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Reflections
from the Sisters: September 15, 2007
Today we
experienced the wonder and beauty of the Blue Mountains. The town we
visited is called Katoomba, and its most famous site is a large rock
formation called the Three Sisters. Aboriginal legend holds that three
beautiful sisters named Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo lived in the Jamison
Valley. They had fallen in love with members of the Nepean tribe, but
since they were of the Katoomban tribe, they were forbidden to marry. The
brothers did not give up easily, and a major battle ensued. Since this
battle threatened the lives of many, including the three young ladies, a
witchdoctor turned them to stone to save their lives. Although he planned
to reverse the spell when peace was restored, he was killed, and the
sisters remained in their rock formations to remind future generations of
the battle.
To view and
hike the mountains further, we traveled from one peak to another in a
glass-bottomed cable car. Then, after taking another cable car down the
steepest part of the incline, we hiked the path to the train that ran
along the face of the mountain. The train tracks paralleled tracks that
were used in the days when miners were extracting coal from the Blue
 Mountains, and although the tracks were fairly short, the incline was
almost perfectly vertical. Needless to say, we soon discovered for
ourselves why passengers completing their journey looked more than a
little petrified. The day was peaceful and refreshing, and the Blue
Mountains top our list of places to explore further.
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