An unexpected thrill ride

To go down into the eucalyptus rainforest below the Three Sisters, you take a train that the coal miners used to take. We all thought that sounded neat. Well, almost all of us.

Turns out it's the steepest train in the world--a 52 degree slope. Sitting down in it feels like tipping forward, because it is. Plus, in the middle it plunges through a tunnel into total darkness. Also, there are no seat belts. We were a little rattled when we got off. How steep was that?

That steep, huh.

We reenacted our ride down in the old train car they have set up at the bottom. It was therapeutic.

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the rainforest from beautiful boardwalks they've installed to keep us off the thorny, viney ground. Colin was reminded of the old Bradbury story about the time travelers who hunt dinosaurs from a raised path, lest their footsteps trample a bug and change the course of history.

T. kept asking with a worried look if there were going to be any more steep trains. The ride back up via cable car was a great view, and did not require blood pressure medication afterwards.