Katoomba Saturday 3/1/08

As we said on our first day and now in our third month, the blog is up to date so far even if we never do another one.

There is certainly a mountain nip in the air when we wake up this morning and the sky is deep blue without a cloud. People are cooking for us again and it is a nice treat to find breakfast waiting for us. The full Aussie brekkie is the same as the full English, Irish, Kiwi and probably others with mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, bacon, sausages, cereal, fruits and anything else you might want. Pure indulgence for one of us and nice options for the other.

This will be a walking day and we start with about a half mile walk into the center of town. It is a nice comfortable size downtown area with about an 8 block long strip of businesses and others filling in the side streets with a Kmart and supermarket on the fringes.

It is a mile back to the tourist sites along the canyon just outside of town. We find a trail that leads down to the "Cascades" which is a series of waterfalls and it is a perfect morning experience. We do an about face to get on the trail back to Echo Point, about a 40 minute hike back to the location of the Three Sisters that we visited yesterday afternoon. There are various viewing points along the way with spectacular vistas of the valley below and the mountains in the distance. We chat for a bit with a thirtyish couple from Sydney who are originally from Croatia and have lived in London and Belgium. Quite an adventure for them if you like that nomadic sort of existence and they seem to be enjoying themselves.

We continue on past Echo Point and down a bit closer to the Three Sisters to take a look at the Giant Stairway which is 1000 steps almost straight down to the floor of the valley. We decide to pass on the steps (memories of the glacier hike) and wander back in search of lunch. We find Baguettes (John ham and Mary chicken), we book a table for a Swiss restaurant for tonight and then get the car to go find Minnie Ha Ha Falls. No Kidding. It is in a park north of town and we find a trail with a sign that says it is a 900 meter walk to the falls. We start down the path that we find to be flooded about halfway in and we either have to take off our shoes or turn around. Once again we take the cowardly way out, take a picture of a mini Minnie Ha Ha falls and call it good. We buy an hour of internet time in town to get caught up once again and back for a little nap.

We were hesitant to book the Swiss restaurant because when we stopped yesterday they had all kinds of signs outside telling you all the things you couldn't do (No credit cards, no checks, no byo cakes, no children walking around, etc.). Not very welcoming. It is two blocks from our room however, and that wins out. The food turns out to be pretty good. John has a big old sausage that is wrapped in puff pastry with mustard and rosti potatoes and Mary has the Coq au Vin. The place is packed, all cash and everything is hand written and we wonder if the tax man is getting his share. That may just be our cynical nature. We did bring our own wine (allowed) so we saved a little cash.

Another chilly walk back to our B&B but there are a million stars and it's a most pleasant evening.

Today's local headline: How they caught my daddy Sydney Morning Herald (A picture of Baby Pumpkin as her father is arrested in Atlanta)