Blue Mountains and some blue skies - June 9

Linda and I decided we wanted to try to see  Blue Mountains one more time before we left Sydney so we hopped the train and two hours later we were there. I could definitely get used to riding trains. 

We were able to take our time shopping in the little town of Leura before we hopped on the Hop On Hop Off train to see the Three Sisters rock formations. 

Just in case you're wondering what causes the Blue Mountains to be blue ...  The haze which appears to surround any distant object is due to an optical phenomenon called Raleigh scattering. This effect, first investigated by Lord Rayleigh, causes the rays of light which impinge on small particles to be scattered in various directions. If a person looks at a distant object with the intervening atmosphere illuminated by sunlight, eyes will receive the blue scattered rays of sunlight to reflect the object itself. The mountains in the distance are filled with eucalyptus trees, which give off a vapor. The hotter it gets, the more vapor is released and the bluer the mountains. (This last came from our in-resident, Miriam Verbeek.  Thanks, Miriam.