We had a great time in the Blue Mountains, so I thought I’d share some snaps and movies with you guys.
The Blue Mountains’ most famous landmark is probably the Three Sisters, which are not in fact siblings but three sticky-uppy rocks. Early-rising tourists are rewarded by seeing them backdropped against the awesome mist coming up from the Megalong Valley.
Yes, it’s called the Megalong Valley, but not because it’s mega-super-duper-long. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning “Valley Under The Rock.” (Well, it was thought by early European explorers to mean “Valley Under The Rock,” but early European explorers don’t really have a good track record with this stuff. Megalong could also mean, “Why are you asking me all these stupid questions, easily sunburnt invader?”)
In any case, the Three Sisters are cool:
As you can see, the valley is almost completely unspoiled. No roads in, so you descend into it with a vertiginous walk down among the Sisters.
Yes, that walkway looks crowded, but the valley below is huge. Even mega-huge. So it’s easy to find yourself completely alone after walking down a few paths. Well, alone except for the ubiquitous bellbirds, so named for their bell-like cries.
Turn up your volume and put on headphones for this video, the bellbirds make a strange and awesome sound. This is only two singing here, but when the whole forest is full of their cries, it makes for a mesmerizing soundscape.
This is my new iPhone wallpaper, because I love me some Australian bark:
We also saw a lyrebird. They are excellent mimics, but this one was quietly digging for grubs, and so did not mimic, or even taunt us.
For those of you who worry about such things, the collective noun is “a musket of lyrebirds.” They have cool tails.
As we climbed out of the valley, I got this shot, proving that the Blue Mountains is beautiful. Not bad for a place only 90 minutes from Sydney.
Click here for the bigness!
That’s it for now. See you on Friday.
May 12th, 2011 05:52
Wow. That is absolutely gorgeous. Makes you appreciate everything when there is
so much beauty around.
May 12th, 2011 06:06
Scott-la I’m truly honored you’d share this with us. It’s soooo preeetttyyyy. And I love the beastie videos…sorry about the lyrebird not being interested in mimicry when you saw it I’ve always wanted to hear that
May 12th, 2011 06:10
This is why I love it when authors I like live in Australia. When they say what places they’ve been to I can say “I’ve been there!” XD
May 12th, 2011 06:23
Wow! That is absolutley beautiful! I’ve always wanted to go to australia.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT-LA!!!!
May 12th, 2011 06:27
OMG, that’s hilarious. Little random Oregon fact- We have Blue Mountains too! And in those we also have our own three sisters, just a lot more Pacific Northwesty. Coincidence much?
May 12th, 2011 07:15
ya, thats all i can say. much prettier than SoCal. hope u had a good birfday Scottsters!!
May 12th, 2011 10:19
AWESOME.
I once spent a week in Tremont… I wish I could go back. 
May 12th, 2011 12:36
WOW!! GO AUSTRALIA!! I went there one. Melbourne though. COM TO NZ FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!! I want you to sign my collection!!
May 12th, 2011 13:05
no one can beat our Aussie bark
and i’ve been there, its beautiful.
May 12th, 2011 15:23
Those pictures are gorgeous!
I used to live where I could see the mountains everyday…then we moved. 
Thanks for sharing!
May 12th, 2011 16:23
Did you go to Scenic World while you were there? I hope so
This weekend, I’m heading over past that way to Lithgow, for the IRONFEST: a land of medieval and steampunky awesomeness. I shall have heaps of fun, and wear my Leviathan pride
Good to see you had fun, Scott-la!!!
May 12th, 2011 20:25
Since I am a silly American I cannot comprehend the true beauty of that bark like you Australians. Now if you excuse me I think I’ll just go increase my carbon foot print…
May 12th, 2011 22:25
Cool Point of Information: they are called the ‘Blue” mountains because of the colour that the Eukalyptus oil turns the air- a hazy blue.
We also have them near Melbourne.
May 12th, 2011 22:41
Wow, those bellbirds do their name justice it really sounded like bells when it was singing. Hope you had a great birthday weekend, Scott-la!
May 12th, 2011 22:49
Shiny pictures, Scott-la! It makes me wish I was there…by the way, isn’t it wintertime in Australia?
May 13th, 2011 00:19
=3 I’m glad you had a nice time on your birthday! <3 still hoping one of my Fanfics show up. xDD http://jett-wolfe98.deviantart.com
May 13th, 2011 00:24
very pretty. the bellbirds sounded cool and the other one had a sweet feathery backside. in a book called Spud placed in Sounth Africa they had a Three Sisters as well. except everyone called them the three bitches cuz they were hard to climb. i don’t know why i just remembered that.
it’s crazy how many ‘Blue Mountains’ and ‘Three Sisters’ there are. we actually have the Blue Ridge Mountains here in VA.
May 13th, 2011 02:26
Those mountains are georgeous. Sometimes we need to appreciate the small things in life and look all around us at the beauty of nature. (Unfortunatly the human race is slowly killing it…) Lovely! It’s great that there are people ou there who appreciate what Mother Nature gave us!
May 13th, 2011 02:38
For someone who has lived in Newcastle for 8 years I have never been. These photos though are really makin me want to now.
May 13th, 2011 05:08
they do have cool tails. Well i know what i’m gonna be for halloween- a giant bird with a cool tail
May 13th, 2011 06:12
AWESOMELY AMAZING people at The Seems do a really good job don’t they? (hahaha sorry laughing at inside joke)
May 13th, 2011 08:45
Hippo Birdy Scottmeister!!!
Yay for Friday!! Cant wait to see more arts…
May 13th, 2011 10:34
*waits for friday*
May 13th, 2011 15:13
Happy Friday the 13th!
May 13th, 2011 17:20
That’s absolutely stunning! Darn, now I wish /I/ could go there. ^^ That’s definitely one place to add to the list when I visit Australia someday! Those pictures are beautiful. ^^ And again, happy birthday! (Though by now, that’s quite belated.)
And yay, it’s Friday! I can’t wait for the fan art!
*goes back to admiring photos*
May 13th, 2011 19:33
@Jetteh: I just read your fanfic Memories! Loved it! Read all ten (so far) under my desk during biology, who wants to learn about mollusk reproduction when you can read fanfics? When is the 11th one coming? MUST KNOW WHOSE GETTING HUNG!!!!! *drools all over table*
May 13th, 2011 20:31
Heyy Scott Awweesssooomemmeeeee pictures and i wish i was there ehheheheh <3
May 13th, 2011 22:54
@bailey-wa: Our VA Blue Mountains can’t compare to these though….and we don’t have koalas…..
@Michelle-wa: HAHAHA! Becker sure did a great job, didn’t he?
May 14th, 2011 00:25
@alice mollusk repro? Ewwwww talk about Darwinist studies! And thank you very much! I appreciate it! I am currently working on the 11th part and wanna hope to wrap it all up in 12.
May 14th, 2011 00:33
I’ve been there before it was 7 years ago I went with my mom and dad (I have a sis but she wasnt born yet) Of course I was only 6 so I didn’t really appreciate the beauty of it all. All I remember is Complaining that my feet hurt I wish I could redo that day but of course I can’t time travels not invented yet and my parents are dead (they died exactly a year ago) Its such a beautiful place thanks for sharing it with us
May 14th, 2011 00:44
Just found out that if I was ever to join a certain organization that wore a certain color cloak and did certain things to certain people in a certain world(s), my name would be….Xamnada. Bossssssssssss…..
And my numerous characters would be Daxovan, Hendrix, Danaxiel, Loxola..and Scott-la would be Jaxson.
GUMMI SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 14th, 2011 01:56
That is awesome! The bellbirds sound like bells! It’s so gorgeous…. Haha now I have a reason to make my parents take me too Australia!
I hope you had a fun birhtdya weekend!
May 14th, 2011 05:49
Wow, excellent shots
Makes me sad that the day my family and I visited the Three Sisters it was overcast and you could barely see anything through the fog 
Guess I’ll just have to go back there some day 
May 14th, 2011 15:14
Oops. I didn’t do Fan Art Friday.
*hangs head in shame*
*continues watching Eurovision Song Contest*
May 14th, 2011 16:09
@scott then do it on saturday!!! It’d be just a little late.
May 14th, 2011 18:14
don’t worry mr. scott, we won’t make you wear the imaginary cone of shame forever
May 14th, 2011 18:16
@Kirsten haha, yeah, i had a show on friday the 13 and everybody was totally freaking out… it was kinda funny.
May 14th, 2011 20:15
wow!! Omg thats so awesome!! That belbird singing echos in my brain…
May 14th, 2011 21:35
Aw, Scott-la, then do it on Saturday! Alliteration’s overrated anyway. xP
May 15th, 2011 00:56
Wow, so pretty! and Happy Birthday (or happy late birthday, I guess) to you! The bellbirds sounded so cool, and I loved the lyrebird’s fuzzy tail!!!! That must’ve been so cool to visit!
May 15th, 2011 01:38
yeah just do it…today/whatever day it is there?
I mean sure I get disappointed every time I don’t see it but that’s okay…right?
May 15th, 2011 03:31
THE Blue Mountains ARE beautiful, Mr. Westerfeld. Perhaps your editorial skills are wavering in efficiency, eh? Or am I being harsh? Because I’ve come to expect perfectly written blogs from this fellow…
May 15th, 2011 16:12
Eurovision is a valid excuse, Scott. Don’t worry about that.
May 16th, 2011 03:24
that looks beautiful. i’d like to go down under someday!
May 16th, 2011 03:27
wait… there’s no fanart friday!
May 16th, 2011 04:18
So beautiful! Positively breath taking. I’m jealous, oh so jealous.
May 16th, 2011 05:21
:’( No fanart friday? This make me sad
May 16th, 2011 07:12
But, yeah, they’re pretty.
May 16th, 2011 16:30
I leave for the weekend on a fishing trip and when I come back no fan art. All is forgiven but that was a what I was looking forward to when sticking my fingers into a fish mouth, and pulling leeches from between my toes.
May 16th, 2011 21:17
Scott-La!
I came on to your website this fine Monday morning and found there was no Fan Art Friday on Friday the 13th
why?
May 16th, 2011 22:54
Ah….back from a lovely weekend of watching fools drop 250 feet and fly under a bridge. In France (and if you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about, I salute you. Yeah, I went to THAT PLACE.).
So, no Fan Art? Eh, at least I don’t have to be writing on three different posts at one time…
PSN’s back up. I can hear the nerds rejoicing across America.
May 17th, 2011 05:22
F< Fan art?
XD I'm done with that.
But I love the videos .> I’m jealous that you got to go XD Gives me hope that the world is still beautiful. The bellbirds sounded delightful >.> and in the background of the Lyrebird video (which has a very cool tail, btw) they sounded kinda like Christmas bells XD
May 17th, 2011 10:06
It’s Monday Scottmeister. You owe us some arts…
May 17th, 2011 16:15
Come on Scott its already tuesday (in the US at least) I vote this friday you give us twice as much fanart! Or you can just do your normal thing, whatever.
May 18th, 2011 00:21
OMG!! I agree with Alice! Ahahaha finished my other fanfic “Memories” and I’m working on another one called “Perfect Mechaniks”. http://jett-wolfe98.deviantart.com
May 18th, 2011 01:31
Please tell me you rode the glass floored cable car thing. It’s mind blowing.
I went a couple years ago. I was attacked by a kangaroo earlier in the day and had muddy paw prints all over me…. but the humiliation of that event couldn’t overshadow the glorious beauty of the area.
May 18th, 2011 02:02
Tuesday, Scott-la, TUESDAY! Where’s our barking FanArt, ya bloody sod?!
May 18th, 2011 03:40
Tuseday, Scott! More arts than whats normal OR some more loverly Goliath art…
May 18th, 2011 04:20
“Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.”
– Tom Waits
May 18th, 2011 04:26
Relevant, Captian Kidd, relevant.
May 18th, 2011 04:53
But, damn, that is really awesome, that.
May 18th, 2011 07:56
Hey, know what the ficticious Alek’s real father, Fanz Ferdinand’s, last words were? “Es ist gar nichts…es ist gar nichts…
“It is nothing…it is nothing…”
Whispered to Count Harrach as the Archduke fell unconscious after being shot; he died shortly without ever regaining consciousness.
May 18th, 2011 07:57
“Shortly thereafter”, I should say.
May 18th, 2011 09:20
‘Only a flesh wound. Merely a wound upon my flesh.’
-Ernest P. Werel….somethin like that.
May 18th, 2011 09:50
“I’ll be in Hell before you start breakfast. Let her rip!”
– Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum, the notorious train robber, said as he sprung up the gallows steps to his execution.
“Applaud, my friends, The comedy is finished.”
– Ludwig van Beethoven
May 18th, 2011 16:37
@Jetteh: I’m glad you agree with me.
Also anybody got money to burn on steampunk jewlery? Check out this gear ring. But 165$… kinda expensive for me, being an unemployed teenager.
I hope this link works.
http://www.kinektdesign.com/product-gear-ring.php
Yeah probably not.
May 18th, 2011 16:38
Never mind it works.
May 18th, 2011 20:01
Crud! That’s a lot! But I guess it would be worth it for a plaything that takes so much time and energy….jeezum.
May 18th, 2011 23:39
All right, friends and neighbours, if Scott-la does not post SOMETHING before the 20th, I will journey to Australia to investigate the mystery of his untimely murder.
I’m like that; I jump to conclusions.
May 19th, 2011 00:12
I just checked out Mr. Westerfeld’s Twitter and that expieriance succeded only in strengthening my conviction that Twitter is the most mind-numbing, indicipherable website yet invented, reserved only for those harboring mental defiencies and the border-line retarded who actually care when and how their favourite celebrities eat, sleep and defecate.
I have somehow missed the appeal, shoot me.
May 19th, 2011 00:27
LAST WORDS BY THEWORDMASTER:
“It’s very beautiful over there..” -Thomas Edison
“Wait ’till I have finished my problem!”- Archimedes
“Why not? After all, it belongs to him.”- Charlie Chaplin, after the priest said “May the Lord have mercy on your soul”.
“Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.” -George Appel, before being executed by electric chair.
“I’m so bored with it all.”-Winston Churchill
“Where is my clock?”- Salvador Dali
“I’ll sleep well tonight.”-Henry Ford
“Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French Fries!”- James French, another man who died by electric chair.
“Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub.” -Conrad Hilton, when asked if he had any words of wisdom.
“Tomorrow, I shall no longer be here.”- Nostradamus
“Gents, this is an educational project. You are about to witness the damaging effect electricity has on Wood.” – Frederick Charles Wood, who (no surprise here) died by electric chair.
May 19th, 2011 01:31
“Hurrah! Let’s get these last few reds and then head on back to camp. Hurrah!”
George Armstrong Custer
(what a ‘bag.)
May 19th, 2011 02:24
‘These are heavy books’-John Procter, Crucible
May 19th, 2011 02:35
“It’s hovering and it’s not an aircraft.”
Frederick Valentich, an Australian pilot, said this to air traffic control shortly before dissapearing. He claimed to be being prusued by a UFO.
May 19th, 2011 17:41
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible” -TE Lawrence
TE was a british airman in ww1 who assisted in a rebellion against the turkish goverment, sound like anybody you know?
May 19th, 2011 21:58
@ alice He said that when he died? Sounds pretty lucid…
And, yes, it DOES sound like someone I know; in my head, at least.
May 19th, 2011 22:55
@Joker-la: Not sure if he said that when he died, this encyclopedia isn’t very specific. *slams 15 lb. book on table* I just thought it sounded cool. And the fact he reminded me of a certain midshipman, with all his rebellions ect.
May 20th, 2011 00:28
“That picture’s awful dusty.”
-Jesse James, the notorious outlaw, hailed as a modern day Robin Hood by the public (bullshit), said this just before he dusted a painting of a horse that was hanging in his house. While his back was turned, his former eager compadre, Robert Ford, drew his gun and shot “Thomas Howard” in the back of the head. Ford used the gun James had given him as a gift two days earlier. Ford was later sentenced to ridicule, and a song was even written about the event, naming Ford only as “that dirty little coward”, even though Ford himself felt remorse over his cold-blooded murder.
May 20th, 2011 00:29
Anywho, those were Jesse James’s last words.
May 20th, 2011 16:16
WHAT?! #$%*&*&&%^$%^$#&@!#@#!!!!!!!!!!! That damn encyclopedia, liars everywhere!!!!!
May 26th, 2011 05:37
Well, I said something earlier and I guess they deleted it cause I cussed. It said Jesse James’s last words; that’s why that comment about it doesn’t make any sense now. YA BLOODY YANKS!!
September 6th, 2011 09:43
Wow, that’s really interesting! I wonder how this differs from what I study at my dojo.