Blue Mountains Family Holiday: Day 4

Our final full day in the Blue Mountains was again to be a full one. We raided the breakfast once again before heading out for another trip out amongst the mountains. Th eday itself was more threatening weather-wise, with ominous clouds hanging overhead.

First stop was the Zig Zag Railway, off the Bells Line of Road towards Lithgow. I had never been on it, and was looking forward to it. As it turned out, we arrived at about 9.45am, when the first train wasn't to leave until 11.00am. Bill's obsession with being on time was on this occasion a little too far fetched.

This time was spent by Josh picking up a toy steam train (which he didn't stop playing with for days afterwards), reading some tourist paraphenalia, and having a coffee.

Jess and Maddi sign the Visitor Book at Zig Zag Railway.

Soon enough, we were on the train, and off down the mountainside. It really is a marvel of achievement, and the view is spectacular. Through the original tunnel which lasts for about half a minute, to the zig zag down the side of the mountain, it's quite a sight. The kids, when they weren't fighting to get a window seat in the train, also enjoyed it, which was good. Even though it was a diesel train that we were on, as the steam trains were all out of service at the time, it didn't detract from the scenery, and overall it didn't detract from the experience. At the bottom of the hill we had a tour of the sheds, where the trains were being prepared for the weekend for their big Thomas the Tank Engine long weekend. Given how busy and full our train was today, I'm glad we weren't around for the weekend.

Maddi, Jess and Josh on the train.

The view from the top of the decent of the railway.

"Get off the tracks Josh! There's a train coming!"

Ww left for Helen's big part of the trip - the Mt Wilson open gardens - just after 1.00pm. Ten minutes into the half hour trip, all three kids were fast asleep, with no chance of being disturbed. This meant that for a couple of hours, we would drive to different gardens, which Helen would then walk around and check out while I sat in the car and kept the kids company. To be honest, I think I got the best end of that deal.
Fortunately, by the time we reached what constituted the last garden, the kids awoke, and they got some lunch into them by mid-afternoon.

From here we moved on to Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens, where we hadn't been for 20 years. It is still spectacular, though the kids were beginning to have had enough. The milkshakes at the end helped to soothe their fractures nerves.

Dinner tonight was up at PapaDino's Italian Restaurant, and was a hit. The kids were given some pizza dough to make into any shape they wanted, and was then cooked in the oven for them to take home.
Josh and Maddi were happy to share a cheese pizza, while Helen and I shared a Supreme pizza, and Jessie wanted Bolognase, which I got some of as well as a small size was really a large size. For under $60 for a great meal, we had once again hit upon a winner.

We ventured back to the Motel to watch Where the Wild Things Are, which was really quite long, quite tedious and not fantastic for young kids or adults. Still, the kids seemed to enjoy it, and I guess that's all you can ask for. I won't require seeing it again. again