The view
The Scenic Skyway
The Scenic Railway
The 3 Sisters
The original Scenic Railway
Waterfalls
The Miners
I promised to take a friend from Adelaide with me to see Sculptures @ Scenic World which I now regret.
I was given a free guest pass last year as compensation for poor customer service and it expires on 17th April 2019. I thought I would not be able to use it in time to see Sculptures @ Scenic World before it expired but was lucky as Sculptures @ Scenic World started earlier this year ie 12th April - 12th May 2019.
I messaged my friend with plenty of notice - quite a few days in advance in fact and told her to meet me at Central at 8.30 am on Monday. I did not hear from her so assumed all OK.
She annoyingly rings me around 9.30 pm the night before when I am asleep to confirm. She did not seem to register that I am no longer living in the city and need to get up early the next morning in order to arrive at Central by 8.30 am. I found this quite rude. I also found it rude that all she wanted to talk about on the train was her going to the Jessica Maubuoy concert.
I actually get to Central just before 8 am on Monday morning therefore check trip planner for the next train to Katoomba. One arrives at 8.18 am and another arrives at 8.45 am. I message and phone my friend and advise her that I am on my way and at Wynyard Station currently and should arrive at Central by 8 am therefore will get the 8.18 am train on platform 5.
When I arrive she is so unprepared no extra jacket and no packed lunch except for a bag of chocolate wafers. I had packed an apple a banana cheese and crackers corn chips chocolate the night before as well as a bottle hot of water in my flask.
During our 2 hour trip she needed to use the toliet on board which was fine as it was a 2 hour trip however she didn't use the toliet before we arrived at Katoomba but decides to use the toliet as soon as we arrive at Katoomba Station. Bloody hell, we still have to get the next bus out to Scenic World and they don't come very frequently therefore I was a bit angry so said I was going to walk ahead to the bus stop along with everyone else so headed outside Carrington Hotel to catch the bus to Echo Point & Scenic World for the day via Katoomba Falls.
There was a 686 bus waiting and everyone was getting on it. I tapped on and the bus driver said he was leaving in 5 minutes. I advised him I was waiting for my friend and I even got off the bus to look for her but there was no sign of her so I rang her. She had walked to the Dan Murphy's which was down the other end of the train station. How she ended up there I had no idea as everyone was crossing the road to the Tourist Information Centre and up Katoomba Street ( the main street) to the bus stop. I got back on the bus and rang her giving her directions and that if she missed the bus I was on to catch the next one to Scenic World. The driver said he had to leave in 2 minutes and could not wait any longer - my friend managed to find the bus I was on just in time to board and I advised the bus driver that she was already on board the bus. Even more stupid was she ignored where I was sitting right at the front of the bus and asked the driver where to get off at Scenic World. Derr! the sign on the bus said "Echo Point & Scenic World" and the driver even had a hand written sign with its destinations to show travellers as they boarded - It wasn't going anywhere else! Next bus was to Janolan Cave's I believe.
Once we reached Scenic World I didn't have to line up but just go straight inside to the guest services desk. But guess where my friend had to go and find? - a toliet again! So as soon as I got my wristband on - I left her to get hers and went to the toliet myself. She didn't even bother to get herself a map I had to give her one of mine.
Then came the next annoying thing - she told me she had a heart condition so instead of taking the Scenic Railway down to the Jurassic Rainforest below, I had to take her on the Scenic Cableway a more gentle trip down. Even on this she was anxious and wanted to get off it before the doors had even shut and we had even started our decent. By this point I was getting rather annoyed with her and perhaps should have taken Joy my Korean friend instead with me. I made it clear to my friend that there were no toliets down in the Jamison Valley and there is a total ban on smoking which she did not seem to understand - rainforest bush fires etc. She was chewing Mentos all the time whilst she was down there instead.
Once down in the valley all she wanted to do was take selfies and trick photography which I had done previously with another acquaintance ( refer my previous blog on the Bowral Tulip Festival) . She sure enjoyed herself more then I did.
I decided to go back up on the Scenic Railway which I thought was not as bad as going down - how wrong I was as the back seat of the carriage is fixed and does not tilt like the ones in front. My friend was OK though - even took some more selfies!
I said once at the top I wanted a lunch break and then we would go across on the Scenic Skyway and back. Followed by a bus back Katoomba to see Sculptures Otherwise at the Katoomba Cultural Centre with a stop off at Echo Point to see the Three Sisters along the way.
I was so hungry but there wasn't much to eat at the outdoor cafe and the look out canteen upstairs was too expensive. My friend waited forever for a hotdog which was $9 then she had to eat it. As she ate the line for the Cableway had grown so I said I'll line up upstairs while she finished her hotdog. I stood aside so she could find me but she was stupid enough to join the the queue of people and not look for me . I had to find her. Frustrated by this point in time, I cut short our day's itinery and returned immediately on the Cableway not even stopping to show her the waterfall. When we returned I could not even recharge my phone which was down to 50%. She wanted to get on the next awaiting bus back to Katoomba so no stop off at Echo Point. I left her in Katoomba to make her own way back to Sydney. I stayed in Katoomba had a quick salmon sushi stopped off at Big W to purchase 2 pillows then went to the Cultural Centre for a quick but unexciting look at Sculptures Otherwise then a planned trip to the library to recharge my phone as much as possible while writing up my blog before taking the next train back to Sydney.
It is now 4.35 pm the library closes at 5 pm so better head off soon. Frustrating day.
Blogging is a lone person thing - tag ons are unwelcome. Now I have completed my blog, I can go home and complete other things that need doing.
Photos posted on Facebook already.
More photos below.
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The Corporate Snake
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Regrowth
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"Y?"
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Someone Else's Life
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Rich Pickings
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Turf Wars
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Iron Clad
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Regret
Chrystal Rimmer NSW
Of Loss And Finding # 10
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Fragile Resilience
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In Every Tee
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Mitchell Thomas & Bronwen Williams NSW
The Odds Of Egress, 2019
Charlie Trivers NSW
Layers
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Cascade
Kayo Yokohama Blue Mts
Kitsunebi/ Foxfires
St. Canice's Primary Blue Mts
Seed Bed
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