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hey guys,
your messages are really making me laugh over here i'm sorry that all i talk about is food but when you are constantly hungry it is always on your mind!!! anyway, i have arrived safe and sound in the blue mountains. for those of you not on facebook i can inform you that the weather here is BLOODY FREEZING! am so cold i wear a minimum of 6 layers and leggings under my trackies :S however having said that the journey up here and the views are incredible.
I left Sydney by train which took 2 and a half hours to reach the main town of Katoomba (meaning shining running water . . cheeky bit of local knowledge ;) and the route was stunning i just watched the mountains get higher and higher as the train went through them - sometimes having been cut into the rockface. Got to the station at around 8pm which meant it was pitch black so had a slightly nerve wracking walk down a long and deserted road to find the hostel but finally made it. Was greeted with a warm open fire and cozy sofa room which was great. Only problem here is that the hostel is quite hippy-ish!!! The showers run on a timer that lasts 5 minutes and its cold water :S and seeing as there is no heating other than the fire in the hostel that makes it pretty cold! Most people are walking around in hat scarves gloves and jackets. I think i managed to wear 6 layers last night to go to sleep along with my duvet and then 2 more blankets on top!!! Slightly misjudged the weather then but am doing ok!!
Met some nice people here though there is only one English guy staying here and we split a bottle of red between us and made friends with a french couple over a campfire which was great. The stars here are just crazy. What's also cool is seeing the southern cross - having been so used to seeing orions belt etc up in the northern hemisphere! Some australian/american happy camper showed me how to find south using two constellations of stars :) no need for a compass!Managed to get to bed at around half 10 which is a record for me since getting to Australia - i have been averaging 5 hours sleep a night so i got a really great nights rest and woke up at 9 for my free breakfast :)
Having been fed and caffeined up i headed out to the blue mountains walks. The locals here showed me a couple of good routes on a map and i headed out with my rucksack feeling pretty proud of myself i won't lie! Walked 30 minutes to reach echo point which is the highest point to view the three sisters from. The view of the mountains was breathtaking and i can only compare it so seeing the grand canyon - i could see for miles and it was easy to see how the hills got their namesake. The three sisters are the rocks you can see in the picture along with this blog post and they are beautiful to see. I then did the medium hike round from there all along the clifftop (was nearly nlown over a good few times) which took me about 3 and a half hours. Along the way i saw the Katoomba falls which were rapids running down the cliffs and then further along there was a huge waterful - not in the volume of water but just the sheer height of the cliffs it originated from. I'll admit that the walk was great but really tiring going down hundreds of steps along the way and at sometimes just plain scary at how sheer the drops were next to the paths. I went through about 2 rolls of film so you'll be able to see all the pictures when i get back home! To get back up to the top you could catch a railway which was sold as "the steepest fununcular in the world" so i thought why not?! Hopped on the train to get a lift up with some amazing views on the way. I figured it would be best to go at the bottom of the train so i could see the views best as it went up the side of the mountain and figured as there were no safety harnesses or rails it would be pretty safe. WRONG!!!! JESUS did i get a scare going up the train went from running horizontal to almost bloody verticle! At one point the incline is 52% which scared me s***less! Genuinely thought i was about to fall to my death out the train which lasted for absolutely ages. Managed to keep my cool and not scream but am pretty sure my deathly white face gave me away as i got off the train to the two tour guides who fell about laughing . . oops!
Anyway off to see Billie tomorrow which should be great - she is going to take me round katoomba and blackheath (the towns are gorgeous but i will save the description for my next blog) and i will be staying here until saturday exploring, walking and riding :) look forward to hearing from you all - lots of love xxxx
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