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The Blue Mountains I MR15905
A natural process by which eucalyptus oil vapour refracts sunlight (and drenches the surrounding atmosphere in ethereal blue) has helped give the Blue Mountains its name. This vast sandstone plateau, rising 1300 m above sea level, is populated by some of the world’s rarest plant and animal species. The rugged, high-altitude region was considered impenetrable until an 1813 crossing by explorers Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson wrote itself into Australian folklore.