Katoomba

Katoomba derives from an Aboriginal term for “shiny falling water”, and the town gets this name from its waterfall in the Jamison Valley.

Hotel Room

Our hotel room at Echoes ended up a fantastic spot. A short walk from The Three Sisters, a rock formation with three spires reaching toward the sky. Legend has it that three sisters fell in love with three brothers from a neighboring tribe. With that marriage forbidden, the brothers came to abduct the sisters. Their father turned them to stone, in order to protect them. He died fighting the brothers. No one could undo the spell, so the sisters remain rocks atop the mountain cliff.

Spotted an exit sign from the Three Sisters viewing point with some writing in Hindi.

Anyway, here’s the view from the hotel room balcony.

Convicts

Near Echo Point, sculptures of convicts building the roadways while Aboriginal Australians look on. Prisoners would exchange life sentences elsewhere for twenty-to-thirty years of hard labor in Australia.

Scenic Railway

A tourist attraction in Katoomba named Scenic World claims to have the world’s steepest passenger railway. Unfortunately, it does not qualify as a funicular because it lacks a counterbalancing carriage and uses a winch system. That stated, the steepest section of track has an incline of 52 degrees! The train carried miners, but converted to a tourist attraction after the coal mine closure in 1945.

Scenic World encourages visitors to write messages on chalkboards they place near the passenger queues. I spotted writings in Hindi and found a note from a visitor from Texas.

Aussie Punk Music

In town, I found a flyer for a screening of Harder and Harder, the sequel to “The Most Australian Band Ever!”. Both films focus on the Sydney punk band, The Hard-Ons. I cannot believe I was so close from a timing perspective, but could not attend the screening.

Fun fact: Sydney punk band, [Frenzal Rhomb’s][frenzalrhomb] album Hi-Vis High Tea has a track named “Ray Ahn Is My Spirit Animal”, referring to Hard-Ons bassist, Raymond Ahn.

On a drive, I spotted this flyer from the Rollins Band 1990 tour of Australia and New Zealand. Rollins Band formed around Henry Rollins, after his departure from the infamous Los Angeles punk band, Black Flag.

Phone Home

I like to capture images of pay phones. Here’s one from Katoomba.