Victorian excess

The Carrington Hotel in Katoomba is a wonderfully preserved (and restored) example of Victorian indulgence. It's a blipper's paradise. I took about 30 shots in 5 minutes, with no effort - everywhere you look there's something beautiful or bizarre. There are acres of stained glass windows, antique furniture, Art Nouveau architectural details, chandeliers, ballroom, vast carved sideboards, marble, timber, columns, urns... you name it, the Carrington has it. Even the bathrooms are highly blippable. You could find a blip a day for a year with no trouble - and all with fabulous lighting.

At one stage, it looked like the whole place would fall into ruin. The owner during the 1980s appeared to be holding the property (unused) for no reason other than to eventually collect on the insurance. Luckily the Heritage Council (or some such) said "Fix it or sell it." It was sold and has now been restored to something very much like its former glory, when royalty came to stay - and once more, people come from all over the world to visit. It has the best view in Katoomba and is also something of a long-distance landmark in itself. The current owners also get big brownie points for allowing part of the gardens, fronting Katoomba St, to be made into Carrington Place, where all manner of public events occur, as well as being a nice place to sit and watch the world go by.

This is pretty much an arbitrary choice - the clouds were the decider.
This little statue is on one side of the stairs to the main door. There's another (different) on the other side.
As I say, there's plenty more where this came from.