The Blue Mountains, finally!

Yes, I FINALLY made it to the Blue Mountains and lucked out with an amazingly gorgeous day. Speaking of that, did you know that "lucked out" means the opposite in Australia? It means you ran out of luck. Which I suppose makes more sense.

Anyway, the town of Katoomba is easily accesible from Sydney and is one of the largest in the area. The train takes just under two hours from the city and the small station is right on the main street. Katoomba itself is about 15,000-20,000 residents and is a real "cafe culture". Lots of shops, pubs, etc. and a real, proper main street. It does lean a bit to the new agey stuff, but not nearly to the extent that Byron Bay does.

I arrived in the evening and got up early for a day of abseiling and canyoning. Abseiling is basically rappelling; rock climbing without the climbing part! This photo is from our last abseil, about 30 meters. The view of the mountains was fantastic. The area is called the Blue Mountains as the oils in the eucalyptus trees create a mist that in the sun appears blue. After abseiling we stopped for a quick lunch before canyoning, which is a radically different experience from anything I've done before. We hiked down into the canyon (called the Grand Canyon here, but really no match for ours) and changed into the wetsuits in our backpack. Then we put our tennies, waist harnesses and helmets back on. A great look! We climbed over the rocks in the river at the bottom of the canyon, leaping into the cold water when it was too deep to walk. At one point we had to do the "dead Russian" - jump backwards off a rock into the water below, just like the bad guys in James Bond movies do when shot on the edge of a boat. Our backpacks were waterproof and held an air pocket, so we landed on that but were amazed how much we still went underwater. After that there was just one more jump, where we had to leap over shallow rocks in a narrow gorge into a pool a few feet beyond. But the highlight was at the end - we hooked our harnesses into the line and abseiled down the 30 meter waterfall! The water was beating down on our heads the entire time and of course, being unskilled, we were all slipping all over, trying to keep our footing on a wet wall of rock. Landing in the pool of water below was an exhilirating feeling, looking back at what we had just done. Then a 30 minute hike back up to the van and into town. Minutes after we arrived at the hostel it started to rain. Perfect timing!

That night the hostel had a $7 barbecue so I sat and chatted with a Sydneysider (as they're called) discussing the US political race. For the second time I was asked if I thought voting should be mandatory. The first time I was asked, I said "of course not, it's a right not a requirement," mostly as a gut reaction, since that's the way it's always been for me, but I've now reconsidered. In Australia it is mandatory to vote, although if you wish you can just write on the ballot "you're all idiots," and not actually make any selections. The more arguments I hear about it, the more I think that makes sense, especially since you still have the option to not choose one or the other. The main argument is that politicians here have to cater to the entire population, not just the voters - which I had never thought of. Makes a lot of sense. Our politicians have no motivation to do anything for the people who don't vote. Now I know the argument would be that it's the non-voters own fault, but as someone who votes, I'd be interested to see if our politicians would change if they knew EVERYONE was voting. Of course, this is one of the best parts of traveling - learning new ways to do things and debating them.

The next morning I explored some of the Jenolan Caves on a tour, a few hours from Katoomba. There are hundreds of caves in this area, but only 5 or so are open to the public. I went through 2 of them and they're pretty incredible. I'd seen a lot of caves before, so I expected to be underwhelmed - and was completely wrong. The Indian Canopy formation in one of them is amazing - it looks like a frozen waterfall that is multiple stories high. If any of my pictures turn out, I'll post one here.

I took the evening train back to Sydney for the weekend (I miss trains! I've only been on a few on this trip), as a friend I met while traveling was going to be in town. We met on the Melbourne-Alice Springs flight and although he lives in Sydney, he's been spending the past few months leading tours in New Zealand so we hadn't been able to connect here. I was looking forward to seeing the city from a local's aspect (and with someone my age!!!!)