Woke up early to get take in the morning views of the vast and breathtaking Blue Mountains...the vertical sandstone cliffs reaching the sky and the endless valley crowded with vegetation, rainforest area and the largest eucalyptus tree forest in the world...so many Gum Trees (their nickname)....no wonder the koala & kookaburra...and now us...love it here!! And truly blue! Slowly driving the Blue Mountain Drive , we stopped at every pull over to be awed over and over. In the heat of the day, we went to the Waradah Aboriginal Centre. Members of the Gundungarra group performed for us beginning with their smoking ceremony. A brief history of the area, introduction of some of the many groups & their languages as well as an explanation of their body paintings gave us a good background making the skits/dances much more meaningful. A reenactment of the story told of how the didgeridoo was found was especially interesting...the sounds he could make to imitate animals & nature were great. History: At one time, most of Australia was home to about 250 family clans...each with their own language & customs. For over 20,000 years (some think 30,000) they lived peacefully together. No you or me...only us. No mine or yours...only ours. And the bush was cared for and was relatively in pristine condition. When the Europeans arrived about 200 years ago, things changed drastically and quickly...the ways of the Aboriginals ended as their land was taken away. Sadly the same story repeated in so much of our world. The good news is a revival of their culture and a recognition of their rights...and the Aborigines are showcasing their culture and making $$ doing it! We wandered around some more before ending the day watching the sun set...in the SW...over the Blue Mountains...the blues, yellows, oranges, pinks painting a masterpiece before our eyes.
