Slept horribly last night - don't know why. Laid in bed until nearly noon trying to fall asleep before giving up. Decided on a day trip to the Blue Mountains despite the late start. The weather was nicer in the mountains and they are pretty - though not really much of a mountain range!
On the road saw a car with a for sale sign on it. Called and the owner came out to show it to me. It's a 1980 Nissan Patrol and is in fantastic condition - looks almost new. It's a bit older than I wanted, a bit more expensive (talked the guy down to $4,500 Australian), and it's also a diesel but it drives well, and looks good, and I don't think it would loose any value. I liked it a lot more than everything else. It looks good and feels right, and I think it's tough enough to do what I want it to. After leaving I decided I should buy it, but being Sunday there's nothing I can do about getting hold of the money today anyway so I'll sleep on it.
Drove through the center of the Blue Mountains National Park to Echo Point in Katoomba. The view is of a dramatic rock formation called the three sisters, and an unparalleled view down into the Jamison Valley and out over the national park. The second stop in Katoomba was the Scenic Railway. It was built in the 1880s for coal-mining and its 45° incline down to the floor is one of the steepest railway tracks in the world. Somehow we just walked on to the last train down and then back up. Since it was the last train we didn't get to explore the bottom at all, but on the plus side we didn't have to pay either!
Decided to spend the night in the mountains so I could buy the car tomorrow - assuming it hasn't sold. Drove a few hours along the edge of Kanangra-Boyd National Park to Jenolan Cave - a small village at adjacent to some well known caves. The other advantage to staying here is that I'll get to see the caves tomorrow morning. The road approaching the village runs through a tunnel that is mostly natural cave! Stalactites and everything - amazing.
