Are we ever going to see a kangaroo?

We moved to Mt. Victoria, Tuesday, March 28.  Mt. Victoria is the most westerly Blue Mountains township, and is a small town, the type of place we really like to visit.  We’d reserved a cabin for two days here, solely on the advertisement that showed kangaroos in the back yard. 

The first thing we did was check out the toilet paper situation.  There are two extra rolls.  There may be some kangaroos. 

First we went to a place called Scenic World.  A friend, Randy, had said to check out the vertical railway.  It’s the steepest-incline railway in the world.  So, of course, I was interested in riding it.  Today wasn’t a good day for that, though.  The weather was not the best, with lots of fog and clouds.  We rode it, hoping the fog would clear, and could only see toward the bottom of the track. 

Mining began in the area in 1878.  There were about 40 coal mines at various times.  This railway was used to haul coal up the cliff where it was then transported to Katoomba.  The last mine closed in the 1930s and now the railway carries passengers. 

It’s a 52 degree incline, in a glass-roofed enclosure that descends through a cliff-side tunnel.  It’s been operating since 1945 and has carried more than 25 million passengers.  But as thrilling as the ride was, the clouds and fog didn’t clear, so the view wasn’t quite what we’d hoped.

Initially this railway had twin tracks and passes through a natural tunnel, about 80 metres in length.  There was some blasting done to provide a uniform grade.  The railway is 415 metres in length and the vertical drop is 206 metres.

This sculpture is dedicated to the pit ponies and miners.  The ponies were considered the miner's workmates and no abuse was tolerated.  The miners knew each one by name and personality, admired their intelligence and strength, and they were highly valued.

At the bottom there is a walkway and we wandered … the fog created a bit of moisture, but there were a lot of trees that helped keep some of it from reaching the boardwalk where we walked.  We decided not to do all of it as we didn’t know if the sky would open up and drop rain by the bucket full on us.

We found a small waterfall that is a part of a larger one that we hope to see later.

A student exhibit is being installed along the walkway.  The artwork is made using recycled items.  There is even one that used toothbrushes.  Much of it was quite colorful, and most reminded me of sea items, like this one makes me think of a giant jellyfish.

The walk is labeled as a Jurassic rainforest.  I believe it must be.  The fog was beautiful hanging over the trees and brush.  It was enjoyable even though we couldn't see the very landmarks we'd hoped to see from this area.

A tram car (their scenic cableway) returned us to the top of the cliff, and we were still in fog.  While fog can quickly come and go, it appears it may be here for the long haul today.  It was still fun to ride it, but if we could have seen the view, it would have been incredible.

The tram takes you into the Jamison Valley.  Ordinarily, it would be an excellent vantage point. 

In addition to the vertical railway and tram, there’s a skyway that takes you between two cliff tops, and it has a section of glass floor.  We’d heard it was spectacular and you’d see the Three Sisters and so much more.  Couldn’t prove it by us as the fog and clouds still did not lift.  It was a good thing we’d seen them the previous night. 

 

The scenic skyway wasn't that scenic today although it would have been fun to see under it through the glass floor.

I didn’t have much energy today.  Am I not eating enough?  Am I walking about too much with high humidity and heat?  We’ll take a break today and just relax a bit and not do as much walking.

We discovered, though, that at the cabin there’s basically no wifi at the cabin itself as the whole system in the area is being upgraded.  We’d need to go up and sit by the office.  But to make up for the lack of wifi, they feed the cockatoos and there are a ton of them.  There are also parrots, lorikeets and crimson rosellas.

This cockatoo seemed to be an authority.  There was a big flock that comes in for the feeding.

There were also a number of lorikeets that came into the feeding.

While all of these had so much color, I believe my favorite was the crimson rosella.  I loved the speckled back as it made me think of leopard print.

Then we discovered the community room … a keyboard, a shuffleboard table, a pool table and antique pinball machine reside there.  Yep.  Played it.

I hadn't played a pinball machine in years.  In fact, I have never much played them at all so this was quite fun.

We met the resident dog … a Beagle named Cocoa, so I had a dog fix.  Yay. 

Cocoa, a typically portly girl, was quite independent.  She didn't really want anything to do with us, particularly as we had no food.  She also liked going out into the field behind the cabins and rolling in kangaroo poo, or whatever other wonderfully-scented things she could find.  Her mama was pretty laid back about it all.  Haha.

We were told the kangaroos usually come in at dusk; however, it was quite foggy, so maybe they were out there, or not.  That’s something else you can’t prove by me.  I’ve still not seen a kangaroo.