For a change in scenery yesterday we decided to escape Sydney and head up into the Blue Mountains. Though they sit quite close to Sydney and can been seen from many places around the city I rarely seem to visit this beautiful area. This is something that I plan on rectifying over the next few weeks.
In the picture above is a rock formation called the Three Sisters. From the forest below the call of numerous Lyre birds can be clearly heard. There is a few different myths surrounding but this following one I remember hearing when I was a child and incorporates both the Three Sisters and the lyre birds.
Long ago in the Blue Mountains there lived three little Aboriginal sisters. They were Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, whose Witch Doctor father was called Tyawan.
Only one creature was feared by all – the bunyip who lived in a deep hole. When Tyawan had to pass the hole, he would leave his daughters safely on the cliff behind a rocky wall. One day, waving goodbye to his daughters, he descended the cliff steps. On top of the cliff a big centipede suddenly appeared and frightened Meehni, who threw a stone at it. The stone rolled over the cliff and crashed into the valley.
Birds, animals and fairies stopped still as the rocks behind the three sisters split open, leaving them on a thin ledge.
The angry bunyip emerged to see the terrified sisters. In the valley, Tyawan saw the Bunyip close to his daughters, so he pointed his magic bone at the girls and turned them to stone. The Bunyip then chased Tyawan, who found himself trapped, so he changed himself into a Lyre Bird. Everyone was safe, but Tyawan had dropped his magic bone. After the Bunyip had gone, Tyawan searched and searched for his bone – and he is still searching.
The Three Sisters stand silently watching him from their ledge, hoping he will find the bone to turn them back to Aboriginal girls.
As you look at the Three Sisters, you can hear Tyawan – the Lyre Bird – calling his daughters as his search for the lost bone continues.