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Grace's Adventures!
From Sydney we headed a little bit inland into the Blue Mountains National Park (N.P.) where we spent a few days. As we drove up higher we started to see autumnal trees which was surprising as most of oz doesn't have deciduous trees, it's only at high altitudes and down south where it's colder I think. Was very pretty to see and rather bizarre as it was still hot! But once we were in Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains (B.M.) which is at 1000m above sea level there was a slight chill in the air. We drove straight to 'Echo Point'; easily the most touristy place I have been since the 12 Apostles in Victoria! There were heaps of tour buses full of day trippers from Sydney of every nationality, and souvenir shops and little attractions aplenty! We had a look at the view across the canyon there which looks pristine with rainforest - you could see why it was so popular! It was probably the most amazing view I have ever seen! You could also see very clearly on the beautifully clear day a major Australian landmark called the 3 sisters; a rock formation in associated with aboriginal legend. It was spectacular (see the pics!) We then went and found our campsite which was really nice, then walked to a place called Scenic world where we went on the world's steepest railway, which was very scary, especially as we were sat right at the front and it started off by going into a dark tunnel! Was great fun. At the bottom there was a scenic boardwalk through the rainforest where you could see remnants of when they used to mine for coal here.
Then to get back up we went on a cable car which is apparently the world's longest - not sure if I believed all that! There were amazing views over the canyon from there. We the managed to get back to Echo Point and walk down to the 3 sisters just before the sun went down! Then we got some fish and chips and ate them in the campsite and met a nice couple from Sydney. Then we went on a floodlit walk just across the road for a walk to see the cliffs lit up at night, it was really good! I was absolutely freezing by this point and glad to be tucked up in the tent afterwards!
It was so cold and windy that night - I couldn't believe it could be that cold in Australia! We had a fairly early start the next day as we had booked a tour called 'Aboriginal Walkabout' which was about 20 minutes up the road. We met our guide called Evan, who didn't look aboriginal (he was white!), but his ancestors used to live in the bush where we went walking! Straight away we were hiking through the wild bushland - up and down steep hills, over rocks and streams, and through vegetation. It was a really challenging walk, but we both really enjoyed it and it was fun to have the challenge as most of our walks so far had been on pretty flat and well-made paths. We saw aboriginal rock carvings, cave paintings, cave shelters and meeting places and he told us a wealth of knowledge along the way about their lives here - it was brilliant. We tried some bush food, did ochre bark paintings and learnt about their culture; beliefs, food, tools, skills, laws, communication, festivities, rituals, society, and persecution by the white men that invaded their land from Sydney. In fact the route we walked was called a 'songline'; a rite of passage boys of a certain age had to walk alone and they had to find their own way and heard stories from their elders on the way. It was so fascinating, and an absolutely amazing and peaceful place to spend a day - there was no-one at all except for our group. Money well spent! Once we were out of the wilderness we all went to the local hotel for drinks/food, but none of us stayed for that long. Met some nice people, lots from the UK of course! Then we headed back and ended up chatting to the Sydney couple again at the campsite (they have communal kitchen areas in case you were wondering!)
Oh my god, the next morning there was actually a frost! Was rather shocked! We drove what seemed like rather a longer way than we had thought to the Jenolan Caves, only just still in the B.M. There were brilliant views over the countryside on the way and lots of farmland. The last bit of the drive was really windy and narrow and their were coaches doing in too - well scary! The caves were in the middle of nowhere in a tiny gorge with one shop, one café and one hotel! There was a beautiful green river (which turned out to be algae!) and a natural tunnel through the hillside, which you drove and walked through! We had a tour round a cave called the Lucas caves - there was about 10 altogether! Unfortunately there were way too many people on the tour and there was lots of waiting around for everyone to gather together in each cavern area. But it was really good though; the cave features were spectacular, especially the way it was lit up. The lady doing the tour was funny and told us interesting facts too, so we really enjoyed it. We ended up having lunch at about 3.30pm (!) and got mobbed by crows and rosellas after our picnic! Then there was a very long drive to Newcastle on the coast where we stayed for the night. We didn't get there till 10pm as it was so far and we also got a wee bit lost - we didn't eat till 11pm as we couldn't find anywhere open for ages! So knackered.
We had a little wander the next day, but we didn't really like the look of the place last night and it didn't seem very interesting so we had a look at the beach which was nice and then headed off - we had another long drive! As we headed inland along the 'New England Highway' the land got drier, more open and full of farmland/prarie style land, and the towns more far apart and remote feeling! Most of them still had Mcdonalds and KFC though - crazy huh?! We drove through a town called Blandford which was funny coz I'm from a town called Blandford - it looked nothing like my Blandford! And then we drove over a mountain range called the Liverpool ranges (Andy's from Liverpool)! We stopped at a place where you could get free coffee and biscuits at the roadside - they do it in NSW on every bank holiday/busy weekend. We had found one on the Easter weekend and this weekend was the one before ANZAC day (their war memorial day). The locals running it were rather bonkers, and in the field behind it there were llamas, emus and chooks! (chickens). We arrived in Armidale, the capital of 'New England', which is what the region is called, after driving around 350km - our longest drive I think! We found a campsite and stayed in the kitchen the whole evening as we were still at high altitude hence very cold!
By the time we got up the next morning most of the campsite was empty - the Aussies get up so early! Makes sense though coz at the time their daylight ran from 6 - 6! We ended up meeting a guy from Liverpool and Yorkshire in the short amount of time we were in the kitchen the next morning! We first went to an aboriginal culture centre, which had brilliant artwork and some locally found artifacts, but they didn't have very good displays! There was a little bush tucker walk outside too. Then we had some lunch in a pub then drove along a road called the 'Waterfall Way' where surprisingly we went to see some waterfalls! The first was in a very dramatic gorge, but practically non-existent where there has hardly been any rain! The others, called Ebor Falls (2 different ones) were really beautiful with rainforest all around and a nice walk on the cliff top from one to the other. On our drive back to the New England Highway we passed a few properties along an approx 70km drive and there were no shops or anything, just darkness! Then there was about another 50km to the next town - Glen Innes, which is where we stayed. It felt so remote out there, there was just nothing! Glen Innes just appeared from nowhere, and despite being in the middle of nowhere, it had about 15 or so places to choose from to stay! All the ancestors are Scottish and Irish, and apparently we were about to miss their annual 'beardies' festival - don't ask! We were lucky enough to find a brick cabin, complete with our own bathroom and kitchen for just $57! But unlucky enough to get to the supermarket one minute after closing time! So we went to one of the garages and rustled something up with the stuff we already had too - very good actually! Nice to be out of the cold again!
Then next day was ANZAC day so everything was closed. We drove up to these stones called the Standing Stones which is their modern day version of Stonehenge - quite impressive actually! They were all lined up in a certain way so it was almost like an annual sundial (I think!) There was also a 'sword in the stone' - see the pics! We then continued our journey (north by the way, back up to Brisbane!) and crossed the NSW and Queensland border again! We had a nice short drive that day, to Girraween N.P. just off the highway. We had a look in the visitor centre, then headed off on a hike! It was a really different N.P., there was all the usual bushland of course, but there were copious amounts of granite boulders everywhere! At the beginning of the walk there was bare granite floor with streams winding through - really nice, and throughout the walk there were loads of random boulders looking like they would fall over at any minute! But they weren't actually boulders, just where the rock had eroded in a strange way, so attached to the ground still! After quite a climb the path stopped at there was just open granite rock to climb up! It was so so steep, and nothing to hang on to, and a long way to fall and I freaked out half way up and Andy had to walk with me and calm me down the rest of the way! It was such hard work, but the stunning views at the top were worth it! The rock we climbed up was called a pyramid, and there was another one right next to it - they looked a bit like volcanoes - it was a very dramatic landscape, and felt a bit like you were on the moon on the top! The way down was ok to start with, then I freaked out again, and then we managed to get lost when we tried to join the path! Was glad to be off that hill! When we were down we went to the picnic area and saw some boxing kangaroos! They were very tame and not worried about us parking next to them and taking photos! Andy cooked up a wicked fry-up by head torch light (which is what we did everywhere!) Then we set up our camp just down the road in the N.P. campsite which was really nice.
Will write again soon!
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