  

Blue Mountains Explorer Bus

Our morning began at the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus office where the boys sat in the driver’s seat of a model bus, steering, pulling levers and pressing buttons while we collected the information booklet which doubles as a ticket and purchased much needed coffee at the kiosk next door.

The boys scrambled up the stairs to the top deck of the distinctive red double decker. Our destination: Echo Point. The prime front seats were taken, but the large windows offer a perfect view. The enclosed top deck makes it easy to hear the informative commentary.

Echo Point and the Three Sisters

After viewing the Three Sisters from Echo Point, we walked through the archway behind the Visitor Centre and down the smooth concrete pathway to the three weathered sandstone formations known as the Three Sisters. It’s an easy 0.8km return walk, and the boys delighted in finding each of the stainless steel sculptures along the track: lizards, an echidna and lyrebird.

Back at Echo Point, we took the path towards Scenic World, the boys enjoying jumping across the section of large sandstone blocks forming stepping stones along the way. Halfway along the path, we turned right up a set of stairs to the Skyway East Station and boarded the blue and yellow Skyway cable car after a short wait.  

Scenic Skyway

Mr 7 and I stepped up onto the opaque glass floor in the centre of the car, while my husband and Mr 9-and-three-quarters made their way to the front side window. At the count of three, the floor beneath Mr 7 and I turned transparent and we looked down to the valley floor, 270 metres below our feet.

Gliding across the gorge, the guide pointed out Katoomba Falls, Mount Solitary and Orphan Rock. He explained that the Blue Mountains got their name from the blue haze blanketing the dense eucalyptus forests. The haze is caused by light refracting through droplets of eucalyptus oil that evaporate from the leaves.

The End of a Fun Day at Scenic World

We end our day by completing the hour-long Explorer Bus circuit. Mr 7 falls asleep, possibly dreaming of riding the steepest passenger railway in the world.

Note: I was a guest of Scenic World